MERRY CHRISTMAS AND ONE OF THOSE NEW YEARS! It is Dec.26th and I have let off the posting again for the same reasons I stated on the last post (sleeping, eating, etc.) Christmas was great but for the Chandlers it is not quite over. More siblings will be coming in over the next few days, starting with Will and Meghan in a few hours and ending with Liz and Josh on Saturday. That will be grand. I, of course, have gotten sick, because my body cannot go without some sort of catasrtophic breakdown every few weeks! We all know that! But this time I have jumped on it so that it won't win - I called my Doc. in Birmingham and he's calling in the infantry (i.e. anti-biotics)! Hooray! Nasty sickness, be gone! I shall have fun with my family, infection be damned! Yens. Oh, and Liebe Lou is coming with Will and Meghan. That will be fun to see the hyper-active ball of dog. Yens.
Not much else to say. I'm going to go back to sleep before folks get here so I will be more "spriteley."

Peace,
Joe

Whoa. So I have not posted here in many, many days. Here is why: I have been here at home, relaxing quite a bit and applying for the Grad school. (Translation: Nick and I have been sleeping all day and playing many video games and eating whatever gets within two feet of our faces.) The other day I saw the Two Towers. It was muy grand. I stood in line forever, even after being a Super Dork and buying my ticket early on Fandango. I went with a bunch of friends (ok, ok. I have no friends. But these nice people let me tag along... and none are pressing charges!) to a huge theater in B'ham and we waited in line with many other people and it was hot. There were these two people from South America in front of us and they kept saying: "Blah blah blah blah LORD OF THE RING-Os blah blah blah." They seemed to be very very excited. At one point one of them clapped his hands like he was playing some game with himself until a very pierced gentleman in front of him asked him to stop. He said, "Hey, stop." And the South American man did.
The next day we went Christmans shopping at Antique stores around Birmingham and a few thrift stores as well. It was wonderful. All old, polite people instead of the throngs of ugly-faced shoppers fighting over who will get to eat who's souls in the line at Best Buy. I am also poor, and there are many treasures (cheap treasures!) at such shops so that I can get folks some cool stuff for the holiday. I got Nick his presents (I drew his name in the sibling draw) and they are funny. I can't mention them in case he reads here (yes, so many people read my site!) but I can say what I got him for his birthday: "The Adventures of Grillo." It is a hardbound book from 1912 that I found at the thrift store. Its about a Hobo Grasshopper. It has a picture of him on the front. Thats really the whole reason I bought it. Because I thought Nick might want a book about a giant Hobo Grasshopper.
So Will's old school, WKU, won the National Championship in football yesterday. Will called and basically screamed into the phone for like two minutes and then told us. Nick and I did "The Big Red Dance" which consists of just wobbling for a moment. Because he is a big red blob and that is all. It was great fun.
Well Nick and I are off to do some hiking around Cheaha, specifically, "Nubbin Creek." And yes, we go there for more than just the name. A few friends are coming, too. It should be grand fun.
Hopefully it won't take me a gazillion years to post again, but when you are at home and there is free food and much sleepin, the computer is one of the last things you think about. Yens.

Hope all is well,

Peace,
Joe

Here's a fun story for you:

Once there was this guy named "Dr. Dontsleepsomuch." He was a master of all things except getting enough rest. And so one day, while watching "Breed All About It" he fell asleep and had a dream. It went a little something like this:
There was this white room with black curtains at the station. The good doctor was looking through a glass oninon when he decided to take a walk down Penny Lane to the station. When he got there, he met this little man named Pnutbu. And he said, "Heeeeeyee. I love peanut butter. And dogs. And peanut butter on dogs. And due to the nature of such things I cannot be myself for anyone but myself, becasue I'm good enough, I'm smart enough, and gosh darnit, gum tastes good." Because he was a fiend before he became teen, Dr. Dontsleepsomcuh started melting microphones instead of cones of ice cream, and this scared Pnutbu off. Satisfied that he had rid himslef of that damn spot, the Dr. continued on his way. But before he could take twenty steps, this crazy girl who was walking like an Egyptian started screaming numbers at him, she screamed "867-5309." until she disappeared into the background like a karma chamelion. "I have to get away, I have to fly away, " the doctor said to himslef. "Perhaps an angel band will bear me away on their snow white wings to my immortal home soon enough." That thought comforted him, and he walked on, walked on, and stayed safe that night...

So there's part one of a truly horrible story that I just wrote becasue I've had no sleep and my brain is oozing out of my earz. I don' think there will be a part two, so let me tell you how the story ends: Pnutbu gets the girl.

Hope all is well,
Peace,
Joe

Here's a note... I wish that my blog had all the fervor of my little brother Nick's. He has renewed my love of the blogging, and this will soon be evident when the massive hand of EXAMS is not squashing all creative intent on my part. Ok. Read Nick's site. No, really. Read it. Please.

Hope all is well.

Peace,
Joe

Oh dear. The finals are upon me like a pack of ravenous starfish (nasty little creatures if you don't watch your back.) I just completed much written work and one final today, and I have another in-class final tomorrow, then a research talk on friday then... oh then the unspeakable joy will come on little padded feet and say "Joe! Come sleep and play in the world of cat hair and large blind dogs!" (home, that is.) This semester has been as we say in Alabama "a bad one." Fun yes, but also difficult. Nick, the cool guy that went to Nationals for the Rhodes, did not get one. He deserved one, though. Earlier today my mom laughed when I said I had an Abnormal final in the morning. She said "are all the others normal?" That was the funniest hing becasue when my mom thinks something is funny it really is. Daddy is off n a road trip tp see Will and Meghan and Peeg and Stacy. He's also doing work along the way.
Now only to wait until friday night....

Peace,
Joe

So after months of preparation and a huge application and a bunch of fun, I had my Rhodes State interview yesterday. It went very well. I wasn't nervous, they didn't ask me anything I couldn't answer, and the other candidates were fun to hang out with. In the end I didn't get a national interview, but a BSC brotha did. Nick Gaskill is one of the two Alabama reps for national tomorrow and saturday. All I have to say to Nick is good luck and SCHOLAR! (said in the form of "holla")
On other news Peeg got the coolest picture page up ever now on his site. A link to his site is over on the left column. Go to pictures and then "old skool." It has some purty funny stuff up there. Take a look see.
I had the oddest dream about Liebe Lou last night. I dreamt she was a ballarina, the first dog ever to do that. It was like one of those stupid Disney movies where the poor animal is the main character ala "MVP (Most Valuable Primate)" or "Air Bud." But instead of being all heart warming it was horrible like the real cut-throat world of dancing. She wouldn't eat and one day another dancer put glass shards in her pointe shoes. It was horrible. Luckily I wok up and did a some homework and came to update my site. Whew.
So classes are over, all it is now is finals. I'm out of school a week from tomorrow. Its weird to think that I only have one more term of undergraduate work. I'm old. Grad school, here comes Joe! No way I'm going out into the real world. Ha!
I hope everyone is well. For anyone that helped me with the Rhodes, thanks. It was fun.
Peace,
Joe

Wow. So this was the coolest break. Ever. I had so much fun its not even funny. I had no idea how much I had missed my family until I got to see them all. I have not spent this much time with Peeg in awhile, either. We had three huge meals and I stayed extra full with pie in between. I must have gained 10 pounds. No lie. The rest was much needed, now all I hope is that everyone returns to their respective homes safely. I did have one scare, though. Liebten was gone when Will got back to SC. He looked and looked and even had the Police out looking for her (ah, the connections of a great journalist) but she finally came home. Will details it on his site, and all I can say is that I have never been so close to tears in a long time. The thought of loosing her, even now that she is not directly my own, is devastating. I am glad she came home. And I'm glad Will let her know its not cool to take "sojourns" like that anymore. Stay at home, wiggle worm.
On a better note, the younger brothers won the annual football game by a touchdown. We were down by 14 at one point, but youth and raw dumb jockness eventually overcame strategy and raw speed. Nick picked off a pass in the last few seconds and tossed it to me, and I ran it in for the winning TD. It was a great game. Daddy was hitting everyone in the hands and we were trading great plays all game. Everyone was sore except Nick (Ranger kid) the next day.
Guess thats it. Hope everyone is well!

Peace,
Joe

NICK NOW HAS A WEBSITE!!!! Here is a link to the funniest crap ever! Read and enjoy all his links.

Peace,
Joe

Here's a quick update for those of you I haven't gotten to talk to lately... remember all those posts when I talked about the Rhodes competition? Well beyond all logic and reason I got a state interview bid. The letter came in the mail the other day and my dad opened it because he thought it was a traffic ticket (it was from a magistrate judge... she's the head of the Alabama commitee) and then called me and told me the news. Its purty exciting and way beyond all my expectations of what was going to happen. 'Southen (my school) hasn't had one in like 40 years, and a friend of mine, Nick Gaskill, also got a state bid. Two BSC students in one competition. Purty neat. Thanks to all those that wrote me letters of recomendation and to Will, who got me pictures in a very short period of time, completing the application. I find out next week if I make nationals, then two days later whether I got a scholarship. I don't expect to go any farther, but it would be cool if I did. I'll keep everyone posted!

I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

Here is a link to a really, hmmm.... I guess I'll say cool website. All you do is enter words in the space and press enter or return (for mac users). I have only found two key words that lead anywhere... one is "Hello" Type that in and you'll get an explanation of the site. Have fun!

Hope all is well.

Peace,
Joe

Haha! I have defeated the mighty G R E! Actually, I have just taken it and minorly injured its left leg maybe, but my scores are good enough to get me where I want to go. If I want to qualify for fellowships at some of the choosier places I'm applying to I'll need to raise my math score (yes, the Chandler curse continues), but thats ok. Its just nice to have it done and know that all the components of applying to Grad school are now withing my grasp. My huge senior experiment is coming to a close, too. We ran participants all day today (personally I did about 6.5 hours) and I'll be running folks tomorrow from 10am to 8pm with one one-hour brake. Oh yeah. This is HARD CORE PSYCHOLOGY! Woo-hooooooooooo. Really its just long. Not hard core.
I find out about the Rhodes in less than a week. At least the State level, anyway. That will be nice. I'm at the Cellar right now. Have I mentioned that this is the best job ever? I have a friend that works at a "real" coffee house (some place called MoonDollars? Or is it Star... ummm) and I get paid more! AND I'm posting on my site sitting next to my manager and I'm working right now. After this, we'll play Uno. Then, maybe I'll make a "Latte." Whatever that is.
So thanksgiving looms large. I am really ahppy about that. Its always cool to see the family.

Hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

Man this has been a crazy week. All in the span of a few days I have thought I wasn't going to grad school, then I thought I might go to law school, then I thought my dad was getting paralyzed, then I thought a Ham sandwich was actually a Turkey sandwich and ate it and was quite disappointed, then I realized I was being really dumb and that of course I am going to grad school and then I got a letter from the Rhodes people saying that my GPA and everything was good enough and they would call me later if I went to the state trials and then I worked at the Cellar and pretended I was a ganster, then I played some Uno, and now I am in the midst of a hunt for a Movie called "Brother From Another Planet" that I have to watch for African-American Lit. So I thought (as I was online) "boy Joe, you haven't posted on your website seeing as how you've been all busy and such, you should do that." And so I am.
Hmmmm... what else. Oh yes. My family is all getting together for the thanksgiving. That will be wonderful. I can't wait. One of my professors might be coming to thanksgiving dinner, too. He's practically family, seeing as how he is my mentor and all. Yens.
So I saw the new Harry Potter last night. Man let me tell you, it was grand. I will say nothing of it for those that haven't seen it. Only this: you should go see it. Its grand.
Vic got the new LOTR box set with the extra 30 minutes of footage. As soon as my life slows down I'm going to watch it like 50 times. In a row.
I want to be Gandalf.

Hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Sometimes I think to myself that I don't post on this site enough. Then I think, yes Joe, you're right. I have been busy, but isn't this site a part of my relief from said responsibilities? Oh the self conversation: worthless and yet also useless. Yens.
So today in The Cellar I invented a new game. Its called "Jump into the couch from a relatively safe distance Game." because of all the storms noone was around, so we made up a bunch of new games and carried them out. It was grand.
I went to lunch with mama and daddy today at The Mill. It was a supreme meal. I really love it that they're only an hour away. After lunch we went to Golden Tmeple and mama went crazy over all the cool stuff. The scene was hilarious: mama smelling all the herbs and daddy looking worried saying "ok Kathy, time to go." Mama loves those kinds of places (its a hippie health food/other stuff store). Daddy bought me some Dr. Bronner's (THE GREATEST SOAP EVER!) which you can use to do everything from wash your hair to brush your teeth to stopping global warming. Ok, so maybe that last part isn't true. But it does smell like peppermint!
After that we went to school and I showed ma and pa the brand new science building we have. Its supa keen. It has a whole floor of psych labs, including a neuroscience lab (which I dig immensly). When they left you could already tell the bad weather was moving in. By the time the night came it was gettnig bad, so we closed up the Cellar early and everyone in the dorms had to go to the basement. It turned out ok for us. Walker county got hit hard, and the line included several tornadoes. So I called all my loved ones and everyone checked in ok. I'm glad the storm came and did no direct damage to me or my loved ones, but I do pray for those that lost property or worse this evening.
But on to happier things... I have an Abnormal Psych test in 11 hours! I should probably study a bit more and then go to sleep. I hope everyone is well and that the weather is kinder where you are right now than it is here.

Peace,
Joe

Hooray. I love the Nickel Creek. Especially that Light House song. That is the saddest song I have ever heard sung from the point of view of an inanimate object. I liked it so much I sat down and figured out as much of it as I could, then got the rest from a reliable bluegrass tab site. The song is simple and fun to sing and play. If you're Will, you should learn it. Then we could jam on it a bit, and maybe lay down the fiddle part. Speaking of the fiddle, I wish I had more time to practice it. But I have locked in a bit of its value now, because I'm taking violin lessons on campus next semster. That will be good because it includes access to a sound proof practice room, much the boon to my suitemates.
So Amberly is back in town and its been a good thing. I forgot that she was a great friend for awhile there. She has a dog named Cooper. He's a bit crazy. Calm one second and crrraaazy the next. He slobbers a bunch. All in all a nice dog.
Hmmmm... so that's whats really going on. Peeg and Stacy left me the coolest announcement messege ever the other day. They presented getting an X-box as a regal thing. Coolest messege I've gotten in a long time.
School keeps on truckin. Finals are in only four weeks. Grad school apps are due in six. Supa busy, supa crazy.
I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Last night I had a crrrrazy dream that I invented a new kind of rice that gave people super powers. The really odd part was that I invented it while trying to come up with a personal forcefield that people could use as umbrellas. The whole dream seemed perfectly natural, you know, the kind where you don't know its a dream until you wake up. So the down part was that you didn't know what power you'd get until after eating the rice. So not many people did it. Of course me and all my brothers did, because super powers are cool. Peeg got the ability to see things very far away, like he had super binocular vision. Will became stretch man, and hence, could stretch like a rubber band. Nick got laser eyes, not like cyclops, but controllable like superman. I got the ability to talk to animals. The bad part about that though was that I had to speak just like them. So I barked alot. After eating the rice we formed a super group of course and went around fighting crime and the like. Liz didn't want to eat the rice, but eventually she did. She got the ability to mentally switch places with her cat Sticky. Like a mind transplant. It was grand fun. We called ourselves "THE MYSTERIOUS MONKIES" becasue Liz thought that would be a good title. Now for those of you that have seen our sibling interaction, this is not an unusual post. Those of you that have not, now you have a small glimpse into the way my mind works in relation to my brothers and sister. Its great.
It is finally cold down here in the great Alabama. Its grand.
So thats it. Cool dream, cold weather. I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Ok so don't click on the super mysterious link on the last post. It was supposed to be to the Martin Guitars site, but I messed it up. but do look at the other link. Ok. CYA!
Peace,
Joe

Oh yes, also here is a funny link that my friend Ryan showed to me the other day. I am going to try to get my African-American Lit teacher to show it in class. Some parts are a bit over the top, but all in all its an excellent little commentary on modern racism. Also, since I am liking the link thing here, this is a link to A MYSTERIOUS WEBSITE OF UN-KNOWN ORIGIN!!!! Or maybe its just a cool instrument place, which is probably more likely.
Peace,
Joe

So here marks the longest I think I have gone without updating my site, and there is a good reason. Every time I try too, my computer crashes. A few of my very smart friends assure me that this will not happen anymore, so I am trying to post. Obviously if you are reading this then I have been successful. Hooray!
Ok, so now I must have somehting to talk about. How about Micheal Jordan. Great! I watched the Wizards play last night (just me and a six pack of Rolling Rock. Yea, I know how to party on Halloween) and the 39 year old rocked the Celtics house until they had to stop and say "oh please, I know that we all keep saying you're too old to be effective until you drop a bazillion points on us without blinking, but please Mr. Jordan, have mercy!" Yes, my favorite old guy dropped 21 points in 20 minutes last night on way to a Wizards destruction of the celtics. If you will for one moment, imagine me jumping around in front of the TV laughing at all others attempt to play basketball, you will see how nice it was to watch the game. Oh yes.
But enough of poor nerdy basketball Joe. Oh wait. Thats all there really is to write about. I'm still a sicky pants (the flu has stuck with me for a week) and tonight I'm going to work and do my laundry. I know things on this site have gotten even more boring than usual, but so it goes when the semester starts getting rough. Amberly gets here on Monday for her foray back into the south. I hope she has a safe drive.
OOOOHHHH!!! Maybe Space Ghost is on. Cya.
Peace,
Joe

Not too much to say today, but I didn't want to go too long without an update. The research project is kicking into high gear now, and is taking up most of my time and my group-mates' time. Now that the Rhodes is overwith (the application anyway) I have been focusing on the more realistic list of 15 grad schools I'm applying to. I have options that are close in location to all my immediate family members, so thats good. The semester continues....
I'm going with Daddy to Mississippi this weekend to see Nick compete in "Ranger Challenge" where his ROTC Ranger squad takes on other schools. He is getting in great shape and it should be good. He can "run like the wind." Oh yens.
I suppose thats about it. I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

HANPY BIRNFDAY TO DA PEEG HANPY BIRNFDAY TO DA PEEG HANPY BIRNFDAY DEAR PEEEEEEEEEGGGGG HANPY BIRNFDAY TO DA PEEG!!!!!!!!!!!!

There, I just sang over the interweb. But its better that it wasn' audible, becasue it was really bad. Yep. Hope your birthday was fun Peeg.

To everyone else, my life is again boring becasue I'm back in class. No funny stories except I ate something called "Steak Fingers" for dinner. Its like chicken fingers, but steak. Now my stomach hurts. I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

PS... I am taking Violin lessons starting in the spring! Hooray!

Ok, I'm back. For those of you that know my dad all he had to say was one word after getting me to come upstairs and into the family room: "pen?" Yep. Ok, so this weekend was my fall break. I went to the lake with Carl. Everyone else was either going home (like Joe and David) or had a test (like Vick with the GRE) or just had so much damn work they couldn't spare any time (like Drew). Various other circumstances led it to be just me and the Carl man. After the four hot foreign exchange girls cancelled, it was jus thte two of us. (PS THERE WERE NEVER ANY HOT FORIEGN EXCHANGE GIRLS BUT ITS FUN TO THINK SO, ISN'T IT? ESPECIALLY IF ONE WAS NAMED "Popyavitch") So we went and relaxed in the middle of nowhere. When we got there we went hiking back into some woods behind where a creek branches off of the main lake. It was beutiful. We went pretty deep before we stopped and I said "So wich way should we go now, Carl." Carl took a second and answered "Since there is a Doberman Pincher over there, we should go that way! (Pointing away from the angry looking dog)" So we ran. Or at least, I ran. Carl walked faster but I took off like I was still a much skinnier Chandler. Tubby has not run that fast since high school track practice. It was pretty funny. Anyway, we got away and got back to the edge of the creek. There Carl explained to me that the huge grey vats of smooth looking mud were these pools that he used to play in when small. I thought that was nice. So I went over and just put my hand in it and thought, "this is nice." THEN I WAS IN IT! It was purty fun. I acted like a scary swamp monster and stuff until I realized "ok Joe, you ARE stressed." Carl got muddy too, basically doing the same thing, flipping out (much like a ninja but with no killing). We got the mud off in the lake and then made hot dogs and beer. We made a bon fire that night and stayed very amused at the awesome echo that the lake provided. It would return almost three words after a one second delay!
The next day we swam and and attempted to find paddles for the canoe but had no luck. We went out on the pontoon boat (it was 75 degrees!) and had much fun. I got to read a bit. We played our guitars. The day ended with more hot dogs and more beer and another bon fire. We got up the next day and went back to B'ham. Then I went to T-town to pick up Nick for the weekend. Here begins the second half of the story.
If I can ever give you any advice it would be NOT to drive to Tuscaloosa on the day of thier homecoming. There was bumper to bumper traffic the whole way down and people were literally rolling down their windows and yelling at eachother from opposingly decked out Alabama and Ole' Miss vans. It was really scary. Then when I got to town there was an old lady IN THE MIDDLE OF THE STREET singing the fight song over and over and over again. A huge crepe-paper visage of Big Al blocked the entrance to a church next to Nick's dorm. As soon as I pulled in to the parking lot of Nick's dorm, I was blocked in by other cars. There were idiots trying to park in the ONLY EXIT IN THE WHOLE DAMN LOT! He moved when others yelled at him. Nick finally came down to the car (I had called Meghan and told here this story already to keep sane) and we left. on the way out it was like everyone on the road on the way out was on crack. Bad crack. It was most unpleasant.
Then we got home and went to church and Los Mex. Nick went out with his friends last night and I stayed home and watched BBC shows on PBS with mama and drank guinness. I know I'm a party animal. You don't have to tell me.
Today we're having a nice big lunch and daddy and I are watching football. All in all its been a great weekend. I hope the week is equally as nice.
I hope everyone is well!

Peace,
Joe

So you know you've been working too hard when you jump into the first giant pool of mud made available to you and roll around while fully clothed. Yep. Ah, but first, the set up......
Wait, gotta go. I'm at home and daddy says he needs me upstairs for a sec... brb.

peace,
joe

I had a dream last night that Peeg killed the sniper in Maryland. I do not mean to trivialize the horrors that are occuring up there, but it was kind of a funny dream. Saturn sent him as an assassin to kill the person becasue he was bad for business. It was like I was watching it on the news. He was "secret agent Peeg." Then I had a dream that Shane and I solved what consciousness is, and gained the ability to turn ourselves off like robots. It was very cool.
Today I finished my midterms with a presentation in PY417 (research in psych). It went well, and now its time for a few days of "no brain Joe." I'm in the Cellar right now and noone is here except the Cellar regulars because everyone is gone for Fall Break. Mike is down from Vandy, and he brought some conspiracy theory rap. It is very niiiice. We got Chef hats for the Cellar. We asked for them jokingly, and got them. So I am now wearing a chef hat that says "CHEF" on it in badly written letters. Its probably the most exciting thing that has happened to me in the last few weeks, I've been so busy. We're going to the lake tomorrow for a day, and then I'm going home to hang out with Nick and mama and daddy and grandma and grandpa. That should be nice. I'll probably spend the time sptudying for the GRE. Oh well. I'm going to go make some coffee of some sort.

Peace,
Joe

The Wailers were here last night and it was a rockin concert! Bob Marely is sadly passed away, but the lead singer wa still great. THey played many good songs and we all bopped to the same rhythm for two hours underneath a very hot tent on the quad. It was the first E-fest that I really enjoyed in all four years here. We all hung out and had a good time. Matt and David and Lauren were not around for various reasons, and they were missed. After the concert I helped my friend Carrie Beth try to find a bunch of her friends that had come up from T-town and then disappeared. We foudn them talking to the band. One of the band members (the bassist?) had given one of them a note that said something like "you have beutiful eyes, I'd like to see them in the morning" So Carrie Beth decided they needed to go watch a movie instead. Carl and I then watched some of Harry Potter pointing out parts of Oxford that we wanted to see as students next year. That would rule. Drew was on duty all night so it wasn't his best E-fest ever, but I heard he read a good bit of The Hobbit.
We had band practice today and decided that we weren't going to be ready for the Halloween show we had sort of planned. We are all too busy this semester. Maybe in the Spring then.
Midterms are nearly over, and next weekend is fall break. We might go to the lake. We are so busy though that we would have to bring work to the lake. But at least we would be somewhere other than school. Yep.
Fall semester is flying by. I still have many Grad school apps to do and even a little reading tonight, so I must go. I hope everyone is well.
PS to daPeeg, get better sicky pants
to tha Stacy, thanx for the input on my essay
to everyone, enjoy your weekend in whatever capacity you see fit.
Peace,
Joe

Do you ever have one of those days where you feel like you can't study anymore even if you tried really really hard? Thats me today. I have a midterm in Psychological Disorders tomorrow and I can't bring myself to study anymore for it. I think that even if I did it wouldn't sink in. I've studid enough for it already I think, but usually I overstudy to the point where I feel like I could write a book on it before I take the test. But not today.
My friend Dedra (I hope I spelled that right) came over today and told me lots of good stuff about my fiddle. She's a very good Cello player and so I trust her advice oh so much. I think I might take lessons from someone for it, maybe through the music department here. She called frets "cheat bars." I guess it is a bunch more difficult to play stringed instruments without frets. But I will try to learn. Yens.
I mailed my Rhodes application yesterday, and it cost me like eight bucks because it was so huge. So now maybe my posts won't include something about it every time. Now I just wait to see if I get a state bid. That sure would be nice.
A quick thanks to anyone that ever helped me with it. References, pictures, advice on the essay, or just puttin gup with me always talking about it. I feel as if I have borne a child. But like I said, now all there is to do is wait.
I guess thats all for today. I'm going to go study because reading that top part made me feel guilty. :( oh well, such is the life of a student.
Peace,
Joe

A very quick THANK YOU OH SO VERNY MUCH to my brother Will for helping me scramble to get some pictures today for the Rhodes. Another sappy "Joe loves and misses his family" moment. Sleep is emminent. I hope everyone is well
Peace,
Joe

It magically turned fall today! It got "cold" (yeah, like 60 degrees) and I put on a long sleeved shirt. I hope it stays this way. I learned the first few bars of Old Joe Clark and that song from the PBS civil war show today, too. Still sounds like a dying cat, but less so than the other day, I tell you. Will called me this mornig at about 8:30am and was really excited and played some stuff for me. Man he's going to get good at it really fast. That stayed on my mind all day, so when I got out of class I thought, "Hmmm... sleep, or play fiddle.... PLAY FIDDLE!" and I proceeded to do so for about an hour. It was nice. The fingering is starting to make more sense (I looked up some Mandolin tab) and perhaps soon I won't make my roommates run at the sound of my playing. This is the official website for the big fancy scholarship I am almost done applying for. Man oh man it has been complicated and stuff. But soon the hardest parts will be over. Hooray!
I guess that's it. Bob Marley's old band "The Wailers" will be on campus this weekend. That should be interesting.
I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

Met with my research group for six and a half hours straight today. We went so long that we actually finished while I was at work, with me going from the register back to them over and over. If you are in my group and reading this, you rock. If you aren't in the group and are reading this, you still rock, but they rock, too.
Got to hang out with Nick today when I drove him back to T-town. This weekend was great. Being with my family really recharges me. Now all I have to do is learn to play the fiddle I bought.
I still have about 150 pages of reading to do and its 10pm, so I'm going to go. I'll probably find a place outside, it looks like a pretty storm is brewing.
I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

I GOT A FIDDLE TODAY! Yep, I sepnt my money on another instrument that I will spend just enough time on to get ok, and then go back to guitar. But that is secondary to the rest of the day so far. Let me tell you about the Fiddler's convention, since that's all I've been talking about on this site all week anyway.
Carl and Nick and I got to Athens in the middle of the banjo competition, around 8:30pm. Mama and Daddy had already registered me to sing in the Old Time Singing competition, and Carl and Nick bought tickets when we got there. We got there just in time to meet up with Ma and practice my song maybe twice, only to find out that she couldn't back me up without an instrument (besides her voice). Will and Meghan were running late (they ran into every conceivable type of traffic) so I thought that I wasn't going to sing (that didn't seem too bad to me after the reality of singing in front of many people set in). But Will got there in time, registered (they wouldn't let me and Ma do it for him) and backed me up, so I did sing. I was nervous (it came across verrrry much in my voice) and a siren went off in the middle of the song, and I forgot a verse (I blame it on the siren, but actually I didn't know it went off until Will told me afterward). But I got to sing with my brother, which made me feel important and somehow a better musician than I really am, and he harmonized with me on the chorus, which I think (if we have time to practice together next time) could be verrrry niiiice in the future. Will sang "Angel Band" and absolutely blew everyone away. I had no doubt that he was going to win first place, but then some magic ray hit the judges and made them forget that he even sang, I guess. Mama sang something I had never heard her sing before, "Queen of Hearts" a cappela, and it was mesmerizing. I hate it that she never wins there (she doesb't sing the "right kind of songs" apparently) but its a safe bet she always has the prettiest voice at the whole convention. Yep. Daddy looked great, like he had much energy, and it was very fun getting to see Jamie and Dave again. We all jammed Saturday afternoon (Dave bought a new guitar!) until our fingers started to hurt. We ate funnel cake and the like, and then Nick came back with me and Carl to 'Southern and we hung out and played my new fiddle very badly. Liz and Josh and Peeg and Stacy were missed a whole bunch.
So there's my weekend. The best break ever. I feel very much refreshed and ready to go for school next weekend. Family, friends, and bluegrass (not to mention a new instrument) will do that to you.
Gotta go to bed. Nick and I are going to mass in the morning. I hope everyone had as good a weekend as I.
Peace,
Joe

THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
If a monkey has knife fight with another monkey and no one is there to referee it, who wins?

SECOND THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
Fiddler's Convention + Hot Cider + Many Guitars + Family + Friends = WOOOOHOOOOO

LAST THOUGHT OF THE DAY:
(Fill in thought here)

I hope everyone is well.

Peace,
Joe

Wow. Stuff has been so crazy the last few days that I almost forgot I had this site. I have a formal APA presentation coming up, the Rhodes is coming to a crrrazy close, I had the most involved test I have ever had in Cognitive Psych, and meetings with groups that I never knew I belonged to. I just got off work and I thought, "I should post on my site, that would be a happy thing." Fiddler's convention is in two days and I've practiced my song maybe twice. I need new acoustic strings before hand, which is one of my quests for tomorrow. I get to get up @ around 8am, finish my Rhodes essay, go to two meetings, got to T-town to give Nick some stuff, come back, have band practice, then meet with my research group to keep up with the APA presentation for next monday. But then friday I drive away to cider and funnel cakes and family. It will be grand. The more I think about Peeg and Stacy not being there, the more sad I am :( I really need to get up to DC to see them. Yep. Besides all the work, I am enjoying the life oh so much. I complain, but its verrrrry niiiice indeed. This morning I was so tired I decided to shave a very odd pattern in my beard. It seemd like a good idea at the time, but one of my friends said it best when she said, "Joe, what's that on your face?" Sometimes ideas seem good when you're sleepy, only to come into their true form later. Tonight Charled played some very cool Johnny Cash music in the Cellar. It was covers and the like. He did a cover of "I won't back down" with Tom Petty himself singing backup. Yet another CD that Joe would like to have. Oh yes, and some Nickel Creek. I hope it doesn't rain this weekend. Mayne the hurrican thats coming will say "Oh, its fiddler's convention time!" and magically disappear. I would like that. Will is singing this cool old song about angels for the convention. I heard it last year when he was getting it ready, and it was supa keen. I look forward to hearing it.
I hope eveyone is doing well. I'm going to go to bed now to stop my rambling. Yes.
Peace,
Joe

Quick one today... I got to go to church with my parents this morning at the cathedral and it was great. Daddy is looking better each time I see him, and there's hardly a scar at all. Daddy also brought my acoustic with him and I consequently played it way too much today. During band practice I have consistently felt like I was learning to play guitar again, mostly because I never played much electric until now. Having my old dreadnought back in my hands made me remember my roots: bluegrass and church music. I firgured out what I'm playing for Athens: I'll Fly Away. I hope it won't be over done because of the O Brother Where Art Thou thing, but its one of the few songs I can pick and sing at the same time, and an easy one so I might be able to employ Will or Joey (if you're reading this, ah-ha!) to play with me and make me sound much better than I am. That would be great. I am so excited about it I can hardly wait. I hope its cold enough for jackets and the like!
Besides that, school continues its ever-raging quest to turn me into a hermit. Soon it shall have its way, but hey, I'll get my B.S.!
Onward toward more Cognitive psych.
Peace,
Joe

I love the Cowboy Junkies. I have always liked them, but never really sat down and listened to the one album I have all the way through. Now I have, and on a night like this thier mellow sound is just what was needed. You should listen to them, too. Ok. Cya
Peace,
Joe

Friday night and I am reading Lord of the Rings and drinking coffee. I am one serious party dude. This whole week I've been thinking "I'll party this friday, this week has been so busy." Now its here and I just want to sit and read about hobbits. And thats ok.
Last night I went to a classical Indian music concert on campus. There was a violinist, a tabla player and some guy that played what looked like a banjo on crack. It was awesome. Two and a half hours of really cool music. The first song lasted for 45 minutes. At the end of the first half of the show the audience was told that it was the first time the tabla player and violinist had ever played together. It seemed, when they were playing, that they had been doing those songs together for years. We were also told that much of Indian classical music is impromtu. So I witnessed a supa jam, basically. And it was free to BSC students. All in all, the highlight of my week.
I had my Rhodes mock interview today. It went very well. I was told that I needed to get to the point of my answers faster, and make more eye contact. The feedback was very helpful. I was nervous at first, but it wore off once we started really talking. I also need to re-work my essay quite a bit. Hopefully when its done I'll just post a large portion of it and ask for feedback from anybody that reads this site (meaning mostly just Will, Peeg, Stacy, and an occasional friend). If you are a reader too and I didn't mention your name, I'm sorry. I'm just going on the comments section. I thank all those that ever subject themselves to my ramblings.
I'm at the Cellar right now, working. I've had just about two customers in a little over an hour. 1st shift on friday night is always slow. But that is ok with me, because I am getting paid to post on my website and read. Hooray!
Fiddler's Convention is next week and I have not practiced at all. I've been playing almost exclusively electric for the band, and so must reaquaint myself with my acoustic very, very quickly. I think I'm going to sing, if I can learn a song in a week. To Peeg and Stacy, you will be missed at Athens. I will do a Peeg dance in honor of Da Peeg and ask at least one stranger, "Where da cheese at?" in honor of Stacy.
Thats it for now I guess. I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Yerba Mate is the best drink ever made, along with whiskey and Guiness... and water, I. Carl has this funky South American Green Tea that has more caffine per cup than the strongest American coffee can imagine having. On days such as these when I have made myself an academic hermit (I have either been reading or typing since about 2pm) caffine is one of my best friends. I usually don't drink caffine during the day, so its even more effective when I do. I have (GASP!) eliminated coffee from my daily routine. Now I have these days when I get all hopped up, put on my pajama pants so as to discourage going out of the room, and study like they was no tomorrow. Or maybe like tomorrow is coming, and everything ever due was due tomorrow. Thats enough of the college life. I am by no means complaining! The real world is a scary, I have been told.
I got to have lunch today with my mom before I started the hermit studying. I love mama. She really does love what she's getting to do at the Cathedral. And what's more, there is an awesome Chinese buffet just across the street! That is where we went to eat. $5 gets you all you can eat, including soup and sweet cakes! The food was great, but seeing mama was better. Now I just need to go see Liz and Josh. I feel very lucky living in a city where my mom is half the week and my sister and brother-in-law are the whole time. Oh yes, very nice.
Ok, back to the lab, as it were. For all you workin' family members and friends out there, I encourage you to vicariously enjoy the sleepless night of academic debauchery I am about to enbark on. Oh so much nicer than a real job! In return, I thank you for warning me that grad school is the way to go and the warm bossom of academia is #1.
PS... The fiddler's convention is only a week and a half away!

Peace,
Joe

I would like to take this opportunity to say that I very much love my family. I just got done with an online lab, and decided "I'll look at Will's site and Peeg's site." I ended up going back into the archives (I was enjoying the memories as it were) and read the ones about when Peeg and Stacy moved (both from Will's and Peeg's point of view) and Liz's wedding (again, both POVs). I found myself sort of crying by the end of reading all of them. Part from happiness, part from sadness, part from fatigue, and part from the pot and a half of green and black tea I have had today. This morning I had a Chandler family moment, too. I called Liz at 10:45am to tell her I'd slept in and wouldn't be at 11 o'clock mass. She said she had slept in, too. Then at the same time we said "CYA!" and hung up. It was very small and such but the connection I have with my siblings at this point in my life I don't think can be called ordinary. I am a family guy. And to all of my friends (you know who you are!) you are extended family, or closer, and so also have an inordinate amount of my mushy attention tonight. I am going to go look at some pictures now and generally miss people. I can't wait until we're all together next, I tell you. As Will and Dave might say "Seatbelt."
Love to all.
Peace,
Joe

Ok. I am in the Cellar again. But I really tried to be elsewhere today, I promise. But before that, let's talk about earlier today.
Saturday = band practice, and today was like super saturday, becasue we had "super band practice." We jammed for about 3.5 hours and ended in a combination of two songs that we had just come up with that morphed into a 15 minute drawn out acid rock type thing that we all magiclly ended at the same time. It was veeeeery nice. I think we have actually progressed from bad to much less bad in a few weeks. Its a good step. The more we practice the more we decide to not cover as many songs. More keep getting written, and I think that is nice. Enough of the band. On to this evening.
We came back on campus and I thought "In all my years of being at BSC, I have never been to a "bid day." This is when all of the new frats join up with their old frats and everyone gets chemically altered on fraternity row. I have in the past avoided this, thinking "that ain't for me." Subsequently, I have never actually spent any more time on frat row that was necessary in jogging past it while working out. I thought I would change this. So I went down with Carl and Lauren and went from house to house for awhile. Carl's little brother Chase is pledging Sigma Chi, and we tried to find him. We didn't, and suddenly I was back here at the Cellar! I honestly don't know how, but I think my legs just started to walk, saying "this ain't for you, sucka." Then I was here, typing on this computer. To bid day's defense, many new rules have been instated this year that have apparently calmed things down. Seeing as how last year's bid day party made Playboy's top 10 parties of the year list, I imagine this one was a little different. So now I'm here watching Joe and Devon play chess and generally feeling safe. I have many friends that are in frats (now Chase included) but I think that something in my brain is just not wired for dancing with many strangers in a small humid room while full of many alcohols. I know that is a stereotype, and that all frats aren't like that. I think.
Now I have ranted long enough. I'm going to look at amps online that I can't afford now. Tomorrow I'll go to church with Liz and Josh. And that's it for the Joe this saturday. I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

Ah, another night hanging out at the cellar even when I'm not working there. See, the way I figure it, I'd be down here anyway, so I might as well get paid for it some of the time. So I am looking for a new amp for my band so that I can be heard along with my bandmates. Right now my little 15 watt practice amp is a bit meak compared to Joe's 50 watt and Devon's large bass amp. So I went to Mars, (the most wonderful music store around - it is as large as a super Wal-Mart, but its all instruments) and looked at amps while Carl looked at classics. I fell in love with a very large Fender Stack, but quickly grew to hate its $1500 price tag. I thought perhaps if I marked out the price and wrote "Joe's amp, you no touch" on it that they'd give it to me, but no dice. I then went a little further down the line to look at the $200-$300 dollar range (the "affordable" range, hehe) and found a few that would do quite nicely. Now all I have to do is save my paychecks for a month and not buy any shampoo or anything like that. The life of a college band is filled with many things: money is not one of them.
And that brings us to now. I'm posting from the Cellar as frat row sings thier loud songs just a few hundred yards away. This is mostly what we "indies" do. Sit in the cellar and then serve coffee and the like to the greek folks after they have become sufficiently snookered. Its not all that bad. Somtimes we eat muffins, too. Actually, its quite fun.
This weekend shall be filled with much band practicing and reading. I'm going to go have a muffin. CYA!
Peace,
Joe

Hey! If you ever have one thing to fear, you should fear RATS!!!! I called my sister Liz today and she was watching a movie about rats that take over NY. I watch ed a little of it and thought "oh, thats silly. rats are not scary! they are sweet and easy to train on an intermittent reward schedule!" But then I cought myself looking in the sink to see if any rabid rats came out looking very mean. They didn't.
Today at the caf they had the rectangular pizza like they used to have in grade school! Michelle came into our research group a little late becasue she saw it and had to have some. So of course after the meeting I had to have some too. I had two pieces of it and felt as if it should be time for recess afterward. I was all psyched for some kickball or Mrs. Green (formerly Ms. Welch for my older siblings) to yell "4th grade! Line UP!" But then I came back to reality and thought, "I hope I have some clean pants for tomorrow." That really was my first thought after coming out of that short dream sequence. Funny how pants can be so important, yes?
Next week I have a mock interview for the Rhodes. When I got the email about it I imagined myself with a monocle and suit with tails saying "yes, I WILL have another crumpet, thank you." to the president of the college after they give me one million bazillion dollars. But alas, just like the kickball sequence, I soon came back to reality and freaked out at it being so close. So if any of you have any suggestions as to what I should say, please feel free to tell me.
Besides all that, my life rolls on as per normal. School, work, sleep, school, work ,sleep, CAKE, school, sleep, work, DRAGON BALL Z, and so on.
Speaking of Dragon Ball Z, the new episodes are currently in progress. I highly recommend checking them out.
Peace,
Joe

Sometimes my life ain't no action movie. I'd like to post something exciting, but the most exciting thing that happened to me today was probably going to Target with Carl to buy tea and mouthwash. Carl is "The Most Exciting Hombre This Side of Chile." That was fun, but not like going on high adventures in mountains and the like. I'm reading The Lord of the Rings right now ( I got 39 cent copies from the thrift store!) and all that adventure makes me want to go out into the wilderness and do good deeds. But alas, I have Abnormal Psychology tests and grad school applications and other school like things to do instead. Hmmm... well, I talked to Amberly today and she got a new dog. She rescued an old hound dog from the pound. His name is "Cooper." It sounds like something out of an old Disney cartoon. I heard him bark on the phone, and it was hilarious. Almost like a fog horn. It was pretty awesome.
What else... oh! We might go to the lake this weekend and relax a bit. Meditate, sleep, grill, swim. Maybe that will be fodder for some more interesting posts. I hope everyone is doing well.
Peace,
Joe

Today I took a test to become a certified food handler! Thats right, now I can handle food, certifiably. The booklet that we had to study to take the test included things like instructions on how to wash your hands, and why raw meat juice shouldn't fall on other food. Also, you should always wash your hands 100% of the time 100% after you use the bathroom 100%. If you don't, someone could get ill and say "I feel sick, when will this ever end?" There was a cartoon of a man in the booklet that actually said that. Anyway, I get a certificate and everything. Its going right up there with my high school diploma. Yep.
So last night I had a dream that I invented this computer program that could defeat Sauron and his evil forces. I apparently kept waking up and telling Carl about it, who would listen rather patiently until I passed out again. Somtimes I wonder about myself. I have some of the oddest dreams. And most of the time I share them. Just ask my brother Will.
Ok. I have to go read now. Sorry I don't have anything very exciting to say. But hey, if you ever need any food handled, you know who to call!
Peace,
Joe

We got a drummer! His name is Jim and he came to practice today. He could only stay a little while, so we thought "we'll play well so he will like us and stay" We proceeded to play like poop for the next hour until he left. Then we took a break an went back in for another jam. This one was probably the best we've had yet, and the drummer wasn't there to see that we're not all that terrible. But it was still fun. We continued our song "I want to kill a boy band." Its turning out very lovely indeed.
The soccer team is hosting a tournament this weekend and one of the teams is WKU, where my brother Will went to school. I kept looking to see if big red was there, but no luck. Oh well. I don't even know how the score turned out, but I thought it was neat that Will's school was here.
Other than that, the weekend has been over all very nice thus far. I'm in one of the best moods I've been in in a long time. The fiddler's convention is coming up, which means I get to see my family! Tonight after work I'm driving to T-town to see and Nick and go to church with him tomorrow.
Thats about it. Maybe some more later, if anything interesting happens at the Cellar tonight.
Peace,
Joe

Ok. A much happier post today. First I would like to say thanks oh so much to my brother Will for making his site a Joe theme the other day. A link to his site is down and to the left on this page. You should go see it, unless of course you are Will, in which case you should eat some cheese. Yens. Anyway, on another Will note (and a Chandler note in general) the deli in the caf will slice frech meat for you on request, and so I picked up some salami. And peanut butter. Hence, most days, I now create that wonderful Chandler classic: the peanut butter and salami sandwich. My friends think I'm crazy, but you family members out there KNOW it is the food of the heavens. Mmmmmmmmmmm.
Today I had no classes, and yet it was a full day. I did my laundry (quite a task after two weeks of neglect) and swam. I know it doesn't sound like much, but I felt productive. My brother Nick stopped by for about 10 minutes on his way back to T-town tonight. I like that Nick is in school there, because we get to hang out. This weekend I'm going to spend the night in his dorm room and hang out in general. That should be much fun.
Hmmm.... what else... oh yes, my friend Ruth is coming into town this weekend, and I am much pumped about that. So if you aare Ruth and you're reading this, then be happy. Here's a smiley just for you :) Hooray.
On another random note, I like living with Carl and Drew. Its like having an apartment with two of the coolest people ever. A very small apartment that is often inundated by drunken sophomore frat boys, but an apartment nonetheless. Its fun being in college, and soon I will miss it. Will's comment on his page (again you should go check it out) reminded me about how nice this is. The real world ain't no place for a college student, I tell you!
Also, speaking of family, you should also go see my brother Peeg's page. He's got some pics of my sister's wedding up and has generally re-vamped the whole picture section. Its ultra hip. Yep.
Ok. I've rambled now for long enough. If you're looking for some cool reading that is a bit thought-provoking, you shold check out Fredrick Douglas' "What to the Negro is the Fourth of July?" I'm reading it for African-American Lit and I thought I needed some intellectual content here.
I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

One year ago today at 9:20am central time, I was walking out of the third floor of Harbert Building coming from Medical Sociology. A girl from my class had left early, and I found her out in the hall talking to a professor. She was crying. Her father worked at the pentagon, and I overheard that the pentagon had been bombed or something like that. She was hysterical at the thought of losing her father. I was shaken, but only for a minute. As I walked further down the hall I heard the TV on in the division office and, after talking for a moment to my professor Shane Pitts, we bothed walked in to the office and saw what was happening on TV. My advisor, Dr. McCallum, looked at me and Shane and just pointed at the screen. He said something like "Its not an accident." I was floored. A couple of profs kept talking about what was happening and I wandered out into the hall. My friend Lauren came up the stairs just as I was crossing in front of that door. She looked at me and said something like "What's wrong with you?." I answered that someone had just flown planes in to the WTC and the pentagon. Shocked, "on purpose?!" slipped out of her mouth. I said yes. Now that we were both sufficiently bewildered, I said I was going to go take a nap for some reason. She said she had to get to class. We walked off in an odd haze. I went to my room and found my roomate Drew watching the news. It went from there. The world stopped. Everything stopped. Now its a year later.
Today was a normal day. I went to class, I worked, I ate. But every time I turned on the TV I felt like I was in some bad video game again. I went to a memorial at the Cathedral downtown and just got back from a candle light vigil that we had around the bell tower on campus. People talk about this healing, but I think it will just be a nasty scar, the kind that always itches. And I'm just in Alabama, far away from any of it, locked up in an Iron-Fenced Citadel of a College. I can only imagine how others feel.
I hope eveyone is well. To anyone that reads this, I am genuinely happy that you are alive, healthy, and part of my life.
Peace,
Joe

Sometimes you just really want a sandwich. I didn't eat breakfast this morning, and so by dinner I wanted something X-TRA special. So I went to the caf, and waited in line for many minutes, singing a few not-really-songs-songs in my head. When I got to the front of the line I ordered a Turkey-Bacon-PepperJack Cheese Melt on D-Lish bread. MMMMMMmmmmm. It was so good I thought it should take up some space here. Plus my day was pretty uneventlful, so I needed a good story. When we got back from dinner Carl and I again decided to be healthy, only this time we did Drew's "Navy SEALs Total Body Workout." Man let me tell you, those guys are crazy in a I-like-to-break-my-own-face-with-bricks kinda way. We did most of the whole thing, skipping part when we felt the need to pass out. We did these crazy neck exercises as the instructor said "a man with a strong neck is a strong man" until ours heads almost fell off. Then I took a shower and went to work, where I found out my friend Michelle was from Jasper and that I was known there as "Joe from Anniston" from my connection to Amberly (who was born and raised in Jasper). Nick (not my brother, but another Nick) and Evan and Charles were putting up signs everywhere that said: "Hey Freshman Guys, are you INTERESTED IN RUSH? Then come to the cellar on thursday night for more information." They explained to me that they were going to gather the potential frat boys and then just play a few songs from the Canadian band Rush. I thought it was brilliant. A few bewildered current frat guys walked past the advirtisements with a combined look of interest and disdain. I know I'll be there on thursday night to see what happens.
I guess thats about it. Peeg's post on his journal today was especially interesting I think. I don't stop to appreciate his artistic talent until he whips out all those fancy names in his "big city artists." I do like Jackson Polluck, though. But Peeg is much better. You should read the post. Unless you're Peeg reading right now, in which case you should eat some cheese.
Its 2:20am. Time for the sleeping.
Peace,
Joe

Ok, so I actually didn't have to go to work as it turns out. Joe (the manager) was looking at a schedule that was different from the one he sent out to us, hence the mix up. But I did get to go down there and eat a bag of chips, and on the way back I went to Matt, David, Victor and Joe's suite and acted like a Ninja and TOTALLY FLIPPED OUT WITHOUT EVEN THINKING TWICE!!!! If you find that last comment odd, click on the link that says NINJAS! on this page. Yeah.
So back to the weekend... yesterday was band practice day and, after getting up at about 1pm (sleeping in is niiiiiice) Joe and I went over to Devon's house and jammed like madmen. It was so much fun. If ever there was a practice invented that is more fun than jamming like a blind fool, I certainly don't know what it is.
After that we all went to Jim N' Nick's, a local Bar B Que place in southside. I had a turkey club sandwich the size of Cleavland, and all was good. We went there to celebrate Matt's 22nd birthday (that Matt's girlfriend Deidre so wonderfully called "Mattika: 22") and afterward we went to an Irish Pub called Killarney's. They had live music that was purty good, and they played alot of Cheiftans. During the breaks in the band an old man with bagpipes would walk rather aimlessly around the bar and play stuff like "Dixie." We played pool and were generally loud, then went back to campus and played gamecube into the wee hours of the morning. It was great.
Today I went to church with Mama, Daddy, Liz and Nick. Then we ate lunch at Padre's. It as well was very good. I have had many good eatin' times the last two days. I'll have to get some caf food soon lest my system go into shock. After dinner I rode back to Anniston with Mama and Daddy, said hello to Grandma, Grandpa and Rocky and all the cats, picked up Daisy (with new shocks and struts!) and came back here to BSC. I then started the post that I stopped very quickly.
So there is my weekend. It was a good one, I tell you. Now I'm off to read too many pages to count and try to retain it all. Take care.
Peace,
Joe

Hmmmmm... here is my weekend post. I didn't get one up yesterday because it was quite the busy day on into the night and.... whoa! Joe just called me and I'm supposed to be at work RIGHT NOW. Ah, the gaps that exist in my brain are expansive. CYA!
Peace,
Joe

Today was a good day. For the first time in a long time, I felt like I could actually play the guitar, and so I did for about and hour before I went to work. My band (The Useless Heroes) has actually written a few original songs now, and we practice tomorrow. I have been looking forward to jamming for the entire week and, other than Uno Club, working on the band is one of the ways I really break up the week. Work was fun. It always is. I get paid to bring people coffee, play cards, and study. It is the best job ever.
My little puppy dog (who is actually now Will and Meghan's) got spade today because she isn't gong to get big enough to breed and Liebten in heat is like having the cartoon Tazmanian Devil on crack in your house. So here is to hoping that she will recover soon and resume her activities of doing such things as digging, barking, and otherwise being spastic.
Last night Nick was supposed to come by, but Valkyrie (his car) sort of blew up on the interstate. Everything is ok thankfully, and we are keeping our quota of always having a car at Southern Star. I talked to him afterward to see if he was ok, and he said he was only annoyed because he needed sleep because he had to get up at 5am this morning to jump into a pool blindfolded with full BDUs, a rucksack, and an M-16 on. That crazy kid. Here's an opportunity to say why my family is awesome, too. Mama and Daddy were there ASAP and had Valk towed back to Anniston as Josh and Liz took Nick back to T-town. I love my family.
I think I finally have a solid essay for the Rhodes. It focuses on the cognitive psychological, physiological, and philosophical aspects involved in praying the Rosary. I want to go there to get my PhD in PPP (psych, physiology, and philosophy) and however much of a long shot it actually is I think this essay is purty darn good. I will soon send it to family members for review.
Hmmmm... I think I'm going to go watch the A-team now. I used actually like five times in this post. I hope everyone is well.
Peace,
Joe

oh yeah one more thing... my Jedi webmather brother Peeg put up a comment script so if you feel so inclined to let me know what you think of my daring escapades, please do so.
Peace,
Joe

Running in the rain is fun. Today, feeling like I needed to get into being all healthy and stuff again (I have been attempting to get into a regular work-out pattern with my suitemates) I went swimming with Carl. I actually only swam three laps and then spent about 30 minutes talking to the lifeguard who is a friend of mine that I hadn't talked to in awhile. It started thundering and she told us that we needed to get out of the pool, so we did. We then promtly agreed that we needed to do more healthy things, and decided to go running. It started raining on the way back to the room, but that didn't stop us! Oh no! We ran in the rain and I felt all like Rocky and wanted at various points to start punching the air or something like that. But I didn't. After running around campus for awhile we got tired and went back to the room. After completing such a healthy activity we went straight to Rivermarket deli and ate fried grits and 8 oz. hamburgers. Counter-productive? Yes. But oh so delicious!!!!
Earlier in the day I had to go to orientation for working at the Cellar. And you know what? Valley Foods (trademark) cares about customers 100%. Also they want you to care 100%. And 100% of the time you should give 100%. And you should never, EVER put cake in your pants. That was the jist of it all. The funny part was that the actual interaction that I had with this material was through a tape-recorded messege of a tired sounding man that had little grasp on the concept of where to place stress in pronouncing a sentence. I wonDER wHat that ISZZZZ LiKe!
Thats about all.
Peace,
Joe

So my Jedi Webmaster Geoff (actually my brother peeg) has added links and an elaborative picture to the site for me, seeing as how I am just a padwan learner in the ways of webmathering. So this post is to say thanks to da peeg and also to tell a short story. I'm actually posting this from the cellar right now, and so will tell a cellar story. In between serving coffee and the like, I have walked around the room in a large cardboard box with cut outs in it (a face, arm holes). We like to call him "Cellar box." He usually sits on the stage with a mic in front of him, singing whatever music we put on. Anyway, the point is that after going outside and greeting customers as cellar box and getting varying reactions, one of my co-workers pushed me down while in the box. Later he went away. Hence the point of this story: one should bever mess with large admired refiridgerator boxes or those that temporarily inhabit them. Yens.
That may or may not have been funny. Its 12:43am and I still have an hour of work and am running on 3 hours of sleep. Ah the powers of sleep-deprivation!
Ok. I'll stop now.

Peace,
Joe

Here is a totally funny and actually kind of cool site. Charles told me about a friend of his that knew a girl that actually went to Yale on a juggling scholarship. Apparently they hand out a whole bunch o' money for that skill. Now I wish I could juggle. So look at this site. Yens.
Today was my unbelievably-it-will-never-end-and-actually-still-hasn't-day. I have all four classes ranging in time from 9:30am to 8:30pm. I have a few breaks in between, enough, obviously, for me to post here. But not much. The upside is that I have no classes tomorrow and I'm going home with my little brother to pick up my money-eating-beautiful-brick a.k.a my car a.k.a. Daisy. Her front shocks were actually so bad that I jumped around like I had bad hydrolics (sp?) all the way to Anniston the other day. But it was kind of fun. And I like spending time with my little brother. Got to spend the time before he becomes super buff ranger man and breaks us all in half, you know. I'm actually quite proud of him and stuff. He is running like fives miles with 30lbs on his back now with no problem. Go Nick.
Hmmm... what else. Oh Yeah! Tonight is Her Majesty's Royal Uno Club Night at the Cellar (campus coffee house). Its really just a bunch of people that get together, play Uno, and react very unnecessarily to the tiniest changes in the game using loud, fake British accents. We one day hope to get monicles, brandy and cigars. It happens every Wed. night. It makes me happy!
I'm going to go take a short nap before I go to PY417 and talk all about emotional stroop tasks in phobic subjects. More later.
Peace,
Joe

Heyeeee
I figured out how to make it central time, which happens to be the time that I'm on right now. I still haven't figured out how to fill in the area that is supposed to be my "personal information." Hmmmm... I need to call my brother Goeff or Will to find out how. Anyway, it looks like its two hours later, but I'm actually still playing with this thing from the original post. Yep.
Peace,
Joe

Ummm, yes, hallo. This is the first entry of my little online thingy-do. As you might have noticed, Mr. T loves Buddha and Buddha loves T. I hope to figure out how to post a picture of this in order to illustrate this grand concept. I am starting this because: A) My older brother's did it and B) I need one more thing to distract me from my copious amounts of school work. I have a long standing tradition of doing things because my brothers did it, and I like to brag on my family, so I figured that this was the palce to do it. Also, since my whole family now lives scattered across the land like so much corn across the south (or something like that) I thought it would be nice to post somewhere everyone could read without all those nasty long-distance bills. Plus, I enjoy reading my brother's stuff, so again I thought it would be a good idea. Its after midnight and I have an early morning class, so I guess I had better go. I hope to keep this site up and learn more cool stuff to do with it each day. Until then, enjoy monkeys and whatever else there is good in the world.
Peace,
Joe