Last night I’m looking through my new issue of SLAM and I come across an add for a product that is right up my alley. It’s called HeadBlade.
As a less than fortunate member of the thinning hair society, I have always wanted to go completely bald and shave my head. Fortunately for me, God blessed me with an unusually unblemished dome which lends itself to the friendship of the razor. I made that friendship happen last night.
I’ve been using clippers to shave my head for some time now… almost a year… so the transition wasn’t as dangerous as I thought it might be. Nonetheless it was a big step and with a trip to the local Wal-Greens, I was on my way. 15 minutes later I was slick and shiny.
I am now a little bit closer in style and skill to my main man Michael Jordan. It’s a big day for me!
Winterfest was great. It was long and I’m tired, but great nonetheless. There were lots of new jokes created and great press for Harding, which is always good. Speaking of great press for Harding - segway. I would like to link you to another Harding University blogger and professor, Mark Elrod. Dr. Elrod found an incredible Harding video made 20 years ago… check it out:
I’m going to Winterfest this weekend. What’s that? You haven’t heard of it? Oh, it’s just 14,000 teenagers gathered in one small tourist town for a very long weekend…. and it’s a 10 hour drive away too. Ugh.
If you plan on being there make sure you come by the Harding booth and say hello to me. If you tell me that you read my blog, I’ll bless you with a Harding shirt. Good deal huh?
I’ll be back on Tuesday and I’ll be sure to let you know how everything went.
I don’t know how many of you have ever witnessed the power of a tornado in person before.
As of today, I have yet to personally see the outcome of the winds on homes. I’ve seen pictures mind you, but never witnessed the carnage with my own eyes. I have never walked over a cement slab knowing that it used to be a living room. I’ve never seen a bathtub stuck in a tree or a bass boat wrapped around one. I haven’t hugged someone who sat in the closet while their home literally fell apart around them. I have never used my weekend to throw on some old clothes, drive an hour, and proceed to get dirty while helping a neighbor. I’ve never tediously picked up insulation that had been sprayed through the trees and bushes. I’ve never seen the face of devastation on a homeowner… who is no longer a homeowner.
I have never taken the time to volunteer in the wake of this type of destruction. It’s not because I don’t want to help- I guess I’ve always been removed from the situation. I can easily seperate myself from the reality of it.
Last week a string of storms ravaged Arkansas on its way through the south east. One town, less than 2 hours away, was drastically altered. At this point in my life I’m used to hearing about tornadoes and storms that damage cities. I’ve seen the pictures on the news. I’ve read about the stories in the paper. What was different about this past Sunday? I was in the middle of an outpouring. Almost 1,000 Harding students rallying together to help those who need it. College age kids giving up their weekend to get dirty for the benefit of people they’ve never met. It was amazing to see.
I found this video on YouTube this morning… and although the music choice is a little odd, I thought it would be fitting to show you how some humble students reached out. I’m blessed to be able to witness the love of Christ.
So it’s been about 3 years since I last made an entry… you know what that means, right? I have to have the “I’m sorry that I left you by the wayside” blog. Yep. It’s in this blog that I have to say things like, “I’m commited to writing ‘x’ number of times a week,” and “I promise not to leave you hanging agian…”
Right.
So, I’m sorry. Here’s what I’ve been doing in my time off: watching American Gladiators, planning for Bison Daze, Christmas shopping, watching the Redskins win, NCYM, planning for the Theatron summer tour, opening Christmas presents, making a gingerbread house, celebrating New Years, returning Christmas presents, watching the Redskins lose, blowing up my gingerbread house, planning for Bison Daze - AGAIN, I got sick, continuing to plan for the Theatron summer tour, freezing, celebrating the 4th season of LOST, being disappointed with the opening episode of the 4th season of LOST, watching American Idol and laughing, watching American Idol and going crazy, cheering on the Harding Men’s Basketball team to a 6-1 in conference record, cheering on the Giants to the Super Bowl, watching Tom Brady eat dirt, and at times I slept, ate food, and took time to breath.
That’s what I’ve been doing… I’ll do my best to keep you in the loop from now on. For my peeps out there that actually check my blog - no Renee, you don’t count, let me say, “My Bad.” I will try to do better…. crap, it just became one of those blogs….
I am a fan of the Washington Redskins football organization.
Tuesday morning Sean Taylor lost his life due to complications with a gunshot wound that he suffered in his home outside of Miami, FL.
Shocking news to say the least. I was beside myself to hear about a player who I routinely root for, dying. What really strikes me is that Taylor was only 24 years old - I’m 25. When I think about professional athletes, I still think about them the way I did when I was younger. They are grown men, so much older than me… and maybe I can still be one when I grow up. But then I’m reminded; these guys are not just my peers in age, some of them are younger. Some of them have yet to marry. Some have yet to see their insurance premium go down. Some have just been given the right to vote.
Reading about Sean Taylor’s tragic death reminded me of a good friend that left us to be with his Father in heaven back in 1999. I just finished my junior year of high school and was getting ready to celebrate a birthday… Marques Hampton never got to celebrate with me. As I reminisce about Sean Taylor, I remember Marques, who died in a car wreck coming back from freshman orientation at Virginia Tech where he was scheduled to play football that fall. What strikes me is that VT and Miami, Taylor’s alma mater, play each other on a regular basis, and had Marques lived, they would have met one another on the field as competitors.
That never happened.
I was distraught with the news of Marques’ death. Never again would I see him play football, let alone talk with him as a close friend. When ESPN reported that Taylor had passed, I was flooded with those emotions again. Maybe it’s because of the similarities. Both were football players and very skilled athletes. I enjoyed cheering for both of them as they pursued their careers. Both were very passionate people - believing in their decisions. Both leave people behind wondering what might have been. Both had their lives cut short.
So as I remember Sean Taylor and his family, I also remember Marques. I pray. I know people lose loved ones everyday. I have a good friend who lost his mother recently. It’s tough - we hurt. But thank God that our assurance rests not in the length of our life on this earth, but in the eternity that awaits us in heaven. Live your life with certainty. Make conscience decisions today about who you will become… you might not have tomorrow.
Every once and a while you experience a milestone. An achievement that marks great experience and accomplishment. A trophy day. Maybe you remember some of these events in your life; getting your drivers ID, graduating from High School, getting accepted to college…
All of these are great milestone accomplishments… but they pail in comparison to what I have just experienced for myself. Brace yourself because what I am about to share with you will knock your socks off. It is an achievement of gigantic proportions, something that only happens once in a lifetime, an experience that humbles many and challenges the young. It is so fantastic of an event that I had to change the way I did things to accommodate for its greatness.
Last week, November 7th, 2007 - a date that will go down in the history books…
I was given my 1000th facebook wall post!
Take a moment to pick up your jaw, I know that it is a beast of a milestone… but I didn’t do it alone. It took the time and effort of many people - maybe even you, reading this blog, have contributed to my wall at the book of faces. I thank you. I am in your debt. So the question that is on everyone’s mind is this; what will I do with this new found popularity? Hard one to answer. I was thinking about running for President, but then I saw that Wendy’s commercial where the guy stands and demands that we can have a choice on sides at fast food restaurants. Looks like he’s got that on lock. I thought I would write a book about my journey through facebook stardom, but that would require lots of writing and I can only seem to get a blog post up about once a week. Maybe I could travel to colleges and share my story as a motivational speaker. I could encourage the newly converted that even though they spent endless amounts of time updating their myspace pages and ignoring the responsibilities given them via the “social utility that connects you with people around you,” they too can become among the elite. But, I travel enough for Harding as it is, and I would miss my wife and my dog too much.
What should I do? Then it hit me. I should write a blog about it and ask the few readers that I have. Sounds like a plan - and there it is. How should I celebrate such a huge event? Sound off and let me know… If I like it, I’ll send you a Harding shirt and make plans to fulfill your suggestion.
There. Now you know my weakness and my strength. If you are a fan of sports, you may have noticed that the NBA season kicked off recently. Coincidentally, I am in heaven. This is the best time of the year. Not only are we knee deep into our festive celebration of Hallo-givin-istmas-year, but we also are given the best quarter of sports known to man. College Football, the NFL, the NBA, and the City of Searcy Men’s Basketball League.
Of those mentioned, lets talk about the one you probably know the least about: Searcy City League. You simply do not know competition until you’ve seen us play. The games take place in the Carmichael Community Center, a gym where the floor is painted gray and the bleachers number 3 whole rows. It would sell out with 50 people, I’m sure of it. The teams are comprised of old men, college kids, ex high school athletes, street ballers trying to make a name for themselves (yes, even in Searcy), and us. The “us” I refer to is the Simmons First Basketball team. We are comprised of 9 guys ranging in age (27 is our oldest to date) and experience level. We all have a connection with Harding whether through attendance or that of our wives attendance. We all live in Searcy. In one word: Ballers.
I know what you’re saying; “Wow Logan, that sounds about as legit as a dodgeball league with 2 teams made up of small school children…” Yeah, and then I would say, “You have a weird imagination.”
It really is competitive… we don’t all look like this guy:
Some of the guys do, but that’s for another day. What am I getting to? You should really come see me play. I think you will be pleasantly surprised. I’m a combo guard with a pretty nasty first step and decent jumper that can damage your grill if you get too close. I’m not quite Hot Sauce, but I think you’ll see that Mild Sauce can be just as pleasing to the taste buds.
I’m guessing that you’ve seen these new commercials for the “network that works where you live” by AT&T. “Phila-ware-prag-icago.’” Hilarious. I think it’s one of my favorite commercials right now.
Real life: Have you been to Wal-Mart lately? Not sure if you heard or not, but Searcy has one, and I happened to be there just the other day with my wife (Beth) looking for some fall decorations… problem: we can’t seem to find any. I holler at a blue vest, that’s the slang that these hip college kids are using to talk about the Wal-Mart employees, anyway, I get his attention and ask, “Can you direct me to the section with fall decorations?”
“Nope. We took that down last week,” He said.
“Why?” I inquired in a very puzzling way.
“We needed to make room for the Christmas decorations.”
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After I calmed down my wife - she needs her festive decor - I realized that she made some very good points. In the interest of time, and making sure that I don’t get carpel tunnel syndrome , I’ve summed up the gist of it: 1) “It’s not even Thanksgiving and the fall decorations are being moved!?” 2) “It’s not even Halloween and the fall decorations are being moved!?” 3) “It’s not even December!?” Good points. And that got me to thinking; where are we going to draw the line? It seems like every year Christmas is introducing itself earlier and earlier. The fall season is being neglected.
Ok, let’s pull this all together. In light of these events, no pun intended, I am recommending that we create a holiday that will last from October 22nd through January 3rd. We will call it Hallo-givin-istmas-year. It will take the place of Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, and New Year. It’s an ingenious idea! Let’s lose the running together, the making wives mad, the neglecting of fall. Let’s lose red and green, orange, black, and yellow. Let’s celebrate for 3 months with gold and blue trimmings! Business’ would have a new reason to have sales. Schools could close for summer AND fall creating more time for the creative minds of students to actually create. Just buy one gift. Eat turkey and stuffing everyday. Do away with wrapping paper. No more skipping seasons. It makes incredible sense!
It officially begins now: Merappy Hallo-givin-istmas-year Everyone!!
So working in the Office of Admissions is great. I get to work with some wonderful students, travel the country, and, of course, read lots of e-mails. Whenever I’m on the road visiting youth rallies and churches, I have students fill out reply cards. These cards include the information needed to place them on our mailing list: Name, birth date, High School attended, Graduation date, Major, and E-mail address.
Do you remember when you got your first e-mail address? I do. I was 12 and on the cusp of manhood. Having an e-mail address meant that I would have a pass to the underworld of communication. Secrets could pass freely between me and my friends with no parent interruption… sweet (You should know that these ’secrets’ were more Ya-Ya Sisterhood than Da Vinci, but they were secrets nonetheless). For me, an e-mail address meant that I had arrived on the social scene so when my parents told me that I would get to chose the address that my friends would be able to contact me at, I made sure that I spent good time thinking about what that would be.
BigPlayaLL2000@juno.com
Yep. That was me - the Big Playa that I was. Looking back, I can now say, “That was stupid.” But at the time, I couldn’t have gotten any cooler of an address (what’s really bad is that this is the first address that wasn’t used by someone else… I don’t want to tell you my original idea).
Back to modern day –> When a new student fills out their reply card, the first thing I look for is the e-mail address. I love seeing “prinsezbedazzle@aol.com” or “chik_magnet_3002@hotmail.com.” I absolutely love it. What makes it even better is when I get the e-mail of a HUGE football player and its “mamaLOVESbubbaTONS@yahoo.com.” Priceless.
So, with that I ask you - What’s your address? I really want to know. What was your first e-mail address? Any regrets? Reply below… I might just have something special for the funniest one I find!
