I received The Red Letters Project recently, a recorded version of the book of Matthew, set to music, from Tyndale House Publishers.

2000 years in the making, The Red Letters Project is a dynamic, one-of-a-kind Rock and Pop tour-de-force built on the real Rock, Jesus. Using the words of Christ as found in the Gospel of Matthew (New Living Translation), The Red Letters Project is an unique alternative to spoken-word audio Bibles and traditional rock albums, blending the timeless life-changing text with a musical medium resonant with a new generation. The Red Letters Project is an excellent gift for teens, young adults, lovers of God’s Word, and any fan of rock music, regardless of age.

This was not my cup of tea, at all. I listened to each and every song on all three discs, hoping that the vocalists would be different, the style would change, that a tune would be catchy or something.

Nothing. For me it got very old listening to the same two or three artists (all unknown to me) sing the verses. Probably because there was little change in the vocalization, but it might also be because the book of Matthew is not one of the poetry books of the Bible and for me it didn’t work to set it to music.

I’m not sure who will like this. Maybe people a little older than me who grew up listening to Christian groups like Petra or MxPx? I can’t say for certain. Being around today’s youth quite a bit I can say that I don’t think they’ll enjoy this. You have to be a big fan of a very particular type of music and not mind that the same 3 people are singing all 40 tracks on this compilation. For me it would have worked better if there had been a wide variety of some notable Christian artists who had taken part in this.

Great idea; poorly executed.

A complimentary copy was provided by Tyndale House Publishers for the purpose of reviewing.

You guys know I can get crazy with the water consumption.

I just finished jogging and I still need to get a few more steps in today. We (Kevin and me) are in a competition at our work place against other teams around the community to see who can log the most steps over a 6 week period. So far, we’re doing really good. But it’s 10:46 and I’m tired and I don’t know if those additional steps are happening.

• Why I’ll never think of Nicholas Sparks the same way again. It’s bad, guys. Real bad.
• Amy has made a pretty serious confession about tomatoes. I’m right there with her.
• Pasta Machine Giveaway at The Happy Housewife!
• A good argument for having boys. Not that any of us have a choice in the matter.
• Double Wide Mom’s touching tribute to Dixie Carter. What girl/woman raised in the South didn’t look up to this lady?
• Tasty Kitchen has some yummy sounding leftover recipes they are highlighting this week. I hope I can find something that my husband might enjoy (he’s not a leftover eater).
• 9 Great Ways to be Exceptionally Boring – I feel like I am fulfilling most of those requirements. Okay, folks. I need some more detailed advice on how to be interesting.
• How Much Does Adoption Cost? – Looks at just about every different kind of adoption.
• Sadly, there was a point in my life where I might have purchased a Barry Manilow body pillow.

Edited to add:

• BooMama! I want to learn the dance, too! I skipped out on the Hanson fangirlishness the first time around (by choice; I was exactly the right age), but ever since college I have LOVED them. They are sure enough talented musicians.

Thinking ‘Bout Somethin’

HANSON | MySpace Music Videos

That’s awful. I know. I’m sorry, really, but when I get on this subject I get really giddy and all pre-teeny and stuff. Notice I didn’t say “tween.” I think those critters are a different breed than what me and my adolescent cohorts were. All you have to do is look at the clothing we were wearing in the mid-90s and what the kids are wearing these days. There was a marked difference between what we were buying and what your average middle-aged prostitute donned on any given evening. Not so much anymore.

When the ads first started coming on for GLEE and the internet began buzzing I knew that it was the kind of show I’d like to watch. I’ve participated in a little show choir in my day. Shoot, I’d like to be in one now.

There was something about the commercial that seemed familiar and at first, I couldn’t put my finger on it. Then I remembered.

Schuester.

It was him. I stared at the TV. Could it really be?

Suddenly, all the memories came rushing back and I was 14 again. Sitting in the middle of Mr. B’s health class, doing nothing but listening to our Discmans and whatever new boy band CDs we were passing around that week. Or if you were the girls who sat over in the back corner, Marilyn Manson. I’m just saying.

Around that time there was a show that me and most of my friends were watching — Lou Pearlman’s Making the Band. In case you don’t remember, Lou Pearlman is the shady producer who treated both the Backstreet Boys and *NSYNC not so nice. As in, he took their money. But no matter. Every night that this show was on I was right in front of the TV, waiting to see the latest drama that would unfold with a house full of guys who want to be in a boy band living under the same roof. The premise seems hilarious now, but back then? Someone come and fan me, please.

Long story short, the show produced the band O-Town and without them the world would be bereft, left to go on without this gem:

Heh. Heh-heh-heh. Heeee. (I’m sorry.)

There was more drama and one of the guys that was originally supposed to be in O-Town split off and there was another boy band formed — LMNT.

(Should I mention that by this time I was 16 and should have STOPPED being into this stuff?)

Around about this time, we got the internet at my house. Woooooo-doggies! So I was keeping track of all this stuff on Yahoo groups with other 12-16-year-old girls. LMNT had its first three members (3 guys who didn’t make the cut for O-Town), but they were looking for a fourth.

It is impossible to find any visual evidence of Matthew Morrison being a part of this band, but I promise you, he was. I was familiar with him from his time spent onstage in the Broadway production of Footloose (there’ll be more on that tomorrow!) and this development was terrific for me. Apparently not so much for him, since he’s quoted as follows:

It was the worst year of my life. You know when you’re a performer and you’re out there on stage and you’re embarrassed that you’re doing something wrong. It was pretty bad.

Sheesh, dude.

So there was that, but his time in the band was short. And for years I did not see him. Until the 2005 Tony Awards.

And now…he’s on the TV again. Seeing the first commercial for GLEE was a little bit like things had come full circle for 14-year-old me. That is why it’s a good thing I never had a vocal teacher who looked like him. My voice teacher? Well…

- I’m glad I’m not 14 anymore.

- I wonder how many of these people were marketing specialists or “social media experts” before the advent of Twitter.

- Also, I can’t stand it when people only use social media to talk about social media.

- I have never been so happy to see sunshine.

- Lady GaGa has lured me in. There must be some sort of addictive drug in her tunes, inserted with technology the rest of us know nothing about, because I promise you I never intended to like this stuff. And I’m usually pretty strong when I’ve made up my mind not to like something (Harry Potter, monster truck racing, Viking black metal, etc.)

- Parents need to teach their kids responsibility. Let them learn lessons. But don’t forget to take responsibility yourself. Not all of your child’s problems are their fault.

I’d like to go ahead and dedicate this song to all the carbs out there. I know you’ll be back.

It’s just a matter of time. But right now…right now, fellas, we’re breakin’ up. Giving up my bready ways and starting over without you. Over the past few years I have learned what I can tolerate and what I can’t. I’ve learned that, for the most part, you’re just plain bad for me and that I’ll continue to be jealous of those that can enjoy you on a regular basis. To all of you folks who can enjoy a biscuit or a baked potato without hacking and coughing and intense abdominal cramps, well…

So, be prepared to endure recipes where I essentially do nothing but heat heavy cream, stir in a little dark cocoa, add a dose of Nyquil, and try to forget my carb-free sorrows. It’s a little like those Edwardless months of New Moon, only I describe every last second of my lamentations.

When my youngest cousin was little, she would run through my great-grandmother’s house saying, “Nannie, morningtime! It’s Tuesday and you’re in Ternell!” The last bit was because at this point our dear Nannie was slipping and about every 15 minutes she would ask where she was, what day of the week it was, and if she could please have her purse. And “Ternell” was my little cousin’s way of pronouncing Pernell, the town that I grew up in.

Coffee. Have to make the coffee.

I think this thought at least 10 times before I get up out of my spot on the couch and do it. The morning is my favorite time of day. It’s when I have my quiet time and all in the house is still. I try my best to make as little noise as possible, so as not to wake the husband or the dog. No matter what though, even when she’s in the garage, puppy knows as soon as I turn on a lamp in the living room. I hear her yawn and shake, jingling her collar.

Coffee.

It is calm. I prefer it when the house is clean, but even when it’s a wreck this is the time of day when I can just be. This comes from a girl who never really had any use for mornings. I don’t know what changed me. Maybe it was 2 years ago when I worked an hour away from home and would have to get up as early as possible if I wanted any time to myself.

Morning. With a little rain, barely a sunrise. A house to be warm in. A soft place to sit and watch the day unfold. I am so thankful that I am learning to appreciate it early in my life. There is a time for sleep, but I must confess I prefer the waking.

Much like my grandmother, as a small child I was under the impression that this was what life in the big city was like:

While I have never encountered anything quite like it, this gives me hope that one day we can live in a world where it’s okay for me to run down the street and burst into song. Whereas right now they’d cart me off to Griffin.

I was blipping this morning and decided to share. In second grade (1992) we did this awesome musical. In it we sang this song.

And around that time, this was the look I was rockin’.

If we were going to have dancing at our reception, I’d be up for this being our fun first dance.

I almost apologize (or do I go ahead and do it?) every time I take a break here. Maybe it would be different if they were planned absences. But I watch my StatCounter hover around the same number every day, no matter if I’m posting or not, and I feel bad for not providing you all with something to read. For that, I apologize. For the rest, well, let me give you a run down of what’s been going on.

Soundtrack for today’s post

One week (the week and a half before Valentine’s Day) I had the flu, the next week I had an unbearable amount of stressful drama, and this past week, I broke. Without sharing too many details (the truth is that I don’t mind sharing with about 99.77365% of you, but there is one person I am in contact with on a day-to-day basis that I don’t want to share most of this with…maybe I’ll make a password protected post in the future) I will tell you that last week a coworker had to rush me to an urgent med center because I had gone numb in my hands and face, was faint, and had difficulty breathing. I had rushes of warmth all over my face and I sat alone at my desk at work thinking I was dying. As a last effort (I thought) to save my life (or possibly just NOT die at the front desk), I called my boss and everything after that is pretty blurry. I was taken to the urgent med center and they immediately checked the level of oxygen in my blood. They handed me forms to fill out (seriously? I cannot believe that they did this. The girl at the front desk clearly did not realize the severity of the situation. And I told her that). I couldn’t remember my phone number, work address, or my parents’ area code.

The whole reason I was so concerned was because I had started birth control about 3 weeks before and the things that I was experiencing were all things that it said to seek a physician’s care for immediately because of the risk of a blood clot. I was freaking out because I thought it was a stroke or a heart attack. I have never been so frightened in my life. They ran an EKG and did some chest x-rays to make sure that it wasn’t a blood clot (because it was a possibility) and there weren’t any problems there.

Again, I’m not going to say exactly what it was. I’m pretty sure most people can figure it out. If you can’t, email me. I’ll talk to you about it. The reason I’m being so cryptic is because there are people that I don’t want advice from. They aren’t qualified to give it. I am working on getting things under control, relaxing, and focusing on what I can do today and not the piles of things that have to be finished in the next 96 days.

I am okay, my life is good, and things are getting better. Thank you for your concern.