Not your average cookie cakes...

So, Jeremiah and I have made a practice of getting ridiculous things put on cookie cakes, and I thought it was time to share some of them.

Today, since I had a coupon for a free Great American Cookie Company cake, we decided to make a nice Christmas cake. Here it is:



We usually go to Bruno's for our cookie cake needs and have Olga, our bakery friend from Romania or somewhere, make the perfect cake. We asked Olga to put a panda bear, some bamboo, and the statement "Panda bears are my favorite!" on the cake. Due to her misunderstanding of English, the cake turned out like this:



Of course, we thought this was hilarious, so the next time we got her to make this:



The bear was supposed to be attacking the old woman, but instead it kind of looks like the bear and the old woman are taking a family photo. Obviously, Olga was a bit confused. None the less... hilarious.

Hoping more ridiculous cakes are on the horizon,
Robby

Pens really are amazing...

If you have a few minutes, please click on this link and read the "Customer Reviews" towards the bottom.

Bic Crystal

The "Comments" after the first review are hilarious as well.

Not a bad Christmas gift idea...

-j(w)s

This Made Me Laugh

- j(w)s

Things to ask MWS

Thats Michael W. Smith for all you who are out of the loop (we're pretty sure the W. stands for "Wizard"... not positive yet, though).

So, Jeremiah might be eating breakfast with MWS tomorrow morning. I say "might" because I'm not sure yet if he's being serious with me. We'll see. Anyway, we think it necessary to make a list of the things he needs to ask MWS in the course of their time together. The list is:

"Did the competition between you and Sandi Patti (also Sandy with a "y" Patti for a period) ever wear on you?"

"What kind of whiskey were you drinking when you wrote "Friends are Friends Forever"?"

"Will you come down to Birmingham with me and my friend Robby and eat some french toast at Demitri's?"

"How upset were you when you were told you would not be playing the part of Danny Tanner on the hit show "Full House"?"

"Will you listen to this rough demo of Robby Stone and sign him?"

"How are you handling your success as a rockstar in North Korea, especially since they are currently an enemy of the United States?"

"How do you feel about the major changes taking place in the NASA program in Huntsville, AL?"

"What are your thoughts about Winn Dixie not actually getting better all the time?"

"Has your intolerance to virgin pina coladas decreased in the past few years?"

"How are you handling the claims by the general public that you are the reason for the recent decline in the sale of Cabbage Patch Kids?"

"Considering koala bears are quickly headed toward the endangered species list, why do you continue to hunt them?"

"What would you say to those who think your $1 million donation to the "Bring Polio Back to the US" campaign is somewhat questionable?"

"Diane Sawyer recently stated that "Dante's Peak" is not the greatest movie ever made. Your thoughts?"

We should have the answers to these intriguing questions for you shortly. It's guaranteed to be mildly interesting.

Hoping we truly will be "friends forever,"
Robby

Get Out of Debt

My brother showed me this video from SNL...makes you love America



- j(w)s

whateverhollywood.com

Not sure if you remember, but I entered the "My Grammy Moment" contest this past summer, and I was pretty obsessed with this one girl's video.  She's one of the most hilarious girls I've ever seen besides the two girls Jeremiah and I sat beside at the American Idol auditions.  Well... I found her video on youtube (God bless youtube), and I think everyone needs to see it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NBoKuBS8Ygg&feature=related

She and some friends have also made some other videos that are pretty funny, too.  Example below:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ji8Cq0VUIEM

wow, 

Robby

Yeah...not sure what I've been doing

I can't even begin to remember the last time I posted on here. I know Robby has still posted the occasional absurd thought but the consistency has certainly not been there. Sorry for that. I've been distracted the last few months and may continue to be for another month or two but I don't want to completely quit keeping up with this thing.

Right now, I am sitting in the Orlando airport waiting to go to Nicaragua. A few weeks ago I was sitting in O'Henry's when I got an email advertising some really cheap flights to random Central American countries. Obviously I had to buy one, so I forwarded the email to Drew to see which one to pick. He seemed to think Nicaragua was the best choice (we were in a pretty big hurry last time we came through and we didn't give it the attention it deserves) so we picked a weekend and booked tickets a few days later. Then followed one of Drew's mass invitations - which he is famous for - where he tried to convince some of our friends that life is too short/when are you gonna have an opportunity like this/it's only four days...all in an attempt to get a bigger crowd. Amazingly, it ended up being a Shire reunion (of the single guys at least) and me, Drew, Wong, Oakley, and Hausen are all on our way to Managua.

I think its gonna be pretty sweet...although, like most traveling I do, it's not very well planned.

But I'm excited. I can't really handle the early sunsets in Birmingham right now anyways.

Here's a few shots of the hotel we are trying to stay...





Yeah, it looks scary beautiful. And finally, a picture of us tomorrow night.




- j(w)s

Brownies

My friend brought up an interesting point last night. Walking towards me with a questioning look just as I was taking some brownies out of the oven, he asked if I thought the term "brownies" was a bit racist. Considering I had never thought to stop and think about this, I carefully looked at the brownies and decided that, yes, it was racist to call brownies "brownies," and thus we should begin to call them "chocolate squares." Honestly, I'll never be able to actually call brownies chocolate squares, because I've called them brownies for far too long. This is not to say that I shouldn't try to change my ways... but I won't. I just think its important that people be aware that calling brownies "brownies" probably isn't the most politically correct thing to do.

Still looking out for you,
Robby

Across the Universe

See the movie if you want, but it should be a law that you have to download the Delux Edition Soundtrack because its incredible. Thats all I've been listening to for the past 48 hours. Remember... its the Delux Edition. Not the regular one. I know its $15, but I promise you its worth it! Get it.

Wishing I could have played Jude,
Robby

I created a new month today.

It's called "Garrens (Gah-renz)." I'm still debating on what two months it falls between in our current calender, but the spaces between February and March or September and October are obviously the most popular so far. I'm thinking that the 12th of Garrens should be a national holiday. I'm open to suggestions on what this holiday should be in honor of, so leave some ideas on the comment board, and they'll all be heavily discussed.

Happy 12th,
Robby

Oh... and I bought a McDonald's cookie tote tonight (13 cookies), which makes this the 7th time that I've purchased this incredible item since it was created. I know. I'm a hypocrite (reference blog entitled "McDonald's is fat").

Dutch Baby

If you've been to "The Original Pancake House" at Five Points here in Birmingham, AL, then you might have noticed the restaurant's specialty called the "Dutch Baby." Contrary to popular belief, if you order the Dutch Baby you will not receive a tiny fetus on a plate wearing wooden shoes. You can imagine my disappointment upon discovering this fact after ordering the Dutch Baby. If you're not going to bring me a fetus with wooden shoes, then don't call your dish a "Dutch Baby." This should be common sense, right? I mean... who's going to expect a bowl shaped, egg tasting pancake covered in powdered sugar when they order a Dutch Baby? Not me. I wanted that tender baby with those shiny little mahogany clogs. Needless to say, I won't be ordering the Pancake House's specialty anymore.

Now getting the background on my food choices,
Robby

2 Minute Song Review - Britney Spears "Gimme More"

Rolling Stone review:

"With the release of her new single "Gimme More" one can't help but believe that Britney is finally on top after all these years. No song since "Blue (Daba Dee Daba Die)" has demonstrated such diverse and emotionally engaging lyrics. The song effortlessly glides along as it forces you to slip into a tight pair of black panties, a sparkly bra, and a trance while stumbling around aimlessly. Ranked the #1 song in America based on iTunes sales, "Gimme More" (More commonly referred to as "Gimme, Gimme More" by true Britney fans) is a perfect example of how refined our nation's musical taste has become. Give us more, Britney. Please Lord, give us, give us more."

It's October

You know what that means...



Dragon season.

Sweet Video

I don't have a lot of time to explain this at the moment...but if you have about 4 minutes, you should really watch this.



- j(w)s

Well Spoken

So, as many of you know, I just recently started working for Booster Enterprises which is an elementary school fund-raising company. I just spent the past two weeks in Louisville, KY working at elementary schools, and I'm really excited to be home now. Anyway... each day during the week or so before the "Fun Run," the Booster team goes into each classroom to talk about a certain character trait, update the class on thier fund-raising success, and hand out prizes. Well, the particular day I'll now be discussing was the "Attitude" day in which we do a talk about coming into school with a big smile and a great attitude. At one section of the talk I point to an individual in the class and say "if he comes into class with a smile, then she'll smile, and she'll smile until the whole class is smiling and has a great attitude." Well, after I pointed at one 5th grade guy and said "and he'll smile" I noticed that the people at that table began to giggle a little, so I asked what was going on and the girl beside the GUY said "she's a GIRL." Wow. I had just called a girl "he" in front of her entire class and then been called out. I should have just left it alone because, prior to asking what was going on, I saw the "guy" motioning to the girl beside "him" to just be quite and not get my attention. Horrible. After I had realized my mistake, I quickly mumbled something like "sorry... I always get confused" (not true... just with pre-pubescent girls with boy haircuts). I think I kind of played it off, but things were a little awkward when the girl (Sarah) was called up in front of the class to recieve her prizes, and I had to hand Sarah her prizes for the day. I don't think I looked in her eyes. I'm just hoping that no irreversible damage was done to poor Sarah's self-image. I'm sure she'll grow up to be a very feminine woman... she will now at least.

Learning to be more careful when announcing genders publically,
Robby

Still trying to settle down...

Last night we had about 15 people at my parents house in Lexington to watch the UK-Louisville game. It was the greatest UK football game I have ever watched. Louisville was ranked 9th in the country and we hadn't beaten a top-10 team in over 30 years...so add that to the fact that it was the in-state rival and it was pretty intense.

But long story short, we got a big lead, lost it, got another lead, lost it again with 2 minutes left, then threw a 57 yard touchdown with 28 seconds left to win it. It was probably the biggest game in decades. And we are actually in the top-25 for the first time that I remember...which basically just raises expectations and may be a disaster in the long run, but for now it's pretty cool.

- j(w)s

Kittens... sweet, sweet kittens

So, I've been in Louisville, KY for the past week for work (and I'll be there for this coming week... I miss home), and one benefit of this out-of-town working experience is being able to see my sister, brother-in-law and nephew frequently because they live about 20 minutes from where I'm staying. I was able to spend the night at my sister's last Sunday night, and while I was in thier guest bathroom I smelled something really interesting. I looked everywhere for the source of the stench, and I couldn't find anything, so I just went to sleep. The next morning when I woke up, I went into the bathroom and heard something running around underneath the house in the crawl space. I told my sister, and she said that it was probably thier dog Lady. Then she told me that Lady was probably messing with the kittens that thier cat had birthed underneath the house. And the plot thickens. Considering that animals were being born beneath the floors of her house, I told my sister about the funny smell in the bathroom. About that time I realized that the smell was something I had smelled before... death. Yep. At that moment it was clear to me that the kittens had died under the house and were slowly decaying. To make sure, my sister and I went into the crawl-space with flashlights (well... Rebecca looked on from the entrance of the crawl-space while I crawled towards the back of the space) and, quickly discovering that the smell of death was too strong to take, I put my shirt over my mouth and nose as I approached two lifeless kittens. Sad, I know. Grabbing a shovel, I awkwardly scooped up the maggot infested bodies and carried them to a large grassy area far behind the house. I'm not exactly sure why I told you this story, but I found it odd enough to share.

Hoping you've learned to close the entrance to your crawl-space,
Robby

Going Home Tomorrow...

My license has expired and I'm using that as an excuse to go home for a couple of days...to see family and friends and to get a change of scenery. On a somewhat-related note, I was reading Through Painted Deserts tonight and there was this part about home and change and travel that I just love...I probably love it 'cause it's about road trips and perfectly mimics the way I would have explained our trip to Costa Rica if I were eloquent.

"We are traveling north toward Oklahoma and then, perhaps, the Grand Canyon. After that, we have no plans except to arrive in Oregon before we run out of money. We share a sense of excitement and freedom. Not a rebel freedom, rather, a deadline-free sort of peace. There is nowhere we have to be tomorrow. There is no particular road we have committed to take, and I suppose, if one of us could talk the other out of it, the canyon itself could be bypassed for some other point of interest. Tonight we are travelers in the truest sense of the word, a slim notion of a final destination and no schedule to speak of. We are simply moving for motion's sake.
Our plans were shared with friends, but few understood. "Going off to find yourself" was the standard interpretation. I don't think that is really our point. We are shaped by our experiences. Our perception of joy, fear, pain, and beauty are sharpened or dulled by the way we rub against time. My senses have become dull and this trip is an effort to sharpen them."

I think more than anything, I love that part of the book because it speaks to ideas and choices and lives that are not easily explained by our American perspective...driving without a specific destination, focusing on the experience rather than the outcome, choosing freedom and excitement over plans and safety. But when I stop and think, I realize I feel that way a lot of times. My life is not easily explained to those around me and I have become a master at giving explanations that don't explain anything. I wish I communicated more clearly to those around me, but in the end I smile every morning and every night because my life is alive. It is free and it is hopeful and it is full of joy, and while responsibility and security are a hundred times easier to explain and defend, I don't mind living like the 'traveler' that I know I am.

Some day I may settle down and start asking the 'how' questions (how do i make more money, get a house, support my family, earn people's respect, more easily justify my place in this world...) but I really do wonder if the 'why' questions aren't just so much more important.

In the end, more than adventure or drama or risk or pride, I just hope and pray that my life is genuinely testing the truth of Matthew 6:31+ Therefore do not be anxious, saying, 'What shall we eat?' or 'What shall we wear?' For the Gentiles seek after all these things, and your heavenly Father knows that you need them all. But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness, and all these things will be added to you."

its just hard to explain... - j(w)s

Music

There's this guy that leads worship here in Birmingham. I recently got a copy of his new album pre-release and it's amazing. That's all....listen to it if you want to hear a few new songs.

- j(w)s

ABJP Shirts

The guys at the 'studio' just got the design in for the A Bryan Photo shirts and they are pretty sweet. If you leave a comment on his blog with a good reason why you should get one, he just might give you a free one...and then you will be cool.



- j(w)s

today

i got a haircut today, which was very necessary. and i mailed out my 2005 taxes, which was exciting. and it's about to rain, which is also exciting. and i think i might go play guitar hero as a form of procrastination.

fantasy football tip of the week (for those of you who care) - do whatever you have to do to get jared lorenzen on your team. you wont regret it.

- j(w)s

FSL

With the coming of the fall season, many guys out there are gearing up for the Fantasy Football draft and beginning of football season. This leaves all the females out there feeling a bit left out and since gender equality has always been our primary concern (and I have never even heard of a girl playing Fantasy Football), we decided to solve that problem by creating an entirely new and unique fantasy league dedicated solely to the interests of females everywhere. We give you... Fantasy Sorority League.

As with your typical Sorority, the "Draft" (i.e. Rush) is the key event of the year. Each girl's Fantasy Chapter lives and dies on the strength of her yearly Draft. Here are the rules for the Draft:

- Each team gets to pick 3 girls from each Sorority - (3 zetas, 3 phi mu's, 3 chi o's, 3 adpi's, 3 aopi's)- giving each Fantasy Chapter 15 "Rushees"

- The draft order is chosen at random and reverses in each round (the last pick in Round 1 picks first in Round 2)

- Picks can be traded based at the discretion of each Chapter President

- Final Rule (and this is what allows girls to accel at this game) - your choices are based on nothing more than a 3in x 2in headshot of each girl given to you right before the draft. That's all you have to go on...any conclusion about a girl's personality, talent, or future contribution to the world must be judged from this picture alone. Easy, huh?

Once the 'Teams' have been chosen, the season begins. Unlike Fantasy Football where there is a game each week, Fantasy Sorority League keeps a running score throughout the year with one winner awarded at the end. "How can you keep score?" you might ask...well we would be glad to tell you.

Scoring:

Phase 1

Once the draft has been completed (based only on looks), a girl's initial 'score' is then calculated using the following criteria:

- Tanning =
1-4 points, depending on shade

- Number of Facebook Friends =
1 point per 100 friends

- Family Wealth =
5 points if your dad has a plane (per plane)
3 points for each Vacation Home
3 points if either parent is on Samford's Board
2 points for having a European/Luxury Car (BMW, Mercedes, Audi, Lexus, Land Rover, etc)
-10 if on Need-Based scholarship

- Homecoming Performance =
3 points for each Homecoming Court Representative
10 points for each Homecoming Crown (double points if also dating the
Homecoming King at that time)

- GPA =
4 points for 3.75-4.0
3 points for 3.5-3.74
2 points for 3.25-3.49
-2 points for +4.0 (you will have to work on those priorities if you are going
to be an asset to your sorority)

- Involvement =
-3 points for each former Marching Band member
-4 points for each former Flag Corp member (sorry Laura Pearson, your
Homecoming points don't quite cancel out your Flag Corp deductions)
2 points for SGA involvement
0 points for Theater...this one is just too risky
1 point for Honors Society members (2 points if you held an office)
1 point for Powder Puff Football participation
1 point for Key Club (I don't even know what that is...)
3 points for members of FCA or FCS

- Dating History =
1 point for each Football/Basketball player dated (up to 4)
-2 points for each Band member dated
-2 points if dated more than six different guys

- Spirituality =
2 points for each Bible Study attended weekly (looking for quantity here, not
quality)
2 points if you are member of a Baptist Church
2 points for singing in Praise Band/Choir at Church
-2 if attended Catholic Mass (this is Samford...)

- Athletics =
2 points for Varsity Soccer team
2 points for Varsity Volleyball team
1 point for Varsity Track (nice legs get you one point)
0 points for Basketball
-1 point for Swim Team
-2 points for Softball
4 points for Varsity Cheerleaders*** (5 points if Captain of the 'Squad')

***Yes, we realize that Cheerleading is not - and never will be - a sport...however, we didn't know where else to include it. Plus, we are making that drive towards gender equality here at RightThenLeft.

'Teams' are then ranked by the base score which will change over the year using the following point system:

Phase 2

- Weight =
+/- 1 point for every 5 lbs lost/gained during the year

- Social =
1 point for every date with frat guy (2 points if upper-classman)
-1 point for every date with independent guy
2 points for Step Sing involvement...depending on quality of show (example...participants in the 2007 Chi-O show lose 3 points)
1 point for every 100 Facebook Friend Invites received
-3 for each intoxication
-4 if pictures of intoxication make it to Facebook
-2 for each Values Violation
1 point for each parking ticket

- Academics =
No points awarded for achievements in this area

- Clothing =
1 point for each pair of designer sunglasses (2 points if they cover more than 50% of face)
1 point if your handbag costs +$500
2 points for sweatpants with words on the butt
-2 points for exposed thong
3 points for real pearls (-1 point if fake)

- Spirituality =
2 points for Sorority Bible study regular attendance
5 points for UCF regular attendance
1 point for each Shiloh attendance
-2 points for Catholic Mass/Confession
-2 points for each Sunday service missed due to hangover

That's all...we are tired of thinking about this...we might add more later.

A few things that stand out to me regarding this scoring system...

- You might draft two girls with planes, but if you let a Need-Based Scholarship girl slip on to your team, you might as well fly commerical.
- No points are awarded for blonde hair because this is one attribute that is evident by looking at the small picture before the draft.
- Girls who pack on pounds before the draft can actually help their team out by losing it during the year.

Good luck to everyone out there as they prepare for their Draft. And remember, the key is looks...physical appearance is EVERYTHING.

- if you ask Jeremiah...this was written by Robby. and vice versa.

(hopefully this isn't as accurate as it might be...)

Now, don't worry.

I'm staying young at heart. I can't lose that.

Robby

Growing up...

blows. I'm now officially financially independent... and I'm finding it pretty frustrating. There is a certain excitement about being completely responsible for yourself and your bills (However, I still have an "emergency" credit card from my parents), but overall its just overwhelming. Along with figuring out how to get car insurance, paying rent and utilities, changing my cell phone bill address, and paying other random bills that arise, I'm trying to apply to medical school. They don't try to make the process easy for you, either. I'm sending transcripts all over the place, writing essays, and paying ridiculous amounts of money to simply try and get into a freakin' school that I'm not sure I want to go to! I'm building character, though. Learning to be responsible. I have to keep reminding myself of that. At least I now know that I want the 50/100/50 auto insurance plan with a $250 deductible (I'm still not positive about what the heck I got). Oh well. I'm just glad that God watches over naive idiots like me. Thank you Lord. I don't know where I'd be otherwise. I guess adulthood is something you just have to be thrown into, or you'll never grow up. I'm sure I'll look back and appreciate falling on my face and being forced to get back up on my own, and I'm being reminded daily that it really does build character to work hard for something. I know these are really simple, small things I'm dealing with, and most people do them with ease all the time. I'll learn. Actually... I'm learning right now. I'll embrace it, as bad as it seems. It's scary to grow up, but the idea of never growing up is even more frightening. Here I am... on the verge of adulthood. I'm jumping in.

Robby

Facebook

I have been on this kick lately where I have read all this stuff about Facebook and how it is going to run the internet (and thus, the world) within the next few years. But then I saw this video yesterday and it changed my mind. I could only watch about 25 seconds cause it just hurt too bad. It's Facebook's founder doing some keynote speech in front of a conference of investors...it made me feel like I was back in high-school praying for the awkward kid to hurry up and finish his speech so I wouldn't cry from agony.

you can go to this link and watch it...but you probably wont want to.

Zuckerberg Keynote Speech

- j(w)s

Labor Day Project

Yesterday was Labor Day - the celebration of the American worker - and Robby and I decided to make the sweetest chandelier ever. So here it is. We thought it was going to be awesome to begin with, but once we finished, we realized just how awesome it truly is...





In case you weren't quite sure, it is made out of plastic cutlery (as in, "would somebody please, remove these, cutleries, from my knees").

Robby is also in awe.

- us

Self-Pity

I am reading this great book right now (The Dangerous Duty of Delight...by John Piper) and one part I read this morning was about self-pity. It was talking about how both boasting and self-pity are simply manifestations of pride in our lives. One comes from our successes (boasting) and the other from our suffering (self-pity). It says -

"The reason self-pity does not look like pride is that it appears to be needy. But the need arises from a wounded ego. It doesn't come from a sense of unworthiness, but from a sense of unrecognized worthiness. It is the response of unapplauded pride."

I just needed to hear the idea that even at my most pitiful, self-centered and pathetic moments, it is still just pride coming to the surface when I feel as though I am not getting the respect and appreciation I deserve.

Just thought that was interesting.

- j(w)s

Happy Birthday Ben!

It's Ben Harmon's birthday today, so Jeremiah and I thought he deserved the gift of the greatest facebook graffiti to ever be created. So... here it is:





If you're thinking "Thats a tall graffiti." You're right. It took three graffiti boxes to complete. It's pretty much a masterpiece.

Because you never know what could be hiding under your birthday cake,
Robby

The Beach

I have kind of disappeared for awhile and the main reason is that it's family vacation time at the beach. We are back at our usual spot on St George Island and it's incredible. Besides being really hot, it's been good to slow down a bit and catch up with the family. That can be kind of tough since there are 6 of us and it's nice to have time dedicated just to that...and reading a lot of books.

Also, I tried to skim board yesterday for about 9 seconds. It was a disaster. I hate being old. I'm fairly confident that I would have broken some random bone if I hadn't quit after 9 seconds.

Oh yeah, and I just finished the book Kite Runner. It was really good and really intense. Read it sometime if you like to read and don't mind being sad.

- j(w)s

Hmm... do you really want to hear my story?

So, I'm working at Rainbow Elementary School in Madison, AL this week with Booster Enterprises. Today was our first day in the classrooms and right when we walked into one teacher's room I looked on the board and saw something interesting. Hand-written on a giant flip notepad were the words "The bed begins to shake and creak. Tell a story about what's happening." I just don't know how the teacher could not see how hilarious this is, but I'm so glad she did it. I was trying so hard to not laugh in the classroom during Josh's little talk, and I couldn't hold it in once we got out the door. Ahh... what teachers try to get away with these days.

Discovering what people are really teaching our youth,
Robby

Garden Snakes

Gardens are good. Snakes are bad. But where do garden snakes fall? This question is one which many individuals have pondered for centuries.

Leery of venomous gardens,
Robby

So...

I'm a loser. I'm ok with that, though. The whole American Idol process is so hilarious. It's a ton of luck and a little talent. I had a MAJOR lack of luck yesterday, but I honestly know it was for the best. I love how many of our friends (and strangers) kept up with our little adventure through this blog! I really do have the greatest friends in the world. The angry comments at the results of my audition were probably the funniest things I've seen in a while! Bryan Johnson's comment (which is now deleted) was by far the best. Oh, I know what it said, Bryan. Hilarious.
I'm the type of person that continues to run things through my head and figure out how the results might have turned out if I had done things different, but I've got to stop and realize that my steps were ordered by God, and it happened exactly like He planned it. What incredible assurance! The whole process has been a really great motivator for me and my plans for the future. I really do feel like music will play a huge part in my life, but I'm fairly confident that American Idol is not the right route to take in getting there. If I were to sing, I would want to sing about Christ and His impact on my life, and American Idol might not have allowed me that freedom. Yes, it's a great way to propel yourself to the top, but at what cost? There were moments while sitting in the arena that I simply wanted to get up and go home because I felt like I didn't belong. I'm glad I stayed and got to audition, though, because it showed me how much I love to perform and really increased my confidence. I really feel like God has blessed me with a gift, and I'm not going to waste it, but I'm also not going to allow glory to be placed on me. Glory belongs to God alone. I'm excited to see where He leads me in the coming months, and I'm confident that I'm in His grasp. He'll light my way as I draw near to Him.

Letting you know that 14 hours in the Georgia Dome is longer than 14 hours anywhere else in the world,
Robby

recovering...

yesterday was quite a day. for any of you who followed us throughout the day, thanks for keeping up with our adventure. it added a new element to have so many friends and family along for the ride. it wasn't the ending we hoped for, but it was quite a learning experience on many different levels. our 'blog' had almost 1100 pageviews yesterday, beating our previous high of about 50...far more people kept up with us than we were expecting.

just like my battery was dying all day yesterday, my computer battery is about to die right now so i am going to have to cut this one short. here is one more video from our strange week which i don't think i have posted yet...it was also taken on my cell phone so the quality is pretty terrible.



that was Robby and his two cousins at the Chick-fil-a corporate headquarters singing Amazing Grace to the entire cafeteria. you can't make this stuff up...plus, why would you want to?

- j(w)s

sad

Well, the song was incredible and the guy asked him to sing a second one. But he had just sent two through in the last groups and needed to cut the next 288 to stay on track. So he did. What a shame...and it would have to be the one table with one judge who's a guy in his 20's and is by himself.

I just hope robby won't have to be a doctor now...

unbelievable

The judge just sent another person through right in front of robby and then went on break.

I'm not even kidding...

Robby's judge

Just let a guy through in the group before robby's...not a good sign.

Time to pray. 10 minutes and counting...

He's headed to judge #1

Ok, I'm really nervous now

Latest...

Robby is now on the field. He's at the 48 yard line, left hash...pretty good field position honestly.

I'm kinda nervous.

And my phone is almost dead...

This is getting ridiculous

Our section is just now standing up...

Still waiting...

Bryan. The chairs are good. You should type blank a thank you note.

Danielle. I hope you didn't feel insulted earlier...we love you.

Robby is about 10 minutes from heading down to the field. Then it could be up to an hour before he sings...we've been awake for 13 hours now...

Battery almost dead but will try to keep posting...

The chicken tenders here are disgusting.

Getting closer...

The sections ahead of us are slowly dwindling. Very slowly. They are interviewing some of the people who have gotten through round 1 and they are right in front of us. I am actually blatantly typing this write now behind the kids head in the middle of his interview...if they keep the footage I have to be in it...

An asian guy just got through. He might be trouble...

Dan wade

A girl that looks just like danielle is about to audition. They look just alike...except this girl isn't wearing jeans under her dress.

Another random stat...looks like the crowd is about 35 percent male...about 50 people have gotten through so far.

update

They finally guessed jeremiah. It took about 30 minutes...brick and barkley didn't make it. However, barkley was asked to sing a second song so that means he was close. Good sign.

Robby currently estimates his chnces of getting through the first round as 21 percent. Just so you know that number means nothing. Which is also about how much battery power I have on my phone. Which is sad.

Just a couple more hours...

Fun games...

Rigt now the people around us are playing a game where they try to guess my name with no hints. Its been going for awhile now.

Random people

So we told the two girls next to us (who are hilarious) that our names are edward and edmund. We now have an entire story fabricated around the lives of ed and ed. For instance, my mom is actually paula abdul (people call me eddy abby) for short. That is also the reason I'm not trying out (conflict of interest and all that).

The two cousins are next in line...

Still waiting...

Its gonna be awhile. Robby's cousins just got in line...they will probably go in the next 30 minutes. Their names are Brick and Barkley...it will be interesting to see how they do.

It's so strange here. Any place with a few spare feet has guys and girls singing at the top of their lungs...such a weird experience.

best moment of the day (so far)

When ryan seacrest was filming some segment in the end zone to our right, they sent one of the intern camera crew girls running across the field to get something. Of course, with an empty field and 15k bored people, we all had to start cheering for her like she was in a track meet. You could tell she was a bit embarrassed and it only got worse when she crossed the goalline to a standing ovation and everyone yelling 'touchdown!!!'

Kind of a funny story until she runs to the back of the endzone, climbs the first step, and then falls flat on her face. Then it suddenly became a really funny story. It was the worst touchdown dance I have seen in a while. Poor girl is probably scarred for life.

On another note, Katie Lantz's look-a-like just made it through to the next round...

j

They finally started

About a hundred out of the 8000 before us have gone so far.

Oops. The video didn't upload yet...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7Igqn242ZU

We are still yelling and screaming...no auditions yet...

17th take's a charm

Ryan is supposed to say 'this is american idol' and then we were all supposed to scream. Somehow it was really difficult.

Ryan Seacrest just got here...

My life is now complete.

Two New Friends...

We found two new friends...JoAnne and Joy. They are kind of strange...but it's okay. Here they are pretending to have a golden ticket...

Group Song Video...

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/q0BJXPezz-0"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/q0BJXPezz-0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Its pretty exciting over here these days...

Worthless Video of Us Waiting

How ridiculous is our world when you can take a video on your cell phone and post it online within two minutes...and that is why you see so many worthless things these days.

The video below is a perfect example...

<object width="425" height="350"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/v9Uni0QXcyc"></param><param name="wmode" value="transparent"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/v9Uni0QXcyc" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" wmode="transparent" width="425" height="350"></embed></object>

Put since I'm not sure if the pictures are working, I put it up anyways...

Also, I realized that we might be done and gone by the time a single person wakes up and reads any of this...what a catastrophic waste.

The best seats ever...

We just got inside and found our assigned seats...we are 7th row on the 50 yard line. These seats are better than Vick's will be this year.

Here's a picture (if it works)...

Robby - I'm just hoping that little chick-fil-a cows fall from the rafters like they did at the Peach Bowl last time I was here.

Good luck with that one Robby.

Line...

We are trying to send a picture...not sure if it'll work...

Now I'm Really Hungry

At least it's a beautiful morning.

Long Line

We are currently waiting in line with about a crillion other people. Thankfully our spot is right in front of the porta-potty. Should be a nice couple hours. And I'm hungry

It's Early...

Well, we woke up at 3 and we are on our way to the Georgia Dome...should be there by 4. Its gonna be an interesting day...

American Idol Adventure

So me and Robby are in Atlanta for a few days cause American Idol auditions are tomorrow. A lot of you probably know that already. Right now we are sitting at Atlanta Bread Company cause his parents dont have internet. oh well...

We went to the Georgia Dome yesterday and got our bracelets for the audition. It was a pretty painless process up to this point, only took about 3 or 4 minutes. Two of Robby's cousins drove up from Florida for the audition and went to the sign-in at 4 in the morning. They ended up waiting in line for over 5 hours to get the same bracelet that took us 3 minutes. Needless to say, they weren't real thrilled about that when we told them.

I am going to try and post from my phone all day tomorrow if any of you are bored and want to keep up with the happenings at the audition...

j

Politics

I have given up on politics and am just thankful that the Lord holds this somewhat ridiculous world in His hands. But I read an article the other day about how Hilary is now leading Barack 43% to 22% in polls for the Democratic primary. I don't really care either way, but I think it's really interesting what a disaster Obama's campaign has been up to this point. He must have some of the worst advisors ever...he literally spends all of his time talking about how he voted against the war at the beginning. He honestly believes that is his #1 selling point. As if he can win an election by constantly screaming about how stupid anyone was who supported the Iraq War at the beginning. It's as if his entire campaign is oblivious to the fact that something like 60-70% of the country (maybe more) did support the war when it began. Running a national campaign around the fact that over 2/3rds of the country are stupid and should be ashamed for their naivety and short-sightedness just is not going to be successful and that is what we are seeing as Hillary (yes, he is getting destroyed by Hillary Clinton) trounces him. Whether or not the war was a good idea, I find it fascinating that he has completely forfeited his opportunity to become the next president by vehemently (and constantly) insisting that everyone else is an idiot. Maybe no one explained how the whole voting system works...you need people to like you in order to get their votes and insulting them generally doesn't help with that. Maybe he will move on from that issue and make a comeback, but my guess is that he missed his chance. Maybe him and Howard Dean can be friends.

I just can't get excited about any of it these days.

- j(w)s

Harry Potter

I was at Lauren and Laura's apartment today and they were watching a documentary on Harry Potter and the host said the following line (in a completely serious voice) - "In the 7th book, we find out that one beloved character had his own dark secrets, proving that being magical does not make you any less human."

You could tell she was so proud of herself for revealing to the viewing public the deep and previously undiscovered truth that 'being magical does not make you any less human.' What in the world could that possibly mean. Even in a pretend world it doesn't make sense.

Later in the interview, the host asked JK Rowling what she says to the 20-something-year-old fans who have been reading her books for over ten years...she replied, "I say 'Haha, sucker...I'm a flippin' billionaire cause of fools like you. You may want to consider growing up."

At least that's how she would have replied if I had anything to do with it.

- j(w)s

Happy Birthday J O S H

J anitor (not really)
O rca
S halom (cause Josh is actually a jewish name)
H eterosexual (self-explanatory)
U nder the influence
A bove average

happy birthday josh. hope you had a good one.

jeremiah and robby

Fun Acrostics

R epresentin'
O ctagonal
B ulimic
B ottle-nosed dolphin
Y odling


J am master
E lementry school teacher
R aisins (two scoops, please!)
E xorcism bike
M an thong
I 'm a bear
A pple of her eye (Who's eye?... Gretchen Wilson's eye!)
H otel breakfast (the continental type)


Robby and Jer

Target. You disappoint me.

Today, Jeremiah and I were going to buy a metal, mesh trashcan at Target to make a chandelier using plastic flatware. There were two trashcans, one inside of the other, and we couldn't separate them no matter how hard we tried. We pulled them, bent them, and threw them on the ground, and they still wouldn't come apart. Needless to say, we were both really mad at the world... so we killed some lady on aisle 9. Don't tell anyone.

50% responsible for the murder rate at Target,
Robby

Interesting Conversation

Jeremy Carter: "So, Robby... what'd you do today?"

Me: "I was in a hot warehouse all day."

JC: "Doing what?"

Jeremiah: "He was moving stuff?"

JC: "What stuff?"

Me: "Dead strippers."

JC: "Oh, cool."

Yeah... it went something like that.

Imagining how terrible it would smell if this were true,
Robby

Cheeses. Any type, really.

I told someone that my new job was going to pay me in large blocks of cheese. What if they really did? That would be interesting. I like cheese. Danewad exclaimed that "mice live off of it, how different are we?" Wise. Let's get to the serious questions, though. How often do mice get to eat cheese, and who decided that cheese was the mouse's choice food? Just be thinking about that.

I told Laura Vandal that the moon was a orangish color tonight because astronauts had spread a layer of red clay on it's surface. I don't think she bought it.

We had training for my job on Monday and Tuesday, and I must admit that it was unlike any job training I've ever imagined. The list of activities in which we participated include:

- A giant scavenger hunt in the Mall of Georgia
- A dodgeball tournament
- A mock fun run in which I ran 46 laps (this equals about 3.8 miles... booya)
- A bowling tournament
- Another dodgeball tournament
- A really nice dinner at Taps in ATL

Pretty unique training, huh? All this and an incredible group of guys to work with. I'm actually pretty excited about the next year. Grant McDaniel, Scott Orr, and I also got some sweet sunglasses at the gas station that we stopped at on the way to Atlanta so that we would look awesome when we arrived for Booster training. Grant's sunglasses looked like some that Liz Taylor would wear. He loved them. Scott's were partly pink. Fitting. Mine have some incredible rhinestones on the bridge and some star imprints on the sides. I can't remember exactly where I got them which is unfortunate considering how badly I know you want a pair. Needless to say, we were the envy of everyone on training day... or just the biggest losers. I'm still not sure, but at least we had fun, right?

If you know any awesome schools that would like to raise a ton of money, just let me know. I can help them accomplish that.

Because Booster Enterprises actually pays in real money,
Robby

Giant Stone Horses

My parents, sister, and I went to P.F. Changs today. Unfortunately, I wasn't very hungry which is a sad thing to be when you're at a restaurant that good, but it was great to see the family... part of it atleast. As some of you might know, and most of you don't, I take my fortune really seriously when I get it from the cookie. As I opened the wrapper and pulled out the fortune without even having to break the cookie. I carelessly read the small strip of paper which said "The world will soon be ready to receive your talents." Pretty ironic fortune since the American Idol auditions are in about a week and a half. Telling Danielle Greenwade my fortune, she told me to look at my lucky days on the back of the fortune. The numbers listed on the back were "13 14 17 21 30 47." Kind of weird considering the auditions are on Aug. 14th. I just found all of this kind of interesting and thought all of our blog fans would enjoy it. Keep praying that I'll make it if I'm supposed to.

I had a cat named Rascal that we used to dress in small clothes. One time we put a dress on him and he tripped on the skirt and fell down the stairs.

Slowly revealing my strange past with family pets,
Robby

Custom-Designed Petifores

Next time we order a bunch of petifores from a bakery, Robby wants them to make little crabs out of icing to go on the tops of them all (red crabs...he specifies). I want all of mine to have really small replicas of balloon animals...specifically giraffes.

In other news, we just had a pretty hardcore game of Twister at Laura Vandal's crib. It was pretty sweet and brought back memories of things that never really happened previously in my life (i.e. playing twister).

In other other news, I almost had my big break yesterday. But then I didn't because I don't look shady enough. That's dumb though cause I'm really shady. Anyways, I never said it was an exciting story.

Robby says "I wanted to be part of that break." Thanks Robby, that means nothing to anyone. Thanks...

We are going to Kentucky tomorrow cause my sister is coming back from Congo. I miss her.

And here is a sweet picture we are about to take.



The next two are me doing an impression of that really scary guy that opens the door in the preview for Nicole Kidman's new movie. And Robby is being himself in the background.





- j(w)s

Chicken Salad

Here is a pretty good rule of thumb. Anytime you pay $60 for chicken salad, you either: a) got too much chicken salad, or b) paid too much for chicken salad.

or c) both

A Bryan Blog

Bryan Johnson (the evil wedding photographer in the post from yesterday...) has finally started to blog consistently and you should all check it out. Plenty of interesting tidbits and some great pictures - www.abryanphoto.com/blog

- j(w)s

Computer crashes, recording, and weddings

I know you're wondering why I haven't written in quite some time. I have a few reasons:

My computer crashed last week and I got to talk with Dell support for 4 hours trying to recover my documents, pictures, and music. Pretty awesome. Apparently if you're not covered by a warranty anymore, Dell support guy Mac is forced to be really rude to you and let you know that he's helping you out of the goodness of his heart not because he has to. Thanks Mac... I'm so sorry I troubled you. I know you had better things to do like sit at your desk and answer the phone and help people who had warranties. I know thats a lot more fun than helping losers like me. However, Dell guy Jeremiah was actually really helpful and nice, so at least there's some good people out there at Dell. After running some test on my hard drive and seeing multiple error messages, I think I'm gonna have to get a new computer (hopefully a Mac... despite the fact that the name of the computer is the same as that of my "friendly" Dell guy), which is great considering I haven't even started working yet and have little money. Oh well.

I also got to hang out with Josh Sizemore this past week. He's pretty incredible. Claimed as being the best out of all the Sizemores by his siblings, Josh lived up to his reputation. He helped me write a song. I like it.

We were finally able to record some songs for Dwight last week, which is always fun. We recorded about 13 songs in 2 1/2 hours (granted, some were only about 30 seconds long). Dwight said he wet his pants when he got it. Chuck Hooten helped us record it, and I was reminded how great he is. One of the most talented people I know. You should get his cd on iTunes.

I went to a wedding in Huntsville this past weekend, too. It was a friend of mine from high school, so I got to see a bunch of my old friends which is always good. I also got to see my grandparents, which was definitely the best part of the trip. They're incredible. I wish everyone could meet them.

I'm heading to ATL tonight to train for my new job with Booster Enterprises for the next two days. It should be pretty fun. I feel like I'm about to get a lot more busy in the next couple weeks. AI auditions are still scheduled for Aug. 14th, and work starts Aug. 9th, and I have another wedding on Aug. 11th in Knoxville, TN. Oprah hates kids. I just saw her interact with a guest's kids on her show, and she didn't even get near them. Jesus loved children. Oprah should learn something from that. Oh... and Kathy Griffin says some horrible stuff, but she is one of the funniest women I've ever seen. I laughed out loud multiple times while watching her extremely inappropriate show. You should try to find the episode where she tries to be the red-headed Oprah. So funny. Ok. Thanks for stopping by.

Reminding you to back-up your computer documents and pictures,
Robby

Yesterday I learned how to fly,

then I got attacked by and evil wedding photographer but I kicked him in the face...



- j(w)s

Today I learned out to upload videos from my phone

Here is one of Robby drinking grits through a straw at Cracker Barrel today...its really not too exciting. I just like how easy it is to put up completely ridiculous stuff these days...



- j(w)s

One of the Funniest Songs I Have Ever Heard

Whenever me and my brother are together, one of our favorite things to so is watch ridiculous videos, movies, tv shows (and do Mad Libs) and laugh until we cry. Everything is so much funnier when we are together. So anyways, we have been watching Flight of the Conchords and the video below is so great. It basically consists of Jemaine trying to cheer up Bret because someone told him he was little.



- j(w)s

Mad Libs...

We haven't posted in a while. this has been a good lesson on how hard it is to be consistent.

We finally got to record some more this week and that was pretty exciting. Dwight, hope you like it. We may post a song or two if we can figure out an easy way to do so...

Ok, so Mad Libs are about the most ridiculous thing in the world. My brother, Robby and I went through about ten of them last night and they really brought out the adolescent in all of us. After you do one or two, it quits being funny unless you start to get really crude. Then it starts to be funny again. I just wish they weren't so inappropriate and we could post some of them.

- j(w)s

pin. kbe. rry. pinkberry.

http://www.pinkberry.com/html/pbmain.html

Songs are great... as are pets.

I wrote a complete song the other day. I'm pretty excited about it, too. I've never actually completed a song, so it's kind of a big deal. We'll see how it turns out once we record it. The tentative title is "Chances Are." Solid, right?
In other news... I bought a gerbil. How miserable would that be if it were true? Why would someone buy a gerbil? They smell awful and poop and pee on you. Sometimes they'll even bite you, and you're forced to spank them with a tiny wooden spoon. I did have a hamster one time named Peanut. He was the color and shape of a little peanut, so I think it was a pretty appropriate name. We probably should have named him "Chew Toy" because thats what he turned into one time when he escaped from his cage. My little dog whipped that thing all over the place and threw it against the wall before we were finally able to rescue it. I think he learned his lesson about staying in the cage after that. Rags, our dog, was probably spanked with a rolled-up newspaper which could have led to the loss of most of his teeth, his terrible case of scoliosis, some crazy skin disease, and cataract infested eyes. I'm still claiming all of those things came with old age, though. He was beautiful. Peanut died a while after the attack by Rags. It wasn't the attack that killed him, though, we think it was an unfortunate choking incident involving carrots. I told mom we needed to buy more seed for him to eat, but we just never got around to it. Seed really isn't even that expensive, but I guess Peanut just wasn't worth the price. We had a few other animals in the Stone household, and we loved them dearly. I'll have to write about them later. I regret to say that the list of pets includes a few cats. I still claim that they are the gayest animals ever, though.

Because you too can prevent hamster deaths,
Robby

dang it.

I was just sitting here thinking about life and I realized that I turn 25 tomorrow. what a disaster. 25. a quarter of a century. that is one of the most depressing thoughts ever. I really need to start accomplishing something noteworthy. At least that's my initial reaction...don't even know how I feel about that innate need to prove my self-worth. Life is so interesting...

Me and Robby talked to Dwight for 58 minutes yesterday. It was pretty great. He is really far away though.

Our internet is out so that's why there were no posts yesterday. I'm too depressed to try and be funny right now.

- j(w)s

Laser Tag = hurt elbow?

I played laser tag for 2 hours yesterday (yes... I'm a 12 year old). It was with the company I'm going to work for this coming year, Booster Enterprises, and it was actually a lot of fun. What was not fun was the shooting pain in my left elbow following this 2 hour adventure. I probably hit it on a wall or something and didn't even realize it due to the high amounts of adrenaline rushing through my body as I was stalked by members of the opposing team in a dark, techno blasting, black light room. Yeah... you want to play now, don't you? I'm not surprised. Just beware of the black hole in the far right corner of the complex. We lost a few employees in it, and I don't imagine we'll ever see them again. The last thing heard by one of those standing nearby was "You never close your eyes anymore when I kiss your lips!" Not sure what he was getting at, but what a statement to leave this earth with, right?

Still feelin' that techno beat,
Robby

Practice Interview for American Idol

Kathy Lee Gifford: Good Morning Robby, so glad you could join us today...

Robby Stone: Thanks, you're pretty.

KLG: First things first, you obviously have an amazing voice, have you been singing your whole life?

RS: My whole life? Dumb question. But for your sake...sure.

KLG: Thats nice, has the enormity of winning American Idol sunk in yet?

RS: I like green beans, so yeah. I guess she will do.

KLG: How has your life changed over the last 6 months?

RS: I've learned that sometimes in life, you have to risk other's lives. It's hard, but necessary.

KLG: Musically, who is your biggest inspiration?

RS: Umm, probably Kirk Cameron. His work on "Who's the Boss" still amazes me.

KLG: I don't quite understand...but thats ok. What is your most memorable moment from the competition?

RS: Well, I used to be allergic to down sheets...so it really wasn't even possible. Thankfully I got over that during my third trimester.

KLG: So are there any girls in your life these days?

RS: When in Rome...

KLG: Tell me a little bit about the foundation you just started...

RS: I just really have a heart for wicker furniture so it made a lot of sense to start the "Wickedy Wack Foundation." Our goal is to rescue abused and forgotten wicker items, refurbish them, and supply thousands of less-fortunate children with complete outfits made of wicker. Shoes, pants, dresses, and especially under garments.

KLG: I'm sure some of them might appreciate that...do feel there is a big need for wicker clothing among the poverty-stricken children in this world?

RS: Are you serious?

KLG: I don't feel like we are getting very far with this interview, so last question...Where do you see yourself in 10 years?

RS: Probably under a down comforter, now that the reactions aren't as severe. But seriously, Milan is nice and I really like grapes a lot. I suspect they will both have something to do with it.

- Robby/j(w)s

...he still needs some polishing before hitting prime time.

Do you see what I see?

You do? Crazy.

Robby

Want some punch with your cake?

This is a story involving a lovely girl named Erica Philhours. Erica, in addition to being asked to serve as a bridesmaid for her friend this past weekend, was given the job of transporting THE wedding cake from Edgar's Bakery to the wedding location, which is 2 hours away, due to a mistake in icing and the bride's need to leave before the cake could be fixed. Yes. That's right. 2 hours transporting a cake in a car in the middle of a hot summer day. Disaster is eminent. Erica and the guy who will be driving Erica to the wedding location arrive at Edgar's to find that the cake is finished; complete with 3 large layers of pink iced cake. Erica would have taken the boxed cake to the car and been on her way had the cake actually been boxed, but the bakery soon informed her that they "do not have boxes that large." Perfect. The bakery ladies then place the cake in the backseat propped up by a phonebook. Good thinking. Erica, having no other choice, sits in the other backseat to keep an eye on the cake. 20 minutes into the drive to pick-up a friend in Jasper on their way to the wedding the disaster begins. Though the air-conditioning was on full blast, large chunks of the icing begin to "plop" off of the back layers of the cake as the entire cake begins to get that shiny, "all the freakin' icing is going to melt off this cake" look and the top layer begins to slide around. Always a good sign. Erica soon realizes that she needs to turn the cake around so that the air can cool off the backside of the cake. She grasps the two ends of the cake tray and begins to turn the cake around. As the cake slowly turns, Erica's hand slips off of the tray and PUNCHES the cake! One huge blow in the bottom layer of the wedding cake! Amidst trying not to cry, Erica simply decides that it will be most beneficial to leave her fist in the cake until they reach thier friend in Jasper. Yes... you heard right. Erica rode 20 minutes with her fist in her friend's wedding cake. Hilarious. Upon arrival in Jasper, Erica assesses the damage and claims that "it looked like a small bomb had been planted into the side of the cake." Again... hilarious. The remaining portion of the trip was spent rotating the cake every 15 minutes in the front seat with air-conditioning blasting. The cake arrived safely at the destination minus the enormous hole in the bottom layer, large chunks of displaced icing, a slipped top layer, and a crack down the middle of the 2nd layer. Pretty much a bride's dream. Despite the unfortunate cake, the wedding turned out to be very nice and the cake was somewhat salvaged by the miracle workers who catered the wedding. Just thought you might enjoy this story as much as I did.

Reminding you that cake transportation is nearly impossible,
Robby

ASelfAbsorbedPhoto

Because it's late and I occasionally like attention, I posted a random album of pictures Bryan has taken over the last few months:

http://samford.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2035321&l=855de&id=41801096

- j(w)s

It's late...I'm still "working"

So Bryan got a new corner loft/studio downtown and I stayed here all night watching the sunset and working. It's deathly quiet and nice to get some work done. Me and Robby and Tommy watched Freedom Writers last night. It reminded me a lot of my childhood...growing up caught between four warring clans, always wondering if someone was out to get you. It really forced me to grow up quickly. Oh, wait. That's Harry Potter's childhood, not mine. I lived on a farm riding horses and reading books about people whose lives were dangerous. It's a pretty good movie though. I could have cried if I had been in the mood.

Last night I was throwing football up at the sunset spot and I was trying to get Tommy to talk to some girl so I kept throwing the football near her. Finally, she got in the car to leave and for no reason whatsoever I launched the football at least 40 yards through the open window of her car and just about killed her. Some old lady was walking by right then and stopped and said 'You really should go throw that ball somewhere else.' Poor girl thought she was going to die. The sad thing is that she really did nothing to deserve it. I just love a good challenge though.

I'm retiring soon. Can't wait to see what my next career ends up being. I was going to work at that McDonald's in Vestavia but they tore it down.

Oh yeah, and I've got the perfect song for Robby's Idol audition...if I can only convince him to sing it.

- j(w)s

3 Things

I randomly picked up Donald Miller's Searching For God Knows What today. I had forgotten how great that book was. I didn't read the whole thing, but just the little bit i read got me excited about life and the Lord...something I had been needing. So good...

Also, I counted and I have been to Panera 7 of the last 9 days. Not sure how I feel about that.

Finally, my favorite comment of the day belongs to Robby Stone: "i want to be the father of your children...and your children's children." (said to some girl whose children - and grandchildren - he will almost certainly not father)

- j(w)s

Robby painted a wall gold

Laura Vandal and Robby decided to try and paint her dining room the color of a metallic wall they saw in Bridge to Terabithia...first they bought some brown paint and poured millions of tiny sparkles into it. That had an interesting result so next they bought some metallic gold paint and covered the sparkles with it. I have been sitting here all afternoon watching the progression and its pretty amazing. And by amazing, I mean really, really strange. Vandal is currently panicking cause her roommate is gonna freak out.

- j(w)s

My cousin, Jeb

I don't have one, but if I did, I bet Jeb would be pretty swell.

Creating new cousins one day at a time,
Robby

1 down. 1 to go.

So, I took the MCAT today, and, as expected, it was pretty miserable. However, I remained fairly calm and energized throughout the entire 5 hour long process. Yeah... 5 hours of testing. Needless to say I'm quite relieved. I won't know my score for another 30 days, which still means that Jer and Dwight's dreams of me failing the test thereby forcing me to pursue a career in music might still come true. Time will tell.

In other news: floppy-eared jackal stopped by my house last night. What's that? You don't know floppy-eared jackal. Well... it's Kristen Seay. I know. It makes complete sense now doesn't it? Still not? Well... here:



I know. Uncanny resemblance. Kind of scary. Don't tell everyone, but we actually cropped a picture of a floppy-eared jackal's face and put it over part of Kristen's face in the above picture. I know! You can't even tell!!! I even have to look hard to see it!

The "1 down" part of my title obviously stands for the completion of the MCAT. The "1 to go" part represents my continued plans to audition for American Idol. Jeremiah, Tommy, and I sat at Whole Foods last night for 2.5 hours planning ways for me to definitely make it onto the show. Jer has some good ideas. It'll be interesting to see how it all turns out. I'm not gonna lie... I'm excited.

I also have some grapes in my refrigerator that have been sitting there for a while. I'm building up courage to eat them (see previous post entitled: "Grapes"). Ok. I'm tired.

Robby

Running Bulls

My mom called about an hour ago, read me the following article about two american brothers who got gored by a bull today in Pamplona (one on each horn), - http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,,-6778076,00.html - said that i probably shouldnt be alive and that she hoped I was having a good day. It was a great motherly phone call and a good reminder that it's the one year anniversary of me and Dwight's ridiculously unnecessary trip to Pamplona to run with the bulls. We really had no idea how dangerous it would actually be and it was interesting to read about some goats that got gored, too. Those goats are crazy. They run around like crazy and always get gored. Goats. Silly, silly goats. Gotta love 'em. Especially their cheese...soft, stupid cheese.

Robby high-jacked my post.

Anyways, if you go running with bulls, just understand that you really might die. It's probably the only time in my life when an animal was within a foot or two of killing me. Glad the Lord let us get through that one.

Oh well, try not to get gored...

- j(w)s

Random Thoughts

So one of my best friends from First Life (Kentucky is considered first life, birmingham is second life, italy is pretend life, just to get that all straight), Tommy, has been here all week and any time someone is in town visiting, I always end up being much more social and reading a lot less than usual. So anyways, for some reason we ended up going to movies two nights in row (Fracture at the dollar movies which was amazing, and Harry Potter at midnight on Tuesday which was a ridiculous idea and a completely unrealistic movie...yes, i said it, Harry Potter is unrealistic). So just wanted to mention that and say that everyone needs to be thinking about Robby tonight and tomorrow since he is taking the MCAT Friday. Pray that he fails miserably, thereby being forced into a career as a musician. The last thing this world needs is another doctor (sorry dad).

Just kidding about him failing...and the thing about the world not needing more doctors...i think there is actually some worldwide shortage, but it will be interesting to see how it all plays out. And I want to say hi to Dwight Castle because he is cool.

- j(w)s

Barack Obam-bam

So I was having breakfast with Ben at Panera yesterday (my third straight day eating breakfast at Panera) and he mentioned that Barack was speaking in town that night. It was ironic since the night before, me and Deet had both decided that we hated politics and the whole thing was a joke and we weren't going to vote/care anymore. But I decided to give it one last chance so me and Tommy and Sarah all went.

Basically, it was not exciting. I was honestly very disappointed in the whole thing. I guess the point of it was to be a rally, but i was hoping for at least a little intelligent conversation. There was none. Besides the fact that I was unimpressed (which just isn't a big deal), I was also shocked at how much his image has changed since I first heard about him a few years ago. I had no idea he would be so divisive and critical. Especially if you consider that this was during the Democratic Primary, his entire train of thought just made no sense to me. If any Democratic candidate hopes to separate himself from the crowd, criticizing George W will not help. The least original thing you can possibly do in politics these days is criticize George Bush and doing so will only alienate the 51% of the country who voted for him last time while contributing nothing to the Democratic base who is already deciding between people who hate Bush.

So anyways, I was disappointed. The $25 wasn't a big deal because in return I will probably save about 100 hours over the next year by not caring about the elections.

That's all I've got.

- j(w)s

Martian Child

Imagine this... you're sitting in the theater before a movie and the previews for "Coming Attractions" begin (also imagine that there are lice in your hair due to the low standards held by those who manage the dollar theater off of Lorna Road. However, you must remember it's a dollar theater. How much can you really expect?). You're soon drawn into a heart-warming story about a young boy with no parents who is charitably taken in by a hard-working writer (John Cusack). The boy, who claims that he's sent from Mars to study human nature (I know... gay. But at the time it seemed great), quickly forms a deep bond (not sexual) with the man who took him into his home and became his guardian. Bits of the story are quickly revealed (like a hooker's panties) and you find yourself thinking "I really think I want to see this!" The next moment the title appears on the screen, and you laugh and think "just kidding." There you have it... "Martian Child." Yep. That's the title. I'm being serious. You'll see.

Robby and Jeremiah (Our first combined post!!!)

2 Weeks

So, it's been a really long time since either of us have posted...especially me. The whole blogging thing is a lot harder than I thought it would be. It just makes you realize that nothing you have to say is very important.

But here's a quick update on some random happenings...went to Charleston one weekend for a wedding. It's a cool place. Shot some 8mm movie stuff which will be online eventually. Also went to Sea Island in Georgia which apparently is supposed to be one of the best hotels in the world. It was amazing.

Thats not too exciting though...watched some Flight of the Conchords. You should watch "Business Time" -

Read some good books...Blue Ocean Strategy is really good as far as business stuff goes. When I don't desire God by John Piper is incredible.

Currently me and Tommy are sitting on the free-sale couch talking about life/chicks/the fact that we are gonna be lonely. Also, we are going to the Harry Potter premier tonight - which shouldn't help with the whole loneliness thing...

- j(w)s

Are you super?

The question was posed: "If you could have any super/magical power, what would it be and why?

So far the answers included:
"I would want to play every musical instrument," as stated by Caleb Chancey. Nice. That would actually be really nice.

"Sex," as stated by Joshua Hausen. Hmmm. Sex... really? Is that simply the ability to have sex, or do you want to actually be sex? I'm not sure what he meant by that. But thats a great one, Josh. Really special.

"I would want to be able to speak every language in the world so that I could be the most effective missionary ever," as later stated so angelically by Joshua Hausen (you might remember Josh's previous answer "sex" as stated in the above quote). Nice recovery. Seamless, really.

"Be able to speak to all animals," as stated by our own Dr. Doolittle, Miss Laura Pearson. That's really cute, Laura. What would you say to a polar bear, huh? Don't kill me. I bet he'd listen.
*Laura soon retracted her desired power claiming that animals don't have thoughts. Prove it, Laura. Prove it, and I'll buy that excuse. I've seen some cats, and I bet they're thinking something. They're probably thinking "I'm the gayest animal ever."

"The ability to fly," as stated by Jeremiah Sizemore. Finally! An original power! Wait... well... at least it's awesome.

"The ability to draw a perfect circle," as stated by me. Yea, I know. Don't be jealous.

Good luck thinking of your magical/ super power. Some suggestions include:
"The ability to poop diamonds."
"The ability to never miss a note on guitar hero... no matter the level."
"The ability to make a perfect batch of creamed corn."
"The ability to cry liquid gold."
"The ability to hatch other animals eggs."

Cause we're all super-heroes inside,
Robby

Pray

Two things:

July 13th... I have the MCAT.

August 14th... I have American Idol auditions (and I just found my song)

Please, please be praying for me about these things! Funny how they coincide with my previous post. God could show me a lot from these two events! I'm excited!

Robby

torn

Do you question the direction you're going? Do you ever wonder if all the work you've done is leading you to something that you weren't even really made for? I've often asked these questions, and I'm sure I'll continue. However, I've begun to realize that these are healthy questions to ask. They force you to really consider why you're doing the things you're doing and listen to the voice of God and His leading in life.
Right now I'm taking a year off of school to work full-time before possibly entering medical school (depending on whether or not I get in), but I've also always been interested in pursuing a career in music. I feel like God really has called me to help others, and medicine is an incredible outlet to do this. However, I also feel like I've been given some talent in different areas of art... mainly singing, and it's hard to know which to choose. Maybe I'm supposed to continue pursuing both of these paths and allow God to lead me through the dark areas that I'm unable to decipher. I know that He could use me in amazing ways through both medicine and performance, and I guess I just have to trust that He'll show me what to do with both opportunities. The most important thing to me, no matter where I end up, is that I am able to glorify Christ in my daily life. I have faith that He'll guide me as long as I seek Him. I'm excited about what's ahead.
Why did I write this? I'm not sure. But I know it's something that almost everyone struggles with, and I think it helps to know you're not the only one with questions and fears. We serve a huge, incredible God, and I'm so glad I have the assurance of Him.

Actually writing something serious,
Robby

It's been a while...

To start off... I've been a blogspot slacker, and I really don't have an excuse. To make up for it, I'm going to write the best post ever. Here it goes:

Party Hats
While many of you may think that party hats are a great tradition that should be continued for generations to come... you're wrong. They are not only completely ridiculous looking, but they are a danger to adults and children everywhere. Notice the spear-like point of the classic party hat. Intriging? Maybe. Deadly? Definitely. With enough speed and the right trajectory, a party hat point could easily penetrate human flesh leading to loss of blood, infection (possibly staph infection), and, yes, even death. Imagine the effects of a simple head butt when party hats are placed on the heads of those involved. I can see the devastation now. Do not be fooled by the pictures of butterflies (when writing the word "butterflies" it occured to me that that is a very odd word. Do butterflies have anything to do with butter? No. I doubt they even like butter. And they most certainly don't make it. Butter churns are far too large for butterlies to handle. Oh well... I guess Adam knew something I don't.), flowers, cartoon characters, cakes and candies, or simple colorful designs that decorate this hazardous head-wear, which is just one of the reasons these hats are so stupid looking. They are weapons disquised as entertaining apparel to secretly injure young and old alike. So... during your next party, leave the party hats at Dollar Tree and enjoy an injury-free time.

Just another thing to worry about,
Robby

New Album

Another project for this summer is to get Robby to record a new album. So everyone who reads this (probably just Caleb and Dwight) needs to harass Robby until he does it. Also, you should post any song suggestions so that it will be the greatest album of stolen songs ever recorded.

And don't worry, Christina Aguilera's Dirty is already the title track.

- j(w)s

Who doesn't like a good bookshelf?

First of all, it rained really hard this morning and that was pretty exciting. Second, I stayed up until 2.30 this morning building an elephant-shaped bookshelf from scratch and I am pretty tired. Third, I agree with Caleb that 4 days without new posts is unacceptable. I blame it mostly on Robby who doesn't seem to know how to handle himself now that he does not have school to consume most of his time. Anyways, Robby and I are also starting a new custom-bookshelf-manufacturing company which specializes in bookshelf sets with different themes. I realize it makes no sense...but wait til you see the elephant prototype we are currently working on. Hopefully we will finish it tonight and may even start on the lion or giraffe (yes, they are all life-size).

- j(w)s

Black Bear

Since I know most of our readers own businesses in the Florida area, I have added a link to my favorite Insurance Agency in that state. Black Bear Agency is run by an incredibly experienced and talented Agent out of Orlando, Florida and I suggest contacting them for all of your commercial insurance needs. However, if you do meet with him and he takes you to lunch or anything, make sure the brakes are working before riding with him for more than 6,000 miles.

www.blackbearagency.com

- j(w)s

Guitar Hero

We bought guitar hero last night. Also, I read today that economic productivity in China grew by 18.1% last year (anything over 6% is considered above-average expansion). So my idea for competing with China is to send them all copies of guitar hero. That will definitely kill their productivity. I already feel completely worthless and i've only played it twice.

Also, it has now been over two weeks at the new house with no hot water. It physically hurts to take a shower. Thankfully I only take three a week.

- j(w)s

McDonald's is fat

I was in the drive-thru for McDonald's today (yes... I eat at McDonald's occasionally. You want to know why? Because it's cheap, and, as Jeremiah has already revealed, I'm poor), and I noticed a sign with chocolate chip cookies on it. If you know me at all, then you know that I love chocolate chip cookies and I'm the master of baking a perfect cookie, so, obviously, this sign caught my attention. At first glance, I saw a picture of 3 large cookies, and above them it said 3 cookies for $3.99, which I thought was a pretty steep price; especially for McDonald's. A quick double-take revealed that the sign did not say 3 cookies for $3.99 but 13 COOKIES FOR $3.99!!! It made me laugh, text Jeremiah the news, and then ponder who in the world needs 13 cookies from McDonald's and who decided it should be 13? I feel like 10 or 15 cookies is a much more understandable number to give. Saying 13 cookies is like saying we'll give you 12 cookies and two others that we found on the floor with bites out of them. It's just odd. Less unsanitary, but still odd. Oh, and I'm glad McDonald's is making sure we're getting our money's worth, but do people really need to be tempted to eat 13 cookies? Honestly, I don't think people should eat 13 of anything. Unless it's grapes (but be careful). All this to say that McDonald's is fat... fat and cheap. Like hookers.

Robby

Oh, robbery...

If a 90 year-old man is walking slowly through your neighborhood while intently looking at a house, should you assume he's going to rob it? I'm currently struggling with that very question.

Robby

Grapes

I know what you're thinking... Mmmm... I love grapes. I do too, but don't be fooled. They are tricky and can choke you if you're not careful. I didn't choke on one today, probably because I didn't try to eat one today. But I have choked before, and it's scary. I'm not trying to frighten you, I just want to protect you... our reader.

Try eating raisins. They're grapes... minus the water. But the best thing about them is their size. Tiny. You can't choke on tiny. It's just sad that they taste nothing like a grape. A price we must pay for safety, I guess.

Robby

My Favorite Native Americans

probably the Apache or the Shawnee.
the Sioux are so overrated.

-j(w)s

Poor Bird

Robby convinced me to try the Graffiti thing and by the end of my first drawing I had ended up with this thing:

Might not compare with his masterpieces but I was proud of myself. The other one was on my sister's wall but she is in Congo right now so it is hidden until she checks facebook.

Also, Robby and I love Jesus very much. We just realized that our first few posts had semi-profanity, a hooker, and now a dead bird.

- j(w)s