stuff i don't like.

The weblog, "Stuff White People Like" was all the rage in 2008. Here is my list of things I don't like. It could be alternately titled, "Stuff White People Don't Like," but I don't necessarily want to carry that burden.

• Government bail-outs. Does that make me un-American? I think it makes me more American. Actually, that's dumb. I don't think there is a rating system for how "American" someone is, but maybe there should be. Maybe the government should come up with a rating of how "American" one is and if you're above a certain number then you can get a sticker for your SUV or your vote can count more than others. 
• The Jonas Brothers. How old are they anyway?
• Animals that talk. Animals can't talk. Especially fish. You can't talk underwater. So, if you're animal that lives underwater you definitely can't talk. 
• People who don't like Coldplay. I can understand that sometimes people want to stay away from "fads" or "trends," but sometimes something is that good. I mean, I guarantee you no one tried to pull the cool card and say they weren't fans of The Beatles in the '60s.
• Public restrooms. 
• Traffic. I will be an alcoholic before I'm 30 if I have to sit in traffic any more than I already do. 
• People who don't like Chili's. Yeah, it's a chain and it's damn good. 
• The Big 12. 

grammy.

I just watched Coldplay and Jay-Z perform together. Live. On the Grammys.

It's like Jesus put together his two favorites and made them perform.

Touche, Jesus, touche.

february.

February is Adopt a Rescued Rabbit Month.
February is American Hearth Month (yes, AMERICAN hearts only).
February is Black History Month.
February is Family Fun Month.
February is Bird Feeding Month.
February is Pet Dental Health Month.
February is Return Shopping Carts to the Supermarket Month.


So. If you're a black adopted rabbit from America with a heart who has fun with their family while feeding birds and taking shopping carts back to the supermarket all while caring for the dental needs of pets then this month is for you. SHOUT OUT.

american idol.

American Idol is a broad term. One would assume when seeing that term that a certain American is idolized by all in America. 

False. 

You'd be hard pressed to find more than 17 people in America (or Dallas alone I bet) who idolize Taylor Hicks.  And it's safe to say no one is going to idolize someone who had a Lifetime movie made about their life, aka Fantasia Barrino.  I am thinking having a Lifetime movie made about you kind of makes you the very antithesis of someone worth idolizing. 

This show dumbfounds me. Especially the people who go on it and get cut and then are are convinced their lives are over. It's like they think the only way to succeed at something is by going on a reality television show -- yeah, if life were only that easy. 

Literally, a girl just said, "I have nothing else." Well, what the hell have you been doing for 23 years prior to this? When you were nine did you sit around and pray that someone would someday start a singing competition and you could be discovered through it? Doubtful. What happened to working hard and achieving a goal? 

This show makes me wish Jesus would come back.

Soon. 

the crying game.

I am one of minimal emotions, it's the Cowling in me.

That's not completely true, I have a lot of emotions, it's just rare to share them. With others. Or in public. Or on a blog.

But, lately, I'd say over the last six months, something has kicked on in me that has turned me into a flat-out, good-for-nothing, CRIER. It's terribly scary and not like me. I used to be able to look a calendar and say, "yeah, I cried...about six Tuesdays ago." Now, I say, "Yeah, I cried about six minutes ago."

Things that have made me cry lately:
- Looking at pictures of Old Main and the U of A campus after the ice storm.
- Thinking about baby Harper being born (I was alone at the time, not even with the Pardues!).
- Remembering how my brother used to come to every single game of everything I ever played in, even when I asked him not to.
- Watching Mary Tyler Moore get robbed during season 1 of the Mary Tyler Moore Show.
- Definitely teared up during Friday Night Lights and The Biggest Loser last week.
- This is the kicker, I've taken to listening to country music a little bit and last week I cried while listening to some lame Kenny Chesney song.


I think I have an iron deficiency or something.

judge not.

Lest ye be judged.

I consider myself to be a pretty judgemental person, something I am definitely moving away from more and more, the older I get, but judgemental nonetheless. I chalk this character flaw up to the few Sundays a year I visited my grandmother's Baptist church and the fact that my church growing up was right across the street from an incredibly large Baptist church. I'm not serious, but I am. I mean, I can't blame my character flaw on my sinful flesh, can I? No, I must blame someone, or something else, rather.

Lately, more and more, I've been hearing people claim, "I'm not judging you," or the classic, "I don't judge people." This first struck a not so melodious chord with me while watching 17 Kids and Counting (the story of the morally right, hairfully wrong Duggar clan in Arkansas). One of the elder Duggar children was claiming that she did not judge her older, not a bit wiser, cousin Amy because she wore shorts and had regularly cut hair. Oh, that little Duggar girl is such a liar.

When someone has to make the claim, I'm not judging you, they were/are most definitely judging you. I mean, at least in my case that's true. If I tell you I'm not judging you, I'm always and I do mean, always, judging you.

I've gotten better about this though. How so? First off, rarely do I tell people this anymore. Meaning, if I am judging you, I try to do it silently. And second, back in the day, if someone told me something about themselves that I found appalling, I would completely cast them out of my life. I no longer do that. It's true. I find a number of my friends completely appalling and unworthy of grace, but I'm not judging them.

All of this being said: Beware of those who judge not, lest they are judging ye more than others.

big day.

Admittedly, I got chills this morning watching Barack Obama being sworn in as the 44th President. No matter who you voted for-- today was a big day. Scratch that, a HUGE day for America.

I mean, even Dan Quayle was there.