SUPERbowl Weekend

Posted by shelby on Feb 2nd, 2009 at about 12:44 pm

Sure, sure...everybody watched the Superbowl this weekend and probably went to some awesome party, consuming massive amounts of delicious dip.  I did too.  But I've got something on you that made my weekend better than yours.  On Saturday, I went to a one-year-old's birthday party.

Jealous?  You should be.

Not only was there a lot of great food, but near the end of the party, our birthday girl (Aubryn) dug into her cake, literally, in a way that I wish I could when my birthday rolls around next time.  It was an awesome site. She consumed only about 13% of the mini-cake, but the rest was shoved into her face and hair with reckless abandon by her little 12 month old hands. If only I could go after my favorite foods with such zeal.

It was truly as fun to watch as Santonio Holmes plucking that pass from the air near the back of the endzone to win the Superbowl. Great party, amazing entertainment.  Oh, and the Superbowl wasn't that bad either.

JMU

Posted by shelby on Jan 31st, 2009 at about 12:14 pm

Just got back from Seminar #1 at James Madison University. Great time, great people, great campus, great local Mexican restaurant called "El Charro". I had the lunch special numero ocho which included a taco, enchilada, and quesadilla. I also sampled their Senior Pibb. Very tasty.

But I wasn't there to sample the local food, I was there to perform my seminar...and I did to a crowd of almost 300.  I had a great time and my hope is that the students enjoyed themselves and learned something as well.

Round two begins in about 2.5 weeks and the home of the Nittany Lion.

Icee?--Good. Icy?--Bad.

Posted by shelby on Jan 28th, 2009 at about 4:42 pm

I just spent the last hour and 45 minutes shoveling snow and ice from my driveway...and my driveway is only about 10 feet long.  Yeah, I'm not a fan of this weather.  For crying out loud, some people will be out of power for the next 3-5 days because the ice is so heavy it's knocking out power lines like a 6th grade bully.

No me gusta this at all, no me gusta. (that's spanish and "me" is pronounced "meh", in case you were confused)

I'm thinking that Panama City Beach is lookin' nicer and nicer every second I'm up in the northern tundra called "life outside the Sunshine State".  Who's with me?  Wanna hang together for a week in Florida over Spring Break?  Let's do it.

Sugary white sands, clear ocean water, tattoo parlors...it'll be great.  Come to Big Break with me.  You won't regret leaving the chill for 7 days, I promise.

Band Names

Posted by shelby on Jan 27th, 2009 at about 11:29 am

Through the years, I've often wondered how so many groups come up with the name of their band.  Sometimes they go the easy route and just name it after themselves, but more often than not, they come up with some weird combination of words that seemly only make sense to someone who works at Urban Outfitters or is really into skateboarding.

Me?  I don't know.  I've always been under the category the ignorant.  I did, however, discover that if you want to come up with a really cool name for your band, you should probably look no further than the NIV version of the Bible.  Why?  Because the headings in the NIV are chocked full of opportunities to juxtapose subjects and verbs that make the average 15-year-old kid go, "uuhh, that's a pretty sweet band name."

Don't believe me?  Here's a list of some NIV headings that might make you change your mind and re-name your band:

  1. Nebuchadnezzar's Dream
  2. Later Opposition Under Artaxerxes
  3. The Gibeonite Deception
  4. Oil for the Lampstand
  5. Mary's Song
  6. Expel the Immoral Brother!
  7. Hagar and Sarah
  8. The Seventh Trumpet
  9. Favoritism Forbidden
  10. Paul's Plea for Onesimus
  11. Slaves and Masters
  12. Envoys From Babylon
  13. A Common Destiny for All
  14. Advancement Is Meaningless
  15. Haman Hanged
Thought I'd end on an uplifting one.  Do you see what I mean, though?  Every "totally edgy" group out there would appreciate any of those names for their band.  There are many more to choose from, people.  Just open up the Scriptures and peruse.
Here endeth the lesson.

 

24

Posted by shelby on Jan 26th, 2009 at about 10:02 am

I'm amazed by the fact that my website has now been live for more than 4 days and I haven't mentioned anything about Jack Bauer.  My sincere apologies to any and all "24" fans...I deserve to be tortured via electrocution with two random wires, yanked from a nearby table lamp.

We are well into the season now and it looks like Jack has already killed a "good guy (er, lady)" for the greater good of preserving America.  Of course, she's probably not dead, but you never can tell with those tricky "24" writers.  Silent tick?--Death.  No silent tick at the end?--Still alive...maybe.  Who knows anymore? But what I do know is this: I look forward to Monday nights in a way I never have before.  Can it be any better than "House" at 8:00, followed by "24" at 9:00?  It cannot.  It simply cannot.

Jack Bauer is a symbol of self sacrifice and raw angry emotion covered in blonde 5 o'clock shadow.  Sure, the plot is extremely farfetched, but my heart was won over years ago by this true patriot.  I hope there are real people out there that care about America as much as Jack does.  And I hope they are not employed by Kinko's.

As crazy as things might get on this show, I will be there, remote in hand (for increasing the volume) waiting to see what happens next.  I'll be loyal...not as loyal as Jack is to the cause, but loyal nonetheless.

Drop the weapon!

Big Break and Mr. A-Z

Posted by shelby on Jan 22nd, 2009 at about 1:40 pm

It's no secret that within the context of any given conference that I happen to be emceeing, a parody will more than likely show up...maybe even more than one.  Well, I'm here to tell you this: Big Break 09 will be no different.

I will be parodying (is that a word?) Jason Mraz's most popular song to date at the Big Break conference this year and I'm looking forward to seeing what some of you might think.  For now, the subject matter of the song will remain a secret, but at least you have one piece of information concerning how you will be entertained at the Spring Break Conference to end all Spring Break Conferences.

Panama City Beach, Fla., baby!  One month and counting...

Up and Runnin'

Posted by shelby on Jan 19th, 2009 at about 12:37 pm

The new site is now revealed to all!  This is it, kiddies.  

I'm proud of it and am super thankful for friends that know the world of computers about 2 million times more than me.  They make things work and I don't know about you, but I like working things.

My first gig is coming up at James Madison University on the 29th of this month and I can't wait to see what goes down.  JMU is my old stomping grounds, so let's hope that the reception there is warm and not anything close to the current temperature outside right now.  For the love of Benji, it's cold outside!