The Life of a Twenty Something

the week is over!

2010-10-22T16:18:00.001-05:00

Today I conceded in defeat as Heather bested me in our niceness competition. I put up a valiant fight but ultimately she was victorious.

My gifts to her:
Nice text messages.
A lip gloss watch.
No Bake cheesecake.
Girardelli dark chocolate.
A pink drink coozie that says "World's Greatest Everything".
Reese's.
A watercolor painting of her wearing cool shades.
A cheesy "thinking of you" card.

Her gifts to me:
Nice text messages.
Blue pumpkin filled with various candies.
Mt. Dew.
Blue highlighter.
A box of Daylight Donuts.
Hand warmers.
Cupcakes.
A t-shirt that says "Half BFF/Half Superhero".
Weezer "Hurley" CD.
A pink tiara.

There are probably some things I left off but anyway...I was nice and told her she won. Maybe I really won, since I "let" her win. Hmm...

Anyway, this morning I was spraying some cologne on me and my bottle was messed up. Therefore I smelled strongly all day. Started the day off right!

This afternoon, Anna, Zach, and I went to Strick's to get burgers. As we got there, Zach said something that Anna jokingly replied to with, "You're not in God's will." Zach, in all seriousness, said, "God has a will?" He was thinking of a will & testament. Hilarious.

An aside note: Strick's has awesome burgers and they are cheap! I got mine today along with a Coke for $2.79. Beat that.

This week was so hectic. I had 2 tests and 2 papers due this week so needless to say I didn't get a whole lot of sleep. I am so glad it's over.

Next week I have 3 tests, though, so I am not looking forward to that. But hopefully I can get some rest this weekend.

Tonight we are having band practice in preparation for tomorrow morning. We will be playing at the Potts Camp fall festival. Then next week we have the Waterford fall festival to prepare for. Busy busy.

But now I leave you to take a nap. However I will post a pic of my sweet aforementioned t-shirt that I very discreetly took in the bathroom at school. Have a good weekend everybody.

late night truths

2010-10-21T03:48:00.001-05:00

Well, I'm up late tonight working on school work. I've written two papers and still have a test to study for, but I'm taking a break. I've already played Wii for 30 minutes and watched TV for another 30. Now it's time to blog.

Here are some things I have learned by being awake this late:

1.) Late night TV is terrible.

2.) Every other commercial is for some extraordinary new awesome ab cruncher device.

3.) Delirium sets in.

4.) You tend to contemplate buying said ab cruncher.

5.) Research papers written after 12 AM are kinda fun. Seriously, things get more interesting. Like, for instance, tonight I learned that a doctor who worked for the US government was responsible for the two deaths and the subsequent anthrax hysteria in 2001. When he found out he would be prosecuted, he killed himself. Crazy, huh? I was amazed. The 5 pages pretty much wrote themselves.

6.) Itt seams funee two mispel werdz

7.) Ha ha, that was funny!

8.) Why do people say "Woo!" at concerts when the lead singer says, "HOW Y'ALL DOIN' TONIGHT???"

9.) Seriously, why?

10.) I am too old for all nighters.

being nice

2010-10-18T16:11:00.000-05:00

Heather Ewing and I have a friendly experiment going this week. We are going to try to be as nice as possible to one another for an entire week. Normally there is much trash talk that goes on between us, but for just one week we will be civil.

For instance, today she showed me a note I'd written on her study guide for our next Old Testament test. It said, "Heather is a big dummy". I had to think fast...I changed it to "Heather is a ~~big dummy~~ ray of sunlight!". But today she also upped the stakes by a large margin. When I walked into class, this was at my seat.

She's good! So this means, of course, that I need to do something extra awesome on Wednesday. I'll fill you in as it happens.

how could you be so pointless?

2010-10-15T16:00:00.001-05:00

I have no humorous (British spelling) anecdotes to share today, but I will tell a few of the fun things that happened on this glorious Friday. Since I've decided to blog every day, I am always on the lookout for hilarity. Some days it just doesn't happen. Today was one of those days.

Yesterday I was asked to bring hamburgers for a joint birthday lunch at school. Now I don't fix food very often, but I jumped at this opportunity. My dad makes great burgers (he calls his "World Famous") and I have learned this recipe from him. I have since added a few things that I think take them above and beyond the realm of awesome. Of course, I'm keeping this recipe a secret. Sorry.

So anyway, last night I got my ingredients and started mixing. Then I stopped and thought about what I was doing. I was pushing and pulling and grinding and kneading the insides of a dead cow. Sick! Another ingredient I was adding is also considered a dead animal (it's a secret, figure it out). The entire ordeal made me a little queasy. Still, a well-made burger tastes so good that after they are ready, I don't think about the poor dead livestock. I just think about the heavenly taste.

Well today I was in class and Dr. Betty Hearn mentioned that she had a terrible morning. Anna Russell and I offered her a burger. Anna then kindly called us "suck-up"s and I realized that it was true. She said she may take us up on the offer. She never did. There go our bonus points!

Finally the time came to enjoy the burgers. The birthday dudes came waltzing in (not really, that would be weird) and we gave them a sitting ovation. As we dressed our burgers and ate chips, dip, and cookies, I experienced something new. Dale's steak seasoning on a burger is really good! The only other condiment at the table was mayo, and I detest the stuff. Why you ask? Ok, I'll tell you.

When I was a lowly stocker/bag boy at Carlisle's Big Star in the early 2000s, I witnessed a woman slam her cart into a display of glass jars of Hellman's. She seemed to get a sick joy out of seeing me sadly walk to the back and get a mop & bucket. Mean lady.

After scooping and mopping for what seemed like hours, I finally had all the white grossness cleaned off the floor. Yet I smelled like a human batch of potato salad. Ever since, the sight/smell/thought of mayonnaise has made me dry heave.

Corey Hall then told a story about a prank some guys pulled on his brother. They took an ice cream cone, filled it with mayo, then put a dab of ice cream on top to disguise the nastiness. After goading him into devouring the cone like Randy from "A Christmas Story" did with mashed potatoes, he got mad and probably questioned his faith in humankind. This effectively ruined my appetite.

Anyway, lunch was great. Ben Spencer and Zach Pickle (ironically he was the only pickle at the table, due to our forgetfulness) seemed to enjoy their feast. And another Friday had a happy...middle. Not ending.

How's that for a pointless post? Enjoy your weekend!

is a black bear a rebel?

2010-10-14T15:11:00.002-05:00

If you are from the North Mississippi area, then you are well aware of the Ole Miss mascot issue. Today, the internet has been flooded with thoughts on the new mascot that was chosen. If you haven't seen it, then here it is:

In 2003, the University dropped Colonel Reb from appearing at games because he was "offensive". The strange thing is that I can somewhat understand this train of thought. If a southern plantation owner is offensive to African-Americans, that makes sense. But when I saw Colonel Reb as a kid, I never thought of him as a plantation owner. I just thought he was a cool looking old dude with a big head. But whatever. Does he offend you?

Anyway, I think the bear is a stupid idea. Maybe it will rub off on me, I dunno. I'm an Ole Miss fan and have been for my entire life...but honestly, a mascot is the least of their worries. If your football team is lousy, why do you need a mascot?

And now for some amusing tweets/Facebook statuses on the subject (edited for content, not spelling).

@Mitch_Harper: Ole Miss chose a Black Bear as their next mascot instead of Admiral Ackbar? Lame.

@Scoot29 HOW DA **** OLE MISS COME UP WITH A BLACK BEAR 4 A MASCOT ??? IT'S TOO ***ING BLACK BEARS N DA WHOLE STATE !!!

Ricky Murphy The only way to make Rebel Bear ok with me is if they put a real bear on the field like MSU does with Bully.

Mike Poole a black bear. Hotty Toddy? On my way to see Clinton speak, maybe he'll repute the vote as a stupid idea.pid idea.

If the Ackbar tweet doesn't make sense to you, check out this video.

hygienic instructions, also my 100th post!

2010-10-13T17:05:00.003-05:00

Today I was walking out of class, about to head home. Many things ran through my mind: I have a big paper due tomorrow, homework I haven't finished, Power Point to get ready for tonight's worship, performing worship itself, and so on. My brain was rattling with all of these thoughts. Then I remembered...my blog! I had promised to try and update daily, yet today I had absolutely nothing of interest to share.

I drove to the nearest gas station and stopped, since I had to take care of some business in the men's room. I didn't use the restrooms at school because I was too busy talking on the way out. I have a bad habit of doing that. What can I say, I like to be relational. And I know, TMI. Anyway, I wouldn't have shared that if it didn't bring me to my next point. I found my blog topic! Above the sink at the restroom in the gas station was this sign:

I know it's blurry, but come on. Seriously? Who doesn't know how to wash their hands?

And congratulations to...me! This is my 100th blog on here, and it's kinda hard to believe. I have used this thing sporadically over the years, but am excited for the next 100. Thanks for reading my ramblings.

why you shouldn't do homework late at night

2010-10-12T13:15:00.000-05:00

Today in Advanced Grammar we went over some homework that dealt with the correct tenses of commonly confused verbs. Examples include: lie, lay, set, sit, sat, and so on. So as we are calling out answers, I laughed. Why? Because of a stupid mistake I made while working on this late one night. See if you can find my mistake. It's pretty obvious.

really?

2010-10-11T18:06:00.003-05:00

I want to make a conscious effort to blog more regularly. Today I asked myself, "Why don't I just post whenever something interesting happens?" I'll tell you why not. Because of Facebook & Twitter. They have sort of ruined blogging. But I will try and save some nuggets of hilarity for this blog, too.

Like today, I was browsing through the Blue Mountain bookstore and I saw this:

In our digital age, haven't CD sales dropped dramatically? Do people really need a CD opener keychain? Would you still buy one?

life changes

2010-10-08T00:37:00.001-05:00

My life is so different from when I started this blog. It's pretty wild when I think about all of the things that have happened in the last few years, the way my life has been bent and molded and changed. At times it has been absolutely overwhelming. Sometimes it has been frustrating. And other times, exciting...but never boring.

Right now I am 27 years old. I am basically living day by day, hoping and praying for the best. I am in school again and the joys and frustrations of college life have taken some getting used to, trust me. I have been writing papers and taking tests. I've been discussing things that I haven't thought of in years. Most of my classes are English courses, and they are helping me to become a better writer. Of course this blog doesn't show that...I neglect it far too much.

But the main way I have been changed has been in my faith. I've seen God work miracles in my life. There are things I can't explain. People have randomly come to me when I've needed encouragement. My parents have given me so much in regards to love and support that I could never repay them. I couldn't ask for better people to have in my life. I have been loved and helped by people for my entire life, and I am truly learning to do the same.

This leads me to the meat of my post. Thanks for sticking with me so far.

The other day, I was driving home from school. I had been in classes all day, taking tests and quizzes, and I was extremely tired on my journey back to my apartment. As I drove, I saw an old man on the side of the road standing beside his car. He looked lost, sad, even scared. I continued driving, thinking about that man. He looked like my Grandpa. But I didn't stop.

As I took the next turn, I heard a still, small voice speak to me deep in my subconscious. It was saying, "Go back." I ignored the voice, as I regrettably sometimes do. I kept driving, thinking about the nap I would take when I got home. I turned another corner and the voice became louder. "Go back!" I drove a little further until I could swear I heard a shout. "GO BACK!"

I turned on my blinker and pulled into a driveway. I sat there for a moment, thinking about what had just happened. How could I be so selfish? The man needed help. Was I too important to help him? Was my life really so special that I couldn't be bothered by some old man? Regret filled my mind, and I pulled out of the driveway back toward the man and his car.

As I approached, the old man was sitting in his car. It was in the same place, and he was resting. I rolled down my window as I got closer to him. "Are you okay, sir? Do you need any help?" I started feeling good about myself. I was truly being a good Samaritan. The old man looked at me and said, "No thanks. I ran out of gas, my wife is on her way with a gas can. Appreciate it though."

I was a little miffed, in a weird way. Here I had driven back after a distinct call to go and check on this man, and he just dismissed me? He didn't even need my help? Why did I bother? I couldn't figure it out.

As I drove home, a thought entered my mind. The point of going back to check on the man wasn't so that I would do a good deed for the day, or that I could say that I tried. The point was that I listened to God's calling. But the larger, uglier point was that I had initially dismissed the call. Twice. I was very saddened by this. I beat myself up in my mind for the rest of my commute. It wasn't until I got home and sat down that I understood the real gravity of the situation.

Christians are called to be like Christ. What does that mean? That we go to church and smile all the time? Or maybe that we fight continually about issues? No. We are supposed to do what Christ did, and that is to offer help to those who need it the most. This old man needed help. It is possible that I could have helped him if I had stopped immediately when I first saw him. Instead he got his wife to assist him. I almost missed an opportunity to be like Christ by doing something that He never did: I thought of myself before others.

It was quite a lesson to learn. Then, another way of looking at the situation hit me just as suddenly. Regardless of whether or not a person needs your help, you can at least try. The odds are that most of the people who have encouraged me lately didn't know that I specifically needed encouragement at that particular time. Sometimes I receive it when things are actually going great. It doesn't make it any less special.

So a summary of my thoughts as well as a small piece of advice to you, dear reader, is to not ignore God's call. Never underestimate what He is trying to teach you. And don't overthink every situation in your life. Every experience of your life is but a small piece of a much bigger puzzle that you can put together little by little. Life makes much more sense when we just push our thoughts away and simply go.

hi

2010-10-07T18:25:00.000-05:00

New blog coming to you SOON.

In the meantime, check out this awesome video. I did a paper on it and made a 99.

my spiritual gift is clumsiness

2010-08-13T08:24:00.009-05:00

Thank God that He gifted me with clumsiness. But more on that later.

I went to my old high school this morning to speak to the FCA (Fellowship of Christian Athletes). I thought about what to speak on for a few days, and then it came to me almost immediately. Encouragement. If there was any message I needed to hear in my high school days, it was to stay encouraged in my faith. I used the following three verses:

“And my God will meet all your needs according to his glorious riches in Christ Jesus.” – Phil 4:19

“These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world.” John 16:33

"For I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me" - Phil 4:13

I also touched on the act of trusting God totally, which is something new to me in my personal relationship with Christ. To act every day knowing that He has your best interests in His heart and that He will protect you.

The talk went really well. I got to see many of my church kids in a different setting than usual...school. It was kinda funny, actually. I spent time talking to them and some of my old teachers who are still around 10 years later. All in all it was a really good morning.

Then, clumsiness struck.

As I parked my car and began walking across the street to my apartment, I dropped my keys on the curb. This has been happening to me a lot over the past week. I stopped and picked them up, wondering how I even dropped them in the first place. As I bent down, I felt a sudden rush of wind. I looked up to see a car zooming past just inches from me. I had completely not seen this car a second before.

God made me clumsy. And today it saved my life.

weekend in review...plus...the future!

2010-05-10T14:25:00.000-05:00

I have yet another new Examiner.com article to share with you guys: Awaken 2010.

I had a great weekend. Friday night I went to eat with friends Clay & Whitney Taylor and Andy Stevens at a very good Mexican place in Southaven. We had a good time chatting about the goings-on of the day, and later looked at the new home Clay and Whitney closed on and are soon to move in to. After that, Clay, Andy, and I watched Iron Man 2. And I loved it. Robert Downey Jr. is so funny and effortless as Tony Stark. Amazing movie.

Saturday I rode with Clay to Tupelo where we hung out with his family and went to a great little restaurant called Comer's. They had amazing catfish! Afterward we went to the Davis Event Center in Fulton to see Awaken 2010 (which you can read my review of at the link above). Clay's dad and sister performed in one of the local church bands, and we got to go backstage for a bit after they finished. It was cool to see some of these bands just being normal people...and even though I was standing next to Shane Barnard (of Shane and Shane), I didn't get to talk to him. I'd probably have to thank him for writing great songs that I play almost weekly...but I didn't get a chance. Still, we got to talk with a local rap group Notus who were very cool. I'm going to try and interview them for an upcoming article.

Which made me think...I need business cards. I want to be a writer, and it would give me a little credibility, I think.

Also, my mom gave me a good idea the other day. She said I should start working on a book. I would love to, and I think I have the perfect subject. More on that later.

In other news, I was accepted to Blue Mountain College on Friday! I am very excited. There was doubt I'd get in, since my last semester at Ole Miss (back in 2004) I pretty much squandered. But I'm excited to give it another shot!

In the meantime I will continue updating and blogging and writing and living life knowing that good things are on the horizon. Thanks for reading, chaps.

friday ramblings

2010-05-07T13:54:00.000-05:00

I've posted another article on Examiner.com called "Fixing Christianity" (click that link there, partner). I have to say, I'm loving writing there...my only concern is that I'm starting out too deep. I want to incorporate some humor as well. Don't wanna bore everybody.

I'm pretty excited for this weekend, I'm going to see Shane & Shane tomorrow night in Tupelo (hey! I could write about that!) and tonight I'll be grilling out with my good buddy Clay.

I am still job hunting, so if any of you know of any good part time jobs, let me know. I'm still planning to start school in the fall, also. I have little things here and there that are keeping me busy but I'd like something that I know will pay my rent!

Well I need to get off here, I have dishes that aren't washing themselves. Man that would be amazing if they could...

new venture

2010-05-06T20:54:00.001-05:00

I applied to write for Examiner.com last week, and as of yesterday, they accepted me! I'm the Tupelo Christian Living Examiner. Of course I don't live in Tupelo, but I'm not too far away.

The long & short of it is that I won't be neglecting this blog, but I'll instead be linking a lot to my new site as I write new articles. I used an old blog post I had originally posted here for my first article, just changed up a bit.

To see my article, click here. Please comment & subscribe! Thanks friends.

tuesday revelations: can you burden God?

2010-05-04T11:27:00.001-05:00

I applied to Blue Mountain College last month and they needed my immunization records. I took them over this morning after a night of what some would call insomnia. I seriously could not sleep last night...I've been sort of down & out/sickly with a cold which has led to a couple days of sleeping in. That's not really a good thing though. I'm sort of like a zombie at the moment (which reminds me, read my last post on my top 5 books! You'll see why that mental correlation happened).

Anyway, I made the trip to Blue Mountain and along the way had a real heart-to-heart with God. I have a lot going on at the moment, what with no job and trying to get into school again after 6 years. I felt somewhat better but still I had the notion that my life was going to the pits and nothing could change that fact. I felt like I was burdening God with my prayers and that I didn't deserve healing like I'd asked for.

After I finished up at Blue Mountain, I headed home. In a twist that I can only chalk up to sleep deprivation/divine intervention, I took a wrong turn and ended up doubling my drive back to my apartment. I surfed stations on my Sirius radio trying to pass the time, all the while still feeling downtrodden. As I turned to The Message, the Christian radio station, I heard a couple songs that started turning my mood around.

The most powerful song I heard was Amy Grant's new single, "Better Than A Hallelujah". In this song, she sings about how sometimes the cries of the hurting and broken are like beautiful melodies in God's ears. Well, just listen for yourself.

The song really touched me and in a very real way, I felt release. I have faith that my God is bigger than my current plight and will deliver me in one way or another. I just have to trust and believe...and know that He is never burdened with my life.

top 5 favorite books

2010-05-03T18:07:00.003-05:00

As a professed nerd, it's no big surprise that I like to read. If you do, then I have some books you may want to check out. If you don't, check them out anyway (Literally! At a library!). Bad library humor aside, here are my top five favorite books (in no particular order as to not show favoritism to any potential authors who may stumble upon my site after Googling themselves).

The Shores of Space by Richard Matheson

As a kid, I was engrossed in nerdiness. I read comic books, loved Star Wars, and Weezer's Blue Album was the first CD I ever bought. Not to mention I wore big glasses and loved the library. One summer when I was about 12 years old, my local library had a book sale and I snagged this classic for $1.00. A collection of short stories from sci-fi legend Richard Matheson (writer of I Am Legend, Requiem for a Dream, and many Twilight Zone episodes), it had stories about all kinds of things that interested me. A robot boxing league that a human tries to enter. A little girl who is sucked into a time portal in her couch. A woman and man dealing with a pregnancy neither can explain. Yes, heavy stuff for a 12 year old, but over time I read and re-read this book until it became one of my favorite literary pieces.

The Zombie Survival Guide by Max Brooks

This is a more recent discovery for me. I was in Oxford's Off-Square Books store and found this helpful guide lying in a $4.00 bin. I thought it looked interesting...and boy is it ever. Brooks writes as if a zombie apocalypse is reasonable and almost makes me want to get ready for the inevitable. From the humble beginnings of the "disease" to selecting your weapons and strategy of making necessary kills, zombies had better think again before trying to invade.

Steinbeck by John Steinbeck

(I couldn't find the cover, but here's his handsome mug)

As a lover of the English language as well as the subject, no author captured my interest in my early college days like Steinbeck. Of course "The Grapes of Wrath" is epic, but my early favorite was "The Pearl", a story of loss & redemption that I'm sure most of you have read in one fashion or another. I found a huge (I mean huge) compilation of his most famous books at a bookstore a few years ago that has been as enjoyable to read as it is uncomfortable to hold. I need to get it on Kindle.

Stuff Christians Like by Jonathan Acuff

Matthew Paul Turner's book The Christian Culture Survival Guide was the first funny Christian book I'd ever read, but I'm saving it for another post. More recently, Jon Acuff's foray into the ink & paper world has caused many belly laughs for this guy. If you're a Christian who isn't afraid to laugh at your own ridiculousness, you need this book. Acuff references the sometimes Pharisitical lines we draw in our culture with humor and a dash of repentance on all of our behalf. I laugh every time I say "just" in prayers to God...which I think is a good thing.

Snake 'n Bacon's Cartoon Cabaret by Michael Kupperman

This book is more of a graphic compilation of short stories, and has some of the most strange and hilarious comic strips with awesome characters like: Underpants-On-His-Head-Man; the Mannister (a man who transforms into a bannister!); Two-Fisted Poe ("quoth the raven...LIGHTS OUT!"); and finally, Snake 'n Bacon...who are of course a snake and a piece of bacon. I found this book at a small bookstore about ten years ago and I read it every few months. I love Kupperman's style of drawing, and his humor is definitely a required taste but oh so very funny.

I urge you to tell me of your favorite books in the comments section and please, no Twilight references.

Good day!

the next step

2010-05-03T17:10:00.001-05:00

Recently I was released from work, and have decided to go to school. But I also need money. So what have I done? Until a couple days ago, all I did was grow a beard and sit around in a pseudo-depressed mode. But I've since come out of that funk and have a few ideas brewing.

A fellow unemployed friend came to me about an online business that we'll soon be breaking ground on, so be on the lookout for that. Also, I'm continuing music and have a few dates lined up over the next couple months (and if you need someone to play for any sort of event, please contact me). I've also gone the old fashioned route of applying for jobs, but nothing's panned out at the moment.

And if all else fails, then at least there's selling my possessions on eBay.

God bless,

Adam

shamWHY?

2010-03-27T02:05:00.000-05:00

Thursday night, at Blaine & Lena's, we had a leadership meeting. It was great, we bounced ideas and thoughts around and were having good conversation.

But ideas weren't the only thing I was bouncing.

At some point I had absentmindedly (is that one word? Ah who cares...) taken a swig of my Vitamin Water (yes I'm addicted) and forgotten to screw the cap back on. So as I'm fidgeting around on the couch, I kick over the bottle and V-Water goes everywhere. In the carpet, on a rug...everywhere. I jump up and say my "I'm sorry"s, and immediately a thought pops in my head. A thought I never thought I would think. (What a confusing sentence that is.)

My thought? "I wish I had a ShamWow right now."

Really? That's the first thing I think? What's up with that? I know one thing. That Vince guy is quite a marketer. I mean, I tried the whole "ShamWow Absorbing Drink Through Carpet" with a friend...and an old piece of carpet...only to find that it didn't quite work that well.

So why did my mind immediately jump to ShamWow?

Beats me. Or should I say "slices & dices me", you know, like the SlapChop...Vince's other product?

No, I shouldn't say that.

new music blog

2010-03-16T16:20:00.000-05:00

I have started a new blog based totally on music, and you can check it out here. Please. :)

my first 5K, plus some things I learned

2010-03-02T11:11:00.004-06:00

This is the tale of my first 5K and the truths I've learned.

Rewind to Saturday. I got up early and went to pick up one of the teenagers from my church who was running the race. We hung around in Oxford waiting for the start. I was so excited...seriously, I told someone yesterday that I used to get so pumped for Christmas up until I learned a little secret about a certain jolly fat man...then it was just another (yet still very special) day. However, Friday night I was struggling to fall asleep...just like I used to back in my Ninja Turtle collecting days. Saturday morning I woke up at 6, much like I would have 15 years ago, hyper and ready.

Back to Oxford...As I waited, I went to the restroom and inside I ran into a guy I went to high school with. He was a runner, too, back then (as was I for about 2 years. But I was terrible. More on that at a later time...) and was going to try his hand at it again. He and his girlfriend were just as excited as Shelby and I were. Eventually we were ready to begin. The announcer told us to go and approximately 300 bodies took off.

It was here, after my legs started moving, that I realized a few key points to a successful run. Some of them I was prepared for, but most of them I wasn't.

1.) Find a route to move forward.
As we started running, the crowd formed a huge cluster, making it impossible to do anything other than run in place...therefore wasting precious energy. I had to eventually run off the course and get around some of the walkers/slowpokes.

2.) Chew gum.
I drank tons of water last week, trying to get my body regulated and properly hydrated. Friday and Saturday morning I was downing bottles of water. Hitting up water fountains. Then, about a mile into the run, I got the worst drymouth. The cold air was blowing in my face and I couldn't do much about it. I was stuck with a dry palate. However, many people have since told me to chew gum. It keeps you from breathing so much from your mouth, and at the same time you are developing saliva. Educational, I know.

3.) Drafting is real!
I just think that this is really cool. I drafted off a few bigger people before zooming past them. It made me feel awesome.

4.) Check your shoelaces.
This is a common sense one. But it's so "common sense" that I forgot to even do it. I made sure I stretched and hydrated but failed to check my double-knots. About 2K into the race I noticed my shoelace on my left foot was flopping. I tried to ignore it but I felt like I would trip and eat pavement at any second. So I stopped, wasting precious seconds, and also lost my pace. I never could regain it.

5.) Train on hills.
Usually I train on hills and offbeat paths, but the hills I incurred in Oxford were pretty steep. Steeper than I was used to, anyway. So my time really suffered, as did my legs. I had to walk a lot more than I usually do when practicing.

My final time was 35:47, which I suppose for a first timer isn't all that bad. However, that's slow compared to my practices I do on my own. I just wasn't totally prepared.

But I hope to rectify that soon. I have signed up for another 5K in Germantown on March 21. I don't know what the course is like exactly but I have 19 days to get ready for it. Also, April 17 I will run the Holly Springs Pilgrimage 5K and the next weekend, April 24, I will do the Double Decker 5K in Oxford.

For races you'd like to check out, go to http://www.racesonline.com. If you'd like information on the Couch-to-5K program that I used, go to http://www.coolrunning.com.

Until next time!

we've got some catching up to do

2010-02-19T23:55:00.003-06:00

Wow I have SLACKED on the blogging.

I've had an interesting couple of months. I won't really delve too deeply into what's been going on, but instead focus on the positives. Because I'm a positive dude.

My running has continued, thank you for asking...my first 5k is next Saturday in the great city of Oxford. I'm very excited and a little nervous. I've had a nasty cold/virus for the past week and I can't seem to shake it. Tonight I ran a little via Wii Fit, and I hope to get back in the swing starting Monday (or Sunday, if everything goes well).

I had the opportunity to work this past weekend at a Disciple Now in Crowder/Batesville with my buddy Soul Train's youth guys. I had 6 super cool dudes stay with me in a very nice couple's home for the entire weekend. We had a blast, and I got to spend some good quality time in prayer and meditation. Sunday morning, after we had wrapped up, I was able to share with the Crowder kids a couple songs in worship. It was very fun and just what I needed.

And since my sickness this past week has turned me into a shut-in of sorts, I was able to sit down and come up with some great song ideas. I currently have two completed songs, ready for a full band treatment (hopefully soon) and another two that I'm still tweaking. I've always loved music, and to be able to write some has been such a fulfilling thing for me. I have only showed one person my first song, and he seemed very excited to hear it. Let's hope he wasn't just being nice.

Ben is also in the process of moving in with me, which is cool. He and I shared an apartment in Oxford a few years ago, so this is kind of a nostalgia trip. He's neat and I'm messy...so it's an interesting dynamic. But I'm glad he's moving in.

I have also signed up for another 5k in April which is held literally just outside my front door, here in Holly Springs. I'm hoping to do well in these two runs and then eventually start training for a half-marathon. But I'm trying not to count my chickens before they hatch, so to speak.

Well that's it for now. My medicine is kicking in and I don't want to ramble.

Thanks for reading.

training to run - week 4: day 2

2009-12-14T09:17:00.002-06:00

I skipped my running on Saturday and instead did it yesterday at Wall Doxey State Park. It was nice to get a change in scenery, but my run was terrible.

It was the same as the last run: run 3 minutes, walk 1 1/2 minutes, then run 5 minutes & walk 2 1/2 minutes (x 2). However there were a couple factors which made it a little more difficult.

First of all: hills. There were many more hills than I am used to and I wasn't as prepared for them as I had hoped to be. I got extremely tired about halfway through.

Wetness. There had been a lot of rain on Saturday and I found out that my shoes are not the best at gripping wet pavement. Thank goodness I'm getting new shoes for Christmas.

On my last 5 minute run, I stopped halfway through. I couldn't breathe well and I was just tired. I walked for a minute, then finished out the last minute and a half. After I walked back to my car I ran for another minute to make up for what I had skipped.

Still, it made me feel horrible to not finish. So what I think I'll do is try the last run of the week and if I still am struggling, I'm going to repeat the week. I read somewhere that this is a good thing to do if your endurance isn't building as quickly as you'd like.

Also I've started a calorie counting diet (using an app called Lose It on the iPhone) that requires me to log in everything I eat/drink. So far I haven't gone over my limit for the last few days, though I got close yesterday! We had a meal at church and let's just say I ate well.

I got a Christmas present for myself last week...it is a iPod nano, 5th generation. I got it to use with the Nike+ system & shoes that I'll be getting for Christmas from the parents. It's an awesome little machine. I wish my old iPod did half the things this little guy does.

Well that's all for me at the moment. Enjoy your day...and I have a post coming in a day or so that DOESN'T have to do with running!

training to run - week 4: day 1

2009-12-10T18:58:00.002-06:00

I just finished day 1 of week 4 of my Couch to 5k program...and I thought I was going to die.

First of all it is COLD outside! At the moment it's 28 degrees out.

Secondly, I was required to run 3 minutes, walk 1 1/2 minutes, then run 5 minutes & walk 2 1/2 minutes (twice). Overall that was 16 minutes total, which (to me) is a lot.

I have been done for over an hour now and feel pretty good. This whole week will be the same type of running and I can't wait to continue building up my endurance.

training to run - week 3: days 2 & 3

2009-12-07T21:42:00.002-06:00

Want to hear about a busy Saturday? Then you, my friend, are in luck.

I had planned to get up and run early on Saturday, but as my alarm went off I just wasn't in the mood. Friday night I'd been at my cousin Taylor's house to eat and hang out with him, my uncle Anthony, aunt Son Cha, and family friends Yassir & Michell Janah. I didn't get home until close to midnight and had to be in Memphis the next morning to watch Anthony, Son Cha, and Yassir compete in the St. Jude marathon. I decided to just wait until later in the day to run.

I ended up walking around downtown Memphis from 9 AM until close to 2 PM following the runners/looking for Yassir. After getting home I headed down to work on our church's float for the Holly Springs Christmas parade. I walked alongside the float as it made it's way through town for about 45 minutes.

All this to say that I was pretty exhausted by the time I got ready to run. Corey Garner, who walked along during the parade, wanted to run with me, so I waited a little while for him to get ready. I opted to run around the well-lit square rather than go out to the cemetery at that time of night.

I mentioned last time that my ankle had begun hurting after my run on Thursday. Saturday night it throbbed but overall didn't hurt too badly. I finished up and kept my same pace throughout and Corey did pretty well considering he doesn't run.

Sunday was a different story. My ankle was in some pain. It wasn't swollen but kinda hurt. I bought a brace for it and it made such a big difference. Today my ankle felt great, and I ran without much problem at all.

The runs for these days were the same as Thursday's; a 1 1/2 minute run followed by a 1 1/2 minute walk, then a 3 minute run followed by a 3 minute walk and then everything repeated once.

I went ahead and did extra stretches afterward and iced my ankle for precaution. I've worn my brace tonight but at the moment I feel great. I think what I'm experiencing is backlash from years of not staying in shape catching up with me.

Starting Thursday I will be on week 4. I'm 1/3 of the way through my training! And so far it's been very rewarding. I'm already wearing jeans that I couldn't fit into a month ago and my belt is fastening at the smallest notch. Not too bad for 3 weeks of running!

training to run - week 3: day 1

2009-12-03T19:48:00.003-06:00

I decided to blog every day that I run rather than weekly, since I would more than likely forget details that I consider important.

After Monday's run, I had Tuesday and Wednesday off before starting again today (Thursday). I decided to do different exercises on Tuesday afternoon, including benching, sit-ups, and squats. And I overdid it. Wednesday my walking was like that of a zombie...slow and lumbering, complete with various moans/groans.

So this morning when I woke up I was pretty bummed to find that my legs still felt like death. I got a little nervous about running this afternoon on shaky, hurting legs. But by the time this afternoon came around I was getting around pretty well.

I got home and headed out to warm up before my run at around 5 PM. My first run was refreshingly easy. It was for a minute and a half, immediately followed by walking for the same amount of time. I can really feel my stamina picking up during each week.

After that run/walk combination I ran for 3 minutes straight with a walk of 3 minutes directly afterward. It was actually much easier than I thought it would be.

The program called for me to repeat that entire sequence just one time. When I finished, I wasn't nearly as winded as I have been in the past. All signs are looking great for these 9 weeks to be effective.

Saturday I will be cheering my aunt & uncle (and Yassir) on in a marathon for St. Jude in Memphis. I look forward to checking out their techniques and maybe learning a thing or two from them.

Oh I almost forgot to mention this...

When I was running my second 1 1/2 minute run, I felt a cramp or pull or something in my right leg, just above my ankle on the inside of my leg. Afterward, I rubbed it and stretched more before my final 3 minute run, but on the walk home it still felt irritated. I bought an ankle support brace to alleviate the pain (which really isn't that severe at this point) and it feels fine right now. But yeah...anyone have any suggestions/thoughts?

Until next time...

training to run - week 2

2009-11-30T23:10:00.003-06:00

I just finished week 2 of my Get Running program. I have to say that I'm feeling really great and in better shape after each run.

This past week's running worked like this: 6 repetitions of running 1 minute 30 seconds and walking for 2 minutes. It may not sound too difficult, but after not running for a few years it is quite challenging.

The first day of running was last Thursday...that's right, Thanksgiving. I made the executive decision to run early, before my special day of consuming deliciously unhealthy foods. Judging by the turkey induced coma/hangover I incurred, I believe I made the right choice. The rest of my day consisted of watching Home Alone and sleeping.

As for the running, I was pleased to find that running an extra 30 seconds wasn't as hard as I'd imagined. At least not for the first couple sets. After the third set I was so winded that I could barely breathe. The British-voiced woman on the program spoke up afterward, telling me that I was halfway done and could turn & go home if I needed to. After a moment of contemplation, I turned my headphones up a notch and ran harder. It's a good feeling when you don't give up.

Speaking of music, I'm finding that pop radio produces a lot of great running tunes. In heavy rotation at the moment is the new Weezer album as well as select Black Eyed Peas songs. And Miley Cyrus. Ahem.

Saturday was day 2 of week 3 (got that?) and I was happy to discover that I didn't become winded until after the 4th set of running/walking. However that morning the sun decided to come out and I had to shed clothes. I had worn a light track jacket and a beanie and both of them ended up hanging from a low branch on a tree until I finished.

One thing I realized on Saturday was a pain in my lower stomach. I recognized it immediately, thinking back to the days when I ran in high school. My carbonated drink habit had caught up with me. Even though I was only drinking 1 every other day, I could still feel it. My decision? Cut 'em out.

After that realization, I also decided to cut back on food somewhat. I began portioning it out a little better later on that day and the next and, in turn, had the best running experience of all today.

I went out after doing some warm up stretches into the cold dusk after work this afternoon. On my walk to my running grounds (local cemetery that is packed with nice paths & such) I was sure to warm up even more, stretching my legs out and walking very briskly.

Once I got to the cemetery and was prompted to run ever so politely by the friendly British voice on my iPhone, I felt some pain in my leg and side. I decided to go ahead and keep running, and after a minute both of the pains went away. I assume I just had a couple cramps I hadn't stretched out. My next obstacle was breathing. I have a bad habit of taking short breaths which tire my body very easily.

I pretty much had to regulate my breathing as I ran, teaching myself to breathe in slowly and exhale slowly (like Wii Fit has taught me). That was no easy task, but I found that I had much more stamina and by the 6th run, I had found an amazing pace and felt I could run forever.

So that was week 2. If you're reading this and you're a runner, please give me some pointers! I would love to hear what anyone out there can share.

training to run - week 1

2009-11-23T22:58:00.004-06:00

A couple weeks ago I got the itch to do something productive and healthy for myself. I decided to start running. So I went on a short run one afternoon to see what I could do...it was ugly.

I felt like I'd taken a Tyson punch to the gut while simultaneously a giant hand squeezed my lungs until I nearly hyperventilated. Out of shape is another way to describe how I felt. Of course that wasn't really a surprise since I've been carrying around some extra weight for a little while now.

Despite my initial discouragement I decided to seek help. Since my iPhone is always on me in one way or another, I thought I'd look to see if there were any apps for training someone to run. Turns out there are quite a few! I decided to use one called Get Running ($2.99 on App Store).

Get Running trains you slowly from a novice level to a full-fledged runner. Or so I read. I had to give it a try.

So this past week I did just that, and I have to say that I feel pretty good. The first week of training consisted of 3 days (like, for example, Monday, Wednesday, and Friday) of alternating running/walking. To begin, a pleasant-sounding British lady starts speaking instructions, telling you exactly what to do. You start by warming up for 5 minutes (I just walked briskly for this time period) and, after the 5 minute period is over, she comes back over your headphones and tells you to begin your first run.

After a minute's time your first run is over. She then instructs you to walk for a minute and a half, only to run again for another minute. Overall the run/walk combo repeats 8 times.

What's cool is that while this is going on, you can play your music in the background. I have an awesome playlist full of pop music that gets me pumped (I'm on sort of a pop kick these days).

Also noteworthy are my running grounds: the local Holly Springs Cemetery. You may think it's weird, but the cemetery is full of paved trails and hills that prove to be challenging for me as a beginner. Not to mention it's easy to run when a ghost may or may not be chasing you...

My first day of running was TOUGH. I managed to finish with only 2 thoughts of suicide...I kid. I did want to stop and just go ahead and let my heart explode. It was pounding like crazy.

The second day was even harder, much to my surprise. My muscles ached, as did my knees. After my 4th round of running/walking I felt like stopping. The program actually gives you a chance to stop if you so choose after the 4th round...but I didn't do it. I had to prove to myself that I was serious. I was actually proud of myself after I finished out.

Today I completed my first week of running in a different location. I had left some clothes at my parents' home in Waterford, including my running clothes. So I went back down there today since I had planned to go there anyway for dinner and ran along the surprisingly busy streets. I also had a chorus of dogs barking their hearts out at me as I ran past their territories. At one point I had two dogs trailing behind me. Anyway, to my surprise and good fortune, I didn't get winded until I finished my 6th round today. This was a marked improvement and gives me hope since the next week (beginning Thursday) I will have to run for a longer period of time.

You may ask why I would be doing this at 26 years old. Well I used to run in high school, but I never really took it seriously. I did it because I was talked into it, basically. But after the year my brother has had with cancer and its' complications, and after hearing of benefit runs to raise funds and awareness for a possible cure, I think it's a great thing to be part of. Also just being able to use my body for good seems like such a liberating and spiritual thing. Not to mention I'll be in pretty great shape!

So until my next complete week of running, enjoy life.

in loving memory of the recently deceased

2009-10-25T00:15:00.005-05:00

We have lost a few people around home these last couple weeks. Nothing I can type or emote can help the families who have lost so dearly, but in my own way I would like to pay them a small tribute.

A teenager and her mother whom I love lost a grandmother and mother, Mrs. Valentine, who from what I hear was a great lady. I didn't know her personally, but I know her family...and they are so very dear and special to me. I was able to visit them at the funeral home last weekend and they have been in my prayers. She is in a better place, though...with no suffering and illness, where she can truly rest.

Also last weekend was the funeral for Mr. Cleveland Culver, an older gentleman I have known since I was born. He always had encouraging words for me growing up, and I recall going to his house one summer with my parents where he and his angel of a wife Mrs. Janie gave us fresh vegetables from their garden. He was a farmer and worked very hard all of his life. He lost Mrs. Janie a few years ago but he still kept his faith and smiled every time I saw him. I hated to hear of our loss of dear Mr. Cleveland. Days after his death, a relative (cousin, I believe) Mr. Robert Culver also passed away. He lived a little down the street from the house where I grew up, and was always outside with his family enjoying life. Both men will be greatly missed.

Tonight I heard the news that Mrs. Margie Minor died in her home. She was also special to me growing up. When my mom and dad had to work, Mrs. Margie would take my brother and I in and feed us. We played with her grandkids. She was so very funny and happy. She and my mom would talk for hours it seemed almost daily. I remember being her computer helper while a teenager, helping her print old family photos. I also remember her having us do chores, which I didn't mind. She would always pay us and bring drinks and snacks while we worked. She had many medical illnesses but was always positive. A couple years ago, though, she had a stroke and was only a part of who she used to be. But one look into her eyes and you could still see the same Mrs. Margie we all knew. I am greatly saddened to hear of our loss, but once again...she is far from pain now.

God bless all of these, and their families.

my list of band names

2009-10-24T01:10:00.002-05:00

A friend texted me this afternoon asking if I had any ideas for band names. His band is going through some changes and I guess he either

a) thinks I have good ideas or

b) was extremely desperate for ideas.

At any rate, I was in a pretty jovial mood so I gave him a list of suggestions. Some of which I will list below. Prepare to grimace and moan at the horribleness!

Unknown Caller

The Fantastic Joneses

Thomas and the Tank Engines

Sunnydale High

The Text Messages

The LOLs

The Space Heaters

Madden 3052

Ashtray

Mismatched Socks

Mismatched Curtains

Cars on Blocks

America's Most Wanted

Fun Times

Fast Times

Candle Wax

A Bunch of Dudes Playing Instruments Well

He didn't seem to care for my suggestions. Hmm. Wonder why?

in the rarest of forms

2009-10-23T19:02:00.005-05:00

I just made a pot of coffee so strong that it punched me in the face and bench pressed me 30 times before eating all my raw eggs, breaking down all my doors, and pouring itself into my stomach.

Funny blog TONIGHT (or tomorrow, or whenever I can get to it) about band names! Trust me you DON'T want to miss this one!

Did that work? Are you excited? Good. Prepare to be let down SOON!

a twitter convo about a michael jackson halloween costume

2009-10-20T11:03:00.008-05:00

Today, Andy and I had a funny Twitter conversation about an awesome Michael Jackson Halloween costume (which is priced at $200.00) and made puns using MJ song titles to illustrate our disappointment in the price gouging. I laughed, so I figured I'd share it.

adamwrobinson I wish I had the $$$ for this! http://bit.ly/eAeNJ

DYMongoose @adamwrobinson $200? Ridiculous! I mean, it's awesome and all, but wow! If they're going to charge that much for a costume they can beat it.

DYMongoose @adamwrobinson (Do you see what I did there?)

adamwrobinson @DYMongoose I did and I'm impressed! They obviously wanna be startin' somethin'. (Back at ya)

DYMongoose @adamwrobinson They must think their company is some sort of smooth criminal organization to be ripping people off like that.

adamwrobinson @DYMongoose That's what you think? You are not alone.

DYMongoose @adamwrobinson Hahaha... having fun? Don't stop 'til you get enough. (you stole the one I was going to use next)

adamwrobinson @DYMongoose You know these Halloween costume companies? They don't care about us.

DYMongoose @adamwrobinson I know, man. I don't understand how their CEO can look at the man in the mirror and be OK with what he's become.

adamwrobinson @DYMongoose 80stees.com, do you realize the way you make me feel? I'll tell you how I feel...BAD!

adamwrobinson @DYMongoose (that's a two-in-one, you're welcome)

DYMongoose @adamwrobinson This is One day in your life You can't win. I'll Rock with you until you Scream. This is it - your One more chance.

adamwrobinson@DYMongoose Wow, that's a lot.

DYMongoose @adamwrobinson You've been served, son! lol...

adamwrobinson @DYMongoose Leave me alone! (that's a MJ song...)

DYMongoose @adamwrobinson part of me wants to declare victory, but Another part of me wants to give you partial credit for going out like that.

Can you come up with more?

music, movies, and the Creator

2009-10-12T14:15:00.002-05:00

I am off work today thanks to Christopher Columbus. I'm celebrating by watching movies and fiddling with my guitar. Also I'm consuming much Dunkin Donuts coffee which will inevitably lead to a violent crash later.

Lately I've been writing a lot about music, and I'm sorry if that's boring...but it is almost like I'm living a dream of sorts. Anyway, the SMASH Band has been getting a lot of opportunities to play at different events lately. Last Tuesday night we played my old high school's beauty pageant (random, huh?) and it was really fun. It's odd because we play Christian praise music and yet we were still invited. Different people came up to me and the others (Lena, Corey, and Hayley) and gave us many compliments. That was nice, but it was a blessing to even be able to play in such a public place. We didn't just do praise though...we played a Tom Petty song, too.

This past week a few more "gigs" have opened up, including a Halloween thing and next year's homecoming at church. Then last night a friend IMed me about playing at a coffee house in the next couple months. I'm trying to find a good assortment of music before I take on this challenge. I'd actually love some input of good acoustic style songs if you have any suggestions.

Anyway, spiritually the last few months I have been somewhat in limbo. I have very strong faith one day, muted faith the next. It's annoying. But I'm bombarded with such negative vibes from most of America regarding Christianity that it's sometimes hard to not start questioning. The more I read and hear people's thoughts, or see my Christian brothers and sisters (inadvertantly or otherwise) making us look ridiculous, the less faith I have.

But something occurred to me today while watching "Love and Death" (a Woody Allen movie, not especially profound but somewhat helpful in this season of my life). There are a few different discussions between Allen's and Diane Keaton's characters about whether or not God actually exists. These are funny moments, but no conclusive answers are given. At one point an angel appears to Allen and tells him something that absolutely does not happen. A "sign" that he's been looking for the entire movie. Yet even after his death, he doesn't denounce God, just calls him an "underachiever". Well, maybe that IS denouncement after all. Anyway, I loved the movie but my mind started churning up a pretty nice thought after it was over, which was also comforting.

I disagree with Allen's character, I think that God is the greatest achiever. I believe in Him being just, and in the fact that He loves us enough to let us make our own decisions. Does He know what we're going to do? From what I've read and understand, yes...but doesn't it take real love to allow someone to do what they please rather than force them into something? Yes He commands us to worship Him and to follow certain moral guidelines...but those are for our own good. Whose life isn't better because of not murdering someone? Whose life hasn't benefited from peaceful living, from giving to the needy? I believe in blessings. I believe in "doing unto others...". And going back to not forcing us to do things...I should clarify something. God has made situations in my life where I didn't have much of a choice but to follow His directions. But I still HAD a choice, just not much of one. But I don't want to disobey, I'd rather do my best for His work. However if others would like to do otherwise, that option is there. I think about Jonah, running and running and constantly tripping up before finally submitting. But it's also possible that after all his ordeals, he could have still run away from what God wanted.

Anyway, I hope that made sense. I have just been thinking a lot lately. And this conclusion I've come to seems profound to me, and makes me a little more hopeful.

Oh yeah, I wanted to bring something else up. Who else thinks the title "God" just isn't big enough? I feel like that name has been used and abused so much that a lot of the meaning has gone away. Plus when I hear these fake preachers on TV (or in real life) use it, I cringe. "Gawwwwddd!". Same for Jesus. "Jaysussss!". Does anyone else cringe at that?

It feels good to blog again. Until next time...

my musical evolution

2009-08-27T23:05:00.000-05:00

It's no big secret that I love music. Around age 15 I learned to appreciate music as more than just sounds in the background of my day to day life. Still, I never fully understood the complexities of actually creating music. I knew that music (done correctly) sounded great, and for years people had been perfecting the craft. A few years later I decided I wanted to join in.

However, as teenagers often do, I became very enthusiastic and then apathetic extremely quickly. I took guitar lessons and soon after they just stopped. Partially because my guitar teacher stopped giving lessons and partially because I discovered girls. But the love for music never ceased. I would dream of playing music that would touch people and those dreams continued for years.

As I entered college and then afterward the working world, I grew farther apart from music. No longer was it something tangible; rather it was an enjoyable escape from a long busy day. But something changed...

I got a new job back home in March of 2006. I started going back to my old church. Not long after re-emerging there, I was asked by two wonderful people to join their youth ministry team. I started teaching occasionally and mentoring, which was great. It kept me very busy. But all along I felt a call for something else. I wasn't sure of what it was, although it should have been very clear to me all along.

After a couple years of working with teenagers and attending camps with them, the thought was brought up by someone else to start a band for our Wednesday night services. I won't lie to you, I wasn't sold on the idea at first. I've seen plenty of bad bands and assumed I'd only become part of one. The idea left and I went along with life.

The next year (2008) we attended another camp where the idea was brought up once again. I was asked to spearhead it. At this point I hadn't touched an instrument in years, and had never sung in public (save one time, which was an extreme embarrassment). To say I was less than enthusiastic would be a safe statement. However, I felt the calling which I know as the Spirit telling me to try. I picked up my old beat up Ovation acoustic guitar and tried to play the few chords I remembered. I was horrible. A youth (who would later become a youth worker) who plays drums pushed me, though, and we tried some songs. Nothing. I was terrible. But I still felt the call. I bought a DVD by Jean Welles which refreshed my memory and greatly helped me to improve. Songs I remembered from my youth popped into my head and I got excited!

Months went by and the vision expanded. We started a band and began inviting the youth who were musically inclined to join in. It became a very free thing...a band where anyone was welcome to come and play and, to be Biblically cliche, make a joyful noise. In the meantime, I found my style. I found my voice. I got enthusiastic!

A year later, the music ministry I am blessed to be a part of has gotten much bigger. We've been invited to play special events at church. Lena (part of the ministry team along with her husband, Blaine) and I have been invited to a few different churches to play at events and services. Our band, the SMASH Band (named from our ministry, Student Ministries at Spring Hill) has been invited to play and share in the next two weeks, not counting our Wednesday night services.

Through all this, though, I realize that it has nothing to do with me. I was the doubting one. This ministry would exist with or without me. But I'm happy that God will continue to push and not give up as easily as we (I) may. It's been a blessing for me personally and my dreams are becoming real, even if no one realizes it.

old times

2009-08-14T13:44:00.002-05:00

Clay and I went back in time last night...not literally, but through the wonders of the internet we were able to go back and read old blog posts from Xanga. Thank God our sites are still active. It was quite a nostalgia kick to read entries from 2003/2004 and see what I was up to.

All the jokes and heartaches and friendships I read about really made me look at where I am today and how much I have changed. First of all, I'm not nearly as funny as I used to be. I guess that happens when you turn 26 (like I did this past Wednesday). Second, things don't affect me in the way they used to. One little thing could completely ruin my day back then, whereas now I'm a little more passive. My friends are all still part of my life, but let's face it...as time moves on, so do people. Reliving all the experiences I had back then really made me happy to have lived through all of it.

As we read things to one another, Clay mentioned that he wished things could be the way they used to. I agreed, somewhat. But we all have to grow up...get jobs, make new friendships, accept responsibilities, get married (in his case). And I wouldn't trade where I am now for anything. Life has had it's rough spots, sure, but even a few years ago I didn't know nearly as much as I do now. I miss the hangouts in Tupelo, I miss having everyone around all the time and planning fun weekends. I miss the random road trips and the thrill of being on my own for the first time. But I also love having life experience and being self-sufficient.

All in all, I'm thankful for having blogged my past (almost) seven years. Looking back is fun, but as I once heard a criminal say on some HBO documentary, looking back will only make you go back. Looking down will make you go down. Looking forward...that's the way to look.

dealing with it

2009-08-05T10:10:00.004-05:00

If you want some good reading, check this blog out. It's my brother, who is currently going through some chemotherapy for some cancer I alluded to months ago. He just started and is chronicling the experience, which I think is a great idea. But then again I love to write.

Although that doesn't seem to be true, does it? At least not here lately. I've sort of got a full plate to deal with, what with leading the youth band on Tuesday and Wednesday nights, squeezing in some fun musical sessions with my friend Steven on Thursdays, attempting a social life on weekends, and serving as a deacon at church. Oh and having a day job. Can't forget that one.

Also here lately I feel as if I am even more thrust into the role of peacemaker/peacekeeper with people at work/church. It's a hard role to fill, to be honest, and is very taxing. Why can't everyone just chill? Life is too short to be upset all the time.

However I wasn't "chill" for a while. I was in a pretty bitter mood toward God after learning of Ben's cancer. It didn't (and doesn't) make much sense to me, but eventually I realized that a lot of things don't make sense. All I can do is support and help any way I can, and blaming a supernatural being for a problem seems like a pretty archaic way of thinking. I have friends who have given me advice/scripture and of course He has shown Himself through various methods (usually other people at the right times...not coincidence) as He usually does.

But feeling helpless has renewed my faith, in a way. I am more prone to trust rather than panic. That's a nice feeling, too.

In closing, I will try and write more in the future. In the meantime, read what Ben has to say. It's pretty funny and very real.

the selfish I

2009-07-06T14:16:00.001-05:00

I am a letter. A word, also. The letter/word "I", actually. I may seem narcissistic, sure, because you'll find that I am used many times in modern speaking. That's not by accident, either.

The English language is perfect for me. Most Americans speak English as their primary language, as do many other nationalities. However the Americans are the most self-absorbed. You would probably lose count of how many times I am referenced daily. If I had a Twitter (@I), I would be mentioned many times over. That's just how it goes.

Even in today's lazy texting fad, I still get respect. ILY...IDK...you've probably seen those versions of me. While words like "love" and "you" get tossed to the side, I am intact.

So please, continue! I (and you) love the adoration. And trust me, no one will know just how great you are unless you use me. Well, unless you use "I", rather.

adam's reasons: reasons to quit facebook

2009-06-22T17:39:00.005-05:00

I started doing a new thing on my Twitter today called "Adam's Reasons". It's a list of things that strike my fancy. Today's was "Reasons to Quit Facebook". I felt the need to repost and perhaps write more than 140 characters on each reason.

1.) People at work ask me questions (loudly) based on info they gather from comments on my FB.

This happens usually every day by one or two people. Today it was "DID YOU FINALLY GET TO SLEEP LAST NIGHT? I READ WHERE YOU WERE HAVING TROUBLE!!!" Maybe this will teach me to not be so candid...

2.) Applications. They're fine on iPhone, not so much on FB. I don't wanna take a quiz. Don't wanna hatch an egg.

My aunt loves sending me crazy things to do on Facebook. However, I use it to talk to people/attempt to be funny. Not to see how well I know someone and not to play games. Except poker...that one is awesome.

3.) The 50+ crowd is taking over. Popping up on chat, leaving embarrassing notes on your photos...

My uncle Bob got me good on this one a few months ago. I visited my friend Corrie in Florida last year and posted pics on Facebook. He wrote a very embarrassing comment about her being "the one" and after I responded that we were friends, he wrote another comment saying "I was hoping she was more like a girlfriend". She was tagged in the pics. You can imagine the discomfort.

4.) Annoying sidebar ads. No I will not pay a monthly fee to flirt with hot Christian singles...

Every day. Every day I see these. So annoying. And also, I don't want to listen to some crappy knock-off band that kind of sounds like MuteMath. I really don't.

5.) I just got a friend request from a dude in a thong. Enough said.

Um...yeah I'm leaving that one alone.

Expect more of these in the future!

crazy friday (wardrobe malfunction)

2009-06-12T18:37:00.007-05:00

DISCLAIMER: Nothing too bad on this post, but it's concerning a woman and a private area on her torso. Just so you know...

To elaborate on my tweet/FB status:

"Crazy Friday. I had rude customers, Wendy's got my sandwich order wrong, oh and I saw a big woman's boob. This one's going down in the history books."

Nothing in that status/update as interesting as the last thing I wrote about. The woman's boob. This is how it happened.

I was minding my own business, fixing some problems with past-due payments and such. Pretty much having a normal day. Then this customer comes in whom I have known for a long time. She's...strange. Nice, but definitely "out there". She used to dress like a man and even grew her own 'stache. True story. Pretty awesome mustache, too.

Anyway, she came in to see her cousin, a co-worker of mine. Since her cousin was gone to lunch, the lady came in to see me. She was talking to me and I noticed that she was dressed like a woman today. As I looked at her clothes, a yellow t-shirt and shorts, I noticed a few gaping holes in the shirt. Ok, I thought, just an old beat up shirt. I'm guilty of wearing those in public, too, sometimes. I thought nothing more of it until she raised her arm. At that point one of her sagging breasts popped out of the hole. My eyes grew wide and I immediately looked her in the face for the rest of the conversation. I contemplated telling her, but how do you go about that??!? So awkward. So she continued talking and then stood up, pushing it out even further. I was a little creeped out. She got closer to me to say goodbye and I turned my head.

She then walked out of my cubicle and everyone in the bank saw her dangling participle. It was the talk of the day. Well it was a hot topic, at least until we found out that a coworker has had two of her dead dogs in her freezer for two years waiting to bury them.

I don't know which is crazier!

i'm baaaaaack

2009-06-12T10:59:00.004-05:00

It's been a while, eh? Well I actually have things to talk about! Maybe taking time off between posts is a good idea.

I broke my iPhone a couple months after buying it. I have a new one now. Along with taking better care of it, I'm also addicted to a few games.

First, Mafia Wars. It's so fun. Bruce got me into playing it. If you play, let me know and we'll join each other's crew, bust heads, and maybe become made men (or women).

Second, Live Poker. It's cool because it connects with your Facebook and you can play with your friends online and steal their (fake) money!

Just Fillin' is next. You just blow up bubbles and try not to get them popped by mines. Sounds dumb, but it's really fun.

Two more. Wheel of Fortune! You know what it's about. It's not just for 80 year olds!

Finally, Peggle. If you haven't played Peggle yet, DO IT!

Our band at church has been getting more and more gigs (if you want to call them "gigs"). I have played a couple things with Lena solo at our church (for Easter) and at another church a few weeks ago for a women's retreat. This past weekend we played at a graduation party for one of my youth. Needless to say, the ministry is really growing.

I made a Facebook fan page for our band, and put up a song. You should give it a listen if you have time. Here's the link.

I still love Twitter, too. My name on there is adamwrobinson. Let's follow one another.

Even though I stopped following him on Twitter (too many posts, mostly pointless), I can't deny that the guy makes good music. Did you see John Mayer on Conan last week? He played "California Dreamin'" with his Trio. I've always liked this Mamas and Papas song, and this twist is equally cool.

That's it for me today. Have a good weekend people!

my life meets "the office"

2009-04-30T12:11:00.010-05:00

Yesterday, Kaley Anderson said things that I say about my job sound like things that happen on "The Office". Therefore I will use the faces of Jim Halpert to explain how I looked/felt during a recent (like 15 minutes ago) experience, or "episode", if you will. The customers will be played by Dwight and Angela.

A couple walks in to my cubicle and I greet them with a smile and ask how I can help them.

The couple remarks that they need something notarized.

I say "Sure, whatcha got?". They respond by looking at each other in a very mean way...

...and the woman says "...divorce papers".

I feel very awkward, look straight ahead, and say nothing.

The end.

new stuff

2009-04-27T17:34:00.002-05:00

This weekend was awesome. Double Decker was amazingly fun, and I saw a bunch of my friends who I haven't hung with in a long time.

I broke my iPhone last week. I found a website that sells iPhones for a very reasonable price...but it's from China and the site is in all sorts of broken English. If you have any leads, hook a brother up! This Go Phone isn't going to last too much longer.

The music for the SMASH Band is also still going swimmingly. I may have jumped the gun on announcing that I was doing music for camp this year...I was a back up. Instead, my good friend Ben Lane will be leading us, which gives me the opportunity to jam with him and also relieves my responsibilities as I will also be a counselor.

I ran into a former youth the other night that said he remembered something I told them once in a lesson. I was flattered...I thought to myself, "Wow, I'm making a difference!" He went on to say it was once when I was complaining about how slow people drive in Holly Springs. He just moved to town and has experienced it for himself. So, it wasn't that profound...but at least he remembered something!

I just tried the new Hot Pocket steak and cheese panini. I had high hopes but they definitely fell flat. Steer clear of that one.

To close, you should all get on Twitter. It has really taken over my life. That actually sounds bad...it doesn't say much for my life...

Oh wait, I can't stop writing without giving some music recommendations. This is what I'm currently listening to:

The Fray- The Fray (album)
Jason Mraz - "Make it Mine"
Barenaked Ladies - Au Naturale (album)
Ryan Adams - "Like a Fool"
Silversun Pickups - Swoon (album)

my luck

2009-04-09T15:47:00.002-05:00

Don't you hate it when a really good looking girl comes up and waves at you, wanting to talk, but someone blocks you? Or you're too busy and don't have time to chat? Or they catch you looking at them? Or you have nothing to say at the time, then think of the PERFECT thing later?

Yeah, me too.

weekend & thoughts

2009-04-07T11:08:00.003-05:00

This past weekend, I was part of a great Disciple Now in Batesville. My bud Soul Train, who is youth pastor in Crowder, MS, asked me to come hang out and help teach his boys during the weekend.

I had some great kids. Ben, Tanner, Cole, Will, and B.J. were all very respectful, good guys who kinda helped in recharging my batteries. I've been running on low here lately, what with all the family stuff going on. Todd Agnew brought the music and speaking, and actually influenced me in my own music ministry. His band was really cool...stripped down yet it still sounded full. He played electric guitar, had a drummer and a bassist. That was it. I dug it. I'm going to try and incorporate both different songs and style in our worship, maybe even starting at band practice tonight.

In other news:

I went to my brother's house after the weekend and watched TV/WrestleMania with him Sunday night. Thanks so much for the prayers. It was good to see him up and going again.

In a throwback to my last post, a few different people told me I shouldn't support LiveStrong because Lance Armstrong is an athiest. Well, I researched and he's actually agnostic. So our religious views don't match up. I say, big deal. I'm supporting his charity, not his faith. Besides, how can we as Christians be influences to other people if we just shun them? Seems like faulty thinking to me.

Friday night at Wall Doxey State Park, we're having a communion service at 7:00 PM (I think...could be 7:30). I'll be playing a few songs, we'll have a speaker, and you should come if you're around.

And finally, the new U2 album is very very good.

livestrong

2009-04-03T11:21:00.003-05:00

My brother's cancer he was dealing with is GONE! Yes, gone! Thank you, God.

I took him out last night. I was going to the Apple Store in Germantown, and I knew he would probably want to get out of the house. After buying a new case for my iPhone (which is so cool, btw), we went to a few stores he wanted to visit. I was tapping away texts to my buddy Walker, telling him everything that had been going on, while Ben looked around. He came out of Finish Line and said he'd gotten me something. It was a LiveStrong bracelet. Having dealt with the same thing as Lance Armstrong, I think Ben has a certain kinship with him now that can't be denied. We both put the bracelets on and I don't think I'll ever take mine off.

So I have had the idea now to buy a couple LiveStrong bracelets every time I see them. I think I'll just pass them out to people. Support this cause.

http://www.livestrong.org

playboy channel = explicit??

2009-04-02T13:49:00.004-05:00

Really?! This is unbelievable! (sarcasm) (link)

What did viewers expect, "Lassie"? I love stupid news...

bad weather

2009-04-02T12:05:00.004-05:00

I just took this pic from my office window. What a view...yeah right. Supposedly we're on tornado watch...kinda looks like jolly ol' England...

-- Posted From My iPhone

questions for God

2009-04-01T12:27:00.004-05:00

I was asked about a month ago to do the devotion tonight at church for the adult group. Basically that means I will be leading music downstairs and then hightailing it upstairs to talk to the "big church". With all that's been going on this week (my nagging sinus troubles, my brother's illness which I will get into in a bit), I had almost decided to cancel. But I started writing and things began pouring out of me.

A little backstory: My brother had a tumor removed last Friday and we found out yesterday that it was cancerous. Tomorrow the doctor tells us what to do about it. Ben is in high spirits, and we're holding out hope that it's treatable or, better yet, gone. This has been weighing heavily on my mind, naturally, and so I had many questions for God. Typing this out proved to be very therapeutic.

So here it is:

I know people talk about the questions they would ask God. I’ve got a few.

First of all, I’d ask why He’d put up with people if we just fail?

Next I’d ask about sicknesses. Certain ones that we can’t cure. Where do they come from and why can’t they be explained?

I’d probably ask lastly why there are so many unexplainables in life?

Yet deep down I think I know the answer to that. Things happen that we can’t understand. Faith calls us to trust in Him as He works. That’s easier said than done. It takes some deep meditation and dedication. Love isn't exactly easy to understand.

So I’ve decided to break down my questions further. Find out for myself what it all means.

To find out why He’d put up with us even though we fail, my search defaults back to love.

1 John 3:1 says, "How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God! And that is what we are! The reason the world does not know us is that it did not know Him."

Okay, so if the world knew Him, it would certainly be a better place. That’s a given. We fail because so many of our fellow people don’t know Him. That’s a call to action for us as Christians. We’re called to spread the word of God, the love of Christ, daily. So the answer to that question is that we are to fix the fact that people are failing. It’s our duty.

Next up is the sickness question. Sometimes we are given things to test our faith. Sometimes we reap what we’ve sown, sometimes we bring it on ourselves…other times, it’s a test, like Job faced. Or maybe it's a way to help someone else with a story of recovery.

2 Cor 4:16-18 says, "Therefore we do not give up, but even if the man we are outside is wasting away, certainly the man we are inside is being renewed from day to day. For though the tribulation is momentary and light, it works out for us a glory that is of more and more surpassing weight and is everlasting; while we keep our eyes, not on the things seen, but on the things unseen. For the things seen are temporary, but the things unseen are everlasting."

The main verse I found to answer my last question is from Romans. I wonder why there are so many things I can’t explain. Why is that? Then I think back to the woman who was bleeding uncontrollably, yet Jesus healed her by her faith alone.

Romans 8-28. "All things work together for those that love the Lord".

One of my bosses tells me this a lot. It’s great encouragement, and proof that we don’t have to know all the answers. Knowing who controls everything really can be good enough.

testing out blogging from my iPhone...

2009-03-30T15:39:00.002-05:00

A nice pic I took the other day in Oxford...

-- Posted From My iPhone

cool things, and not so cool things. so, really, cool things and lukewarm things.

2009-03-30T13:18:00.004-05:00

I got a check this weekend that actually helps with some bills. Nice! God's good in that way.

I lied when I said I'd put up pics this time. Maybe next post.

Hung with my bro all weekend. He had some major surgery last week. Awaiting results on all that...and we'll find out tomorrow. Drop to your knees and put your hands together on that one, please.

I've currently been sorta lazy on the Wii Fit. That doesn't look to change much this week, as I've contracted some sort of coughing, wheezing, sneezing, snotty illness. My Mii is gonna be so fat next time I get on.

I'm excited for tomorrow night. That's band practice night. I am also getting some songs together for a Good Friday thing I'm doing at Wall Doxey State Park. Last time I played/sang in a park it was a complete disaster. But that was years ago and I'm much better now! If anyone knows some good Easter related songs, hit me up with them. I'm drawing blanks...

This weekend I'm helping a buddy (Soul Train) with a Disciple Now in Batesville. The speaker/worship leader is Todd Agnew, who I'm not super-familiar with, but am excited to hear.

Finally, I'm loving Twitter. If you Tweet, follow me.

That's it for today. Good day, everyone.

return of the ish

2009-03-26T10:41:00.003-05:00

I had posted earlier, but something messed it up. Stupid Blogger.

I'm so glad today is Thursday. That means it's casual day here at the old workplace, the Office is on tonight (new episode, too!), and the weekend is quickly approaching. Can't beat that.

The last time I posted, I was about to have painful kidney stone surgery. Well, obviously I made it through alive and well. It knocked me out of commission for almost a week though...that was nasty stuff.

Two weeks ago, I went on a ski trip in Colorado with some friends/family. It was awesome...I remembered a lot of techniques that I was sure I'd have forgotten. I had a much better time than last year.

On that trip, I became obsessed with Wii Fit and the iPhone. I bought both when I got home. I'm currently broke, waiting impatiently on my next pay day (tomorrow)...

Also with all that's been going on, I have lost more weight. I'm down to the target I had set previously months ago, and am now working toward a new goal. Then I'm stopping. Counting calories/burning them off isn't exactly "fun".

Speaking of fun, I'm posting pics next time. Enjoy your day, Bloggerites.

i need your thoughts/prayers

2009-02-24T13:51:00.002-06:00

I have an invasive, painful surgery Thursday to get my kidney stone out. Not being too graphic, this is what will happen: the doctor will be entering my you-know-what and breaking the stone, and then pulling it out. Apparently my stone has doubled in size over the past four months that I've been harboring it, and it would be crazy (not to mention unhealthy) to leave it in any longer.

However I will be in quite a bit of pain for a while. So please keep me in your thoughts and prayers Thursday morning at 8 AM.

about my musical weekend

2009-02-22T22:13:00.005-06:00

This weekend was a good one...I played music with my band at Spring Hill on Saturday night for a Wild Game dinner...yeah, it is what you're probably thinking. A very Mississippi event where people brought in various animals they had hunted and prepared. For example, there was rabbit, wild hog, deer, etc. If you can kill it and cook it, it was probably there.

The meat (no pun intended) of the story for me, though, is that Friday night at practice I had some real pre-show jitters. As you may (or may not) know, I lead worship for our youth services on Wednesday nights. I'm still a novice at guitar (but improving weekly), but enjoy singing and doing what I feel God is telling me to do...lead others to Him through music.

Every week we have a rotating cast of musicians from our youth group come in and play/sing, and it's really this cool grassroots type of thing. We've put our own spin on some traditional and contemporary songs that get the kids a little more pumped than they are at our Sunday morning hymn-based worship hour. As fun as it is, however, it's a daunting task at times to direct people on what to do, especially since I am as previously noted a novice.

Back to the jitters: our only type of music that we play is Christian. Worship music, more specifically (is there any other kind?). I didn't know how well it would mesh with the crowd we were sure to have on Saturday night. I let a few people talk me into a nervous state, too. I was pretty unsure of how we'd sound/ what people would think about our performance...as were some of the people putting the event together (who asked us to play initially...go figure). So we practiced and it sounded okay, if a bit chaotic. We had 5 guitarists, including me, and relegating who plays what seemed to be a case of "no one is going to be happy". I was stressed.

Saturday seemed to be the longest day. We were to start practicing at 6:00 PM, and I woke up early that day. Luckily for me, my Dad knew the exact words to say. He called me randomly Saturday afternoon as I was fumbling around Wal-Mart aimlessly, and I just opened up. I was a little stressed and it showed. My Dad gave me some real words of encouragement about how we were doing what God called us to, and regardless of what people thought, the focus is on Him anyway. That calmed me more than Dad knew, and helped me to feel more comfortable and the jitters to go away.

So I don't know if we sounded okay or not on Saturday night. Maybe we did, maybe not. But it felt good, and it felt right. I think that's what matters anyway. We sang and played for God alone, and even got a round of applause. But the clapping meant almost nothing compared to the peace that came along with what I feel was our purpose.

new mutemath!

2009-02-20T14:58:00.001-06:00

Do yourself a favor and get this. Click the pic. I just bought the vinyl and t-shirt deal, with digital download. Good stuff!

another update...

2009-02-19T12:04:00.006-06:00

First off, I'm on Twitter now, so if you do that sort of thing...let's follow each other.

Second, I cut all my hair off. It had gotten pretty long, with the front bangs grown out to the point where they looked decent. It was just too high maintenance for me at this point, and I kind of like the short look. However, teenagers don't. I went to church last night and was setting up for our music and was practically booed out of the building! Teenagers are all about appearance, you know. One girl wouldn't speak to me (!!!) and another asked, "Do you even WANT a girlfriend?!?". I had to laugh at that. Teenagers are funny.

Let's see...other news...I may be going to see the Flight of the Conchords in April in Nashville. I am helping with a D-Now in mid-April that has Todd Agnew as the speaker/worship leader. I have never really been a big Agnew fan, but I am into music...so it couldn't hurt! Plus, those are fun to work anyway.

Also, I'm making my second ski trip to Breckinridge in two weeks. I have been working out and training for this trip for a few months, and still don't feel like I'm ready. We'll see when the time comes, though.

I've made some cool purchases here lately, too. I bought an ION USB Turntable. I have quite a few vinyl albums that I either don't have, can't find, or don't want to buy on CD/mp3. This record player plugs into my computer and I can record the songs into iTunes. Pretty awesome.

Another cool thing I found was a Garmin Nuvi 255W GPS at the soon-to-be-out-of-business Circuit City for $175.00 as opposed to the regular $279.00. My brother got one for Christmas and I've kinda had GPS envy. This was a good find.

I also started a new doctor in Southaven, who seems to think I can kick this kidney stone trouble once and for all. That's refreshing. A cool thing about going to see him is that I can visit one of my favorite little record shops, Disc-O-Tech. It's such a cool little dive place. I found some good music there this week, including a disc from this blues musician by the name of Robert Cray. I went to see him play at Ole Miss a few months ago and the guy was awesome. So that is my music recommendation for the day. "Heavy Picks" by Robert Cray. He's been around since the '70s and still sounds as relevant as ever.

daniel fast

2009-02-06T09:02:00.003-06:00

“In those days I, Daniel, was mourning three full weeks. I ate no pleasant food, no meat or wine came into my mouth, nor did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.” Daniel 10:2, 3

I'm on day 5 of my 21 day Daniel fast. I'm not necessarily mourning, but I am in deep prayer over certain things, people, and situations in my life. For example, I'm using this to further my dieting (down to 182, btw) as well as to heal myself from kidney stones. And I'm finding that things are coming to me more easily when I'm fasting. Our music at church the other night was really good...and I'm not being arrogant. Words just came out of my mouth with more meaning. My guitar sounded much better than usual. There was feeling...yearning...hunger.

Last night I sat down and wrote part of a song. I haven't been able to do that in a long time! I have been truly inspired.

Also yesterday, my kidney stone decided to try and hurt. Rather than take a pill, I stopped and prayed. Hard. I laid down on my couch and closed my eyes. After a few minutes I didn't hurt anymore. How about that?

As for the food...I'm not giving up on food all together. What I eat are very simple things. I will eat vegetable soups, vegetables alone, fruit...and that's about it. Other than water. No meats, breads, flavored drinks (except smoothies...they're OK. Though I doubt Daniel had smoothies.).

The good thing is that I already feel better and more refreshed. I'll keep the blog updated on my status.

the ever popular "25 things" list

2009-01-30T00:50:00.001-06:00

I filled this out on Facebook, and figured it'd translate well...

25 Things About Mr. Adam Robinson

1.) I will tell anyone, any place, any time, that Victor's Pizza in Holly Springs is the best pizza in the world. Hands down.

2.) I had a band in high school called Falcon Mouse Reunion. I played guitar. Horribly, too, I might add.

3.) On my Sirius radio, two of my presets are the 90s pop station and an Outlaw country station. Take that, pretentious music people!

4.) I have had a blog since September 2003. I used to blog on Xanga but now have one on Blogger. I don't update as much anymore, but it's something I can't stop doing. I like to write.

5.) I have only owned two cars...a 1994 Saturn and a 2000 Mustang. I really want a truck though. You can't live in Mississippi and not have a truck...

6.) Some of my favorite musicians/bands which may come across as bizarre: Prince, Eddie Money, Jay-Z, Bee Gees, Blondie, Kanye West

7.) I liked vinyl before vinyl was cool (again).

8.) My ultimate life goal is to own a record shop. I already have playlists made that would make awesome background music...

9.) My right pinky toe doesn't have a joint in it.

10.) I like to paint. Kinda lazy with it though. Usually one painting takes 6-7 months. I've been working on a small one of a mountain shot I took last year in Colorado for a looooong time. I have to be motivated, I guess.

11.) I am extremely afraid of heights, but two of my favorite things to do are to fly in airplanes and ride roller coasters. Figure that one out.

12.) No offense to Gary, Bruce, and Ben (all former roommates), but I actually enjoy living alone.

13.) When I lived in Oxford, I got pulled over at least 7 times, but never got a ticket. That's lucky.

14.) I work with teenagers at Spring Hill, and they have given me the most unflattering nickname ever: Dirt. I hated it at first, but I have really grown to like it. (It comes from our former pastor, who once in a sermon said that the name Adam means "from the dirt".)

15.) Once at Northwest, I fell down an entire flight of stairs. Also, a guy tried to fight me there. I also (reluctantly) made friends with one of the weirdest people on planet Earth. Senatobia is a different world.

16.) When I worked at Big Star (grocery store), I turkey bowled on my last day. For the uninitiated, that means you set up 2 liter drinks in the formation of bowling pins and slide a frozen turkey down the aisle, trying to get a strike. We got in trouble...but hey, it was my last day!

17.) Also at Big Star, a lady knocked down an entire display of glass jars of mayonnaise. I had to clean it up. This is why I absolutely hate mayo. I smelled it for days.

18.) Once, when we were kids, Ben and I got into it because he wouldn't let me play the Sega Genesis. I picked up my BB gun and threatened to shoot him. To further my point, and because I thought it wasn't loaded, I shot it in the air. It knocked a hole in my ceiling. I made him swear to not tell. Somehow, my parents never noticed and he never told.

19.) I once had a meth dealer/maker stop me in the middle of the road and pull a gun on me. I hit the gas and got out of there. He was later taken care of by the police. He actually shot at a few people driving.

20.) In art class my junior year of high school, me, my cousin Taylor, Jason Carter, and a couple other guys had to write a play, make costumes, and act it out. Somehow we came up with this idea about aliens coming to Earth and these two drill sergeants fought the aliens with the help of two pimps. Yes, pimps. I don't know how we got away with it.

21.) My senior year, I had a running joke with Amber Smith where almost daily I would run down to the parking lot and jump on the hood of her car as she pulled out. It was good harmless fun until one day I jumped on a car that looked just like hers but was actually some Mom. The woman slammed her brakes and I fell off and took off running.

22.) Before, during, and after my friend Clay's wedding, all of us groomsmen quoted lines from Superbad. It was hilarious.

23.) My first "big" concert to ever attend was Matchbox 20 in 1998. I thought it was the coolest thing ever.

24.) I had never been to the beach, ever, until this past October. It was quite an enlightening experience.

25.) When I was 12, I went riding bikes with a friend. We stopped at some old guy's house, because I later found out that my friend's step-brother would get weed from this guy. The old guy came outside and offered me a joint. I smoked it and ended up running my bike off the road and breaking my leg. Just kidding, I said no and high-tailed it out of there.

ramblings

2009-01-22T12:56:00.003-06:00

My gosh, can you believe the media buzz that is surrounding Obama? I wish him all the luck in the world but the guy's got some heavy years ahead of him. HBO had a concert special all day long on Sunday, and the inauguration was an event like I'd never seen before. I don't recall that many people going to see George W. be inaugurated, or Clinton for that matter. I just know that now the festivities are over and the pressure is on. Best of luck, Barack.

In other news, I have decided one thing for my future. I will not name my son(s) (if I have any) a name like Jaden...nothing cutesy. No offense to anyone with those names, but I just can't see a full grown man introducing himself as Jaden. I think my son would despise me in the future.

I haven't made any living arrangement decisions. I don't know if I will move to that house I mentioned before or not. Not that anything is wrong with it, just I haven't heard anything else out of the guy who is vacating it. Besides that, I've got my apartment almost exactly the way I wanted it. My landlord has fixed all the problems (broken downstairs glass door, big florescent light bulbs that needed to be replaced, etc.) and I'm kind of comfortable living there. It's definitely a bachelor pad, though. Most people who come up and see the place generally like it, except for most girls who get freaked out by the big bathtub (which an old man died in, actually) with the feet on it. I know that it's no place to raise a family, but I don't exactly have one at this point. It's a good place to live my bachelor years.

My diet/exercise program is still ticking. I have noticed some results, but nothing drastic. Time will tell, however. I watched a show the other night called "Half Ton Mom" about a woman who was 800 lbs. She underwent gastric bypass surgery and then died later of heart complications. But she tried, and while I'm still under 200, it made me decide to stick to keeping myself healthy.

It's become somewhat of a tradition for me to close with a music recommendation. I'm hammering a song into my head here lately...it's called "My Heart, Your Home" by Watermark. Lena is wanting me to learn the guitar parts to it so we can perform it some Sunday morning. It has some complex guitar techniques that is really challenging me. Anyway, it's a good song and you should check it out.

Until next time...stay classy, bloggers.

welcome, 2009

2009-01-06T09:59:00.006-06:00

Man, have I neglected this thing. Every once in a while I feel the urge to write, but something inevitably comes up. But since our system is down at work, I have absolutely no excuse.

My holiday season was a good one. I have tons of pics that I took with my new Sony digital camera (10 MP, which seems good to me!) that I will post later. Cool thing: this camera has a feature that will stretch someone's mouth into a smile if they were not, in fact, smiling. It is kind of creepy, but also hilarious.

The diet was put on halt, as there was no way I could possibly keep up with it what with the visits to grandparents and other various friends/family. I mean, good food was raining down from the heavens for two straight weeks. But now I'm trying to get back into the swing of healthy eating/exercise. Not exactly easy.

I have also cleaned my apartment and it feels good. I went to an auction with my parents on Saturday to buy things to accompany my newly clean apartment and found a huge clock, a shelf, and a lamp to hang on the wall. It was really great.

Also at that auction, I met my mom's gay friend Nathan. Knowing my mom (and especially my dad), it's pretty funny that she has a gay friend. He seemed really nice, though, and helped my mom buy some facial cream. He also was telling her about botox, which I'd rather her not do. Don't need a fake mother running around, no matter how "fabulous" she would look.

But something else I've been considering is: moving. Not far away or anything, but actually just down the street. This guy I know is buying a house, and his current house is going up for rent at only $50 more than what I'm paying right now. It would be nice to have a house rather than an apartment that requires climbing 2,000 stairs (and braving the alley-cats behind my house). I'm putting the numbers together to see if it will work out.

Well our computers are back up and running, so I will leave you with my latest musical favorite.

That's right. It's Kanye West's "808s & Heartbreak". Before you nay-say, it's really quite good. Kanye has been through a tough year, and this is his release. If you liked him before but got tired of the cockiness (as I did), you'll enjoy this. Try it out.

how ghetto is holly springs? part 1

2008-12-22T00:06:00.001-06:00

update on the diet, plus much much more

2008-12-16T09:50:00.003-06:00

First things first, I lost 3 more pounds last week. That's 5 total, bringing me to 188. Eight more pounds until my goal. After that, I'm going to set a goal a little farther back. But one step at a time.

To aid my weight loss, I've begun tricking out my decidedly un-tricked out bicycle. I mean, it's pink and purple for crying out loud. However, it's a 10-speed that my brother's ex-girlfriend gave to me a few years ago (thanks, Michelle!) and is still in good condition. The seat is kinda tough, though, so I bought and installed a new one this weekend. Also I bought new brake pads that I found for $1.00 at Wal-Mart. Not bad, eh?

Also last week, something happened to me that I didn't know was even possible. I slipped on a banana peel as I stepped out of my car. I've seen it happen in many Looney Tunes, but never in real life. It was a little traumatic but much more funny. Especially for all the people who saw it. No one laughed in front of me, but I know that as soon as I dragged myself up my stairs, the chuckling began.

The big news this week has been the oncoming potential ice storm. I woke this morning to a car completely frozen over. Once I got my door open, I realized I had neither an ice pick nor a can of de-icer spray. Then I saw an old Limp Bizkit CD from my old roommate's collection lying in my backseat. It made the perfect pick.

On a more serious note, however, I was extremely touched this weekend. We took the youth to a children's home in Independence, MS where we played Santa to the 15-16 kids living there. They sent us Christmas lists and, due to a nice donation we received, we were able to buy each kid 2 gifts. Then they had us come play basketball/soccer/football with them until we had to leave. These kids were so grateful...they all hugged and high-fived us numerous times until we had to drive away. Needless to say, this place will continue to be a mission spot for us in the future.

And finally, I'm trying to learn Christmas songs for Wednesday Night Worship (what we call our weekly service). Since Christmas is pretty much here, if anyone knows any songs I could learn pretty easily (I'm still a novice) then I'd appreciate the tip. I have learned Silent Night and play a pretty funky rendition of Jingle Bells...

christmas with weezer

2008-12-11T14:09:00.002-06:00

Weezer did a few Christmas songs, and here are two of them. The rest are on YouTube, if you feel like checking them out. I am totally in the Christmas Spirit.

The First Noel

O Holy Night

official weigh-in

2008-12-05T16:04:00.003-06:00

Alright, I weigh in today at...drum roll...191. I lost 2 pounds this week! And it wasn't easy, either. I really had to resist some good food. And completely drink water all week. Also, not eat after 9:00 PM. I have always eaten after 9, so that's a hard habit to break.

But I feel better, and confident that I can make it the rest of the way.

hysteria

2008-12-04T11:11:00.003-06:00

I have never thought of myself as weak, but I really want some chocolate.

I've been eating mostly fiber-based foods as of the last 3 days. Water and occasionally tea has been all I've drank. I like the food I'm eating. The Kashi Lean cereal I'm having in the morning is good, as is my daily pear. Lunch is pretty good, with the whole wheat pita bread and turkey and assorted nuts and berries. But I would kill someone for chocolate.

Perhaps I chose the wrong month for dieting. Maybe? But I do feel more alert and happy now that I have better stuff in my system. Still...chocolate.

Anyway, onto other things. I have recently discovered last.fm. If you don't know, it's a music site where you choose your favorite bands/artists and it plays their songs for you. It's nice to have going at work and, if I had internet at home, it would play constantly. You should check it out.

Also, speaking of music, the Raveonettes have put out a Christmas EP called "Wishing You a Rave Christmas". It's really good, if you like foreign garage rock.

Other great Christmas albums: James Taylor put one out a year or so ago, as has Relient K. Depending on your tastes, I'd check 'em out.

Alright well I have to get back to work and NOT eating chocolate. And tomorrow...weigh in.

correction, plus a cool thing

2008-12-02T00:10:00.003-06:00

I was wrong in my last post. I hadn't adjusted my scale. I officially weigh 193 pounds. So that means 13 pounds until my target weight. I feel better already!

And now, a cool thing. A coworker told me about this thing at Wal-Mart called RedBox. It's a DVD rental vending machine that costs $1 per day. I rented "Forgetting Sarah Marshall", which I had seen once before, and just finished watching it again. Hilarious. I love RedBox.

Tomorrow (or, today rather) the great diet/exercise plan begins!

a new leaf. dieting. yeech.

2008-12-01T14:43:00.006-06:00

This weekend, it hit me. I had to buy new pants that fit better.

After that, I went to the store and bought a scale. I decided to find out exactly how much I weighed and then find out my ideal weight. Based on my height (5' 10") I should weigh around 180 pounds. I looked that up last night. I didn't get on the scale until today.

I weighed in at 200 even. That is the most I have ever weighed in my life. I feel self-conscious, my legs and stomach have gotten the most of the extra weight. Every once in a while I get told that I've "really put on weight" lately. It's been within the past few years. I weighed 150 lbs. just 4 years ago. There are different reasons why I haven't kept the weight off, whether it be general laziness or stress or whatever. I'm sick of it though, and it needs to go.

However, I have no one to keep me in check. That's where this blog comes in. I will weigh myself every Friday and discuss my week in dieting/exercise. I hope to lose the weight in a few months. I'm smart enough to know to pace myself, and don't want to binge. I want a healthy lifestyle and a weight I can manage.

So if anyone reading this knows any tips that could be benificial to me, please let me know!

a suggestion to music blogs

2008-11-25T18:09:00.008-06:00

The albums above are current (and older) favorites of mine. On all of them, there are catchy melodies and interesting lyrics. Not world-/life-changing stuff, but enjoyable music that makes me happy. All (in some form or another) harshly criticized.

I'm not so happy when I read certain music blogs. I was angered recently by a review of Ryan Adams and the Cardinals new album "Cardinology" when a reviewer panned a few songs for being "radio-friendly". Okay, what's wrong with writing a song that doesn't alienate people? One song in question is called "Magick" and it's a pretty good song. It has chord changes and a catchy chorus. I tend to think that if you can write a song that will make people happy, then you've done something kind of good.

Not so with music sites such as Pitchfork (who overanalyze everything) and It's Hard to Find a Friend (who I generally love...save for this ignorant statement about Adams). IHTFAF even mentioned that Adams' album "Rock n Roll" was horrible. Not true. It was an artist who is normally in the alt-country genre branching out and making really good sounding classic rock. What's wrong with that picture? Nothing, except for the reviewer's inability to listen to these songs while at a stop light with his windows down and be seen by others as so much "cooler" and "different" for not liking what they like.

Am I saying that I don't want to be different? No. I'm not saying I do, either. I just want to like what I like. Why do we have to harshly criticize music (or anything personal) just because it is or isn't the way we see that it should be? In the case of music, let's just let it be. If you like it, good. If not, that's fine. But please stop being so pretentious. It's not cool. It's annoying.

week in review

2008-11-21T09:33:00.006-06:00

Wow, didn't mean to go so long with a basically negative post greeting anyone stumbling onto this page. Guess I should update.

I've become a morning coffee drinker. All day long I'm guzzling this huge water bottle, so I don't get my caffiene during the day anymore like I did when I was a Coke drinker. This had led to headaches and a bad temper. My co-workers have even referred to my attitude as "doo-doo on a stick". So coffee has helped temper my...um...temper.

This past Wednesday I had to go back to the doctor to check on my stone. For the first time in my life, I had a good looking nurse. Wait, scratch that. TWO good looking nurses. They were really nice and smelled amazing. That was great, because next I got to see the X-Ray of my stone. It's friggin' HUGE! I shuddered when I thought of having to pass this thing. Still do.

The wedding last weekend was actually not that bad. I got to see some old friends and make new ones. My only complaint was...get this...the kidney stone. I was so high on painkillers during the wedding that I thought I was going to pass out. I was seriously shuffling and blinking a lot. Thankfully no one seemed to notice and the wedding was a success.

And Thanksgiving is here next week, which is great for two reasons. One, I love the food. Two, I can get into the Christmas spirit. My work has been playing Christmas music already and I'm sort of a Scrooge about that. I want Thanksgiving out of the way first. Then we can celebrate.

On a different note, I have been reading a book that has been pretty hard to put down. I started it yesterday on lunch break/before Oxygen/before bed and got about halfway through it. It's called Pathways to Abandon by Nathan Schnackenburg, and it's about a guy who grew up a missionary kid in Japan, moved back to America, and went a little crazy. It's basically a testimony, but it's been pretty entertaining. I like to hear stories of where people have been and what shapes them into who they are now. So if you need something to read in this cold weather, this is a pretty good choice.

a complaint-filled post

2008-11-13T12:11:00.004-06:00

Money. What a concept. We need it but don't want to be consumed by it.

I have a couple things to vent about. For my own personal safety, I'll be vague about one of them but explicit about the other.

First of all, I'm finding myself to be running out of money fairly often these days. It seems like I'm having to coast the last half of the month. Granted I took a vacation last month which was a drain financially (but good for me otherwise), but something pops up all the time. Like this month I have to go to a wedding (more on that later) and of course next month is Christmas. My ski trip is in March and I have to plop down $375 in a couple weeks for a ski pass. And today I found out that some much needed money I was expecting will not be coming to me after all. I had thought about getting a credit card for such emergencies (I know, I know, bad idea...I've read Dave Ramsey's books) but I get denied every time. Turns out that people my age are least eligible. Needless to say, I'm a little bummed about it all.

My other gripe is about this wedding. I'm really happy for my friend, whom I have had a tumultuous relationship with, but by God's grace I've been able to get past it all. I'm actually really excited to see him at this huge time of his life. The thing that bugs me is how much trouble the tuxedo situation has turned out to be. First off, Ben and I went to get fitted a few weeks ago and the store was supposed to call in our information to the Paris, TN (where my friend lives) tux place and we could just pick it up there. Good, sounds simple.

But it wasn't. And isn't. We got fitted by the worst fitter ever. She had to go back and do it again after someone told her she did it wrong. She tried fitting my pants by asking this question, "Where is your belly button?" Did she think I hiked my pants up that high?!? Ridiculous.

Anyway, after all of that, we paid a deposit only to have them return the deposit to us the next day. Apparently we had to pay in Paris. Okay, fine. Then a week later I got a phone call from the store letting me know that my order had to be redone and I had to pay in Oxford. Okay, fine, I went and did all that. They informed us that we had to pick up the tuxes in Oxford now instead of Paris. Alright, can do.

Then this morning I got a phone call saying that I need to come try on the tux because they're afraid that the measurements were wrong. WHAT?!? So I have to go down there and try it on. I'm crossing my fingers that it's right because I have to leave town tomorrow afternoon for rehearsal. I don't think the couple will be too happy if we show up tux-less.

Yeah, it's a frustrating day. And I have to pay for the tuxes today, too. Not to mention the gas to get up to Paris (a 3 hour drive).

As of this point, I'm taking donations.

adam is dum

2008-11-11T20:53:00.003-06:00

I know I just posted earlier today, but I had to put this up. This past Sunday night, one of my youth told me to come into our room because this little girl named Kristin had drawn a picture for me. I went in expecting something heartwarming...but I got something much better. If nothing else, self-depreciating humor is one of my favorite things. So to be immortalized on a dry-erase board, frowning, with a message beside me claiming that I am "dum"...well...let's just say it made my night. Thanks Kristin!

(Click the pic to make it larger)

going fast when i should wait

2008-11-11T14:55:00.007-06:00

I went to the doctor yesterday about my kidney stones. I never like going to the doctor. I sat in his office for a few hours on painkillers. I fell asleep a few times...and reportedly was a certifiable jerk on occasion. Those pills do that to me. Anyway, I got checked out and now I know that I have a 3mm stone on the outside of my kidney that gets stuck in my tubes and makes me act like a baby. I have a 60-70% chance of passing it.

So even though I have been slowing things down a little bit, I have to slow it even more. Doctor's orders. Also lots of water. And maybe lots of Drank, too.

But at least I'm off work today. Veteran's Day! I've been able to clean up a little around the house and play some Gears of War 2. I'm a 25 year old kid. But I love my multimedia.

And speaking of which, I am ready for this album later on this month. Check that hair.

an early November update

2008-11-06T10:10:00.009-06:00

It has been quite a week so far. New president-elect, and because of that there's nothing to watch on TV. But I'm wondering...when are all these people moving to Canada/Australia?

And I really don't want to get into the election stuff. I could talk about it all day, but for what purpose? Speculation? I don't know what the next 4-8 years will bring. I will just say that regardless of our leader, we need to pray for God's will to be done. Same for Obama as it would have been for McCain. And let's stop with the hate speech, Christians. Some of you are so worried about the anti-Christ...well the Bible speaks of many anti-Christs. Think of what that means. Against Christ. The opposite of Christ. And who exactly does that apply to? Everyone who says that Christ is not who He says He is. All liars and slanderers of His name. So...let's think, people. Don't become an anti-Christ. Pray, be diligent, and trust God. You know your Savior...let Him continue to be that.

On a lighter subject, I really got a kick out of this: an older man (83 years old) came in and did a loan today and I had the privilege of talking with him. This guy was hilarious. He wasn't the crotchety old man who's mad at the world, nor was he the super sweet old guy who all the women say "He's so cute" about...he was just an older guy who, while a little senile, has seemingly stayed relevant his whole life. Among his words of wisdom ("you shouldn't have kids if you're not willing to take care of them even when they're in their sixties...", "I think we should give Obama a fair chance before we throw him out..."), he also said lots of old guy stuff ("...it's really hard to write with this arthritis in my hands. It's also in my feet....blah blah blah...").

But one of the funniest things he said was when he was talking about his sons. He said, "I raised my sons right. I took them to church and made them sit beside me. I know they were saved. I lost one of my sons, too. He was about your age." At this point there was a long pause and I started feeling some sympathy for him. To lose a son at 25 had to be hard. Then he said, "Well, I don't know. He was 52. How old are you?" I almost laughed. I said, "25." Then we both laughed for a long time.

As far as my kidney stones, I think this round is over! I've passed 2 of them in the past 2 weeks. I'm still sore and I still haven't gotten into my routine of exercising again, but I'm positive that I can very soon.

Oh yeah...I'm exercising to get in better shape both for myself and for my upcoming ski trip in March. Speaking of which, my cousin backed out of the trip...so it will be me with my aunt and uncle and two family friends. All cool people, trust me, but still...it would have been nice to have another young person going. So if you want to go to beautiful Breckinridge/Keystone, Colorado in March (or know someone who does), please let me know! There's time to work out details. And it would be awesome.

To wrap up, I'm gonna post album covers of some of the most listened tunes on my iPod here lately. I encourage you to check them out. I'll write a little about them, and then it's back to work.

More brilliance from Adams and his full band. Alt-country with a contemplative swagger. My picks: "Go Easy", "Magick", "Let Us Down Easy", "Natural Ghost".

The Strokes' guitarist's second solo album, it's full of catchy riffs and songs that just stick in your head. My picks: "GfC", "Lisa", "You Won't Be Fooled By This".

Ex-Pedro the Lion frontman prepares for his full length solo album with an EP released last year ("Fewer Moving Parts") and this two-song single released this past Tuesday. Both songs are great. "American Flags" and "Please, Baby, Please (Demo)".

tired of pain

2008-10-31T11:23:00.006-05:00

Amazingly, the self-torture I spoke of in the last post has given birth to another type of bodily misery...kidney stones.

I have had kidney stones off and on for about 4 years now. Most of them are attributed to carbonated drinks (Coke, how I love you...) and too much calcium (milk? cheese? I dunno). So now and again I'll go on hiatus from fizzy drinks to cleanse my body. And since I've been running in addition to chugging water daily, stones that have been dormant in my kidneys have decided to escape. Wednesday afternoon the pain was pretty much unbearable. I went home from work an hour early to go home and roll around on my floor while making ungodly noises. I eventually got some medication to knock me out. Later that night I passed a stone. One word: ouch.

At 2 AM Thursday, however, I had another pain in my back. I got up and took another pill to allow myself to sleep. I went to work later on and was in a drug-induced daze all day long. After work I went home and crashed for a couple hours. Then, miraculously, I felt all better.

Now here I am today, knowing that there's a stone inside me that is just waiting. I want it to get out, but I know that's not really up to me. Ah well. Maybe it'll hit me on this Halloween night and I can scare small children with my screams...

feel the burn

2008-10-27T21:34:00.004-05:00

Over the last week, I have subscribed to a popular form of self-torture. Running.

In March I'm going skiing again. Last year my stamina wasn't that great and I would be wiped out halfway down the mountain. That's not good. So, since I have also put on some weight over the past year, I decided to get my act together and start working out. And man am I paying for it.

Saturday I ran around this local football field a few times. I was out of breath but really felt like I accomplished something. Then I got home and hit the Bowflex. I was jazzed...until about 4 AM Sunday morning. I woke up with cramps and pains I hadn't felt in a looooong time. Needless to say I didn't sleep at all after that.

But today I ran a little farther...lifted a little more...and I feel like I'm on the way to a better, healthier me.

It just friggin' hurts.

why i hate the local fair

2008-10-23T09:34:00.004-05:00

I don't know if anyone remembers, but last year on my old blog I complained about this annual fair being held literally in front of my apartment. Well, it's back, and this time they've gone even farther in messing with me.

It's called the Kudzu Festival (kudzu is this terrible plant that originated in China and was brought over here to help stop erosion. It didn't, but instead took over other plants and trees and looks ugly). I hate it. When I was a kid, I loved the festival. You could ride all the rides and they looked, sounded, and felt like they would break at any second...which of course made it more exciting! But the festival soon soured itself to me not one, not two, but three times.

The first time actually started off nice. I was a kid, probably about 10 or 11 years old, and just starting to like girls. This one girl in particular seemed to like me, too. It was great...we played that game where you pop balloons and we both won these cool drawings framed in glass. I was so proud...mine was of Taz (my uncle loved Taz...therefore I loved Taz) and hers was a bunny or something. It was really girly. Anyway, we decided to ride this one thing that would jerk us around for a bit. I put our framed pictures beside me and we began. One sharp turn later and I smashed into the pictures...glass went all in my leg and cut my arm. I cried.

Second time was also with a girl. I was in high school now, and was skipping work that night to take my girlfriend out to the fair. I know, I'm so romantic. We were having fun until my boss saw me and made a very snarky comment to me. He then proceeded to make my life hell until I finally quit that job.

And so here we are. Third time. They say it's the charm...I say it breaks the camel's back. Last year the Kudzu Festival moved to the courthouse lawn/parking spaces. I live right across from the courthouse and park in those spaces! I was a little upset. My landlord gave me a pass to park beside the building but I still got hassled by police every night. And then the carnies. The carnies would walk along the square at all hours, howling and drinking and being...carnies. They really are a different breed.

This year it's all back, but with a twist. I can't have a parking pass! So now I have to park a block or two down and walk home. And the festival is staying open later, which means the loud music and flashing lights go on all night. I have to sleep on my couch (in the room furthest away from the insanity). Awesome!

So I hate it. And I think I have good reasons.

vacation recap

2008-10-21T09:11:00.008-05:00

Well, I had an amazing vacation last week. I went to West Palm Beach, Florida (or more specifically, Jupiter) to visit one of my oldest and dearest friends, Corrie Edwards. After toiling months and months without end here in Mississippi, a nice trip is just what I needed.

So I flew down on Saturday and immediately we went to the beach. I got the opportunity to blind locals and tourists alike with my white body, but soon enough I got a nice tan/burn combination going on.

Sunday we went to Corrie's church, where I turned in an information card and, upon returning home, had a letter and a Starbucks giftcard waiting on me. Talk about an outreach team...

Most of the week was spent on the beach, soaking up the sun and taking on some waves. It was incredible. I seriously fell in love with an entire state in the course of a week. Everyone I met was really nice, too. Although, I tried holding the door for a few people and they looked at me as if I had a crab hanging off my face. Also, I got honked at and flipped off within the first 10 seconds of driving down there. The people definitely aren't as laid back as they are back home, so I had to be aggressive. Since returning home, my hand has hit the horn quite a few times. Sorry, Mississippi.

Another thing about Florida...I don't think a minute goes by when Lil' Wayne isn't on the radio. Either him or Pink singing her song, "So What?", which features the amazingly well written line "...and you're a tool so, so what? I'm still a rock star...". But as dumb as that song is, it was in our heads all week.

While I'm on the subject of radios, Corrie hit me with a great joke one day. While flipping through the stations, she stopped on a country song and said, without pause, "You homesick?". I wanted to make a great comeback but it was no use. She got me. There were other good jokes, too...I'll just have to remember them.

Other cool stuff we did...looked at the local landmark lighthouse (from a distance), saw two sharks, visited a turtle hospital, ate at cool restaurants (Hurricane's sticks out in my head), saw two bands play, and watched Desperate Housewives. Yeah, I watched it. And Eva is still hot as a slightly thicker lady.

So, in other words, I loved Florida. I think I will move there. Seriously.

Pics:

farewell, adios, etc

2008-10-09T08:37:00.003-05:00

I know I promised an update on the geeky game room, and it's coming...I just haven't gotten around to taking pics of it yet.

But for now, I say goodbye for at least a week. I will be leaving Saturday morning (bright and early) for a week in West Palm Beach, Florida! I have never been to FL before, and I have some friends there who are just dying to see me (how's that for confidence??)...

Truth be told, I am very excited! I will be staying exactly 3.4 miles from the beach, and I'll be carrying my camera too. I'll try not to look too tourist-y, but who knows... Anyway, expect a pic-filled post upon my return!

Then, the geeky game room.

my itchy invention

2008-10-06T15:03:00.006-05:00

My arm is itching like crazy, and I can only blame myself.

I have decided to try and conserve some energy (as well as some $$$) and not run my air conditioner so much. This has worked in my favor here lately, because the weather has turned a good bit cooler. So to keep some fresh, cool air in my apartment, I came up with this brilliant plan.

As you can see, the fan is in the open window. Blocking any further entry is a piece of cardboard which I cleverly cut with scissors (also visible). The feeling of cold air being pushed through the flowing box fan is really really great. But as you may be able to see, on the bottom left side there is a hole. This hole obviously let some pesky mosquitoes in, which chewed the heck out of me last night.

And now here I am at work, rubbing my arm furiously and wishing I had a number for a good exterminator.

Next post: the geek/game room.

darn you NBC!

2008-10-02T23:05:00.006-05:00

So I went to Oxygen tonight and set a tape to record The Office. And before you ask, yes, I still use a VCR.

I get home, rewind, and press play...and what do I get? A vice-presidential debate! While I know it's very informative and important for the next 4 (or maybe 8) years of our country's existence...come on! I need some Office! I need Stanley's sarcasm...Jim's smirk...Dwight's idiocy...Michael's EXTREME idiocy...shoot, even Meredith's one line per episode. Not to mention the brilliance of Creed.

And oh yes, Jenna Fischer. My only current celebrity crush.

Palin and Biden may represent the future of our country, but come on...they're no Pam and Jim.

experimental tastes

2008-09-30T10:28:00.005-05:00

I've been in an experimental mood as of late. Not in a dangerous way - like with drugs or alcohol or anything like that - but rather with cooking and cleaning. I know, dangerous. But that's just my style.

I've gotten pretty good at making vegetable stir-fry. I realize that's not a hard dish to make, but still...it's nice to not screw it up.

Another I'm decent at is spaghetti. In 2004, I had to make it for about 70 kids per week...so yeah. That kind of thing sticks with you.

And another dish I like is steak. In this instance, I made it with green beans, corn, and baked potato. I do my steaks on a Foreman grill after marinating them in a Jack Daniels marinade packet (which tastes amazing). The baked potato is easy...I just wrap the potato in a plastic bag and microwave it for about 2 minutes. It tastes just like it's been in the oven for an hour or so.

But last night, I made a huge mistake. I have made a couple cakes before, and it's not that hard. You just follow directions. But last night I was trying to make a thing of brownies and screwed it up bad. The directions called for 1/4 cup of vegetable oil and I misread it as 1 1/4 cups. So yeah, the mix was nasty and I had to throw it out.

This is why I'm sure I'll have a wife (one day) who can help me out with the cooking stuff. Crossing my fingers.

sick & tired...and the office

2008-09-26T12:32:00.004-05:00

Well, I'm back at work today. I missed Wednesday and Thursday this week because of some pretty nasty virus I somehow contracted. I had a sore throat last week (around Thursday) and all throughout the weekend. On Tuesday night, the rest started kicking in. Headache, upset stomach...you know the drill. I was at band practice Tuesday night and I could feel my throat deteriorating as I tried to sing. One of the kids actually commented that my voice sounded bad. Gotta love teenagers and their brutal honesty.

So the last couple days I've spent in utter boredom, shut in at my apartment watching The Office (UK version) and Tom and Jerry in between sleeping spells. Crackers and chicken noodle soup have been my diet, and honestly they're all I've wanted. My throat feels a lot better today but the headache and rumbling stomach haven't quite subsided.

At any rate, I did get to watch the first episode of The Office season 5 last night. I gotta say, I loved it. I've read things online and asked a few people what they thought, and the reviews are certainly mixed. But I feel the hilarity is still there as strong as ever. Not to mention Pam and Jim...I have loved this storyline for its entirety (even though their giddiness did get on my nerves a bit last season...). The proposal was awesome though, and it took me by surprise. Kudos to the writers for keeping that storyline interesting. Oh, and Michael and Holly is a good development, as is the love triangle with Angela, Andy, and Dwight. How can one office be so interesting?

Having watched a good chunk of the British version this week, I couldn't help but draw comparisons between Ricky Gervais' David Brent and Steve Carell's Michael Scott. I mean, when Michael grew the goatee, visions of David Brent flashed in my mind. Ultimately Michael Scott is much more likable than David Brent, but part of me thinks it's because Steve Carell is playing him.

Anyway, I should get back to work. Missing two days leaves plenty of makeup work to be done.

deacon ordination

2008-09-24T17:32:00.005-05:00

I was ordained as Deacon at Spring Hill Baptist Church on September 14, 2008. This is pretty significant because I have gone to this church since...um...birth. Also, I'm single and pretty young. My church still nominated, voted, and ordained me and I am very thankful for that. The service was really nice, and a lot of my family and friends got to come. My grandma Louise (my dad's mother) came, as did my grandparents on my mom's side (Howard and Eileen). My aunt Marie and her husband Tony got to make it as well. Of course my youth were present, as were old friends Jason Carter, Justin Curtis, Tiffany Wilson, Trey Hill, Matt Lott, and Ben. It was a really great day and having these people around made it even better.

This is the ordination council with me after the service was over. From left to right (starting in the back row): Davey Newman, Blaine Davis, Bobby Snow, Jim Robinson, Andy Haney, Ray Minor, and Frankie Richardson. Front row: Jim Burke, Chuck Fowler, Adam Robinson, Tres Foley, and Bart Garner.

During the service, a few different things went on...my youth did a skit which was pretty powerful about laying down your burdens at the foot of the cross (you can see the cross behind us in all the pics). My dad also sang a song, which was great because he has a really awesome voice. He also has inspired me to start singing here recently.

Like I mentioned earlier, it was great to have my family come support me. Here they are, for your viewing pleasure. Starting in the back row: Tony (my aunt Marie's husband), my Grandma Louise Allen, me, Grandma Eileen Wyman, Grandpa Howard Wyman. Front row: Aunt Marie, Dad (Jim Robinson), Mom (Penne Robinson), and Ben Robinson (my bro).

We had the chance to do a pic with all of the original youth group at SHBC. Pictured here (doing our normal "Wolfpac" hand sign) are: Justin Curtis, Walker Dodson, me, Jason Carter, Ben Robinson, Corey Garner, and Tiffany Wilson in the front.

And last but not least, here are (some of) my youth today. Of course they're doing their goofy pic, which I wouldn't expect any different from them. Left to right: Thomas Garner, Corey Garner, Alex Miller, James Dykes, B.J. Snow, me (playing the straight man), Kaitlyn Skelton, Destany Oswalt, Hayley Davis, and Rachel Smith.

Once again, these are on my Facebook and also once again, if you don't have Facebook, you can use this link to see the album.

It was a great day that I won't soon forget. Thanks to all who came/prayed/thought about me during this time!

some of my old school art and such

2008-09-22T17:21:00.008-05:00

I found a notebook at my parents house yesterday. This notebook had a lot of old artwork and stuff I did back in 1998. I decided to scan some of it and post it for the world (or more likely, two or three people) to see.

I called this one "Life on the Farm". I wrote a little essay along with it where I was brutally honest. I said that I had no plan, just cut out some pictures and glued them down...amazingly, they all kinda gelled. Then I did a couple variations.

Notice the Incredible Hulk down on the bottom right corner.

Here's an example of symmetry, using the Batman symbol. How much cooler would Batman be if he wore these colors??

My art teacher Sue Rowland had this cow skull for years. She's retired now, but I bet it's still sitting on her fireplace.

I've been trying to figure out who this guy is. I'm thinking Ben Franklin or Thomas Jefferson. My brother says the Quaker Oats guy. You tell me.

This one I'm actually kinda proud of. I used to love landscapes and colored pencils...so this kinda went hand in hand.

And this is what I looked like back then. I had the old school short sleeved hoodie and flipped up hair-do. I was awesome.

There are more pics on my Facebook...and if you're not on Facebook, you can still view the album here.

It was pretty cool going back and seeing that old stuff. Right now I'm working on a painting from last year's trip to Colorado. I have other paintings and scratch-art that I'll have to upload soon. Thanks for looking!

disaster!

2008-09-18T09:16:00.005-05:00

Tumultuous. A perfect word to describe my last 3 days. Dictionary.com defines it as:

tu·mul·tu·ous
–adjective

1. full of tumult or riotousness; marked by disturbance and uproar: a tumultuous celebration.
2. raising a great clatter and commotion; disorderly or noisy: a tumultuous crowd of students.
3. highly agitated, as the mind or emotions; distraught; turbulent.

I'm going with number 3.

Work has been crazy, and a person I held in high regards inevitably fell from grace.

Then there was last night.

Blaine was out of town, so I was asked to do the lesson. That was no problem, I don't mind sharing the Word (especially since I got a new Bible from my ordination service. It's really cool...I'll have to talk more about it later...). But we also were doing worship before hand (and I play guitar/sing in the worship band). That's okay with me, but I didn't want the kids to get an Adam overdose. Also, after worshipping I usually like to just be able to sit and listen.

Anyway, to kick things off the wrong way, I forgot to bring my flash drive with all the PowerPoint slides. Strike one. Lena forgot the videos she was gonna use to preface our devotion. Strike two. And the last strike was a doozy.

We've been low on equipment for our worship team. We don't have but two microphones which really isn't many at all. Last night, though, a nice lady at church let us borrow her mic (which was really nice, by the way...) and suggested that I use it so it wouldn't get broken. Hmm.

During a sound check, I stood up from my stool and bumped my mic stand. It was at this point that things started moving in slow motion. The microphone came out of the holder and began its descent downward to the floor. I watched in horror as it crashed and popped and hissed before finally growing silent.

Strike three.

The lesson was okay, though. I read from 1 Samuel 26 and talked about David and his respect for God...how he could have killed Saul and ended his problems, but he knew that God appointed Saul as king for a reason. David instead trusted God and let Him work things out in His time.

Then I got to practice what I preached. I apologized to the lady and she said it was fine (through clenched teeth...). I'm buying her a new mic this weekend.

But I hold hope that this week will get better. It's almost over, so I guess the odds are in my favor.

wrap up (for lack of a better term...)

2008-09-16T22:32:00.003-05:00

Sunday was an amazing day. I was ordained as deacon at Spring Hill Baptist Church, and what a day it turned out to be. My grandparents from Canton showed up, as did my grandmother from Myrtle. Also, my aunt and her husband came, and of course so did my brother. As far as friends go, Trey Hill and Matt Lott showed up. Jason Carter and Justin Curtis did also, which was awesome.

Hopefully I will have pics from the service soon. We have a photographer who goes to the church and she was kind enough to take many many snaps.

friday night mumblings

2008-09-12T19:13:00.003-05:00

What is up with these gas prices? This morning it was $3.57 at the cheapest station on my trek to work, and this afternoon it's $3.89. And the news reports that it could go up another dollar tomorrow. Ridiculous!

This has cost me a trip to Oxford to hang with my brother. I was really looking forward to hanging with him tonight, but I can't justify it. Also, I need to clean up my apartment. I stayed up pretty late last night washing dishes (I'm a bachelor, alright? Dishes pile up...).

So why the cleaning? Glad you asked. I'm being ordained as a deacon in my church this Sunday. My grandparents are coming, as are other various family members and friends. I'm really pretty excited about it. It wasn't the easiest road to this point. Last year I was nominated, and even asked, and though I was skeptical, I said yes. Deaconship seemed like such a big thing, something I wasn't at all ready for. But I could feel the Spirit saying, "Do it, stupid!"...so I did. And I got rejected because of some craziness (and politics) that would take too long to type out.

Then this year I'm nominated again. I accept and the rest is (almost) history. I'm a little intimidated, because I have a big interview to go to on Sunday afternoon. But I'm trying not to sweat it too much.

I'm guessing I should find something to eat tonight. Maybe I'll even rent a movie. Or learn a new song. Who knows? The night is as open as my relationship status! (Thanks, Tobias Funke...)

break the barriers (or, how a shy kid overcame)

2008-09-11T13:09:00.003-05:00

Last night was awesome. But before I tell you why, first a little background.

After we took the group to camp this summer, Corey (former youth but now a fellow leader) and I decided to start up a little worship band for Wednesday nights. We started practicing and learning worship songs, and as of last night, we have led worship for about 5 weeks.

We've got a guy in our youth group (which we call S*M*A*S*H - Student Ministries at Spring Hill) named John who has been coming to hang out for a little over a year. He started out being really quiet and reserved. Over the past few months he's seemed to loosen up a little. He talks to people more, he hangs out afterward and plays games...it's just cool to see him do more.

Also every week we have band practice on Tuesdays. All the youth are invited to come play along if they want to participate in the following night's worship. Well, this past Tuesday night, John showed up...requested to sing "Hosanna (Praise is Rising)"...and ROCKED IT. The guy was awesome! He held the mic like a young Joey Ramone, and after I mentioned this, I got blank stares (except from Lena, who like me absolutely loves the Ramones).

Last night John was close to saying "no" to his upcoming performance. There were a lot of teenagers there (29, which is HUGE for my church) and he told me that he was nervous. But he sang anyway, to a standing ovation. Afterward, about 3 or 4 kids came up saying they wanted to sing next week.

It's just really cool to see how God works things out. And watching a shy, homeschooled teenager break out into song is also pretty neat. It's times like this when God just reaffirms that youth ministry is for me.

introduction

2008-09-11T12:01:00.006-05:00

My first Blogger post...let me introduce myself. For future reference.

My name is Adam Robinson. I am 25, I live in Mississippi, I work at a bank, and I am also a youth leader at my church. For the past 5 years (yes, 5 years) I have kept a blog on Xanga. However, I sort of fell out of love with it and decided to try out Blogger. I've heard lots of good things about it...

So enough with formalities...let's get right to it.