I'm a Habitat Hero!

Normally, I'm not one to brag on myself.  I normally try to quietly do what I think is right, and go on about my business.  This week, however, I was thrust into the spotlight.  Well, maybe thrust into the spotlight a bit of an exaggeration, but I was recognized for charity work that I'd done.

This past Tuesday, I went to a Habitat for Humanity of Greater Memphis Homeowner/Sponsor Reception to help Crystel with the event.  At the reception, the future Habitat homeowners and their respective sponsors are recognized.  In addition, awards are handed out for the "Habitat Heroes" for July and August.  As I was sitting at the back of the room, my name was called as the July Habitat Hero.  I was recognized for my assistance at the Exotic Italian Car Show in June of this year.  I was shocked to be recognized, because I felt like I was just doing my duty at the car show by helping Crystel with a very difficult event. 

While I am very grateful for the award (it will be displayed proudly in my office), I feel that Habitat has already given much more valuable things to me in the two-plus years I have been associated with the organization.  See, I've never been very civic-minded.  I didn't grow up doing charity work or donating to local charitable organizations.  My involvement with Habitat has been my first real experience with volunteer work.

When Crystel accepted a job with Habitat for Humanity in early 2008, I didn't know what to expect.  What we did know was that she was facing a long commute from Collierville.  This prompted up to move into the city from the suburbs.  We bought a house in the High Point Terrace neighborhood in East Memphis, which was one of the best decisions we could have made. We love it here.  We'd probably still be living in Collierville if it wasn't for Habitat.  Don't get me wrong, Collierville is great, but Memphis has a lot more to offer a young couple.

Shortly after Crystel started her job at Habitat, she started telling me about all of these interesting people she was meeting.  Little did I know these people would go on to become dear friends.  As I started going to some of the events with Crystel, I too started meeting some great people.  I look back at our time in Memphis, and our list of friends would be much shorter without our involvement in Habitat.  It's true what I've read that the best way to meet people in a new city is to volunteer. 

While I haven't spent a lot of time at the build sites, I do spend a lot of time (and a lot of effort) at the Habitat fundraising events.  Volunteers don't just hang around at these events.  There is a lot of hard work to be done.  To see a group of strangers and friends come together in one day to pull off these events is amazing.  You can always count on leaving a Habitat event tired, but very fulfilled.  It sounds cheesy, but you often time come to the event as strangers and leave as friends.

I have learned a tremendous amount about Memphis through volunteering with Habitat.  I know about cool neighborhoods, events, organizations, and people that I never would have been exposed to without my involvement with Habitat. Just this past Friday night, we went to the South Main Trolley Tour and had a great time.  We were there to hand out Habitat information and try and spread the word about the Tool Box Bash (Habitat's biggest fundraiser, and a very fun event).  After taking in the scene, we will definitely be going back to South Main as soon as possible.

Of course, everything I have mentioned is a benefit that Habitat gives me as a volunteer (which is a very selfish view).  The best part about Habitat is the work they do for the very deserving homeowners.  Going to a home dedication and seeing the joy brought to the new homeowners is amazing.  There are many great, hardworking families that deserve an opportunity for homeownership.  Habitat creates that opportunity. 

So, if you feel down on your city, get out and volunteer.  Get out and try to make it better.  You might find that the volunteer work can benefit you as much as it does the people you are helping.  So many people tend to focus on the negative aspects of Memphis (or any city), and overlook many of the fantastic things this city has to offer.  When we moved to the Memphis area from Oxford in 2006, we felt like outsiders.  Thanks in large part to our work with Habitat, we feel like a part of this great city.

A Little Change and Some Music Suggestions

As alluded to in my previous post, I am slightly altering the content of my blog. I decided to expand my writing topics beyond the world of music. While I will still write about music, I also intend to include posts about things I've discovered that bring me happiness, contribute to my health, help me save money, and generally any other topic that I think might be useful to others. I just wanted to give fair warning to the two people that read this blog so they wouldn't think they'd clicked on the wrong link when I post something seemingly out of left field.

Speaking of music, go listen to Mumford & Sons. One of my favorite musical discoveries this year.

Also, if you haven't listened to Justin Townes Earle, go ahead and do that too.

One last suggestion, if you miss quality country music from days gone by, check out Stoney Larue, and his cover of "Empty Glass."

Can you tell I've just discovered how to put links in my blog?

So you've been warned. Future posts could deal with any number of unrelated topics so don't be alarmed you two.

Living Simply: Is It Possible for a Music and Movie Addict?

If you've spent any time at all reading online news articles or blogs as we've progressed through our latest recession, then it's likely you may have run across the term "Living Simply." This afternoon, I read a great article on MSNBC.com about how the economy has forced many people to downsize their lives creating an unexpected side effect...happiness. It seems that "stuff" really doesn't make you that happy at all. It's the experiences that make you happy. Vacations, time spent socializing with friends, taking a class, hiking, etc. are the things that truly create lasting happiness.

As I read this article, I couldn't help but agree with most everything written and I found myself comparing a lot of the suggestions and experiences to my own life. Crystel and I have made a conscious effort to try and live more simply over the past year or so. We've slowly downsized some of our stuff, limited our shopping trips (music and books for me, antiques and clothes for Crystel), and generally tried to put more thought into where our money goes. You know the funny thing? I've actually been happier, and I think Crystel has too. It's worth noting that our simple living wasn't forced by the economy, but rather a choice to try and focus more on things that truly contribute to happiness and less things that bring temporary happiness at best.

That brings me to the biggest hurdle for me. As long as I can remember, I've collected music and movies. My memories are full of tearing the shrink-wrap off of VHS tapes, cassettes, records, DVDs and Cd's. Listening to music and watching movies has long been my favorite hobby. So how does this obsession with music and movies fit into my new living simply lifestyle? Let's just say I am incredibly thankful for the internet.

For starters, I've been able to sell many DVDs and CDs that were just collecting dust via Half.com (an Ebay company). Next, I received a subscription (great gift idea)to Netflix for all my movies as a birthday present from my parents. The movie buying excuse was always that my movie tastes don't necessarily fit the Blockbuster inventory strategy, so I wound up buying countless underground comedies and concert films only to watch them one time. With Netflix, this isn't an issue.

Last week, I subscribed to Rhapsody; an online music service. Since Rhapsody released their Iphone app (Finally!), I have access to almost any music I can imagine for free (after paying the monthly fee). Again, with music my tastes are pretty diverse and with the exception of some of the shows on WEVL (especially Jukebox Graduate, my friend Kevin's show on Tuesday mornings), the radio is pretty useless to me. I would buy music just to try and discover new artists which is hit and miss at best.

Hopefully I can successfully continue to implement the simple living philosophy in all aspects of my life. I plan to blog more on this in the future. In keeping with the advice from the article I mentioned at the beginning of this post, I plan to blog more on experiences as well (since that seems to be the real key to lasting happiness).

Has the economy forced you to rethink where your money goes? If so, have you discovered other sources of happiness?

Here's a link to the MSNBC article that I mentioned.

Favorite Racing Inspired Songs

I come from a family of drag racers. My granddad, dad, and younger brother are all addicted to the smell of burning tires and race fuel. Family road trips are usually planned only for the occasion of heading to a weekend race.

I even tried racing for a while, but never caught the "fever." Instead of racing, I developed an obsession with music. Don't get me wrong, I still enjoy heading to the track. Especially when my little brother is racing. It's just more about spending time with my family than the actual racing for me.

In honor of my family's favorite past time, here are my top 5 Favorite Racing Inspired Songs.

5. "Slow Ride" - Foghat: This song really has nothing to do with racing. It is included in this list for 2 reasons. First, it was featured in the movie Dazed and Confused, which contained my two favorite muscle cars (a Pontiac GTO Judge and a Chevy Chevelle). Second, my dad has always loved the song and said he wanted to name a drag car after it someday. He'd paint "Slow Ride" on the side and "Take It Easy" on the back.

4. "Going the Distance" - Cake: Cake's finest moment is the perfect balance between quirkiness and pop sensibility that makes their best songs so infectious. My best interpretation of the song is that the main character can only get his ex out of his head while racing, so long after "Somebody left with the cup," he's still circling the track and "thinking of someone for whom he still burns."

3. "Stroker Ace" - Charlie Daniels Band: Featured in the Burt Reynolds movie of the same name, "Stroker Ace" hearkens back to the days when the best drivers were former (and sometimes present) moonshiners. What better motivation to learn to take a curve than to avoid meeting the local county sheriff? This song was perfect for Daniels with its spoken verses and rolling banjo.

2. "Racing in the Streets" - Bruce Springsteen: My favorite Springsteen song perfectly captures the imagery of the '70s street racing scene and the people who lived it. To give up street racing is to give up living for the song's character, and the girl who fell in love with him after seeing him race three years ago is now left crying herself to sleep at night while he is still out racing. Like many of Bruce's songs, I could write an entire post dissecting the lyrics and find a deeper meaning in each line.

1. "Daddy's Cup" - Drive-By Truckers: I don't know much about Mike Cooley's youth (Patterson Hood is the talker of the group), but he was probably exposed to his fair share of racing if "Daddy's Cup" is any indication. The main character of the song is remembering his deceased father who lost part of his eyesight in a wreck and lived out his racing dreams through his son. The father could still build race cars and the son (and the song's narrator) remembers his father's efforts to teach him by pouring a bucket full of engine parts out on the garage floor and making him tell him the name and purpose of each one. The song traces the son's journey from his birth to the present; recalling his first race and vowing never to quit until he is dead or wins the championship and gets his father's name engraved on the cup.

Many of the father/son interactions in this song remind me heavily of time spent with my dad. He is always eager to pass his knowledge down to me, and I'm usually eager to learn. Although my dad drag races, he used to help the dirt track racers build their engines, and the details of this song perfectly capture the essence of southern dirt-track racing. Get a junk car, knock out the glass, weld the doors shut, build a fast engine, and go racing.

What are your favorite racing inspired songs? How about songs that just make you want to drive fast?

Timeline of My Life - George Strait

As I'm sure is the case with many people, music has a way of taking me back in time. When I hear certain songs, I am instantly transported back to another time and place. Many songs by many artists have this effect. Tupac takes me back to the 10th grade. Phish...11th grade. Whiskeytown reminds me of my first year of college, and Dierks Bentley will always remind me of Ole Miss.

Few artists have been making relevant music long enough to bring back memories that span my entire life. As a matter of fact, the only one that comes to mind is George Strait. The only time in my life I would have considered him one of my top 10 favorite artists was probably around the time of Pure Country in the early nineties, but he's always been there. He had his first #1 single in 1982 when I was just 3 years old, and his most recent just last year.

In my first memories riding with my dad in his Chevy Silverado car hauler taking his 68 Camaro to the drag races, "Amarillo By Morning" was playing. On the first country music award show I ever watched, George played "If I Know Me," and Crystel and I danced to "I Cross My Heart" at our wedding reception.

When it comes to albums, Strait has a reputation as "Mr. Consistency," which can sometimes mean making the same album time and time again. However, he does have a tendency to release his best work around the milestones of my life. Greatest Hits came out when I started 1st grade, Pure Country when I hit junior high, Strait Out of the Box in high school, Carrying Your Love With Me around the time of high school graduation, Honkytonkville right before I moved to Oxford, and Somewhere Down In Texas right before my first international travel. One of his best albums of the last decade, Troubador, was released shortly after Crystel and I got married and moved into our new house. Any time I hear anything from any of these albums, I instantly think back to these times.

I find it strange that I still listen to George after all these years. He doesn't have many of the qualities I look for in an artist. He doesn't write most of his own songs, he rarely uses his touring band in the studio, he isn't much of a guitar player (his guitar is mainly a prop), and he has been a mainstream country artist for most of his career. He does, however, record songs that he believes in (even if he doesn't write them), and I could argue that he has never catered to mainstream country radio. Mainstream country radio has always allowed him to be the exception to their standard playlists. In the age of Rascal Flatts and Taylor Swift, he still gets radio play by recording his brand of Texas country music.

In my opinion, most of his singles over the last 5 years or so have been pretty dull, but his album cuts have been much better. Almost all of his albums are perfect for a lazy Sunday afternoon on the back porch with a cold beverage. George is one of the few country artists making music today that I still care when he releases a new album. The critics care too. His latest album, Twang, showed up on many year-end best-of lists by self proclaimed "music snobs." Many artists will bash other musicians for not writing their own songs, but in the same interview claim George Strait is one of their favorites. This is the mystery of George Strait. He's done this for over 3 decades.

I'm looking forward to seeing what George releases for the future milestones of my life. He spends his downtime riding around his farm listening to demos to select songs for his next album, and he could be listening to the soundtrack some major life event as we speak.

Are there any artists that have been there your entire life? What about any songs or albums that transport you back to an earlier time in your life.

Life's Playlists: Deck Music

Due in part to the fact that our back yard is a mud pit and has virtually no grass growing anymore (mostly because of Porter, our 1 year-old black lab), Crystel and I have decided to have a deck built. I think we finally settled on a contractor this morning, so we're pretty excited. Me being the music fanatic that I am, I'm mostly looking forward to hanging out on the deck with friends and listening to music.

In anticipation of our finished deck (hopefully within the next couple of weeks), I decided to make a playlist of songs that I find perfect for relaxing with food, friends and drinks. After breezing through my iTunes library, the playlist had grown to a whopping 60 songs. Since I figured no one would read all the way through a list that long, I narrowed it down to 35, roughly 2 hours of tunes.

These songs weren't necessarily chosen for lyrical content, but for their vibe. This is the music I'll be listening to while lounging in my Adirondack chair as soon as the weather permits. Here's the playlist in no particular order.

1. It's Alright - Big Head Todd & the Monsters
2. Crush - Dave Matthews Band
3. Jacksonville Skyline - Whiskeytown
4. Hollow Moon - The Central Standards
5. Dreams - Fleetwood Mac
6. Country Comfort - Elton John
7. Tryin' To Reason With Hurricane Season - Jimmy Buffett
8. Summer Skin - Death Cab for Cutie
9. Here Comes the Sun - The Beatles
10. Going to California - Led Zeppelin
11. Feelin' Better - Hank Williams Jr.
12. Constellations - Jack Johnson
13. Love Street - The Doors
14. Carolina In My Mind - James Taylor
15. Blue Indian - Widespread Panic
16. A History of Lovers - Iron & Wine with Calexico
17. Natural Mystic - Bob Marley
18. Lookin' Out My Back Door - Creedence Clearwater Revival
19. Question - Old 97's
20. Wildfowers - Tom Petty
21. Without a Struggle - Golden Smog
22. California Zephyr - Jay Farrar & Benjamin Gibbard
23. Knockin' Over Whiskeys - Hayes Carll
24. California Stars - Billy Bragg & Wilco
25. New Slang - The Shins
26. Four Strong Winds - Neil Young
27. Perfect Timing - Drive-By Truckers
28. The Right Place - Monsters of Folk
29. South Georgia Sugar Babe - Justin Townes Earle
30. Gumbo - Phish
31. Grandaddy - Patterson Hood
32. The Boxer - Simon & Garfunkel
33. Ripple - Grateful Dead
34. And It Stoned Me - Van Morrison
35. Livin' Part of Life - Eric Church

What are some of your favorite songs for outdoor relaxation?

My Music History - Where It All Began

If you've spent any time around me, you no doubt know that I am very passionate about music. I spend countless hours listening to music, playing music, reading about music, and discovering music. The other day, I started trying to figure out when this all started.

The first memory I have of being drawn in by music was around 1983 when I was 4 years old. My grandparents were buying a new car, and I got to tag along for the ride. We were excited about the new car, but I was most excited about the upgrade in the sound system. Their current car at the time had an 8-track player, and most everyone had started listening to cassettes by then.

We decided we'd need some tunes for the ride home, so we stopped by the local Wal-Mart. Anytime you needed new music in Booneville, MS, Wal-Mart was and still is your only option. I still remember how much easier it was to shop for cassettes than CD's. All the artists' names were right there staring back at you, and I learned quickly how to find my favorites. We settled on Willie Nelson's Greatest Hits and were on our way. I had no idea at the time how much it would add to the "cool factor" of my first musical adventure to be able to throw in Willie's name.

We got to the dealership, and soon we were off in a brand new blue 1983 Pontiac Bonneville. Careful not to touch the velour seats with my shoes, I climbed into the front seat. Right in front of me was the stereo. An AC Delco unit with a chrome knob on each side, six chrome buttons for the station presets, and a dial that went left to right and indicated the radio station. I popped the new cassette in and my journey began.

As we rode home to the sounds of "Whiskey River," "Blue Eyes Crying In The Rain," "Angel Flying Too Close To The Ground," and 'On The Road Again," I was drawn in like never before. From that day on, I always rode front and center with full control of the tunes. It was my first experience being able to listen to what I wanted without waiting for the radio DJ to play it.

I rode thousands of miles in that car, and a big part of my personality was formed. My grandparents were young enough that they were usually mistaken for my parents (this thrilled my grandmother), and they were always on the go. I treated the car like it was mine, and would scold any one who dared put their feet in the seats. I remember how my granparents would enjoy it when I sang along with their favorite songs. I also remember how they tolerated some of my personal music choices (I was really into 80's hair metal for a while). Most of all I remember the good times we had.

They kept that Pontiac until 1991. By that time, I was completely infatuated with music of all kinds. That infatuation continues to this day.

If you've been reading this blog, you know the music that I am currently enjoying. Now you know where it all began. I'll be filling in the gaps with my future posts (I'll also write about the present). If you have any early musical memories, feel free to share them in the comments section.