idea (reimagined)

I have incredibly gifted friends that bless me all the time, and one of those blessings came a couple of months ago in the form of song as my good friend David turned one of my poems into music.

He writes on his website, Travels of Anodos:

I have some of my favorite poems up on my wall, poems from Hopkins and Eliot and the like, and one called "idea" by my friend Ben. One night in the dorm, I was sitting at the desk playing my guitar and looking at the poems, and I began putting a tune to "idea." This is what came out.

"idea"
words by me, music by David Scudder.

download recording here

Thanks again, David.

It's been real fun, harmon group

Today marks my last day spent in a cubicle here at the Harmon Group in downtown Nashville. It also means it is exactly one month until I fly to St. Thomas and boat over to St. Croix. I definitely won't miss sitting in front of a computer all day talking to jewelry retailers and manufacturers (although, some of them were very nice). But I will miss most of the people at the office (Ashley and Andrea, thank you for being so great to work with), and I will miss working downtown. My favorite part of each day was my walk around 4th Avenue, the Arcade, and Broadway after lunch. Nashville, I still hardly know you.

Also, I miss Knoxville. Sigh.

BUT, it's been a great four months. I definitely learned a lot. I learned how to be an account executive at a small marketing firm, I learned how to wake up early every morning (not really), and I learned that control, option, apple + 8 is a great way to disguise non-work related internetting.

So, as I head out of here for good, I leave everyone with a photo that we received from Sissy's Log Cabin, a jewelry retailer in Arkansas. This is Eric, one of the sales people at the store (cabin). This photo appeared in their catalog that was printed and mailed to thousands of people around Pine Bluff area. I feel ya Eric, I feel ya.

Click here for more...

AAA to teach 111

"I think of all the education that I missed.
But then my homework was never quite like this.
Got it bad, got it bad, got it bad,
I'm hot for teacher."

Ugh. Sorry for the Van Halen reference, but Audrey is now famous (not really) in UTK's online database, Circle Park Online! This is what students will see when they sign up for French 111, section 002 for the Spring 2009 semester (click to enlarge):


Check that out - already being waitlisted! Je voudrais ce professeur, s'il vous plait.

dogs part II: an official goodbye to huckleberry hound

sorry to beat a dead horse with the dog photos, but i wanted to throw out a few thank yous.

luke - thank you so much again for entrusting me with your hound. it will forever be a wonderful memory.

audrey - thank you for putting up with my obsession (and even partaking in it)

will and adam - thank you both for all your huckleberry love. and adam, i can't thank you enough for all the photos. here are a few (a lot) of my favorites....

my favorite video i watched all year

It barely beat out this one, but it wins.

It was made in Buenos Aires, Argentina and Baden, Germany.

dogs

They are one of my absolute favoritest parts of creation. Easy.
Here are some of the best photos from recent doggie times. Thanks to Amanda, Audrey, and Adam for taking them.

what's missing is by will oldham

what's missing is-
some kind of pillow
some loving willow
some care once denied
now dissolved inside

what's plenty is-
one god
six tongues
five breaths
four lungs

what's rhythm is-
plenty of things missing
steps taken, lips kissing
new harmony on an awesome scale
meat against meat
under sail

Favorite Albums of 2008

A wham-bam, merci, danke, thank 'a you ma'am.

___________________________________________________

20. coldplay - viva la vida or death and all his friends
___________________________________________________

19. department of eagles - in ear park

___________________________________________________

18. deerhunter - microcastle

___________________________________________________

17. grouper - dragging a dead deer up a hill

___________________________________________________

16. tv on the radio - dear science

___________________________________________________

15. sigur rós - með suð í eyrum við spilum endalaust

___________________________________________________

14. q-tip - the renaissance

___________________________________________________

13. the walkmen - you & me

___________________________________________________

12. the felice brothers - s/t
___________________________________________________

11. lambchop - OH (ohio)
___________________________________________________

10. dodos - visiter
___________________________________________________

9. conor oberst & the mystic valley band - s/t
___________________________________________________

8. forest fire - survival
___________________________________________________

7. bonnie "prince" billy - lie down in the light
___________________________________________________

6. breathe owl breathe - ghost glacier ep
___________________________________________________

5. frightened rabbit - the midnight organ fight

___________________________________________________

4. m83 - saturdays=youth
___________________________________________________

3. fleet foxes - s/t
___________________________________________________

2. bon iver - for emma, forever ago
___________________________________________________



1. samamidon - all is well
___________________________________________________

little kids

i spent a while cleaning out my computer tonight and found this file. i recorded it last spring with the help of adam on mandolin.

it's a cover of little kids by kings of convenience




if you can, listen on headphones - i played with balance more than i usually do. also, sorry for the background fuzz - it was recorded on my mac.

the andy rooney game

Want a fun game to play? Just take out everything but the first and last sentence Andy Rooney says on A Few Minutes with Andy Rooney and you've got yourself a poignant and humorous sentiment! Ha, jk. Actually, you realize how incoherent this cute old man really is.

via comedian Joe Mande's youtube













Also, Andy Rooney quotes (he said these things, teehee!):

"Computers may save time but they sure waste a lot of paper. About 98 percent of everything printed out by a computer is garbage that no one ever reads."

"I didn't get old on purpose, it just happened. If you're lucky, it could happen to you."

"Most of us end up with no more than five or six people who remember us. Teachers have thousands of people who remember them for the rest of their lives."

"The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong."

"The federal government has sponsored research that has produced a tomato that is perfect in every respect, except that you can't eat it. We should make every effort to make sure this disease, often referred to as 'progress', doesn't spread."

"When those waiters ask me if I want some fresh ground pepper, I ask if they have any aged pepper."

And my favorite: "The average dog is a nicer person than the average person."

That's way too far over my head, folks.

all the colors will bleed into one...

Let it break you down.

don't touch me tomato

Hey. I'm moving to St. Croix, U.S. Virgin Islands.

No seriously, I was accepted this morning to a program at the Virgin Islands Sustainable Farm Institute near Frederiksted. (x arrow marks points to the spot island)

click to zoom...

OR view a googlemap! teehee!

I came across VISFI this summer in my World Wide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) directory. Most of the summer, I really thought I was going to find a farm to work on in the fall, and hopefully use that experience to find a more legitimate internship for the spring and summer of 2009. WWOOF (and the farms in the handbook) are mostly just small working organic farms or gardens that will offer room and board for a 20 or 30 hour work week on the farm. I was gonna travel around the country and work on different ones with the intention of finding a more long term stay at one of a few farms in California or Oregon that offered apprenticeships. (Sorry I didn't, Jacob.)

Obviously, I wanted to do it for the adventure, but really I have so much that I want to learn. And that is what lead me to VISFI.

Their entry in the handbook sounded so amazing that I think I started laughing when I read it back in June. "...Permaculture design principles have been incorporated into the farm's development with emphasis being placed on sustainable techniques... The farm is completely off the grid with full power, hot water, and internet capabilities (more like, dude capabilities)... We will be value-adding to our produce by making fruit wines (moonshine), herbal products (salvia), dehydrating fruits (mushrooms), and making sauces (babies) -- Just kidding, Audrey! But VISFI's central mission is education... Accomodations on the farm range from a treehouse, to various hooches, to cabanas. Island activities include sailing, hiking, snorkeling, diving, surfing, and cultural exploration."


So that's what got me interested. Anyway, I ended up being mature and normal and getting an office job in Nashville (which I don't regret - it was a good experience).

For the past month or so, I have been thinking about what I want to do once the job here ends. So I looked back into VISFI. They have a program called The Ridge to Reef program, which is a 2-month-long educational program, lasting from mid-January to mid-March. The curriculum is divided up into 8 focus areas: permaculture/agroforestry, sustainable building, farm-based education, agroecology/organic food production, renewable energy systems, animal husbandry, slow food cooking, and agritourism.

They don't accept many people into the program, so I was kind of anxious after sending off my application, and then after hearing back and having a phone interview with the program director, I had to wait even more. I finally got my acceptance email this morning.

Take the campus photo tour here (photo 4 is my favorite).

Anyway, I'll be posting more as I learn more about the island. I have been spending a lot of my time at work reading about the history of St. Croix. Like, did you know that the island was owned by the Knights of Malta for five years in the mid-17th century? Yep.

Here are some cool kids learning stuff:



_______________________________________________________________

And here is a song that I fell in love with while working at WDVX. I don't condone sexual harassment, but this song is genius.