• I feel Bailey moving around and kicking in Genia's stomach
• There's a blue sky over my head and a cool breeze on my face
• I take a sip of Coke from a glass bottle
• There's a choice to make, and by Grace I choose rightly
• I look into Genia's beautiful green eyes
• I'm eating the Apple Pancake Breakfast at Cracker Barrel
• Genia laughs so hard she actually stops making any noise
• I eat the bread and drink the wine
• KJT gathers together, any time, any place, for any reason
• I'm listening to great music... especially U2
• fill in the blank

Calling all opinionated music fans -- I need your song recommendations! What I'm planning is a mix cd built around the song "Everybody Hurts" by R.E.M. as well as "Stuck in a Moment" by U2 and "Everything's Not Lost" by Coldplay. That should give you a sense of the musical and lyrical theme I'm going for, so please leave a comment with your picks.

Last week, Genia and I had our first Lamaze class. Lamaze, to my surprise and relief, is more than just a funny sounding way of breathing. We're learning a lot about the natural way pregnancy and labor are designed to work, what will happen when Genia does start going into labor, and how to handle it with as little fear and pain as possible. We've been enjoying it, and I hope that Genia, in particular, will remember all the things we're learning when the time comes for Bailey to make her appearance.

One thing we weren't expecting was a slide show featuring pictures of the reproductive organs, and a very graphic illustration which prompted our grandmother-age instructor to say the word "ejaculation." Call us immature, but we couldn't help wanting to giggle. We nearly busted a gut when she sat on the "birthing ball" (which is just like an exercise ball) and demonstrated how the laboring mother should rotate her hips to assist the baby in positioning itself. Breaktime discussions assured us that we weren't the only ones (or the oldest ones) stifiling laughter.

This weekend we had a visit from Andrea, who I've known since high school and Genia became really close with when we lived near her in Atlanta. We had a blast, eating waaaay too much, watching Alias, and going to an empty Bijou matinee of Mystic River, among other things. She also ushered in the first activity of the KJT Music Club (I just made that up, btw), by going in with me on the new R.E.M. best of I recently posted about.

Friday night we're headed to Atlanta for a KJT Halloween Party -slash- Travis Hall Going Away Party, which should be a lot of fun. Our good friend Traviata will be shipping out for Army boot camp next month, so it could be a long time before we see him again. Remember that name Travis Hall, he'll probably be a Congressman one day. If he makes it to the White House as planned, he promised us a screening of Austin Powers in the White House movie theatre. How cool would that be?

Yesterday morning I picked up a copy of In Time: The Best of R.E.M. 1988-2003. I like R.E.M. and I've always respected them, but I don't own all or even half their albums, so In Time is perfect for people like me. It's chock full of great songs, including a couple of new tracks. "Bad Day" has been stuck in my head since I first heard it yesterday morning. It's a brilliant R.E.M. single -- instantly catchy, with those "It's the End of the World" style vocals that are distinctly Michael Stipe's. I've also been recaptured by the beauty of "Everybody Hurts." It's such a perfect song of hope for the hopeless:

If you're on your own in this life, the days and nights are long,
when you think you've had too much of this life to hang on.

Well, everybody hurts sometimes,
everybody cries. And everybody hurts sometimes.
And everybody hurts sometimes. So, hold on, hold on.
Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on. Hold on, hold on.

In Time is not only full of great songs, but the limited edition packaging is incredible. The booklet has a brief commentary on each song on the best of cd and the rarities cd by Peter Buck. His comments are as revealing as they are entertaining. A couple of highlights to whet your appetite:

On "Stand":
Without a doubt, Stand is the, um, how shall I say this? It's the stupidest song we've ever written.

On "Orange Crush":
The funny thing is, every time I play it, it means something different to me, and I find myself moved emotionally...

A couple of chords, a good melody, and some words can mean more than a seven hundred-page novel...

I guess I've found a good way not to talk about a song that means something dark and mysterious to me.

Selah.

R.E.M. has a rich legacy of beautiful, heartfelt, and utterly singable songs. If you're like me, and you've found yourself singing along with them on the radio as long as you can remember, but you never jumped on the bandwagon, buy a copy of In Time. You won't regret it.

One of my favorite bands, Over the Rhine, announced today in an email to fans, that it is postponing all remaining tour dates for this year, indefinitely. This was disappointing, as I'd hoped to catch a show in Nashville or Atlanta on their Christmas tour. The disappointment was alleviated and replaced by an increased respect for Karin and Linford when I read why they were postponing the tour:

There are two trees in our lives (we do choose our record covers carefully): one is our music and one is our marriage. Sometimes we water one or the other, hopefully both.

We've poured our hearts and our souls into our music this year, and we've seen that tree bear a lot of fruit and flourish. But we've increasingly realized that there has been very little room left over for anything else including our relationship and marriage. As difficult a decision as it is, we've decided we must go home to do some much needed caretaking and work to preserve this part of our lives.

We really love what we do, but we're not willing to sacrifice our relationship and marriage on the altar of a career.

This choice to prioritize their marriage over their music -- their career -- is honorable, and my prayer for them is that God will bring the healing and refreshment to their relationship that they are seeking. And until they get back on the tour bus, I'll keep enjoying my copies of Ohio and Films for Radio.

One of the best group blogs around, the Boar's Head Tavern, recently had a lenghty discussion regarding the morality of music and whether certain types of instrumental music are inappropriate for use in worship. The discussion starts with this post which linked to an article entitled "A New Song" by Paul Proctor. Proctor asserts that music is moral:

Music, with or without lyrics, can be a very powerful force in our lives. That is why instrumentals alone can bring a tear to an eye or screams from a crowd before a single word is ever sung. Likewise, other emotions can easily be stirred by lyric-free melodies and rhythms resulting in joy, happiness, excitement, anger, bitterness, depression and rage. To say that music without lyrics is amoral is like saying music without lyrics is dispassionate. It's absurd.

What I have a big problem with is his implied conclusion that all rock music, be it "Christian" or "secular," is necessarily immoral. He says it's "just obvious." That's what I find absurd.

I switched the radio on yesterday afternoon in the car, and a Nickelback song was playing. It was, as is typical of their music, rather depressing. (Take that however you want to...) Next up was U2's "The Sweetest Thing." Before Bono even starting singing the first verse, my mood had been elevated by the sheer joyfulness the music of that song exudes. I was instantly reminded of the BHT discussion, and I had to agree with the general idea that lyric-free music can affect your emotions. I know I've said it before, but the opening of "Where the Streets Have No Name" absolutely stirs my soul. There are songs I know will cheer me up, make me sad, and even turn my thoughts heavenward before I hear a word of the lyrics.

In my experience, lyric-free music can lead to varying emotions. Does that necessarily make it moral? The same song won't affect everyone's emotions the same way. I have to think that personal taste, preferences, and mental biases come into play when anyone evaluates an artistic endeavor. Paul Proctor's essay implies that he thinks all rock music is immoral, and (therefore?) he probably does not have the same reaction to "Where the Streets Have No Name" as I do. Is one of us right, and the other wrong? Is beauty truly in the eye of the beholder when it comes to artistic expression? When I call Over the Rhine's music "beautiful and haunting" and Josiah calls it "pretentious drivel" and says the band is "Creed for people with college degrees," is there an objective standard to call upon? The BHT discussion took on this question of aesthetics, which has also been well spoken on by R.C. Sproul Jr. on his weblog. Sproul, along with many of the BHT fellows, assert that aesthetics are objective and not relative. I would like to agree, but what is our standard?

There's some great SEC football being played today. Right now I'm watching Alabama play Tennessee and the score is surprising, to say the least. The Crimson Tide are up 6-3 at half time. Tide fans have to be a bit disappointed, though, because they could easily have scored two touchdowns. Twice they've been inside the 10 yard line and blown it -- once leading to a field goal, once to a blocked FG attempt. This inability to finish seems to be the defining attribute of Alabama's team this year. They could be a 2-loss team if they could just finish well.

Tennessee, for their part, is having the same problems that turned the momentum against them last week against Georgia -- turnovers. They gave up three big turnovers to Alabama in just the first quarter. The Vols just aren't playing as well as they were against Auburn and prior to the momentum-changing fumble before halftime against Georgia. That said, I think Tennessee will come back and win this one over the Tide. We'll see...

Update: This game turned out to be a fight to the death, going into a fifth overtime with stellar performances by both teams. Tennessee did end up with the victory, 51-43, but Alabama showed the quality of their play in keeping it close through such a tough game.

Well, to put it simply, our trip was amazing. If you're interested in reading my thoughts and impressions on the U2 exhibit, In the Name of Love: Two Decades of U2, at the Rock Hall of Fame, read on.

The Rock Hall is a stunning building with an excellent collection. The U2 exhibit, In the Name of Love: Two Decades of U2, was full of artifacts that traced their journey from forming at Mount Temple school all the way through the Elevation tour. They had everything from the very first U2 tshirt to the costumes worn by Bono as MacPhisto, The Fly, and Mirrorball Man. I particularly enjoyed the graphic design exhibit, which included samples of album covers, posters, and tour books. It was fascinating to see the commentaries on these items by the graphic designers and the bands. Also exciting was the U2 theatre, a movie theatre within the Rock Hall that showed U2 films all day. We were able to watch Under a Blood Red Sky, Classic Albums: The Making of The Joshua Tree, Zoo Tv Live from Sydney, and Elevation Live from Boston.

I was absolutely blown away by the sheer genius of Zoo Tv. It was a conceptual and visual feat -- full-on sensory overload -- and in the middle of it all, like the "baby Jesus under the trash" Bono later sang about on Pop, I caught glimpses of the earnest, spiritual U2 that they've always been. I could feel it as the organs and guitars of "Where the Streets Have No Name" rose to the skies, and I could see it in Bono's eyes as he sang "Sunday Bloody Sunday" and "Love is Blindness." In stark contrast to the scale of Zoo Tv was the raw emotion and intimacy of the Elevation show. I didn't really notice the lights or the video screens, it was just U2 doing what they do best -- play powerful songs from their hearts. Watching the youthful exuberance of Under a Blood Red Sky showed me why U2 rose to popularity -- the strength of their live shows. It was also a treat to hear them play songs that don't make the setlists too often these days, such as "Gloria" and "Seconds." Finally, listening to Bono, Edge, Adam, Larry, and "Batman and Robin" (Eno and Lanois) discuss the making of The Joshua Tree gave me new insight into one of my favorite CDs. The songwriting process is fascinating, and I have even more appreciation for the songs on that album.

Joel and I are leaving this afternoon for our trek to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland, Ohio. We'll be back Monday afternoon, just in time for me to go with Genia to our first Lamaze class. Until then, no blogging...

Did my eyes and ears deceive me, or did I just watch Billy Corgan, dressed up like a J. Crew catalog, sing "Take Me Out to the Ballgame" on television?

Just in time for my upcoming U2 pilgrimage with Joel, I came across a helpful how-to article on road tripping, courtesy of The Morning News. It's a fun read with some good tips, like this one:

Driver Controls the Music
Passenger gets two vetoes per three hours or 150 miles, whichever comes first. No exceptions.

Not that Joel and I should run into that problem. We already have a listening strategy mapped out -- 10 hours of driving, 10 U2 albums.

It was a defensive showdown at Razorback Stadium today, and Auburn was masterful. Arkansas, who had averaged 44 points per game before today, was held to a single field goal. Their star rusher, Cedric Cobb, was held to less than 100 yards for the first time this season, while Auburn's Cadillac Williams gained over 120 years in the first half alone and scored the only touchdown of the game. Twice Arkansas drove past the 10 yard line, only to have Auburn's stellar defense prevent them from getting a touchdown.

Auburn has knocked off the 7th ranked team in the country two weeks in a row. Looks like we're headed back into the Top 25, and our chances of winning the SEC West are improving. War Eagle!

Update:
The polls are in, and Auburn moved to #19 in the AP Poll and #25 in the ESPN Coaches Poll. A tough schedule lies ahead, but we're great in the underdog role. We still have to play LSU, ranked #10, and Georgia ranked #4.

Ten Years of My Life is the latest project by Matthew Haughey, creator of MetaFilter and Ticketstubs. The premise is that he will post a new photograph to the site every day for ten years.

"During the upcoming ten years, from the time I turn 31 until I turn 41, I expect I'll be witnessing a great deal of major changes and would love to have a way to remember them."

I think it's an incredible concept. In a way, it's not too different from blogging, or photoblogging. The committment is a huge step up, however, and I think the results will ultimately be more rewarding. The MeFi discussion of the new project contains links to similar sites, where people have committed to a photo, drawing, or post per day for various periods of time. A new meme, perhaps? Whether or not it becomes the next big thing in blogging, Ten Years of My Life is definitely a project worth checking out.

1. Do you watch sports? If so, which ones? I watch college football, college basketball, and soccer.

2. What/who are your favorite sports teams and/or favorite athletes? Auburn Tigers football, New York Mets baseball, Covenant Scots soccer, UNC Tar Heels basketball

3. Are there any sports you hate? Pro football and pro basketball bore me to tears.

4. Have you ever been to a sports event? I've been to a few Mets games, a couple Braves games, an Olympic soccer game, a few Covenant soccer games, a couple Lookouts games, and a Georgia Tech football game. I would love to go to an Auburn football game, but it's hard to get tickets.

5. Do/did you play any sports (in school or other)? How long did you play? I swam for many years, from when I was about 5 until I was 14, I think. That was easily the sport I was most talented in, and I've often regretted quitting. I probably could have been on a college team. I also played soccer for many years on club teams, up until around 10th grade. I quit swimming for soccer, which was really stupid considering I didn't even start on any soccer team. Ever.

(via fridayfive.org)

Don't you hate it when you get a song stuck in your head? Stuck in my head today is "If I Could Turn Back Time" by Cher. I have no idea how I heard this song. It isn't in my stereo, or on my computer, and I only left the house once today, to pick up something from my brother's house. So how did this song weasel its way into my mental playlist and push the repeat button? And, naturally, I only know a few lines from the whole song, so it's just those little snippets that keeps repeating itself.

If I could turn back time,
If I could find a way...

If I could reach the stars,
I'd give them all to you...

Then maybe, maybe, maybe
...Like you used to do

Yesterday I had a Whitney Houston song stuck in my head, and a couple days before that, it was a song by Avril Lavinge. Why am I being tortured like this? I need some rock and roll to soothe my soul...

We had a short visit from a couple of Jehovah's Witnesses this morning. They spoke with us for a few minutes about whether God cares for us here on earth, the new heavens and the new earth, and how believers can know the truth about what the scriptures are teaching. They asked us a lot of questions but didn't really delve into any of the divergent teachings they hold from Christianity.

One thing that I hadn't heard before was their interpretation of Isaiah 65:17, that the "new heavens" is a "perfect heavenly kingdom, or government, that will rule over this earthly society of people." They proposed that this government would be what brought about the "peaceful new world" described in the tract they left with us.

I mentioned that I hadn't heard this interpretation before, and they asked what I had heard. I stumbled a bit but mentioned that different Christians have different theories about how to interpret prophecy, specifically Revelations. They then asked if I thought that God would give us some way to know the truth. Going further, they asked if God would be responsible for people having wrong beliefs if He didn't provide a way for us to know what true doctrine is. I assumed that this was going to be a launching point for them to say how the JW church or some prophet of theirs was that way. They actually decided to leave, sharing just one more scripture with us before leaving (John 4:23). They emphasized the word "truth" from the verse and mentioned that they would like to come back at another time and talk about how to know the truth.

I know about some of the larger errors of JW beliefs -- denying the full diety of Christ, denying the Trinity, etc., but I don't feel confident enough to really engage them and try to show them what the scriptures teach about these issues. I do feel like they were very sincere in their beliefs, and to an extent, I feel like it would be a disservice to not try and show them areas where they are being falsely taught and show them the truth. On the other hand, they've probably heard all of the objections before, and may even be trained in how to respond to those most common. Presenting my views could do more harm than good if I do it poorly, so I'm really not sure what to do. Any suggestions?

Saturday night we saw the Auburn Tigers that we were promised in the preseason hype. They dominated the Vols for most of the game and came away with a huge upset. It was glorious to behold, and my hope is renewed for the rest of the season! Next up, Arkansas...

"The Free State Project is a plan in which 20,000 or more liberty-oriented people will move to a single state of the U.S., where they may work within the political system to reduce the size and scope of government. The success of the Free State Project would likely entail reductions in burdensome taxation and regulation, reforms in state and local law, an end to federal mandates, and a restoration of constitutional federalism, demonstrating the benefits of liberty to the rest of the nation and the world."

As of today, they have over 5,000 members, and they announced that they have selected New Hampshire as the state where all members will agree to move and become politically involved in order to achieve the "free state" goal. It's a fascinating concept, I have to admit, though I'm not sure it will actually be effective. You can read their FAQs for more details on how they are planning to acheive the "free state" and what their ultimate goals are.

Today is my brother Joel's 21st birthday. Have a good one, man! We'll be hanging out later tonight for a little celebration -- nothing too crazy, I promise. If you see him around, tell him Happy Birthday.

Are you a blogaholic? I scored a 48/100, which means I am only a casual weblogger. Pretty accurate.

In Hot Press magazine, The Edge wrote about Johnny Cash being punk:

I think it was his combining so many things that people were interested in, the political awareness and a sense of righteous anger of behalf of the downtrodden and the disenfranchised, whether they were the inmates of San Quentin or just the working class people that he knew so well in America and wrote so eloquently about. He always seemed to be up for the underdog and that just sat so well with what punk rock was all about.

He also talked about how it came to pass that Cash sang "The Wanderer" on U2's Zooropa:

"I think like so many of our best ideas, 'The Wanderer' happened almost by magic. We were working on the song, Bono got on the mic to sing and he was going, 'I dunno quite how I'm gonna approach this one.' And out of the blue he said, 'Hey, y'know, I think Johnny Cash is in town, maybe we could get him to come and sing on this, with me or instead of me.'

For a daily dose of Scrabble in blog format, check out Puzzle Blog. Even more entertaining is Babble, which Signal vs. Noise called "a third-party bastard child of Scrabble and Boggle."