why i wanted to read it: oh, i didn't. when this novel was published nearly two decades ago, i was a scanning technician at a printing company in houston. not long after, i changed jobs, choosing instead to work as a bookseller for borders. i seem to recall management having to go to sam's club and purchase additional copies of one of rowling's books because the store hadn't ordered enough. i can recall balking, with great success for a significant period of time, against reading any of these novels.

and then i rode with my mother to see finding nemo. and she was listening to harry potter and the order of the phoenix, and i was hooked. i borrowed all of her audios. i bought all the books. i've read them repeatedly. why have i read it again? because rowling has said that the story is a delusion created by ron, a statement which i wish had not been said. because i'm curious to imagine ron having said delusion, but more, i'm missing richard harris as dumbledore, and in reading it, i can imagine him again (which is sometimes better than seeing him on the screen). anyway. why have i read it again? because it's nifty, i tell you.

what i liked: the first page is beautiful...

mr. and mrs. dursley, of number four, privet drive, were proud to say that they were perfectly normal, thank you very much. they were the last people you'd expect to be involved in anything strange or mysterious, because they just didn't hold with such nonsense.

mr. dursley was the director of a firm called grunnings, which made drills. he was a big, beefy man with hardly any neck, although he did have a very large mustache. mrs. dursley was thing and blonde and had nearly twice the usual amount of neck, which came in very useful as she spent so much of her time craning over garden fences, spying on the neighbors. the dursleys had a small son called dudley and in their opinion there was no finer boy anywhere.

the dursleys had everything they wanted, but they also had a secret, and their greatest fear was that somebody would discover it (p. 1).

"can't stay long, mother," he said. "i'm up front, the prefects have got two compartments to themselves--"

"oh, are you a prefect, percy?" said one of the twins, with an air of great surprise. "you should have said something, we had no idea."

"hang on, i think i remember him saying something about it," said the other twin. "once--"

"or twice--"

"a minute--"

"all summer--"

"oh, shut up," said percy the prefect (p. 96).

harry learned that there were seven hundred ways of committing a quidditch foul and that all of them had happened during a world cup in fourteen seventy-three; that seekers were usually the smallest and fastest players, and that the most serious quidditch accidents seemed to happen to them; that although people rarely died playing quidditch, referees had been known to vanish and turn up months later in the sahara desert (p.181).

"there's no need to tell me i'm not brave enough to be in gryffindor, malfoy's already done that," neville choked out (p. 218).

"you know how i think they choose people for the gryffindor team?" said malfoy loudly a few minutes later, as snape awarded hufflepuff a penalty for no reason at all. "it's people they feel sorry for. see there's potter, whose got no parents, then there's the weasleys, who've got no money--you should be on the team, longbottom, you've got no brains."

neville went bright red but turned in his seat to face malfoy.

"i'm worth twelve of you, malfoy," he stammered (p. 223).

out on the stone steps, harry turned to the others.

"right, here's what we've got to do," he whispered urgently. "one of us has got to keep an eye on snape--wait outside the staffroom and follow him if he leaves it. hermione, you'd better do that."

"why me?"

"it's obvious," said ron. "you can pretend to be waiting for professor flitwick, you know." he put on a high voice. "oh professor flitwick, i'm so worried, i think i got question fourteen b wrong..." (p. 269).

"so light a fire!" harry choked.

"yes--of course--but there's no wood!" hermione cried, wringing her hands.

"have you gone mad?" ron bellowed. "are you a witch or not?" (p. 278).

 what sucked: nothing.

having said that: i love this story. read it if you not. read it again if you have.

saturday spotlight: texas sentinels foundation

the texas sentinels foundation was founded eight years ago by richard and jean filip of the houston area to provide wounded warriors from september eleventh, two thousand one and beyond homes, financial stewardship, counseling, job placement and more. richard filip, who served in the army, and his wife established the organization because so many of their friends had family members coming home from iraq and afghanistan physically and/or mentally traumatized from their service.

since its inception, texas sentinels have provided a number of debt-free, mortgage-free homes to men and women who have sacrificed.

the most recent home was dedicated to sergeant greg dotson, an army combat medic with six daughters, all under the age of ten. dotson served two tours in iraq and saved more than one hundred sixty lives on the battlefield. 

the dotson family with texas sentinels foundation's founders, richard and jean filip.
photo courtesy of texas sentinels foundation.

the foundation's executive director, lieutenant colonel susie barlow, said dotson, "didn't think he deserves a house because he couldn't save everybody, and so he didn't think any goodness should come his way." 

one of dotson's daughters peers at the crowd gathered at the home dedication ceremony during the flag presentation. photo courtesy of texas sentinels foundation.

after the world trade center collapsed, staff sergeant mike burns felt inspired to join the armed forces. he'd intended to serve two tours as an m.p., but his first was cut short due to injuries. he was living in phoenix, arizona with his wife and four children in a deer-lease trailer that had no air conditioning or hot water. he was sleeping in a chair and confined to a wheelchair. his wife and children were sleeping on a mattress on the floor. when the foundation learned of the family's plight, they relocated them to texas, paid for a rental home for a year and the furnishings for it while the family's new home was under construction.

the burns family at their home dedication ceremony. photo courtesy of texas sentinels foundation.

army specialist jeramie green takes a break from physical therapy to visit with his daughter.
photo courtesy texas sentinels foundation.

the next home will be awarded in september to army specialist jeramie green, a man who has had seventy-four surgeries and is still at walter reed in bethesda.

the foundation is at work building its nineteenth home. to learn more about the services it provides and those it has helped, visit texassentinels.org.

finding paris

why i read it: because my senior english teacher wrote it.

what i liked: sometimes i think people do things only because they're afraid of not doing them (p. 32).

my sister is not in le reception. she is not in front of le central lobby bar. she is not at le theater or les toilettes she is not lined up on the fake french cobblestones under the fake french streetlamp waiting to beat the breakfast rush at le buffet, observing the fake night sky that's painted on the fake french ceiling.

"where the fuck are you?" i mean to keep this in my head, not shout it out, but that's exactly what i do. 

one of the guys at le reception leans over the counter and asks if we need something.

"looking for my sister," i say trying to keep my voice even while my pulse zips race-car fast. i describe her to him.

"what's her name?" he asks. actually what he says is, "what eez her name, mademoiselle?" which i think eez taking zee whole thing too far (p. 69).

we used to live in l.a. everything was near the water, more or less.

were we happy there?

sometimes.

like the day paris and i wandered this flea market in venice and i found tiny tim on a table next to a pile of coach knockoffs and she found this red leather wallet with a plastic strip of pictures of people we didn't know. at home later, she cut their faces out with a small, pointy silver scissors so she could use them in her art: a middle-aged man in a suit and tie; an old lady wearing a white wool hat with a pom-pom on top; two kids--a boy and a girl--standing on the edge of the ocean. which i thought looked weird. 

but we were laughing, and she pasted the lady with the pom-pom onto the upper branches of this tree she'd drawn with charcoal pencils and i dusted off tiny tim's bony clavicle, and it was one of the moments you have with the people you love where you don't need to explain how you are. they just know.

if that was happy, then we were.

but so what? (pp. 99-100).

what sucked: nothing, really. i marked some pages that had struck a chord or whatever at the time of reading that didn't strike it so well upon review. that's really all i've got.

having said all that: it's the first of her novels i've finished. well-developed characters; well-developed plot. a quick read. i've picked up a number of books since the start of the year; this is the only one so far that has inspired me to read it cover to cover. i liked it, and i'm not just saying that because she was my teacher.

thankful thursday / the good in my day: may

watching  bambam's t-ball game. the family picnic in the park. the drive home from baker street one evening: i managed to time it just right so that the sun was right above the tree tops and the sky was blushed and golden and the clouds were a dusty lavender; i had the windows down and the music up (the cult's she sells sanctuary); i love coming home at this time of day because the neighborhood's so green and peaceful. the note i got in the mail. the parking spot i got right in front of baker street. june. crystal. catherine. kristie. yucatan taco stand. the scavenger hunt with jenn and shazam. bambam. jason's deli's chicken noodle soup and chocolate frozen yogurt. joseph, jenn, rob and katie. asshole. the judge. in a three hour, GODAWFUL thunderstorm (worst i've ever heard) that seemed to park its punk ass over my lil part of southeast texas for the WHOLE of those three hours, the power only went out once, and for less than a minute. in the next night's storm, which was shorter but sounded nastier than the one before with a helluva lot more lightning, the power never went off once. the house didn't flood. king-sized beds. the longhorn. fried chicken. green beans. mama. daddy. steffey. nights and weekends off. rediclinics. heb. melissa. sur la table.

days like these

there's an elderly man who volunteers as a crossing guard at one of the schools here in the area. he's in his eighties, i believe, and has terminal cancer. he won't live past the summer.

the staff at the school are throwing him a retirement party tomorrow.

i know about this because a woman called the office today wanting to give us information that we might publish in the paper.

it was a busy day today. i didn't have time to chat, so i gave her my usual spiel: send me the information, and i'll forward it to our editorial team. when she asked what kind of information, i told her as much as she'd care to share, but if it's for an event, i need to know when and where it takes place and the best person to call.

this is when she got my attention. this is when she told me about the man.

and when i got off the phone with her, i cried. thank god the office was empty.

now it may be this man's lead a full life, one with much love and laughter in it. but the storyteller in me can also imagine a bleaker, lonelier, emptier alternative: that he's just some old guy, a crossing guard and not that many people would notice his absence; how beautiful it is that these people are celebrating his life this way.

when i got home, i fixed dinner--a bowl of oatmeal with probably too much milk and butter--and read some of joy preble's latest, finding paris (which i'm liking, by the way. yall should read it). and then i took a shower, put some comfy clothes on and went outside for a bit to admire all the green.

it hasn't rained here in two or three days. everything is beautiful. and it was sunset, my favorite time of day.

there's a spot in the plot of land across from our house where nothing grows because i've parked my car there much too often. a long, long time ago, in addition to that spot were two strips where nothing grew because my older parked his car there.

my mom and dad were out with friends tonight. the same friends who happened upon me looking miserable, sitting on those barren strips of land a few days after my brother had died. i remember that. i remember the expressions on their faces when they saw me. i remember wondering how it must've looked to them, rounding the corner to our house and seeing me there on the grass with my legs drawn up and my arms tight around them, my chin resting on my knees. i remember hating that the grass would grow back. that so many signs of his having been here would be gone and so soon.

i stood on the driveway tonight, reveling in the glory of the last light of day, loving the way the world felt in that moment--the peace, the beauty, the quiet... the way the sun glows through the trees, gold against black... the way the air feels. i swear it changes at sunset. it's softer somehow.

but also wishing that my internal landscape was as content as my surroundings seemed to be--not all the time... not even half the time, just enough to make the bleaker days like these more bearable. wishing that the grass would grow over the spot where i'd too often parked my car because i hadn't really parked it there for weeks. wishing that it hadn't grown over those strips where he parked his.

i came back in and read some more.

and thought of saturday when i'd run into preble at the bookstore. my father had pulled me over to some table where someone he knew from way back when was having a book signing. he wanted me to meet her.

i've given up on writing for the moment. i don't entertain delusions of publication right now. i don't want to meet other people who have found some success in the field.

like i don't want to go to weddings and baby showers. i'll be the first to buy you a gift because i'm happy for you and shopping for those kinds of things brings me joy. but being there, surrounded by women who have walked down that aisle themselves or have plans of doing so... i don't want to mix with them. nor do i want to mingle with women who are growing round with the life they've made.

i ran into preble at the bookstore. and she asked me how i was. and i told her that i'd gotten my job back at the paper and i'm writing some for them, which is taking some getting used to because i'm rusty and don't have much confidence at the moment. that i'd been seeing a guy who'd said and done some ugly things to me.

when i told her the worst of what he'd said, she reacted the same way i'd reacted when i'd first heard it, the way most of my friends have, the way any woman should, really. and i'd told her that it wasn't so much that he'd said it, it was that i hadn't thought much of myself in my adolescence and hearing how ugly i am from someone who supposedly cares for me is hard to shrug off, given that.

and this woman who'd taught me senior english way back when, she said she'd just been thinking that i was gorgeous. god love her.

sunday, my mother and i went to a visitation; one of her friends had recently lost her husband.

on our way out, we ran into a handful of people we knew; a woman and her daughter and a couple. the woman had worked as the nurse at my junior high school. i'd probably gone to her office too much back then, faking physical sickness to get out of school and away from those who hurt me mentally. the woman was talking to someone else, so i struck up a conversation with the daughter and told her how much i appreciated how well her mother had cared for me. because i'd felt that she had cared. and i always like it when people pay compliments about my parents to me. it makes me proud of them. i'd thought the daughter might like to know i thought well of her mother.

the couple looked on as i did this. the man started joking about how i'd gone to see the nurse a lot and how it must be nice to go through life that way.

i wasn't amused. and it damned sure wasn't the time or place for ridicule. it ruined that moment for me. and instead of ignoring him and reiterating the compliment to the daughter, as i should've done, i put my defenses up and got louder and tried to act like i was amused. i'm never good at that, though. i can't act. i don't have that skill.

his daughter and i had gone to school together. her treatment of me over a decade was much like his had been in that moment, in every moment i run into him.

i wish i could encounter more people like joy preble in the world and fewer like that man.

this evening i thought of how hard it was for me to find ten people who would write for me for my blog last month for something that was a pretty big deal to me. i know people, so many people who, if they said i need ten people, they'd have help in ten seconds.

i am not one of them.

i can't help but think that my life is like that bleaker, lonelier, emptier version of the story i'd imagined for that crossing guard. that not that many people would notice my absence.

i'm trying really hard not to feel that way. i know. i know it's not true. but there're far too many people like that man from sunday's service in my world.

my mother's constantly marveling that i can't let go of things.

it would be easier if they could let go of me. i try. and someone's always there to remind me.

motion picture monday

one. charlotte gray. 

released: 2001.

starring: cate blanchett, billy crudup, michael gambon.

what makes it awesome: cate blanchett. and it's a beautiful story.

two. full metal jacket.

released: 1987.

starring: mathew modine, vincent d'onofrio, r. lee ermey.

what makes it awesome: r. lee ermey. 

three. the great raid.

released: 2005.

starring: benjamin bratt, joseph fiennes, connie nielsen.

what makes it awesome: this film is beautiful. i remember watching it in the theater and wishing i could have prints of some of the scenes the cinematography was so stunning. the story is miraculous in so many ways: it's about the largest u.s. military rescue effort in its history. it's long at times, but so, so worth watching. i loved the story of connie nielsen's and joseph fiennes' characters. and i loved seeing how awesome our military can be. 

four. incendies.

released: 2010

starring: lubna azabal, melissa desormeaux-poulin, maxim gaudette.

what makes it awesome:the story. it's haunting and horrific and shocking and so beautifully told. it's a foreign film, and i don't usually watch those, but this one... it's amazing.

five. the last samurai.

released: 2003.

starring: tom cruise, ken watanabe, tony goldwyn.

what makes it awesome: ken watanabe. the music. the cinematography.

six. master and commander: the far side of the world.

released: 2003.

starring: russell crowe, paul bettany, billy boyd.

what makes it awesome: paul bettany. and the ending's pretty nifty.

seven. saving private ryan.

released: 1998.

starring: tom hanks, tom sizemore, edward burns.

what makes it awesome: it hooked me from the beginning. i loved every actor's performance in this film. also a good tribute to what makes our military great.

tunes for tuesday: songs from the letter h

one. half of something else. the airborne toxic event. all at once.

two. hallelujah. jeff buckley. grace.

three. halo. depeche mode. violator.

four. happiness. abra moore. strangest places.

five. haunted. poe. haunted.

six. heartland. u2. rattle and hum.

seven. hellodrama. what made milwaukee famous. trying to never catch up.

eight. hells bells. acdc. back in black.

nine. hemorrhage (in my hands). fuel. something like human.

ten. here without you. three doors down.

eleven. here's a quarter (call someone who cares). travis tritt. it's all about to change.

twelve. heresy. nine inch nails. the downward spiral.

thirteen. hey daddy. korn. issues.

fourteen. hey jude. the beatles.

fifteen. hey jupiter. tori amos. boys for pele.

sixteen. hey ladies. the beastie boys. paul's boutique.

seventeen. hey pretty. poe. haunted.

eighteen. high and dry. radiohead.

nineteen. higher ground. red hot chili peppers.

twenty. hold me now. the thompson twins.

twenty-one. hold you in my arms. ray lamontagne. trouble.

twenty-two. hope for the hopeless. a fine frenzy. one cell in the sea.

twenty-three. the house is a'rockin. stevie ray vaughan.

twenty-four. how to save a life. the fray. how to save a life.

twenty-five. hysteria. def leppard. hysteria.

random quarter: the q&a edition--may

one. messy or neat? messy.

two. are you hesitating? i guess.

three. if you could have a superpower just for today, what would it be? ability to read people's minds.

four. when was the last time you went swimming? last summer.

five. today was hilarious because of sarah and adam.

six. what was the last party you went to? mae's baby shower.

seven. who would play you in a movie about your life? is it a good movie? hilary swank. i don't know.

eight. who do you think is cute? lots of people.

nine. what do you want to postpone? nothing.

ten. how did you start your day? playing texas hold'm poker online.

eleven. how do you want to be remembered? as a good writer.

twelve. what are you exploring? nothing.

thirteen. what do you consider to be your biggest achievement? living despite this shit.

fourteen. what was your favorite day this week? monday.

fifteen. what's the most creative thing you've done recently? written some newspaper articles.

sixteen. if you could travel anywhere tomorrow, where would you go? roadtrip across the south.

seventeen. list the things that nagged you today? shyness, fear and my mouth.

eighteen. what gives you comfort right now? baker street.

nineteen. what's the best thing you've read today? something i wrote.

twenty. if you didn't have any responsibilities for the day what would you do? hang at baker's and blog.

twenty-one. who loves you today? my family.

twenty-two. what makes a good enemy? hatred and fear.

twenty-three. today you got rid of money because i ate out.

twenty-four. when was the last time you had an inspiring conversation? i don't remember.

twenty-five. how much cash do you have in your wallet? three dollars.

motion picture monday

one. apollo thirteen.

released: 1995.

starring: tom hanks, gary sinise, ed harris.

what makes it awesome: gary sinise, ed harris. the beatiful job the cast and crew do to illustrate the extent of the efforts made to bring our astronauts home.

two. miss congeniality.

released: 2000.

starring: sandra bullock, michael caine, benjamin bratt.

what makes it awesome: benjamin bratt and michael caine.

three. office space.

released: 1999.

starring: ron livingston, jennifer aniston, gary cole.

what makes it awesome: stephen root.

four. smokey and the bandit.

released: 1977.

starring: burt reynolds, sally field, jerry reed.

what makes it awesome: burt reynolds. i never much cared for him, but here he's badass.

five. space cowboys.

released: 2000.

starring: clint eastwood, tommy lee jones, donald sutherland.

what makes it awesome: tommy lee jones.

six. talladega nights: the ballad of ricky bobby.

released: 2006.

starring: will ferrell, john c. reilly, sacha baren cohen.

what makes it awesome: ferrell (whom i usually detest) and reilly (whom i love).

seven. terms of endearment.

released: 1983.

starring: shirley maclaine, debra winger, jack nicholson.

what makes it awesome: jack nicholson.

tunes for tuesday: songs that begin with the letter e

one. easy. fuel. something like human.

two. eat the rich. aerosmith. get a grip.
three. eclipsed. evans blue. the melody and the energetic nature of volume.

four. egg man. beastie boys. paul's boutique.

five. elephants. rachael yamagata. elephants... teeth sinking into heart.

six. ellis island. big head todd and the monsters. sister sweetly.

seven. elsewhere. sarah mclachlan. fumbling towards ecstasy.

eight. the emperor's new clothes. sinead o'connor. i do not want what i haven't got.

nine. empire. queensryche. empire.

ten. empty. ray lamontagne. till the sun turns black.

eleven. end of the world. cold. thirteen ways to bleed on stage.

twelve. enjoy the silence. depeche mode. violator.

thirteen. enough for now. the fray. the fray.

fourteen. enter sandman. metallica. metallica.

fifteen. epiphany. staind. break the cycle.

sixteen. eraser. nine inch nails. the downward spiral.

seventeen. even better than the real thing. u2. achtung baby.

eighteen. evenflow. pearl jam. ten.

nineteen. everlong. foo fighters. the colour and the shape.

twenty. every rose has its thorn. poison. open up and say... ahh.

twenty-one. everybody hurts. r.e.m. automatic for the people.

twenty-two. everybody knows. concrete blonde. pump up the volume soundtrack.

twenty-three. everybody wants to rule the world. tears for fears. songs from the big chair.

twenty-four. everything changes. staind. chapter v.

twenty-five. eyes of a stranger. queensryche. operation mindcrime.

motion picture monday

one. about time.

released: 2013.

starring: domhnall gleeson, rachel mcadams, bill nighy.

what makes it awesome: the story. bill nighy.

two. a good year.

released: 2006.

starring: russell crowe, archie panjabi, albert finney.

what makes it awesome: it's in interesting study of the powerful impact one man can have on another's life, how upheaval can be beautiful. also archi panjabi's character's pretty cool.

three. keeping the faith.

released: 2000.

starring: edward norton, ben stiller, anne bancroft.

what make it awesome: the story. the dialogue. edward norton. anne bancroft.

four. one fine day

released: 1996

starring: george clooney, michelle pfeiffer, mae whitman

what makes it awesome: it's cute and happy. 

five. playing by heart.

released: 1998.

starring: sean connery, gena rowlands, angelina jolie.

what makes it awesome: the story, especially that of connery's and rowland's characters. i love them, yall. they are perfect in this movie. they are perfect. there's not a lot of action, here; it's billed as romantic comedy, but it's more a drama. and the cast is incredible. i've never seen such a wonderful ensemble. the way the story's told, the words used to tell it... not everything about it is good, and it's very chaotic at first, but i love how all the pieces come together.

six. the way way back.

released: 2013.

starring: sam rockwell, steve carrell, toni collette.

what makes it awesome: i LOVED this movie, yall. i remember watching it in the theaters; it made me laugh SO hard. i've never liked sam rockwell so much. it also made me loathe steve carrell. i've never really much cared for him as an actor, but he did good work here playing a truly despicable dude. 

seven. you again.

released: 2010.

starring: kristen bell, jamie lee curtis, sigourney weaver.

what makes it awesome: i like these characters. i like this story. it's cute and fun, but it's also got some heart, and i like that, too. and its cast is pretty nifty, as well.

saturday spotlight: the red lion project

in march, i changed jobs. a long, long time ago, i worked for a weekly newspaper. after a couple of years, i got sick of doing that and went back to selling books. i got sick of doing that, and spent four years selling children's furniture and accessories. i got sick of doing that and went back to working at the newspaper because i found i missed the work.

the thing i most love about this work is the perks... like the time i got to meet cheech marin and free entrance to events like the woodlands waterway arts festival and the tomball crawfish festival and the much more expensive ymca's dancing with the woodlands stars. the best perk is the stories we discover.

like the one about six marines killed in afghanistan and the red lion project the father of one has orchestrated to honor them. the father is thomas logan. his son was named joseph. 

prior to departing on that fateful tour, joey had expressed an interest in buying some land with his dad in montana because he'd loved going fishing there with him. 

they couldn't do it together, but tom bought the land anyway. more than a hundred acres of serenity near the clark fork river, surrounded by three thousand square miles of national forest. a quiet respite, ideal for horseback riding, fishing, hiking, canoeing... or just relaxing and observing the wildlife.

the plan is to build six cabins, one for each of the fallen, to be used by soldiers and their families... to create a haven, a place to heal, reconnect and ease the stress of transitioning from the military life to a civil one.

for those of you who live in southeast texas and like to fish, the project is holding a catfish fundraiser on may ninth. the deadline to enter was the first. but maybe latecomers will be welcome. doesn't hurt to ask.

i'm not necessarily posting this to encourage people to go fish. my older brother would've been all about that... he would've rallied all his friends to participate. and they would've done it because he could convince anybody to do pretty much anything.

i'm writing because my family goes to northern utah every summer for a week to visit my munkle (i've a great uncle who's a monk, for those of you are new here... yes, there are monks in utah, though not for long). anyway... that's our haven. that's my heaven. and i know full well how wonderful having that respite is. 

i know full well how our soldiers could use a place like this. like the one tom logan and his friends are making. 

i'm writing this because i want to help him make his son's dream a reality. i want to help our wounded. if they're hurt, we mend their bodies and then we send them home where they have to fend for themselves. we can do better than that. they deserve better than that.

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thankful thursday / the good in my day: april

van halen. the wonder twins. mama. payday. julie. becca and adam. james and andy. bread and butter. roxanne. the woodlands waterway arts festival. cbs sunday morning. sawyer fredericks. smarties. nick, jenny and julia. chick-fil-a. richard. tax refunds. melissa. blake, sarah, billy, david, brenda, red roses, samantha, erin, becca, tito's vodka tonics with two limes, kyle eastwood's eyes, and the beautiful, beautiful love story of ira and ruth as told in the incredibly cheesy, predictable and highly improbable nicholas sparks' tale the longest ride (do see it for ira and ruth, though; her character--played by oona chaplin!!--is lovely, and that man is loving). kakeen and big gare. the manager of the men's department at the woodlands mall's dillard's. nyquil. becca and june. hamburger steak. april and ice. sarah. the green light on farmer to market road fourteen eighty-eight. black walnut. breakfast croissant sandwiches. dianne and josh.

tunes for tuesday: songs that begin with the letter m

one. malibu. hole. celebrity skin.

two. man with the hex. the atomic fireballs. torch this place.

three. map of the problematique. muse. black holes and revelations.

four. marshall mathers. eminem. the marshall mathers lp.

five. material girl. madonna. like a virgin.

six. maybe tomorrow. stereophonics. you gotta go there to come back.

seven. me wise magic. van halen. best of - volume one.

eight. meet virginia. train. train.

nine. meg white. ray lamontagne. gossip in the grain.

ten. melt with you. modern english. after the snow.

eleven. mercy. duffy. rockferry.

twelve. middle of the night. what made milwaukee famous. what doesn't kill us.

thirteen. the minnow and the trout. a fine frenzy. one cell in the sea.

fourteen. missing you. john waite. no brakes.

fifteen. missy. the airborne toxic event. the airborne toxic event.

sixteen. more than this. the cure. the x-files: the album.

seventeen. mother we just can't get enough. new radicals. maybe you've been brainwashed...

eighteen. mourning. tantric. tantric.

nineteen. mr. brownstone. guns n' roses. apetite for destruction.

twenty. mr. jones. counting crows. august and everything after.

twenty-one. mud. middlefinger. three martini lunch.

twenty-two. mudshovel. staind. dysfunction.

twenty-three. must be dreaming. frou frou. details.

twenty-four. mysterious ways. u2. achtung baby.

twenty-five. mysterons. portishead. dummy.