The 2005 iTest has concluded...whew! What a crazy 5 days. We've got a lot of work to do with grading and getting the Solutions Guide printed before moving on to get the iTest CS fully ready to go.

Back to work tomorrow. Off to sleep!

Our sponsor had a change of heart all of a sudden...and just like that, Griffin Technology is once again the 2005 iTest's Corporate Partner. Check them out if you have an iPod and buy their stuff at www.griffintechnology.com.

The 2005 iTest launches in 10 hours to 240 schools across the country, with huge groups of students slated to participate at many schools. Our participation will be way, way up. This is gonna be big.

Decide for yourself...(from the New York Times, taken from Gaurav's blog):

As the levees cracked open and ushered hell into New Orleans on Tuesday, President Bush once again chose to fly away from Washington, not toward it, while disaster struck. We can all enumerate the many differences between a natural catastrophe and a terrorist attack. But character doesn't change: it is immutable, and it is destiny.

As always, the president's first priority, the one that sped him from Crawford toward California, was saving himself: he had to combat the flood of record-low poll numbers that was as uncontrollable as the surging of Lake Pontchartrain. It was time, therefore, for another disingenuous pep talk, in which he would exploit the cataclysm that defined his first term, 9/11, even at the price of failing to recognize the emerging fiasco likely to engulf Term 2.

I am now 25 years old.

Halfway to 50.

I thank God for allowing me to reach this point. He has brought a wealth of opportunity to my life, including the opportunity to be happily married. I sit back and think of everything that has happened over the past year of my life and am very grateful.

I am emotionally drained from watching footage and reading stories from the Gulf Coast over the weekend. It is extremely difficult, actually, for me to watch the footage - I can read the stories on the internet a bit easier. I am angered by President Bush's actions over the past week and disgusted at both the response of our government as well as its failure to act years ago to mitigate the risk involved for New Orleans after an internal FEMA report predicted this disaster 5 years ago. As I've noted in this space before, President Bush is well on his way to a legacy as one of the worst US Presidents of the modern era.

However, I am equally disgusted by the politicizing of Katrina by various individuals and groups with their own agendas. Does everything have to be political these days? It gets tiring. The anger and vitriol in the current political climate needs to go, and the successful 2008 Presidential candidate will likely be the individual best able to de-claw the debates on various issues.

This world of constant flux and viewing everything through political lenses simply can't sustain itself. And yet, its the world in which I find myself at the start of a potential watershed year for my own aspirations in a variety of fields.

Let others complain and groan about the state we're in. I'm in too much of a hurry to whine.

I pray to God to influence my life and help me live a fulfilling life. Thankful to be happily married and in prime position for the first time to seize opportunities I have been given, I move into yet another year of my life with optimism and determination.

i'm not a businessman...
i'm a BUSINESS, man.

Jay-Z, on Kanye West's "Diamonds from Sierra Leone"


Great lyrics abound on Kanye West's just-released "Late Registration," continuing Jay-Z's legacy of intelligent lyrics over innovative, catchy beats. No wonder this guy is on fire.

Ben Folds just released an iTunes Originals album this week as well that is fantastic. But does he ever do anything badly? He can even duet with WILLIAM SHATNER and not skip a beat.

Lori frequently jokes with me that the iTest has been a terrible investment from the beginning and its only gotten worse. And from a current financial perspective, she would be right: thousands of dollars and hundreds of hours have been liberally poured into the project, with little financial return.

Additionally, it appears that our first sponsor, who will remain nameless here, has fallen through. This sponsor would have righted the financial ship, and then some, while using some of its technology to vastly improve the underlying infrastructure of the way I administer the annual competition.

Separately, the IRS is giving me a hell of a time with my non-profit 501(c)(3) application. They have issued a second round of questions, beyond the original application, for me to complete. Since I filed the form to apply for tax-exempt status, 9 months have passed and I still feel no closer to receiving the tax break. At this point, I am ready to discard them and move forward with the iTest as a private for-profit enterprise...but we'll see what happens over the rest of 2005.

I don't have time to feel sorry for myself, though. Nothing has fundamentally changed about the competition from when I created it in March 2004: the competition is a watershed educational tool that has never been done before, connecting the elitest of upper crust private high schools to the poorest of inner city public schools through mathematics and student competition.

Furthermore, there is no real competition. Competitive mathematics is a humorless field with a profound lack of innovators or capitalistic interests. Therefore, its not a surprise that the field hasn't moved forward much at all since I was in high school. Making this problem even worse is the growing disparity in the educational system between the "haves" and the "have-nots," which is creating a younger humorless class of high school students. I have witnessed many of these math-or-bust kids myself and found the experience disturbing.

Enough about those people. The key paradox here is that the more children we help and the more we improve the current state of the educational system, the more we set up the iTest to make a financial killing as a premiere educational brand.

My vision for the iTest is to become a portfolio of the nation's best competitions for high school students, while still being readily accessible to lower-income students as well as "normal" kids of all income-levels. We continue this march with a stellar iTest math exam to be given in September, and the launch of the iTest CS in April '06. Similar to the SAT II Subject Tests or AP exams, given in an array of fields....the iTest competitions will set the standard for high school academic competitions and will command interest through prizes, through innovation, and through humor.

This can't help but attract corporate interest. What we're doing is too innovative and too unique - and too popular! we're heading over the 30,000 student mark this year in math... - to not be noticed and funded. Or bought out.

Regardless of what the future holds, and Lori's instinctive questioning of my efforts, the iTest has begun, and success is not a matter of if, but when.

First blog post in a while...between a pretty intense job, tutoring an 8th grader in Franklin on the side, preparing for the iTest launch, working on a new album, and attempting to stay sane...I guess that explains it. And, lest I forget, moving into a new, bigger apartment. Oh, and one more thing...I'm married now! :)

I view being busy as a blessing. For me, it means I'm currently working on a combination of things that are my choice to be working on. Working from home facilitates this - though I spend at least 50-55 hours a week on my job, those hours can be moved and manipulated in ways typical office jobs could not to accommodate my other passions.

My job as Strategic Initiatives Coordinator at Actus Lend Lease is off to a good start. I feel like my boss has put me in a position to succeed - a position where I can bring something to the table. That is a very gratifying thing that I try not to take for granted. The ability to have an impact, and work with executives ranging from age 40 to 70 who control one of the largest real estate companies in existence is a very welcome change from previous school environments. It is all of this that led me to reject a job offered to me just a couple weeks ago, while I was just hitting the one-month mark with Actus, that actually would have compensated me a good bit more, though without giving me nearly as much influence and ability to contribute.

I feel very lucky to have Lori in my life, and look forward to her starting up at Vandy law school this fall after transferring over the summer. I know she is looking forward to it. Everywhere she has gone, she has excelled, in terms of her legal studies. She has especially turned her game up a notch at the Tennessee Supreme Court this summer, where she has gotten a remarkable amount of uncharacteristic praise from the justices there for her writing skills and the level of detail in her legal scrutiny of various cases. Vanderbilt will simply be another stomping ground on her way to a successful job somewhere.

The long-awaited fantasy football draft is coming up! Its a chance for everyone in our little group from high school to catch up with one another. I am really looking forward to it this year as well because ESPN's league is so vastly superior to Yahoo's in the way it enables even more communication between all of us.

Anyway, thought I would update the blog with what's been going on. I will be updating this more regularly as I learn to keep work from exploding into 60-70 hour weeks and keep it contained to about 50 hours a week. Its a lot harder than it sounds.

Been listening to the new Acceptance album ("Phantoms") and it has not exited my car stereo for the past few weeks. Production is amazing. Its a bunch of young guys, and while not the best instrumentalists in the world, their lyrics, harmonies, and melodies are great. And we're talking every single song on the disc here.

Just downloaded their Sessions@AOL songs. They can play well live, apparently.

Highly recommend them.

"So Contagious" - Acceptance

Oh no...
this couldn't be more unexpected.
And I can tell you
that I've been moving in so slow.
Don't let it throw you off too far,
cause I'll be running right behind you.

Could this be out of line?
Say you're the only one, breaking me down like this
You're the only one I would take a shot on.
Keep me hanging on, so contagiously...

Without going into much detail, "The Burning" is the dark tale of a man in jail, serving a life sentence for killing the man who murdered his daughter. This man escapes from prison and attempts to rebuild his life and find purpose in living. The album will be divided up into two distinct halves - the first centered around his prison life, and concluding with his escape. The second half will center around his attempt to start over.

This tells a good bit of background without giving away any details at all. I have been looking forward to crafting an album around a central story like this for some time now.

So, in other words, "The Burning" has nothing to do with some guy with an STD. Sorry to disappoint...lol...

After a bit of a blogging hiatus...lets get caught up to speed.

Lori got into Vanderbilt Law School! She was trying to transfer from University of Tennessee's Law School, and fortunately Vanderbilt agreed that she should be in Nashville with me! She'll start toward the end of August.

I have begun my job with Actus Lend Lease as their Strategic Initiatives Coordinator. I work from home. I have been able to contribute in tangible ways to the company even in a few weeks. This is exactly what I was looking for in a job out of MBA school.

Lori and I have been attending our marriage counseling sessions, which are generally something people do BEFORE getting married...but since we were in two separate cities, this wasn't exactly possible. But we have a "mentor" couple that is going through a workbook of various marriage issues with us, and we've been able to sit down with them once a week, have dinner, and discuss all sorts of things. It has really been great for me and Lori, and its just another reason I'm so glad we discovered West End Community Church in the past year.

Finally, I have some music news ... I have titled and dated my new album. "The Burning" will be a concept album (piano+vocals+various guest players) built around one central story, and will incorporate written elements in the liner notes to help tell it. Don't want to give much away, especially since the details aren't ironed out quite yet. Its tentatively scheduled for release on June 20, 2006. Long ways away, but gives me plenty of time to navigate around work, the iTest, the iTest CS (the April 2006 computer science competition that is the latest extension of the iTest venture), and various other projects to finish writing it and get in the studio to record it.

Well, Maintain Radio Silence's run on the New Age chart on iTunes was rather short-lived...its gone now, being bounced from #39 to #71 to #97 to off in a matter of half of a day. Oh well...it was fun while it lasted. And who knows, an effective iTest promotion might get it back up there in September.

Watching Spurs/Pistons, Game 5 ... this series is really starting to get intense. After one team or the other won each of the first four games in blowout fashion, this game was tied 42-42 at the half, and is now tied up late in the 4th. Could be a classic end to a classic NBA playoff matchup.

Seattle, having swept the ridiculous New York Mets over the weekend, now are in a position to finish June over .500, which is remarkable when you look at the number of rookies they have on their 25-man roster. We'll see how much longer they can continue to play at such a high level.

"Maintain Radio Silence" currently sits at #39 on the New Age Top 100 Albums chart on iTunes, which is kinda cool! The album peaked at #31 on the chart today.

While I certainly realize this probably means all of 4 people bought a copy online to get it there on the chart, it was fun to beat out albums from the likes of Yanni, Jim Brickman, Joshua Kadison, and the immortal George Winston, even if its for a fleeting moment...

(And if you don't have the album, go get it on iTunes! :) )

Back from Hawaii...what a place. Highly recommend it! I'm surprised we decided to come back, even as great as Nashville is!

I come back to Nashville immersed in new music. Lets get to it:

Coldplay - "X&Y." Brilliant new album that changes the core of Coldplay's sound they've developed over the past two albums...much less piano and much more guitar. The result is a grandiose, atmospheric masterpiece. "Fix You" - best song they've ever done?

Seal - "Live in Paris" CD/DVD. The CD is one thing...great sounding live stuff. But the DVD is really what I had been waiting for...I haven't seen Seal perform live before (with the exception of the 1996 Grammys (?) where he performed Kiss From A Rose) and he really knows how to put on a show. His backing musicians are excellent and his music really comes alive...fun to see.

White Stripes - "Get Behind Me Satan." This CD could simply have "Blue Orchid" on it and it would be great. This is a band that's been pushing the musical envelope from Day 1, and the latest result is a really good new album that's unlike anything I've ever heard.

Foo Fighters - "In Your Honor" double-album. Unbelievable...they hit a huge home run with this new double-album. Every single song is good, and it really reminds me of what I felt like when listening to "The Colour and the Shape" for the first time. Dave Grohl said a few months ago that he hoped "In Your Honor" would become the defining Foo Fighters work, and it looks like he might have actually been onto something.


Headed to Birmingham this weekend for City Stages, and then to Arlington toward the end of June to visit Lori's family...and still many thank-you notes left to write, as well as a variety of iTest-related tasks. And I've started tutoring an 8th-grader out in Franklin in Algebra I, for some nice extra cash...so as busy as ever around here. Until next time...

Blogging from the Hyatt Business Center in Hawaii...the weather here is absolutely amazing!! Perfect temperature, perfect breeze, just the right amount of clouds, and tons to do. I'll pick the blog back up from here when I get back into Nashville (our flight out of Hawaii leaves at 7:30 PM local time on Friday, and arrives back in Nashville at 12:30 PM on SATURDAY. Crazy.)

One quick note: if you read this blog on bradleymetrock.blogspot.com, then you're getting some sort of weird version where the last entry was months ago. I will attempt to update both, but keep in mind that the official link is right here at jbf500.blogspot.com.

ACCEPT NO SUBSTITUTES.

On Lori's and my 1-Day Anniversary...a blog entry before heading out to Hawaii for the honeymoon!

The wedding weekend has been a blur. The rehearsal went great and really put my mind at ease that the wedding itself would be something I could enjoy without being nervous. Carter Crenshaw, our pastor at West End Community Church, did a great job telling everyone what to do and was extremely time-efficient in getting us out of there before the rehearsal dinner.

The rehearsal dinner at the Rotunda at the Country Music Hall of Fame was a lot of fun. My parents, as well as Lori and me, had fun piecing together the details of the event months ago, and we could only hope it would go as well as it did. Unlike many other rehearsal dinners, where only the wedding party is invited, we decided to open it up to everyone invited to the wedding. 90 people showed up in Nashville a day early for it (out of 110 who RSVP'ed to attend the wedding) which was really remarkable. My mom put together a video presentation of pictures of both me and Lori that was shown on a big projector, which she spent an incredible amount of time putting together. My dad started off the toasts, and it was really awesome to see and hear various individuals from both my and Lori's past get up, walk up to the front of the Rotunda to the main microphone, and speak to us. Its the type of thing you don't forget.

I hate to mention any of these individuals specifically, since all of their remarks were so great, but two stood out to me just a little more...my Uncle Jack speaking briefly about how my grandparents, all of whom are dead, would be proud of Lori and me...and Lori's brother, James, getting up to welcome me into their family. Both abhor public speaking (including several others who spoke as well) so I am even more thankful for their facing down their fears of getting in front of the mic.

I hosted a big poker tournament at my apartment after the rehearsal dinner. Though we got started a little late (around 11:30 PM), the field of 13 was whittled down to the Winner's Table (consisting of 6 people) by 12:45, and we declared a winner around 2:30 AM or so. Jay Prather, our friend from undergrad at Vanderbilt, took home "Da Cup of Bling" - the pewter poker-themed mug with $305 in it, in honor of my apartment number! Jay bested John Hart, my long-time friend from high school, but at least John got his money back for coming in second. The rest of us weren't so lucky...

So after going to sleep around 3 AM, I woke up around 10 AM in order to get a shower and pick up Matt, John, and Jeremy. We went to Cracker Barrel out in Cool Springs for lunch before heading over to the tuxedo place to try on our tuxes. I kept mine on (since I had a bowtie, and I didn't know how to tie it! So I had to leave it on.) but the other guys took it off and decided to change back into it later. Around 2:30 PM, we headed to my place to pick up an overnight bag (since I'd be staying in the honeymoon suite that night! sweet!), John headed off to assist Amy (Steven Denny's girlfriend) since her car wasn't running right, and the rest of us headed over to Loews to hang out and kill time.

4:30 rolled around pretty quickly, and it was time to hop in the limo and head over to Benton Chapel, the place on Vanderbilt's campus where the wedding took place. After taking some pictures with the groomsmen, we all headed down to the basement to hang out and kill even more time. Fortunately, time didn't seem to stand still like it often does when I'm waiting for something important, and all of a sudden, it was 5:15 and people began to arrive for the 6:00 wedding. 5:30, 5:45, 6:00...time to go.

What would happen over the next 30 minutes or so was as grandiose and dramatic as anything I have ever seen. After processing into the chapel to the sweet music of a 4-piece ensemble, handing my mom a white rose (she looked great, of course!), and taking my place at the front of the chapel, I then got to watch all of the groomsmen and bridesmaids file in. They all looked excellent...you don't get to see your friends in tuxes every day. And then...Lori came in.

I have never seen anything so beautiful in my entire life. She just looked amazing.

The ceremony began and Carter took control. Much like he does every Sunday with his sermons, he spoke with a disarming, but very articulate, directness...with every sentence seemingly elevating the importance of what was happening. As my dad later put it, "he tied the knot tighter than I've ever seen!"

Speaking on marriage, he reminded Lori and I will be the people who won't just love each other the most, but will also hurt each other the most. Speaking to me, he challenged me to not allow my ambition to get in the way of caring for Lori, and speaking to her, he told her to be my biggest encourager, not my biggest critic. "There are already too many people vying for that role," he said.

As usual, I had trouble keeping my emotions in check, both at the rehearsal dinner and the wedding itself. So it goes.

The reception was absolutely magnificent. Hosted at Loews Vanderbilt Plaza Hotel, the event was designed by Lori and I to have a more upscale, urban feel (in contrast to the purposefully informal, Southern-style rehearsal dinner). Lori and I arrived at the reception around 7:30 (after sticking around at the chapel to take the last few wedding pictures) and were introduced by Lori's dad as "Mr. and Mrs. Bradley Metrock." That was one of several weird moments.

We then cut the first pieces of both the wedding cake and groom's cake, feeding them to one another, and then had a toast. After grabbing at least a small bit of the dinner, we meandered around the room saying hello to friends before having our first dance as a married couple. After the next dance (this time with my mom), people swarmed to the dance floor, giving me a chance to mingle more with those who came to the reception.

There's nothing more gratifying than people showing up from across the country in honor of you and your wife. Its why I put such importance on making time for other people...you never know when its going to be your turn to ask for people to show up somewhere.

My Uncle Jack (same one from the rehearsal dinner) flew in from California, temporarily halting a 5-month roadtrip from Alabama to Alaska via the West Coast. Ben and Steven had to literally fly across Nashville after completing Phase I of the CFA exam (which they arranged to take in Nashville instead of Birmingham for the wedding), arriving at 5:45 to the chapel for the 6 PM wedding. Gaurav, who had led me to believe he would be unable to attend due to his medical school boards coming up in a week or so, showed up unexpectedly at the reception, despite having his flight delayed. Carlos, and his girlfriend Jessica, flew in from St. Louis on Saturday morning to be there. Ben Stark, and his girlfriend Christy (or should I say fiancee! he proposed to her earlier this week) flew in directly from their just-concluded cruise to be there.

Countless others had similar stories, and it was nice to come back to my apartment today to find a flood of congratulatory emails as well. And I know there's several others, including my Aunt Nova (a regular reader of this blog, I know!) who would have loved to have been there, but couldn't due to health concerns.

I just have been overwhelmed by the outpouring of love and support from all of you guys. There's just not anything more important in this world than taking care of friends and family, and showing them that you care.

What gets me even more excited is the prospect of reciprocating this generosity for friends getting married in the future. I can't wait.

Now...off to Hawaii. You never know, I might decide to just stay out there and not come back!

I'm sitting in the lobby of Loews Vanderbilt Hotel right now. Soon, the wedding reception will be held just down the hall and up a staircase. This is a pretty nice place...they even gave me free wireless internet access, but shhhh...don't tell anyone.

I have accepted a job, so I can post about it here finally! I am now the Strategic Initiatives Coordinator for Actus Lend Lease, a worldwide real estate project management firm that is based right here in Nashville, Tennessee. Actus Lend Lease did about $10 billion in revenue last year, and in the past four years, has grown from 20 employees to about 400 here in America. I am looking forward to joining their staff on July 1 and making a contribution.

Watching TV today, I happened upon the national spelling bee on ESPN. What an incredible thing they have done - they have turned SPELLING WORDS, for crying out loud, into a feat of public admiration. Its not like these kids are defining words that they are given, or even naming synonyms or some other practical exercise. They instead are becoming human equivalents of that little jagged red line in Microsoft Word, and are praised all over the country for it.

It is a testament to modern marketing. ESPN does a brilliant job using its resources, including highlights on SportsCenter, to build these kids up and really add an angle to the entire proceeding.

Competitive mathematics could use something like the Spelling Bee. The MathCounts national competition is aired on ESPN and does actually have some drama involved, but its not nearly as tight of an event and as clever as the Spelling Bee. Math could use an upgrade here, but I'm not sure anyone with the power to make a difference really cares about inventing a compelling mathematical TV event. Maybe someday.

Seems weird to think that I'm getting married on Saturday. I'm looking forward to it - I can't wait to turn the page on my life and move on to bigger things. One of my favorite quotes (which I believe is Robert Frost's, though I can't remember right now) is "when you reach a fork in the road, take it."

Well, 2005 has been a year of major decisions, and we're not even halfway through yet! While I've accepted a job in town that I simply could not refuse, and I've now found my wife, the end of 2005 will witness a major transformation to the iTest, as well as a revitalization of my label, Mariner Records. And I still haven't posted my short story I've been working on!

I'm excited about the future. Bring it on. And I'll be seeing a lot of you tomorrow at the rehearsal dinner...see you then.

First off, the first short story will be forthcoming next week. Job search and other stuff has tied me up big time the past couple weeks. And, oh yeah, graduation too...

For graduation, Lori got me a new digital camera, and I have had a blast using it. For someone generally living on the technological edge, I was late to the iPod party, and now late to the digital camera party as well. Damn, I should've had one of these a long time ago!

Since Barry Bonds has been out of commission for a while, BondsCheated.com has been out of commission also. Its all set up and ready to go, but there's no use in promoting the site without much media heat on Bonds right now. Once (if) he returns, then it will be the time to start raising awareness of the site and its story.

I picked up three books over the weekend as I continue my effort to increase my reading..."1ndispensable: How to Become the Company That Your Customers Can't Live Without" by Joe Calloway, "Winning" by Jack Welch," and "The World is Flat" by Thomas Friedman. The last book is one that Satya recommended to me...its about how globalization has affected modern society...I'm sure I'll be posting about all three of these books as I get into them and finish them.

And now, to conclude, I have once again been called out - this time by Ben Stark - to complete another meme. Entitled "The Musical Baton," this meme requires me to post my opinions about music. This should be fun...

Total volume of music files on my computer

About 8 GB. And growing. Fast. I spend about $15 on music a month, mostly through iTunes, to keep the iPod fresh. But toss in the free songs from iTunes ("Free Song of the Week" and "Discovery Download") as well as new songs people send me, and its beginning to get a little out of control...


The last CD I bought

Stand Up by Dave Matthews Band. A solid effort from the group...these guys just tear it up.

Before that...I have no idea what the last CD I bought was (from a store). iTunes or bust!


Song I'm playing right now

"Everybody Wants to Rule the World (iTunes Originals Version)" - Tears for Fears

You gotta love those old-school 80's and 90's groups which have that one song everyone remembers, but really when you start to investigate them, they have several other songs you've heard before and liked. Tears for Fears are one of those groups for me. "Shout" and "Head Over Heels" are two great songs, but "Everybody Wants..." is the one everyone remembers. If you like it, go check this acoustic version out on iTunes. Its what the acoustic version of a slickly produced tune ought to be like.


Five songs I listen to a lot, or that mean a lot to me

U2 - "Pride (In the Name of Love)." What more, in the name of love? The Edge slams the door on any and all discussion, with this one song, that he is the greatest guitar player of the modern rock era (since 1980). His soaring guitar work, which made the delay pedal a staple of every guitarist born since then, makes the song special...but Bono's limitless emotion in the way he sings this song makes it so enduring. Larry Mullen Jr's. straight-ahead drumming and Adam Clayton's bass lay the foundation for the masterpiece. The crown jewel of the treasured U2 catalog, and a MUST-LISTEN when I'm getting ready for something big.

Van Halen - "Right Now." When you hear that piano intro...you KNOW something big is about to happen. Its a dramatic feel created only when the vision of a great band can be relayed through outstanding musicianship and clear, vivid lyric. This song is literally the perfect storm - a rock opera that feels like you've traveled for years in just a span of 5 minutes and 21 seconds. A remarkable tune that has never failed to get me pumped up and ready to go.

Sting - "Fields of Gold (acoustic unplugged)." Let me emphasize the "acoustic unplugged" there in the title, as this version is significantly better, in my opinion, than Sting's studio cut of the song (though its outstanding in its own right). Sting is notorious for being very demanding of the musicians with whom he chooses to play, and you can always tell they are incredible when you see or hear him perform live. The classical guitar and piano weave together to help Sting tell his story of making the most of love's (and life's) finite duration, and Sting's singular voice evokes so much more emotion than the sweetest harmonies that other entire groups can muster. You can tell the sun, in his jealous sky, that we walked in fields of gold.

Black Lab - "Wash It Away." This little-known group from North Carolina created one of my favorite albums of all time during the mid-90's ("Your Body Above Me"). This song, though, was the main single off the album, and once I heard it on the radio (Birmingham's 107.7 WRAX - "The X") I was captivated. A simple song, but with a U2-esque triumphant melody laid over a jagged and rough drums-and-guitar foundation. I had to know more about this group.

I have since listened to that album - a dark, twisted black raincloud of a rock album - so many times that I would be well underestimating the number if I said 500 in the 10 years that have passed since then.

The personal significance of the song comes from this little story: this same radio station, WRAX, had touring bands come into the area's primary music studio, Airwave Studios, to do lunchtime acoustic sets for a handful of people before playing at a venue in town that night. To win tickets, you had to call in and win them by being the 7th caller when they asked for people to call in. Well, I managed to win two tickets, and Carlos and I took in the show. It was the first time I had seen a rock band so up close and personal - I was literally 3 feet away from them, sitting Indian-style, watching them play on the hardwood floor of the studio's primary recording room.

I was intrigued by the group - they were strong players, but it all seemed so easy. I knew I could play, too, but I had never tried songwriting...it was that single show that day that made my mind up that songwriting was something I wanted to do one day. That show weighed on my mind a lot as I finally made up my mind to go take vocal lessons and get proficient enough to record the Jimmy B and the Fortune 500 albums...and I have continued to progress and improve in my vocal training to where I am really looking forward to recording a solo piano + vocal album sometime in the near future. My lesson for myself here is that sometimes, seeing something up close and personal, instead of at a distance like we're used to seeing it, really makes a tremendous difference.

A Perfect Circle - "3 Libras." While my favorite type of music is the upbeat, anthemic type of stuff of U2, Van Halen, and others, I love balancing out that type of music with the deep, dark, introspective stuff of groups like A Perfect Circle. "3 Libras" was a song that galloped me through many sleepless nights as an undergrad at Vandy (not to mention the priceless Days of the New albums, a good bit of Seal's work, among others). The fantastic production of the song's orchestral backing behind the band's precise playing really makes this a fantastic work, and one of APC's best songs. Difficult not to feel a little bit disappointed...and passed over...

Honorable Mentions: Anything off of Seal's self-titled second album; Smashing Pumpkins - "1979"; U2 - "One"; Billy Joel - "Lullabye (Good Night, My Angel)"; Coldplay - "We Never Change"; Vertical Horizon - "The Mountain Song"

(cheap way out of only being able to list 5 songs, I know, I know...)


The people to whom I'm passing the baton

Gaurav and Matt (two guys I know love their tunes as much as I do)

Tomorrow, my parents and Evan are coming up here for my graduation. Then, over the weekend, Matt and Steven are headed up.

Feels like I should be happier that I'm done with school, once and for all. I'm not, though...I guess its because I've been ignoring classes, by and large, for the past month, so now that they're over, I really don't even care.

I'm so busy with job interviews, turning in even more resumes and cover letters around town, and getting several necessary things done with the iTest that this week, which I thought would be really laid back, has been a killer.

One last note before I close, as I need to go to bed ... on Monday, June 27, Vanderbilt will run the "Day in the Life" feature they are doing on me on their homepage, www.vanderbilt.edu. Its a photo journal that they put together on various people. They chose me because of my involvement with the iTest program...kinda neat, huh?

Until next time...

Well, I've been called out by Mike, who passed the Caesar's Bath Meme on to me in one of his recent blog entries.

The Caesar's Bath Meme requires me to list "five things that people in my circle of friends or peer group are wild about, but you can't really understand the fuss over them." And then, I pass the edict on to others, assuming they read this blog. Not a good assumption...but here goes.

Alcohol. You could probably take all the alcoholic product I've ever consumed and fit it comfortably in a gallon jug or two, with most of it coming at my recent bachelor's party down in New Orleans. I don't mind being around people while they're drinking - I usually find it hilarious - but its not for me.

Coffee. Lori loves the stuff, but I never have gotten into it. I don't like hot drinks, for starters, and though I like the smell, the taste is revolting. And whoever came up with coffee ice cream just needs to be slapped.

Law school. Wow, talk about gluttons for punishment. Lawyers are, we'll say, a "unique" breed. And if you're in law school and reading this, I suggest you get back to reading one of those 58 books you'll be tested on at the end of the semester.

Mexican food. I don't like spicy food very much, and whenever I take Lori to Don Pablo's (her favorite restaurant), I get the hamburger. Yeah, the hamburger. Stop laughing.

Not checking email. Perhaps more disturbing than the number of friends I have who are law school students is the number of friends I have who simply don't check email on a regular basis. These people are fine checking email maybe once a day, maybe twice...or maybe once every couple of days...as opposed to my habit of checking it at least once an hour. Life can turn so fast on the basis of a single email - how can you NOT check it all the time? Time to embrace the 21st century, folks.


I pass the Caesar's Bath Meme to Gaurav and Matt. I expect to see your lists sometime soon!


One final note: I have spent some time recently writing one of hopefully several short stories. I will post it here upon its completion, which ought to be sometime in the next couple of weeks.

George W. Bush didn't impress me tonight with what I would characterize as "horrific" public speaking skills. But what really irritates me is that Bush can't seem to get anything done.

He better get to work. I believe Social Security reform is a good idea, but it requires caution that Bush may or may not employ in getting the job done. Tax reform is also critical, so its good Bush is taking that on in the fall.

Who cares about John Bolton? And Tom Delay dug his own grave. Bush needs to refocus on why anyone cares about him being in office...his ambitious domestic agenda.

If he doesn't get some substantive things done by 2008, he will most certainly go down as one of the worst, if not THE worst, President in the history of the United States. A combination of brutal arrogance and utter incompetence, made even worse by deliberate religious-right smokescreens and intentionally confusing double-talk.

Iraq is a mess that is actually beginning to give other problem countries confidence in dictating terms with the US, and terrorism worldwide has certainly not been solved by the administration. At home, the mediocrity of the economy is something we've almost started to take for granted, and the political climate is only slightly less poisonous than it was during the 2004 election.

I voted for Kerry simply because I thought a change might be good for America, though neither Kerry nor Bush are really fit to run a 7-11, much less the United States Government. Bush needs to slam the door shut on these Democratic filibusters and give us something positive to talk about for me to start thinking maybe I voted the wrong way.