The Royal Blue

In case you have yet to check it out, be sure to visit our brand new website. While you are there you will be able to listen to all of our newly recorded songs.

Enjoy.

Carpe Forward

I'm sure I am not the only one to whom the following scenario has occurred.

Computer: "Ding"

Stephen: "Awesome. New email. Oh man... it's from an old friend (probably Teno). How exciting!"

Computer: "Friendship is the ship that never sinks. Forward this to 20 friends or risk titanic-like elephantitis on your genitals."

Stephen: "Thanks Teno. What a pal."

Needless to say, the forwarding chain usually ends when it meets my inbox. That, my friends, will probably never change.

But on this very day, much to my surprise, I received a forward (not from Teno) that I thought was a pleasant and creative reminder of an important truth. Instead of forwarding it on to everyone I know, I'll do the next worse thing: post it on my website. Your welcome.

----

A lecturer, when explaining stress management to an audience, raised a glass of water and asked, "how heavy is this glass of water?"

Answers called out ranged from 20g to 500g. The lecturer replied, "The absolute weight doesn't matter. It depends on how long you try to hold it."

"If I hold it for a minute, that's not a problem. If I hold it for an hour, I'll have an ache in my right arm. If I hold it for a day, you'll have to call an ambulance. In each case, it's the same weight, but the longer I hold it, the heavier it becomes."

He continued, "And that's the way it is with stress management. If we carry our burdens all the time, sooner or later, as the burden becomes increasingly heavy, we won't be able to carry on. As with the glass of water, you have to put it down for a while and rest before holding it again. When we're refreshed, we can carry on with the burden."

"So, before you return home tonight, put the burden of work down. Don't carry it home. You can pick it up tomorrow. Whatever burdens you're carrying now, let them down for a moment. Relax... pick them up later after you've rested."

----

Not bad, eh?

I recognize that some of you may feel intellectually insulted by the wisdom via email forward concept. Hopefully everyone's egos can withstand the risk of enjoying this little story and its simple message. If nothing else, it reminds us of Christ's words on this subject.

So contrary to what I once believed, all email forwarding is not of the devil. I still experience great disdain when Teno emails me one of his "forward this, or else..." letters, but like most generalizations... there are exceptions to the rule. For Teno, personal letters are that exception. Haha! Sorry Teno... just teasing.

All of this to say: life is short. Carpe diem, my friends.

Soccer Memories

Extra! Extra! I have been quoted in an article about the USA-Mexico soccer rivalry over at MatchNight.com. I am the very last quote at the bottom of the page.

Recommended Reading

SO YOU WANT TO BE A ROCK AND ROLL STAR
How I Machine-Gunned a Roomful Of Record Executives and Other True Tales from a Drummer's Life

This book is a definite must-read for anyone who has ever dreamed of rock and roll stardom.
It is written by the drummer of the rock band "Semisonic" (Jacob Slichter) and is the personal account of their rise and subsequent fall from rock stardom.

"So You Want to be a Rock and Roll Star" is hilariously insightful and well written. Slichter neither discourages or encourages his particular career path, but rather just tells a great story. He writes with a humorous and self-deprecating
tone that, in my opinion, was the strongest element of the book.

The book has the frank honesty of a journal, but the quick pace and drama of a movie. You won't regret picking this one up.

Lyle Lovett and His Large Band

Last night Shelley and I, coupled by The Poetschkes, went out to Bass Performance Hall in Fort Worth to take in a concert by Lyle Lovett and his large band. The performance was dazzling, his persona was extraordinarily delightful and the music was both charming and moving.

The "large band" is, in fact, quite large. There was a pianist, a percussionist, two saxophones, a trumpet, a trombone, a cello, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, mandolin, bass, steel guitar and six vocalists in addition to Lyle. It all came together for a beautifully captivating show.

If you've never listened to Lovett's music, you are in for quite a treat. His unique blend of country, jazz, big band, blues, gospel and rock and roll is unforgettable and timeless.

Communication Breakdown

"Big Huge"...Where did this term come from? It is everywhere. I've seen it on television shows and movies, read it in newspaper columns and websites, heard it from friends, family and it has even been known to emanate from (gasp!) my own mouth! This is more than a new idiom of pop culture jargon -- it has taken on a form of manifest-destiny and stretched from coast-to-coast.

Seriously. How did the term "big huge" so deeply infiltrate our vernacular? When did it become such an accepted term to describe something large. And frankly, who was the sage elementary student that coined this phrase -- sparking a cultural movement that would penetrate the vocabulary of one of the world's most spoken languages?

Honest-to-goodness, I may be one of the few stirred with such passion, but there's no way I am the only one who has noticed this linguistic phenomenon!

Is huge, by itself, not dramatic enough to express the immense dimensions of an object, issue or event? Are "colossal", "astronomical" and "mammoth" not theatrical enough to communicate the titanic-like measurements of Shaquille O'Neill's gargantuan feet?
Truth be told... I am willing to consider these deeply relevant questions, but defer to a higher standard of neologism.

One of the primary reasons for my displeasure, disapproval and dissatisfaction with the term is its basic lack of lexical creativity. For example, I have heard it often said that something of king-size proportions is "ginormous". This is a witty combination of the words gigantic and enormous. When something is bigger than enormous and more massive than gigantic... this, my friends, is ginormous. Ginormous! Nicely done my good wordsmith!

Am I overstating the issue? Are these merely the ill conceived ramblings of a man who is taking a break from long hours of work? In a word... yes. But words still matter. The manner in which we express ourselves is no small trifle! It's a big! It's huge! It's big and huge! But it is definitely not big huge.

Get a cool T-Shirt

Here is something I forgot to post to the site a few months back...

As many of you know I have what some may call "an obsession" with soccer. Even more specifically, the United States Men's soccer team. With that in mind, I have started a side-project/business designing and selling t-shirts supporting the team and the sport at www.usasoccerfan.com. Currently there are two designs available (one is pictured above).

Celebrate the USA qualifying for its fifth straight world cup with a nice new red tee! Or even if you don't care for one, just check out the site and tell me what you think of the shirts.