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If you work at company that traps you in to using Windows, here’s something that may make life easier. I just ran across a little open source app that saves you from wasting time venturing in to your start menu to launch a program. Enter Launchy…

This little guy is my new best friend. It indexes directories you specify (i.e. Start Menu, Documents, etc) and allows you to just type in a few letters anywhere in the name of the file/program and launch the program or file.

Our next selection from the Wannabilly album is a track entitled “Betty”. I’m not going to give too many details about this one. It’s got a punch line. Matt definitely gets credit for the sound effect near the end. And I have no idea what I was trying to do with that mandolin strum pattern.
Enjoy.

Back at KU, while warming up for a worship event for a church group in KC, we started playing some of the songs country-style just for fun (unfortunately many worship songs lend themselves very well to Country music). That spurred on a challenge to write and record a mock Country album in 24 hours.

Matt and Kevin and I did just that. We reserved a weekend and wrote most of the songs on Saturday. Then finished writing and recorded all of them on Sunday. The ironic part is that it took over a year (I think) to actually mix and master the album. Matt can confirm that. Some songs are more Country than others, and there is at least one song we felt was actually good.

We originally want to call ourselves “Country for a Day”, but I believe it was Jason who gave us the name “Wannabilly”.

So I’ll be posting selected tracks once a week. So sit back and enjoy.

Our first selection will be our train song, I believe we titled it “Don’t Run Me Over”. It’s a Sprechgesang (hat tip to Jessica, I hope I’m using that right) about a bank robbery gone bad. Enjoy.

A few of our friends down here in Texas have asked about our college experience back in Kansas. Well, obviously a midwest education is far superior to any other kind, but we’ve had a little trouble convincing them. So in an effort to show them just how educated we are, here’s a little audio clip a friend of ours made. It demonstrates best, I think, the skills we learned in writing poetry in foreign languages. Enjoy!

Well, I had forgotten that Andrew set us up with a blog and then I started hearing about it (our blog) from other people and decided I needed to check it out. So, here’s my first entry:

…..hmmm…..well, I’ve never blogged before, so I’m not totally sure how this goes, but we’ll see. Eh. Life is good right now. I’m wrapping up the summer session at TCU next week and then I’ll have either two or three weeks off before the fall semester starts. I’m getting conflicting reports about when we actually start back since TCU changed up their schedule/breaks for this coming year. I hope it’s three weeks because there’s a lot of stuff I need to get done before school starts and two weeks will be just enough time to squeeze it all in. That sounds good, but it’s better if it’s three weeks because then it gives me a chance to get a little bored (not really) and to miss my routine so that when the time rolls around, I’m excited to teach again, you know?

Oh! I guess I should fill you in on what I’m up to in case I haven’t touched base with some of you in a while. I got my masters from TCU back in 2004 and have been teaching piano in the music preparatory division since 2002 (part time while in school and now 5 days a week). A few weeks ago I was asked to interview/audition for a job at Texas Wesleyan University to help fill their need for a staff accompanist and I got the job, so I’ll be starting there this fall and doing both jobs….not sure how that’s going to turn out, but we’ll see. TCU is 5 days a week from 3pm-7 or 8pm ish and the TWU job will be MWF mornings till about 3pm. I’ll be accompanying any vocal students who have lessons on MWF as well as playing for the choirs. It should be fun! I’m looking forward to doing more accompanying again and it is also a step up career-wise as it’s an adjunct faculty position….one step closer to my goal of teaching at a university.

On to other stuff! Our very cute kitty, Stevie, just decided to take up residence on my lap as I type, so I’m going really slow right now, but he’s SO cute:) Definitely a snuggle-cat.

It’s HOT here! Today was the 8th consecutive day it’s been in the 100’s. It was 102 at 6pm tonight, so who knows how hot it actually got during the day. It has made my running time shorter and shorter since at nights it only gets down into the 80’s for the low. I run in the mornings, but it’s usually already in the 90’s and I just can’t go for more than 30 minutes-ugh! I was doing really well with following a marathon/half marathon plan (I hadn’t decided which one to do) until a couple of weeks ago. Oh well, I suppose I can pick it back up in the fall once it gets cooler and provided I have enough time in the mornings to do it (translate: if I get up early enough!).

Andrew was awesome for my birthday! He got up early and made me waffles and then when I got home that night, he had fixed a yummy dinner of chicken and cheesecake! :):) It was very nice:)

Ok, well, enough blogging for me at the moment. I’ll get the hang of this if I remember to keep writing!

This is old new, but still worth mentioning. Jessica wrote a web article for RELEVANT Magazine about buying a house a few months ago. Thought I’d share and gloat about how cool a wife I have!

Here’s the article.

Over the past 6 months, I’ve taken up the hobby of still life photography. Nothing professional, I just take shot of stuff I see. Mainly flowers (I know, real manly), but I branching out in to textures and some other areas. Some of the pictures have actually turned out well, so I decided to give iStock.com a shot. I’ve been accepted and uploaded a couple to start out with. They are starting to be approved, so when they are you can see them here.

These figures have been around awhile, but nothing has made me feel laughter, sadness, concern, and just plain wrong like these statues. I heard about these a few months ago on the RELEVANT Poscast and had to see for myself. Part of me wants to get one of these for the sake of it, but I’m not sure I could justify spending $20 on something so questionable.

Freak out someone you love…buy now at Catholic Supply of St. Louis!

I think I just might have to hold it… Who knows what’s behind that door!