Concerts and Such

So, Damien Rice is a no go. Boo. Waited too long for tickets. BUT Nickel Creek is playing end of November and tickets go on sale Sep. 21. Thought of maybe going to see Kings of Leon but I hear they're not that great live and they've got really bad attitudes, and I'm not a HUGE fan. I only know a few of their songs.

I REALLY wish Iron & Wine would come through. That would kick ass.

It ACTUALLY feels like fall today. We got a ton of rain and mix that with all the heat-wave-induced dead leaves, it smells very fallish. And the weather definitely has a Fair-week feel to it. It's still warm, and super humid from the rain, but much cooler than usual. It's all gray and gloomy. I LOVE it. :-)

Crumbly Bits

I really miss my family tonight. Particularly my sisters. I cried a little.

I like the smell of candles after they're blown out.

I really procrastinate when it comes to doing laundry.

Ben & Jerry's tastes better from the shop than the carton.

Contacts dry out my eyes.

I want fall. Really really bad.

Coffee flavored Nips Candies are delicious, but stick to your back teeth.

I can't wait for Shelby to meet Rhonda Wall tomorrow. I'm antsy for her reaction.

I want to go hiking.

I like Guster. And Badly Drawn Boy.

Entertaining Entertainment

Went to see The Ten at The Belcourt last night. Hilarious. It's directed by the same folks who did Wet Hot American Summer. I have to say I loved it. Not too many good reviews from what I've seen while perusing the interweb, but I liked it. It was totally cheesy, campy, hokey, and great for some good laughs. It's no Superbad, but neither is Wet Hot American Summer. It's ten short stories each based on one of the Ten Commandments. They are all kind of linked together, with no one major plot. I found pretty much every story surprisingly funny, and not one of them easy to predict (because really, when you think the Ten Commandments, it's easy to have preconceived plot notions). I'd say if you've got a spare 8 bucks it's worth a go.

Swap O' the Wifeys I actually watched some TV tonight that is not in the form of an Arrested Development DVD. If any of you have not seen the ABC show Wife Swap, I highly recommend it. Tonight was HILARIOUS! The one family seriously thought they were pirates. No joke. They live a life of "Piratude." No rules, no cleaning, fleas and total chaos. And they swapped with a Barbie doll-type family. The woman and daughter both looked to much like Britany Spears for my comfort and EVERYTHING in the house was labelled in it's own plastic bin. Food, Clothing.. everything labelled. Which bin for light clothes and darks, every shelf in the pantry was labelled. It was nuts! Bins for lined paper, scratch paper, fancy paper, photo paper. A separate Rubbermaid bin for light bulbs! Everything in plastic (which really was fitting for the family). Needless to say, it was highly entertaining seeing the two wives switch places.

In other news. Nothing. I worked late today cause I had some picky clients so I didn't join the gym, was lazy and ate two packets of easy mac and a banana for dinner. Watched TV and am now going to return a movie to Blockbuster (The Bridge. Crazy. Very sad, controversial but really interesting. It's a documentary about all the folks who jumped off of the Golden Gate Bridge in 2004 with interviews from a survivor and various friends and family members of the victims).

Anyway, I plan on a full night of sweatpants (maybe Ben & Jerry's, but the afterguilt may be overwhelming) and Harry Potter VI.. and I don't even have PMS! YEAH LAZINESS!

Barcamp Nashville 07

So I'm a little late on this post, but I couldn't just ignore this event. For those of you that don't know, I attended a technology "unconference" known as Barcamp. Barcamps have been popping up all over the U.S. and two awesome dudes I work with at emma (Marcus Whitney and Dave Delaney) brainstormed and brought to life Barcamp Nashville which took place last week at Exit/In. I have to say, it was wonderful! So informative and inspiring!

I forget a lot of the speakers (in part because I've waited over a week to post AND I was helping with registration so really didn't pay attention as much as I'd planned) BUT the ones I do remember were phenomenal. The main theme of the event seemed to focus on community, the online community.

Chris Houchens spoke about Marketing and embracing the digital world. Marketing peeps and all folks in the commercial realm really need to take note of the online action and hop on the bandwagon. Blogs and online marketing are more influential than ever. Companies should be getting to know their consumers, using Wikis, creating blogs. Be personable. You can see a slideshow of his presentation here.

Mitch Joel was soon to follow and was quite excellent. He went into great detail about how 'conversation' is changing, our world communicates now on an entirely different level. He was witty and to the point. He had some crazy statistics and basically drove home that as a world, a community, we need to really embrace the changes that are going on. There needs to be more trust in the economy, people need to not be treated as 'products.' Companies need to realize that while they still control the price and production of a product, the Consumer's voice is now just as big as that of the Company, putting the two on equal terms. The online community needs to not just be observers but get in on the action and create. Be a part of the growth. Create a blog, upload a Youtube video.

Some of Mitch's most surprising points:
• 48% of leisure time is pent online.
• youtube's (Canada) growth from april 2006-2007? 616% wow!!
• facebook (Canada.. Mitch is Canadian) growth from 2006-2007? 2424%
• "i really don't know whether we'll be printing the times in five years, and you know what? i don't care either." - arthur sulzberger, owner, chairman and publisher of ny times

And my other favorite Keynote was Penelope Trunk. She is a "Brazen Careerist" and tells of 10 myths of the job market. It was SO interesting! She basically brought to the point the differences in generations and our views on 'careers.' People aren't staying in the same job for 15, 20, 30 years. It's important to find what you're good at and do it and do it well. If you accomplish that you'll be successful. She blogs full time (and Penelope Trunk was a psuedonym that she had legally changed to be her real name. Crazy). She currently gives career advice, helping people live and enjoy life yet lead a successful career path. She's very much an entrepreneur and VERY inspirational!

Click here for some great points from all the keynotes.

More Pics from Barcamp Nashville!

Overall a fantastic event. I do wish I had gone over to Café Coco to check out some of the PHP stuff. Definitely makes me motivated to really get my PHP skills sharpened and get on my way to blogging from scratch.

p.s. HUGE blog about a way cool printing press in the very near future.

Complaint Department

I'm on a rant, about myself. I irritate me. I've been super lazy lately and I blame summer. The three weeks of 3-digit degree weather have taken it's toll and have made me want nothing more than to become a couch appendage. There's a change on the way folks.

I feel it. Physically, it feels nothing like fall and there have been no giddy emotions knowing October is around the corner. In fact, the idea of an 85 degree day sounds like heaven about now, but all that aside, I think subconsciously my body knows fall is on the way. I want to make something, do something, create. I've been far too lazy. I need to go out and see shows, cut back on sleep, get back into really studying PHP, sudoku, logic problems, draw, hike, cook, knit. I want to learn to sew and make stuff. I'm knitting a bag right now with yarn I've had for years. I learned the stockinette stitch, I mess up a bit, but it's pretty easy. I took a page of my sketchbook and filled it with ideas of things I want to make. I wish I had taken some crafts classes at KU.

Anyway. I've been in a funk and it's high time I forced my way out of it. Fall does this to me. The weather may deceive, but my body and brain know. They know there is change on the way and I need a part of it. It's time for some personal growth! YEAH! I love learning new stuff. Makes me feel accomplished. PLUS I'm finally joining a gym, which I've been saying I'm going to do, but due to various uncontrollable circumstances, I have to wait until Monday to join.. but watch out kids! Come Christmas-time, I'm going to be a whole new Taylor. Better, stronger, smarter and full of goodness (and homemade presents galore!).

Keep an eye out on some more posts. I've got some that are overdue that I need to get out and some just for fun. PLUS!!!! I'M GOING TO IDAHO FOR MY BIRTHDAY/HALLOWEEN TO VISIT JENNA!!!!!!! I'M MORE EXCITED THAN YOU COULD EVEN BEGIN TO KNOW! ROCKY MOUNTAINS, MOOSE, MONTANA, HIKING, FRIEND AND PETS OF FRIEND, AND POSSIBLY SNOW? yay! :-D

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Random McRandomness

Going to see Modest Mouse next Wednesday at the Ryman. I scored the LAST seat, so it is now a sold out show. It was a handicapped seat, but since it's the last seat and the show is next week they sold me the ticket and I get my own padded folding chair (and it's a great view!). So I'm stoked. Also, I'm REALLY seriously considering (pretty much definitely) going to see Damien Rice (also at the Ryman) on September 13th providing I can get a decent seat. I do heart his voice. Very much so.

In other news: I took out an algebra book from the library. I haven't done Algebra siiiince.. hm.. Algebra II my freshman year of high school, circa 1997/1998. I'm curious to see if I can figure it out. As I recall, I didn't do so hot back then, but I also really hated school at that point, so we'll see how it goes.

I've decided today I want to start an herb garden. Mostly because I'm pissed that I can never seem to find fresh basil. I went to Kroger, Publix and Wild Oats yesterday.. the stuff at Wild Oats had roots attached, but I managed to find a teeny plastic packet of it at Publix. Lame. BUT any advice would be appreciated *a-hem, Jenna* I was thinking putting terra-cotta pots out on my little stoop/porch outside my apt. would work. If I plant anything in the ground it will probably be killed by weeds (my neighbor and I aren't too keen on yardwork) or dug up (Memphis likes to dig and I like Memphis, so.) and it's nice and sunny on my porch and would require only stepping out my door to water.

I'm getting a gym membership hopefully Friday. I'm WAY excited. I think my blood has begun to coagulate. I just can't stand going outside or even moving with the heat. Blech. It will be a good shift.

That's really about it. Nothing overly exciting. Happy Monday Kids.

the Hotness

exciting excitement!!

We did it! We hit our ultimate goal and we all here at Emma are getting a bonus! I am WAY excited. Next Friday I'll be receiving an extra paycheck with which I will be getting new tires, an oil change, a sticker and emissions test AAAAAAAAAND a gym membership!!!! ALSO I got a $50 gift card for helping out a grouchy client and in the end having him LOVE his stationery and LOVING emma! (and seeing as how he's a former Constant Contact junkie, that's pretty sweet!).. SO i'm not sure what i want to spend it on, but it's certainly made my week a bit sweeter. P.S. Laura ROCKS! (she's the one in sales that sold him the account and had to put up with more crap than i did. she's a trooper!)

Again I say, I LOVE emma! I love the people, the work, [almost] all of my clients. For instance, Tuesday night, a block from my apt., Jason (who is our kick-as IT leader who also plays some killer jazz) happened to be playing a gig. A nice handful of emma peeps showed up and it was a fabulous time! And tonight there is an emma sales team karaoke extravaganza (which I'm on the fence yet as to whether I feel like attending). But anywho, I love 'em all. Really and truly. It's just a good and fulfilling time overall.

EVEN MORE EXCITEMENT!!
ALSO in the Emma news.. the Fido crew (i.e. the baristas at emma's favorite coffee shop) took down a wanted thief who was trying to steal a laptop (running back to his stolen car).. we awarded them with medals.. CHECK OUT THE STORY!

Many Thanks to Mr. Cantore

Since moving down here, my parallel parking skills have improved ten-fold. I'm very proud.

Also, I've been listening to music from various co-worker itunes libraries. I must say, I really like Andrew Bird. Very excellent work music.

Thursday's OK, but I'd rather a Friday.. but at least it's not a Tuesday!

Good Thoughts

While driving to Barnes & Noble today, I started thinking of all my favorite "moments." You see, throughout my life I have moments that have just burned themselves into my brain and every so often I'll just find myself going back to them. And the thoughts I am talking about are the best ones. The thoughts that bring me back to the happiest moments, even if most of those moments were only an hour or so here and there. So, for your reading enjoyment, here is an unordered list of my favorite thoughts..

1.) Star-Gazing
Laying up on the hill on a clear August night watching for shooting stars. The cool damp grass, a comfy blanket and just all those stars. You forget how clear they are when you live in an urban area. It's just so peaceful and relaxing. You look up at all those stars and the fireflies and the smell of lingering bonfire or cookout. You appreciate everything you have. In that moment, that specific point in time, no matter how shitty things are, everything is perfect. You have your health, your family, the grass and the stars. I miss that.

2.) Crisp Late-October Hiking
My neighbors back home own hundreds of acres of forests and fields. My favorite time to look back on is being up on the trails, the dirt paths between fields. Usually a deer or two lingering in the field, all twitchy knowing that hunting season is on its heels. The air is cold and crisp. A nice 40-some degree day. Cold enough for a sweater, jeans, boots and maybe a scarf. No need for a jacket. Nose and cheeks red from the cold. Acorns or a hawk feather in my pocket. The smell of dying leaves and earth and the bright reds and oranges on the trees. *sigh*

3.) Top of Chimney Tops
This one is one specific moment. Hiking with Jenna up to Chimney Tops in the Smokies. We hiked 2 miles up the mountain in snow and ice. The temperature dropped about 20 degrees by the top. After making it to the very very top, with miles upon miles of mountains on all sides.. just looking out over all of God's creation. And my muscles were sore and tired but wonderful. Jenna shared her cheese bread (which at the end of a hike is a delicacy finer than any fare at a fancy establishment). It was a fantastic day. The last day of 2005 spent with one of my best friends at the top of a mountain with plenty of great conversation when our breath was caught up enough to allow it.

4.) Early Dismissal/Snow Days
I'm not sure if this one is a particular day or combined days from my childhood. Either way I think of it and it makes me all nostalgic and happy. An early dismissal from school with snow falling, a foot or more of impending blizzard-type goodness. We get home and my mom has a pot of homemade chicken soup on the stove with homemade bread still warm from the oven and homemade sugar cookies either already baked or in the making. With enough snow on the ground Morgan and I gear up (which means wearing at least 5 pairs of pants simultaneously) grabbing the sleds and going out to sled down the hill. And Shevis (my old dog) would chase us all the way down. And we'd trudge back up the hill to the very top (when my mom wasn't looking) and sled down as fast as possible, slamming into the fireplace, deck or house only to go back up and do it again. And then, once we're frozen with snow in our hair and cheeks and nose red and stinging we go inside, tracking snow everywhere and enjoy cookies and hot chocolate. If I ever have children, I'll HAVE to move back to an area with snow. That's not even a question.

5.) Old Orchard Beach, ME
Every summer my family goes up to Old Orchard Beach in Maine for some family vay-cay. I'd always find myself something good to read. I would love just laying on the beach, engrossed in a good book. The hot sand and the sun. The smell of the pages. And once I became too hot, into the frigid Atlantic I'd go and swim until my skin was a bluish tint and feeling started to fade (I like my water cold). Once I was good and frozen I'd take all my stuff back up to the pool and warm up in the pool water only to find myself a beach chair and read some more until I was dry. Then later in the evening I'd play Rummy with my grandmother, my hair and skin caked with a nice layer of chlorine and salt water and just feeling good from being in the sun (despite my inevitible sunburns).

6.) Africa
I went on a missionary trip to Africa when I was 15. I was on a team of teenagers that helped build an orphanage for AIDS orphans. ANYWAY I always remember one day in particular, I was walking back from the worksite (I forget why, but I was by myself). It was just so beautiful. You could see HUGE mountains along the horizon, bigger than any mountains I've seen over in the states. They were all faded purple along the blue sky background.. not a cloud to be found. The sun was a deep red, you could look right at it due to all the dust in the air, it was Malawi's dry season. And all around the path were charred fields. Not an ounce of green. Just huge Baobob trees and dry fields with the smell of smoke in the air. (The locals burn the fields every year and collect the mice that run out and sell them cooked on a stick). That walk though, was just breathtaking and humbling. The smell of the smoke and the warm dry air. I had my boots on and my hair hadn't been washed in at least a month and my skirt was dirty from working with dust dried to the sweat on my skin, in my nose, my hair. It may sound gross, but that was one of the happiest moments of my life. That very point was the closest I've ever been with God and the strongest I had ever been spiritually. I just bring back the memory of that walk and I am so happy and thankful.

So kids, there are lots more little memories (morgan camping out in my room and us staying up all night talking, building forts in the woods, some memories more on a personal note, etc.) but the ones listed above are my favorites. If you read them all, I hope you enjoyed them as much as I do!