this is the blog where we talk about the stuff.

I sort of like voting. I’ve only done it once. This will be my second general election. The last time I voted, I was a fresh Birminghamian. I voted at the Vestavia Hills Community Center and it was really exciting. People dressed up, there was food and lots of community, oddly enough. Tomorrow I will vote at a new place. And either way, tomorrow will be a historic day. Which I think is pretty cool.

There have been a number of articles floating around the internet regarding Christianity and politics. Derek Webb wrote this one. Don Miller wrote this one. Both very interesting and thought-provoking. I thought about taking Derek’s advice and not voting (since I was truly having a crisis in trying to make a decision), but to echo Drew, there was a time when I could not vote (not me personally, but women. Well, technically, me…when I was younger than 18…anyway). And I want to be a part of the process, because I am thankful for the men who fought one way and the women who fought another way to give me that right. So, that’s that.

Either way, we will turn off our television’s tomorrow night and when we wake up we will have a new President-Elect (knock on hanging chads). And all the election insanity will be behind us. Quite frankly, I’m just ready for a decision to be made.

On that note, I wanted to share some of my favorite parts of the election. Here you go:

Don Miller’s “correspondence” with Barack Obama

Obama/McCain Dance-Off (minor language…be warned)!

It’s still the most amazing thing I think I’ve ever seen.

Also…pretty amazing.

And this is just crazy weird. I think that the Sass is responsible.

The one thing I will not miss are Facebook status’s saying that it’s not American to vote for Obama or that only stupid people would vote for McCain. I am really sick of that.

What was one of your highlights of the election? Are you just glad it’s over?

The List is coming back because I haven’t posted in awhile and I have some very vapid, shallow things to say. They don’t warrant a full post on their own, that’s for sure.

1. I tried watching ‘John Adams’ tonight. It would be great, except I can’t stand Laura Linney. I feel ok about this because at least I tried.

2. I lost Moleskin #5. This is highly upsetting to me, because it was just about full, and now it’s either languishing somewhere, cold and alone, or someone has it and that’s worse. On a positive note, when I discovered that Moleskin #5 was missing, I ordered this little work of art. It’s the new kind, only 60 pages and thin enough for your back pocket (thank you to Jon Whitt) and there’s a sweet bird on it. I love birds.

3. I got to go home this weekend, which was awesome. I freaking love my family so much I want to squeeze them to death, so hanging out with them is always a complete and total pleasure. I also go to play with my friend Ashley and her completely amazing child, Hadassah. This kid rules. If you don’t want kids, don’t hang out with Haddie, because she will charm the pants right off you and you will want 20 kids. Too bad they won’t be as awesome as she is. Seriously. This is the three of us at the 4th of July this summer.

4. I have to wait on seeing HSM3, due to exorbitant movie prices. $9.25? Are you kidding? So, I am waiting on the matinee.

5. We are writing at work again (PTL) and my commission for conference this year is the LiveLove musical parody, which I am really excited. I’ve already started one song, and it’s about how Twilight ruins peoples lives. It’s sure to be a crowd pleaser.

6. My Halloween costume this year is amazing. I’m going to be Rosie the Riveter (NOT “We Can Do It” Girl, but the actual Norman Rockwell Rosie, seen here). Today I got my buttons in and they are incredible. One of them is an original pin that Congress gave to the mother’s of soliders who won the Purple Heart. The back of the pin says, “United States of America, 1 August 1942, Act of Congress.” Rosie would wear it with pride, as shall I.

7. My car is in the shop right now, so guess who is riding to work on Frances in 20 degree weather? Me! While I am incredibly thankful that I have something else to ride while Dolores is having some surgery, it is unbelievably cold outside on the scooter. This morning, I was yelling “IT IS SO COLD!” as I drove down Valleydale. Tomorrow, I am wearing Ben’s puffy jacket to see if that will help. The cuteness factor on the scooter will have to be sacrificed for now, because you can’t be cute if you are frostbitten.

That’s pretty much it. Sorry this post seeps of lame.

So what about infant baptism?

Is it wrong? Is it right? Does it matter at all? Does it matter the most?

I witnessed my first infant baptism on Sunday. I am still processing my thoughts, Scripture, and the way I was raised on this issue.

But until then, does anyone have any wisdom for me on this?

I’ve been working on an article for one of the newsletters that I help manage at work. It’s a collection of interesting facts about Thanksgiving. I find them incredibly fascinating. You might as well, so I thought I would share some with you.

Thanksgiving Tidbits

Contrary to popular belief, the first Thanksgiving was not on Plymouth Rock with pilgrims and turkey. It was on September 8, 1565 in what is now known as Saint Augustine, Florida, as six hundred Spanish settlers landed and had a mass of Thanks, followed by a huge meal and some football.

Canadians refer to American Thanksgiving as ‘Yanksgiving,’ in order to distinguish between our Thanksgivings and theirs.

Originating during the Truman administration, every year the President pardons a turkey presented by the National Turkey Federation. The pardoned turkey is flown first-class (so much for budget cuts) from D.C. to Los Angeles, where it becomes the Grand Marshal of Disneyland’s annual Thanksgiving Day parade. The other turkey…gets eaten.

Over ten million Americans today trace their ancestory back to the Mayflower. Some famous descendants are: Dane Cook, George W. Bush, Marilyn Monroe, Chief Justice William Rehnquist, Seth McFarlane, Warren Buffet, and Amelia Earhardt.

Those Pilgrims had some crazy names. Among the travelers on the Mayflower and their next generation, there was Fear Brewster, Remember Allerton, Love Brewster (that’s a guy’s name), Wrestling Brewster (those Brewsters…), Hester le Mahieu, Oceanus Hopkins, Degory Priest, Humility Cooper, Resolved and Peregrine White (Peregrine was also the first child born to the Pilgrims in the New World).

Turkeys can drown if they look up while it’s raining.

The first female character to appear as a balloon in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade was Olive Oyl in 1982.

The Detroit Lions have held a Thanksgiving Day game since 1934, with the exception of 1939-1944, due to World War II.

Before Thanksgiving was an official holiday, President Franklin D. Roosevelt moved the date up one week, so that merchants would have an extra week to sell Christmas stock, thus stimulating the economy. This angered a lot of people, since it was sort of last minute. They referred to this third Thursday celebration as ‘Franksgiving.’

Mankind has celebrated some sort of Thanksgiving or harvest festival for a really long time. One such festival, celebrated by the Romans, was called Cerelia, for the goddess of corn, Ceres. We, also celebrate Ceres every morning over a big bowl of Lucky Charms, as we get the word cereal from her name.

The highest consumption of turkey per capita is Israel, with a whopping 27 lbs.

We all know that Benjamin Franklin wanted to make the turkey the national bird. Legend has it that Thomas Jefferson thought that this was the most ridiculous thing he’d ever heard and opposed Franklin voraciously. It is believed that Ben then named the male turkey ‘tom,’ to spite Jefferson.

In case no one has liked you enough to tell you about Explosions in the Sky, let me do the honors. Explosions in the Sky is a band from Midland, TX and they play what they call “cathartic mini-symphonies.” You can call it the most beautiful music in the world, if you want. These guys did the soundtrack for Friday Night Lights (the movie, although they released a few of the songs for the TV show as well) and it’s really amazing. Probably my favorite song is “Your Hand in Mine” which is from the soundtrack. And I can’t tell if their songs make me think about home because they are from Midland, which is where my aunt used to live, or if it’s because they composed for Friday Night Lights, which is about the high school my mom went to, or if it’s because I just really miss home lately. Who knows.

You can see on the right side of the video a Texas flag on the amp. They put one up at every show they play. Before they start, they always say, “We’re Explosions in the Sky, we’re from Texas and we’re gonna do our best.” The flag is sort of droopy; I think it’s because there was too much rock and roll coming out of the speakers.

If you like them, you can go to their website (explosionsinthesky.com) and they have a song off of every album that you can download for free. And “The Rescue” album is completely free. So enjoy!