I Will Always...

So I've learned a lot about myself this year. Here's just a couple of the things I've come to realize about myself...

I will always stop to get my picture taken with people dressed up in animal costumes...

And even alien costumes...

I will always long for the days when I had a head full of hair...

I will always be amazed by my view from an airplane seat...

I will always be a nerd. (Well, I guess I didn't learn this one this year.)

I will always take a picture on a painted pony.

I will always be worried when these two are together...

I will always love this woman (and try to have our picture taken with large animals in the background).

I will always try to take a good picture with nice lines and angles.


I will always wonder if my car is trying to tell me something...

I will always love these furballs...

I will always put my hand on a statue of butts and take a picture of the world's largest bra and tightie-whities.

I will always love Mom and Dad's Christmas tree...

I will always get a picture with art made out of jelly beans...

I will always pose with an over-sized M&M...

I will always love the beach!

I will always fake-lick a giant ice cream cone...

Sips n Strokes

Jackie and I have been in desperate need for an escape from the drama and craziness that's been going on lately. Luckily, one of Jackie's coworkers suggested getting a group together to go to Sips n Strokes. So they picked out a painting that everyone liked (a cute little holiday elf), and we signed up.

I was really looking forward to going. I'd been telling Jackie for a while that I wanted to find an artistic outlet. (I still think I'm going to start drawing again. I used to love it so much!)

When we stopped for dinner before our class, I told Jackie that I was really nervous. What if my painting looked awful? What if the kids there painted better than I did?

I decided that if it was a monumental disaster, I would say I was just channeling Picasso or Pollock.

Ready to paint!

We got to the place and waited in line to pay. I was looking at the artwork on the wall, and they have an entire section of nothing but naked women. I asked Jackie why we didn't sign up for one of those classes...

Anyway, we got our canvasses and our pallets and walked into the studio, where you get your paint. They already have it labeled so you know how much to get. One pump of red, two pumps of green, and so on.

We got our aprons and found our seats. We also had our drinks with us: Zaxby's sweet tea!

Wendy LoVoy, the founder of Sips n Strokes, ended up being our teacher! She told us that she'd seen a bunch of folks jack up their paintings, but they never let anyone go home with an ugly one. That made me feel better!

We started by outlining our elf in yellow paint; then we made a granny apple green for his hat, mixed up his face color ("a dot of red, a scoop of yellow, and a whole lotta white!"), and painted in his clothes. We also added dots and spots to his hat and the background.

A work in progress

The hardest part was the darn holly leaf on his hat, but it turned out OK. We practiced painting the leaves on the table. (You can see my practice leaf on the table in the picture below.)

Throughout the class, we all held up our paintings so Wendy could check them out. She sent her assistant around to help the folks that needed it. She told us that we were the best elf painters she thought she'd ever had!

The finished product!!!

When it was all said and done, I felt so proud of myself. It was so cool to watch my blank, white canvas transform into a unique, one-of-a-kind piece of art. Wendy was such a wonderful teacher! She explained every step and had a great sense of humor. She was so much fun!

I had a great time painting and spending time with Jackie's coworkers. We totally plan to go back! It's a great opportunity for couples to spend time together and try something new!

Some Friday Funnies...

So I just got done with a mad dash round of cleaning before Jackie gets home from St. Louis.

I don't know about all of y'all, but I need a break from all of the craziness that is going on. I'm sure each of us has someone somewhere somehow causing drama in your life. So please take this second to forget about all of that and just enjoy some pictures:

I can see the family resemblance.

Amen!

So very true! Can't wait to watch this movie!!!

Nothing says Christmas like "the soft glow of electric sex in the window."

Never thought about it that way...but I guess it's right!

I hope you have a great weekend and a fantastic holiday!

An Effect of Textbook Writing: Less Blog Writing

I feel like I need to attend a BBA meeting. (You know, Bad Bloggers Anonymous.) "Hi, my name is Bruce, and I have a problem..."

The reason that I've been MIA lately is that I've just been swamped with work, work, life, work, life, and... general craziness. I have so many great ideas and stories to share with y'all, and maybe next week I'll be able to get around to blogging them.

Here's the cover of the 1st edition.

I'm currently working on wrapping up a textbook I'm coauthoring with Dr. Jennings Bryant and Dr. Susan Thompson. We're currently working on the 2nd edition of their book, Fundamentals of Media Effects. A couple of months ago, they brought me onto the project to help them write the last few chapters. I've also helped with editing some stuff and coming up with photo ideas.

It's been a great learning experience for me, not only about the textbook writing process, but I've also learned a great deal from the chapters that I've written. I guess it's true when they say the best way to learn something is to have to teach it to someone else.

One interesting tidbit of information is that Dr. Thompson actually taught my undergraduate media effects class using the original version of this book. Then in graduate school, I had the distinct pleasure of a year of close learning with Dr. Bryant. I wrote my Dexter paper for him. (It's the one that I presented in Las Vegas earlier this year.)

I'm still a little awed by the fact that not only will I be published, but that my name will be on the cover of a book! With Dr. Bryant and Dr. Thompson! (pinching myself)

The Lord opened up this opportunity for me, and I am so truly, deeply grateful for it.

And in case I don't get to blog again before Turkey Day, I hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving spent with those that you love and love you unconditionally in return.

Here's something to remember this holiday season:

4 Random Things: Falcon Fever, Kettle Korn, Cats, & Yard Sales!

As usual, it seems like forever and a day since I last blogged with y'all. I hope each of you are doing well. I'm hanging in there ("like a hair in a biscuit," a friend of mine used to say... a gross mental image, but an apt simile).

I figure I'd better have a good excuse for my bad blogging behavior, so I'll give ya a little recap of the past couple of weeks...

(L-R) Coleman, RJ, & Daniel prepping for the show!

As part of my job at the University of Montevallo, which unveiled its new logo the other week, I am the faculty sponsor/advisor for the weekly online sports show, Falcon Fever. We've shot 3 shows so far, and the students are doing great! We've started shooting live-to-tape, which means we don't go back and edit it when we're done, we simply load it to Montevallo's YouTube channel when we're done.

From there, I then Facebook and tweet out the links for the new shows.

And we're on!

You can friend us on Facebook here.

And you can follow our tweets here.

Here's the direct link to our newest show.

Please check it out and tell us what you think! We'll even use some of your comments on the show!!!

In addition to Falcon Fever, I'm also kind of an unofficial secondary adviser for Montevallo's chapter of the National Broadcasting Society.

Notice RJ's bunny ears on Daniel.

This past Wednesday, we had new member induction. Finally, UM NBS president Daniel Vest was inducted into his own club!

A lot of the NBS group are the ones who help with Falcon Fever and also stream Montevallo sports on UStream. They're a hard-working bunch of aspiring broadcast professionals, and I'm honored to play a part in their growth and development.

Here's Montevallo's chapter of the National Broadcasting Society!

Also, Jackie and I went with my family to Duluth, Georgia, for the Duluth Fall Festival. It is by far our busiest show. We pop non-stop all weekend!!! Saturday was a long day for us because she and I woke up at 3AM to drive over to the show. (Mom, Dad, and Zach went over the night before to set up.) When we got there, we thought the show ended at 5PM. Well, when that blessed hour finally arrived, Dad informed us that the show was actually open until 6. Ugh... another hour. So we tough it out. When the second blessed hour finally rolled around, Dad tells us that the show was actually open until 7! They had instituted new hours...and Dad decided to keep that little bit of trivia under wraps. Although, their website said 6, so I said the last hour was bogus...but it was all too real.

This was the only picture I got while we were in Duluth.

As much as it seems like I'm complaining about the long hours, I actually love doing this show. The staff and organizers are wonderful to us, and they treat us like life-long friends. We look forward to going back each and every year because they make it such a wonderful experience for us. (They also have kept us in the same spot ever since we've started, so we like that, too!)

Switching gears, it's been a tough couple of weeks for me and Jackie, but our two ever-growing kittens keep us smiling (most of the time, except for when they declare war against the drapes). The other morning after a fitful night of tossing and turning, I woke up to this precious sight:

Garfield snoozing on the bed.

 Garfield and Odie just melt my heart. I love them so much! Even though they drive me a little crazy sometimes, I love them to death!

Finally got them to pose long enough for a good picture!

I've also been super-busy with other teaching duties... like grading papers. Because it can get rather tedious, I've decided to let Garfield grade some papers. Here he is helping me out:

"Put the X on this one, Dad!"

As great as it is to let the cat grade my papers, I have found yet another grading tool that I would like to acquire:

Saw this on Pinterest. LOVE IT!

I totally wish I could use a stamp like that... and I'm beginning to think that I really need one! I'm continually shocked by some of the answers I get back on tests and quizzes. (Also, I've had some of the most bizarre reasons for missing class, but that's a blog for a different day and time!)

Switching gears again, yesterday I decided that I needed to do a little retail therapy with my mom and Jackie at the ginormous Waterford yard sale. Jackie went to find thingamabobs and doodads for her various craft projects. I picked up a couple of items, but the most interesting is this old offering plate:

Obviously old. I wonder how many hands it's been passed through??? [Runs to get hand sanitizer]

Label on the bottom of the plate.

I don't know what church it came from, but I thought it was a unique item. How many people do you know that own an offering plate??? The asking price was $2, but I asked the guy if he'd take a buck. He checked with his boss wife, and she gave him the OK. Sadly, this was the last thing I bought, and the first thing I haggled over. Haggling doesn't come naturally to me, but I want to get better at it!



Mom got some really neat glassware and an old watercolor painting. Jackie got an antique peanut butter jar and a bunch of stuff for her crafts that she'll be selling this weekend at Homestead Hollow's Fall Festival in Springville. Come by and see us at her booth: Jackie's Rejuvenated Junk! We should be set up right beside Mom and Dad's Kettle Korn booth!

OK, that's it for now! I hope to post again soon... same blog time, same blog channel!

Man, what I'd give for a DeLorean...

As I sit here fighting back sniffles, I can't help but think of how awesome it would be to have a DeLorean. Not just any DeLorean, but the time machine type from Back to the Future.

Right now, I wish that I could activate the time circuits, fire up the flux capacitor, and floor it to 88 mph and travel back to Sunday evening when I stopped by my mom and dad's house.

I went searching for some old books under my old bed. Apparently, there was some pretty potent dust under there. I'm talking dust that hadn't been disturbed for the better part of 5 or 6 years.

After pulling the books out, I started sniffling...then I started sneezing. And my sinuses are still awful.

I would love to hope in my time machine and tell my past self to forget about the books!

Also, I've had a hankering to watch BTTF lately, but it doesn't look like I'll have the time to do that anytime soon.

If only I had a time machine...