actormann

2011-05-12T10:03:00.000-07:00

After looking at my blog the other day I noticed that the last time I posted has been just over a year. So why haven’t I posted in a year? I am sure there are several reasons but the lack time and Farmville are at the top of my list. I have pulled back on my Farmville escapades but I am still lacking a lot of time to sit down and write. In that vain, let me tell you a few things that have been happening in my life over the last year.

At the beginning of the summer I directed, re-wrote, and performed in The Complete History of America – Abridged at the Riverside Center. The experience was fantastic! The audiences grew for each performance and I got to work with one of my childhood friends and one of the best persons I know, David McConnell.

By the time fall came around I was asked to play Edna in Hairspray at Riverside. This time a dear old friend of mine, Mark Minnick, was signed on to direct. I think the world of Mark, he is an extremely young talented man. He tells you like he sees it but he is kind and generous. He’s also energetic and a heck of a lot of fun to work with. On the first day of rehearsal we had a read-through where the entire cast sits in a circle and reads their parts out loud and muddles their way through the music. At least that’s the way it usually goes. I was blown away by almost everyone in the cast knew their songs and belted them out full force. I had a lot of catching up to do. The show opened to rave reviews and the cast was fantastic! The only thing I didn’t enjoy was the high heels and what they did to my knees. Pricilla who played Tracy was a powerhouse and I had the fortunate opportunity to make a new friend in Jason who played Wilbur, my husband. The entire run was t

errifically fun and a great experience.

After Hairspray I had decided to take some time off from performing. But, I was asked to play Horace Vandergelder in Hello Dolly at Riverside. I have never done Hello Dolly and never really thought of it as a show that I HAD to do. They upped the ante by telling me that they were able to get Sally Struthers to play Dolly. I had a hard time turning down the opportunity to play opposite of Sally Struthers. I had no idea of what kind of a person she was but my gut told me that she was someone I’d enjoy working with. My friends, always go with your gut. We just opened the show last week and Sally is a hoot! She is a dear, compassionate, down-to-earth person who is a pure joy to perform with. I only knew her from All In The Family and the Save the Children commercials she used to do. When I told my girls that I would be performing with Gloria from All In The Family they didn’t know whom I was talking about. Then they looked her up and told me that they knew her as Babette from Gilmore Girls. Me not being a big Gilmore Girls viewer, they had to show me an episode they had and she was so charming.

I am still blessed to be working at The Perspectives Group doing public participation work and writing/directing videos. I love the people I work with, I know it is said too often but they are just like family.

I’m also still very involved with my church, Grace Presbyterian. I’m still singing in the choir and playing drums in the praise band. I also work as a youth leader and sit on the nomination committee. Our associate pastor, Shannon, left us this past January for a position with in the Presbytery and she is very missed.

Our girls have been great! Barbara starred in Once on This Island at her middle school and was fantastic! She looked beautiful; she acted, danced and sang like a pro. Her mother, Mary, and the Paynes flew up from Florida to see her, which was very special. All of my family was there so she had a great fan club. She is auditioning for Hairspray at the Little Theater of Alexandria in a few weeks. I really hope she gets and opportunity to do the show. Her passion for theater and for performing has really grown.

Danielle has been so busy and active at school this past year. She dropped by for a few hours every now and then but she really didn’t have that many opportunities to come home for a weekend or even a night. She is in her senior year at Shenandoah University and in addition to her classes at the campus she has been working in an elementary school with a fourth grade class. She has found the class very challenging but she really cared for the kids. She will be going back to complete her student teaching in the fall and graduate in December. I am so proud of her, she has really showed what kind of person she is and I wouldn’t change a thing about her.

Of course there have been many other things that have happened to us but those will be for another post, let’s hope it won’t take a full year for the next one. May God bless you. - Jim

Coming Soon!

2010-05-05T05:59:00.000-07:00

I know you've been waiting for it, I'm almost ready to add a post to this blog. Stay tuned!

Merry Christmas!

2009-12-24T06:14:00.000-08:00

To all of my dear friends, family and soon to be friends, Merry Christmas and God Bless you in the New Year!

2009-12-16T13:44:00.000-08:00

John Hollinger as Scrooge and me a Ghost of Christmas Present

Barb backstage at Scrooge - she is 2nd from the right.

Barbara and I are having a great time performing in Scrooge down at the Riverside in Frederickbrug. She is loving every minute of it and has made some very sweet friends. It's a joy for me to work with her onstage but I think the best part for me are the great, long conversations we have driving there and back. I am also enjoying the opportunity to work with wonderful old friends like John Hollinger and Steven R. Hayes.

Dani is home from Shenandoah University for her Christmas break. She's keeping busy by helping to paint the interior of friend's house. She's doing it with Janet Little and Margeret Heine. I can just imagine the conversations between those three while they're painting. It is so great having her home!

Christmas is coming way too fast, doing the show has put me behind in Christmas shopping, decorating and cooking. We have decided to have a "scaled back" Christmas this year and do our best to enjoy family and friends and to celebrate the birth of Christ instead of all of the hustle and bustle. Let's see how that goes.

If I don't speak with you or see you before Christmas then I hope that you have a great holiday (Hanukkah, Kwanzaa) and have a wonder New Year! God Bless you.

What?? A New Post??

2009-10-19T09:22:00.001-07:00

It was pretty good weekend. On Friday night I took Barbara and Sage to the West Springfield High School Homecoming football game. As anyone knows in the northern Virginia area Friday was day two of a steady downpour and temperatures drops. Barb and Sage went just for the socialization (I’m not sure if they knew there was a football game going on) and they dressed for it. Their hair was sprayed with a red color and sparkles. When we got there they went off with their friends and I, of course, got a hotdog and took a seat in the stands. The rain never let up and by the fourth quarter I was pretty wet and frozen. West Springfield was wining 30 – 27 with a few minutes left when Barb & Sage found me and said that they were a “little” cold. I had told them to wear appropriate clothes for the game but they strongly believe that fashion is far more important than practicality. We left with a few minutes left in the game and got home and dried off. West Springfield did win the game 30 – 27.

On Saturday Barb and I hung around the house doing laundry and some housecleaning. By mid-afternoon Barb asked me if I could take her and Sage to the mall for a while. I thought about it and I finally believe that the Springfield Mall is not a place I want my kids going to. It is such a shame that the mall has fallen so badly. I know that the mall has new owners and is in the middle of being re-modeled with a mixed-use plan but there have also been rapes, murders and kid-nappings there. I was at the mall the first day it opened when I was a kid and I really hope that the plan will come to fruition; Springfield could really use the boost. I decided to take them to Tysons 1 (the oldest Tyson Mall). The place was jammed packed! I hadn’t been there in a few years and they have added a 3rd level for AMC movies, a TGI Fridays and a food court. I felt totally safe letting them window shop for a few hours while I did the same.

On Sunday we made it to church for rehearsal with the Praise Band and both services. I think the band is really starting to come together. Adding Doug on the keyboards Dave on the bass and the electric drum set I’m playing, we are finally supporting Scott on guitar, like he deserves. After church Barb and I had brunch with my folks and them home to watch the Redskins. How bad does a football team have to play to make me start cleaning my bedroom instead of watching the game???

Barb and I had rehearsal for Scrooge in the evening. In case you don’t know, we are performing in Scrooge at the Riverside Dinner Theater. The theater is located in Stafford/Fredericksburg just off of I-95 and Rt 17. The theater is a great facility, one of the few built to be to actually be a theater. I have done about 10 shows there and everyone has always been extremely kind to me. Barb and Dani have also performed there with me and Barb will be playing Belinda Cratchet in this production. I’ve done this version before (Albert Finney did the movie) a few times and I’ll play the Ghost of Christmas Present again. The show opens the Saturday after Thanksgiving (November 28) and closes and January 3rd. I’m sure they’ll be discounted tickets for friends of the cast, let me know if you are interested in seeing the show.

There are a few things that I am excited about doing the show, Barb and I will be working together (she is very excited about receiving a paycheck) and getting to work with some old dear friends. John Hollinger will playing Scrooge this time around and I knew that he will be GREAT. I’ll also get to see Steve R. Dee and Ron on a nightly basis. The biggest problem with doing the show is the drive. Once Barb and I buy our new helicopter everything should be fine. The Riverside said that they would build a landing pad for us on the roof.

2009-08-31T11:56:00.000-07:00

No, No, No!!!

I can't believe that it's September already! I am so ready for the summer to BEGIN. Where did it go? Some of the great things were that my girls did get to travel and we had an awesome time at the beach for almost 5 days. I tell you, once that lottery hits I'll be taking a few more vacations.

A dear friend of mine and I saw Julie & Julia this past weekend, I was surprised that the the theater was pretty crowded even though it's been out for a few weeks. I enjoyed the film but I didn't think it was the great film that I had been hearing about. I think Amy Adams is cute and it was nice to see her in jeans and a little frumpy. Meyrl Streep was delightful as Ms. Childs and it was fun to hear her laughter with just about every line.

Barbara flies in tomorrow morning form seeing her mom in Florida for the last two weeks. It's been very quiet around the house with just me and Lady for 14 days. She has an Open House at Irving Intermediate on Wednesday and orientation on Friday morning for the upcoming 7th graders.

Dani has decided to play field hockey again at Shenandoah U. She wasn't going to play but the coach came and asked her back to the team the other day and as long as she puts her classes first it should work out well.

Summer 2009

2009-08-19T17:30:00.000-07:00

It’s been a pretty good summer this year. Dani finished her second year at Shenandoah University and Barbara graduated the 6th grade.

When school was out for Barbara she and her BFF Sage went to North Carolina to visit Sage’s mother for a week at he beach.

Barb and Sage

Mary and Michael drove up from Florida, a heck of a long drive, and took Barb back with them for about a month where they visited the theme parks and had a good time. The highpoint was when Mary’s Aunt & Uncle visited them fro California. Pat and John are very sweet people. Barb then came back and went to Meadowkirk, a Presbyterian camp where she hiked, tubed, swam and had a great time for a week. She then took off with the youth group for Great Escape, a Junior High retreat at the University of Pittsburgh for another week.

Dani, on the other hand, came home and enjoyed herself by going to the beach for a quick visit with Margaret, going again with Josh to visit his grandparents on their farm and taking an online class. During the midst of all of that she spent a week again at Tri Cities work camp in Petersburg where youth from all over the country are placed on work teams and repair people’s homes. This is Dani’s 7th or 8th year doing this and she loves it each year. I was able to drive down and visit her and the other youth to see what a wonderful job they were doing. It’s a Christian group and it’s a very meaningful event each year.

Dani and Josh also took a weekend camping trip….oh yeah, Josh is Dani’s boyfriend.

I pretty much worked throughout thee summer but was buy in other areas as well. I played on my church softball team again this year and we took first place in the league but we ended up in 2nd place for the tournament. We lost by one run in the bottom of the final inning. The fellowship, razzing, and camaraderie on the team is great.

I’ve been going to a good amount of National’s games this summer and they’re finally starting to win. It's me and my brother Bill at the Nat's game.

The girls and I went on vacation last week to Ocean City where we stayed at the Francis Scott Key Resort. It’s a cute place with activities for the whole family. The three of us had a great week even though we didn’t spend much time on the beach. We took a boat to Assateague Island

where we searched for wildlife in the marsh and wetlands, we rented scooters

and rode them all over the town, we swam and had a great time on the boardwalk.

Dani left for college on Monday morning, were renting a house with a few other roommates in a very nice neighborhood about 10 minutes away from the campus.

Yesterday Barb flew back to Florida to spend a few more weeks with Mary before coming back and starting school.

Life is great, I am having fun with some dear, dear friends and God is good! I hope that you had a good summer.

Movie Quotes Quiz

2009-07-06T08:50:00.000-07:00

So you think you know movie quotes? Here are a few, see if you can answer them without scrolling down to look at the answers first. What’s your favorite movie quote???

1. “These go to 11.”

2. “You talkin’ to me? Well, I’m the only one here.”

3. “I love the small of napalm in the morning.”

4. “Stand up, your father’s passing.”

5. “Hello. My name is Inigo Montoya. You killed my father. Prepare to die.”

6. “Is this heaven? No It’s Iowa.”

7. “I’ll have what she’s having.”

8. “Funny like I’m a clown? I amuse you?”

9. “There’s no crying in baseball!”

10. “And in the morning, I’m making waffles.”

11. “Mrs. Robinson, you’re trying to seduce me.”

12. “Take your stinking paws off me, you damn dirty ape.”

13. “And I say, ‘Hey Lama, hey, how about something, you know, for the effort, you know.’ And he says, ‘Oh, there won’t be any money, but when you die, on your deathbed, you will receive total consciousness.’ So I got that goin’ for me, which is nice.”

14. “I just hate you and I hate your ass face.”

15. “I have nipples, Greg. Could you milk me?”

16. “Joey, do you like movies about Gladiators?”

17. “I have one simple request. And that is to have sharks with frickin’ laser beams attached to their heads!”

18. “I’m not bad. I’m just drawn that way.”

19. “Fat, drunk and stupid is now way to go through life, son.”

20. “And I guess that’s your accomplice in the wood chipper.”

21. “I fart in your general direction. Your mother was a hamster and your father smelt of elderberries.”

22. “You had me at hello.”

23. “You can’t handle the truth!”

24. “What we’ve got here…is failure to communicate.”

25. “Fasten your seat belts – it’s going to be a bumpy night.”

Answers:

1. Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest) in This is Spinal Tap

2. Travis Bickle (Robert DeNiro) in Taxi Driver

3. Kilgore (Robert Duvall) in Apocalypse Now

4. Rev. Sykes (William Walker) in To Kill A Mockingbird

5. Inigo Montoya (Mandy Patinkin) in The Princess Bride

6. Ray Kinsella (Kevin Costner) in Field of Dreams

7. Female Diner (Estelle Reiner) in When Harry Met Sally

8. Tommy DeVito (Joe Pesci) in GoodFellas

9. Jimmy Dugan (Tom Hanks) in A League of Their Own

10. Donkey (Eddie Murphy) in Shrek

11. Ben Braddock (Dustin Hoffman) in The Graduate

12. Taylor (Charlton Heston) in The Planet of the Apes

13. Carl Spackler (Bill Murray) in Caddyshack

14. Cory St. Clair (Christopher Guest) in Waiting for Guffman

15. Jack Byrnes (Robert DeNiro) in Meet the Parents

16. Captain Oveur (Peter Graves) in Airplane

17. Dr. Evil (Mike Myers) in Austin Powers: International Man of Mystery

18. Jessica Rabbit (Kathleen Turner) in Who Framed Roger Rabbit?

19. Dean Wormer (John Vernon) in National Lampoon’s Animal House

20. Marge Gunderson (Frances McDormand) in Fargo

21. French Soldier (John Cleese) in Monty Python and the Holy Grail

22. Dorothy Boyd (Renee Zellweger) in Jerry Maguire

23. Colonel Jessup (jack Nicholson) in A Few Good Men

24. Captain (Struther martin) in Cool Hand Luke

25. Margo Channing (Bette Davis) in All About Eve

Gettysburg, KD & Celebrating Fairfax

2009-06-10T08:59:00.000-07:00

It looks like Ron Curameng is the big winner. Ron, where do you want your donation to go to?

Last Friday afternoon Barbara and I started to head down to Prince George, VA to meet up with Dani and her boyfriend Josh for Josh's graduation. About a third of the way there Dani called us to let us know that the graduation was being postponed until Saturday morning so we didn't need to fight all of that Friday afternoon rainy traffic. We turned the car around and Barb promptly feel asleep.

While Barbara slept I drove us to Gettysburg, PA and surprised her by taking her to Boyd's Bear Country. Afterwards we went to O'Rourk's, a local pub and eatery and had a nice meal, a little stroll through the town and some homemade ice cream from a little shop. We made it home around 9:30.

On Saturday, after a few errands, we went to Celebrate Fairfax at the Government Center. The fair was a little smaller this year and I assume that it's because of all of the agency cutbacks. Never the less, Barb and I had a good time. I even got to ride a Segway for the first time. It was a little tough getting used to but after a few minutes I was getting the hang of it. We then met my parents for dinner to help them celebrate their 51st anniversary. Last year they went on a cruise, this year I offered to rent them a rowboat at Lake Accotink for an hour. I'm a great son.

On Sunday, my brother Bill, Barb and I drove some of her friends to King's Dominion where Barb rode her first upside down rollercoaster. I took some nerve but after the first one she was ready to ride them all. We stayed most of the day and made it home a little after 9:00. The food at KD was certainly lacking in quality, since Chick Filet is closed on Sundays we tried different faires and was pretty disappointed. I guess you don't go to an amusement park for the cuisine. I bet the rides at a food park would be lousy.

Quiz Time Again!

2009-05-27T11:21:00.000-07:00

It's been a long while but it's time for a new quiz! The rules are the same as before, don't scroll down to see the answers until you've answered all of the questions. Post your score or send it to me. The best score will receive $5 donated to your favorite charity. I trust all of you about being honest with your scores. In case of a tie, each charity will receive the money.

Here we go:

1. Who were the first wearers of jock straps?

2. Where will the 2010 Super Bowl be played?

3. What TV show had the first televised interracial kiss?

4. Who played Chandler’s father on Friends?

5. When the first Burger King opened in 1954 how much did a burger cost?

6. Which US war claimed the most US soldier’s lives?

7. What Monday Night Football announcer was known as “The Mouth”?

8. What is the longest book in the Bible?

9. Which television show did Robin Williams get his start?

10. Which city did the movie Flashdance take place?

Answers:

1. Bicycle riders or Bike Jockeys in the late 1800’s. (No, it wasn’t the horse jockeys, although they probably could use one)

2. Miami, FL

3. Star Trek

4. Kathleen Turner

5. 18 cents

6. The US Civil War (over 620,000)

7. Howard Cosell

8. Psalms

9. Happy Days (then Mork & Mindy)

10. Pittsburgh, PA

What's New?

2009-05-24T13:41:00.000-07:00

Happy Memorial Day to all especially to all of those who have served and are serving our country. God bless you.

I saw Termanator last night with my friends Doug S and Mark R. It was a pretty good film with a ton of special effects.

I went to Harold Gate's funeral service on Friday afernoon. Harold was the owner of the Lazy Susan Dinner Theater where I got my theatrical start in the early '80s. Harold supervised building of the sets and even built a huge amount of them himself. As President, he also saw to the business side during the day, he was a quiet tough but fair man. His son Glenn, a good friend, ran the theatrical side of the theater and is still an excellent producer. Harold was 88 and will be missed. My condolences go to Peggy and Glenn Gates, Karol Kaldenbach and the rest of the Lazy Susan family past and present.

On Friday my great buddies Doug O and David "The Van" Badzik went to the Nats game. Dave flew into town from the west coast to spend the holiday weekend with his family. It was great catching up with both of them and we had a good time. The Nationals even gave us a few free extra innings before they lost the game. Thanks Nats!

I just got back in from softball practice with my church team, Grace Presbyterian. Man do I need a shower. Dani and I plan on seeing Night at the Museum: Smithsonian tonight. It'll be nice taking her out on a date, we really haven't been able to spend too much time together since she's been home from school. Barb is camping tonight at Burke Lake with a freind from school and her family. I'll let you know what I thought about the film soon.

Have a great holiday weekend!!!

2009-05-11T12:01:00.000-07:00

I’m so happy that both of my girls are home. Barb and I drove out to Shenandoah University to pick up Dani after she turned her last paper on Friday. The car was filled to the gills but we all made it home. Dani will be taking two classes online this summer, some part-time work and will be spending her eight year at Tri-cities Work camp in Petersburg, VA. Barbara completes the 6th grade on June 18th and will get to spend time with her mother, Mary, in Florida over the summer. She’s also going to our church youth camp called Great Escape and she’ll be going to Meadowkirk (a Presbyterian country resort) in the Virginia horse country while spending a week at Night Owls. She’ll hike, tube and have all kinds of fun. The reason the session is called Night Owls is because they stay up doing a lot of their activities throughout the night and then sleep in till 11:00 a.m. and start that day over again.

Once Barb is through with all of her camp and traveling, the three of us will spend five or six days in lovely Ocean City. I know what you’re thinking…lovely Ocean City??? We actually stay at a little resort just this side of the city and have a great time. Different friends have come up to join us for a day or so and we really look forward to taking a few days and getting away.

What about you? What are your plans for the summer?

Missa Festiva

2009-05-01T06:46:00.000-07:00

I have a concert coming up this Sunday evening at my church, Grace Presbyterian, www.Gracepresby.org, It’s in Springfield and starts at 6:00 p.m. with a reception afterward. We are singing with the combined choirs of Dale City Presbyterian and ours. The main piece will be Missa Festiva by John Leavitt with four other single pieces, We’ll have a small orchestra and I think that it should be pretty good. Feel free to come by; it’s open to the public and it’s free.

Happy 20th Brithday DANI

2009-04-01T07:22:00.000-07:00

Happy 20th Birthday Dani!!!!!

We love you!!!!She's our little April Fool

More of My Brother's Pics

2009-03-27T12:41:00.000-07:00

Here are a few more of my brother's pics:

How Was Your Weekend?

2009-03-23T13:55:00.000-07:00

This past weekend was almost as full as usual. Friday night after work I took Barbara and her BFF Sage to Fair Oaks Mall in Fairfax for dinner and a little shopping. It had been so long since I had been there that I had no idea what restaurants were still there. When we got there the girls saw The Cheesecake Factory and wanted to dine there. By the time we made it to the hostess station it was almost 8:15 and there was still a 35-minute wait. We decided to eat elsewhere. We ended up eating at Chick-A-Filet and since Sage is a vegetarian she had a slice of cheese pizza from Sbarro. Twilight was being released at midnight so a few of the stores in the mall were having midnight release parties. They were selling all kinds of merchandise from the movie and kids and grown-ups were starting to line up. I’ve never seen the movie or read any of the books but Barb pre-ordered it online at Amazon a few months ago so I’ll watch it with her.

On Saturday I took Barb to her gymnastics class and afterwards we (Sage, Barb and I) took Lady, our golden retriever, to the Super Pet Expo in Chantilly. The place was jam-packed. Lady is usually shy with other dogs but after she met about 30 of them face-to-face she had no problem with the next 750 of them. We saw just about every kind of dogs there plus alligators, pythons, tortoises, rabbits and monkeys. The best part for Lady was when we were passing the golden retriever rescue exhibit and she walked over and sat with the rest of the goldens. I guess she felt at home with her sistas from anotha mistas and her brothas from anotha mothas.

On Saturday night I went to see the band Union Street at Jaxx. For those of you who aren’t familiar with Jaxx it is a rock club located in West Springfield. It used to be the Jerry Lewis Cinema 2 back when I was a kid but in the 80’s they turned into a teen club for a few years. The finally turned it into a rock club and it’s been that way for close to 30 years. There are two teenagers from our youth group at church who play in Union Street and they were the opening band. I wanted to support them so I paid my $20 to hear their 25 minutes. They sounded great but I’m not sure they fit well with the other bands on the list. The next band came on and the lead singer started with the following announcement “There’s a F’ing monster in the closet. There’s a F’ing monster under the bed and there’s a F’ing monster in my pants!” He then started to scream uncontrollably as I laughed out loud. This is music? After about 2 minutes I headed for the door.

After church on Sunday afternoon Club 456 (the pre-youth group at church) went bowling. I took Barb and Sage and we had a pretty good time. We bowled two games and I was pretty pleased with the scores of 140 and 133. We got home and I made shrimp stir-fry for dinner. Of course I was the only one who would eat it, Barb is too picky so I made her cheeseburger sliders and Sage got a grilled cheese (vegetarian, remember?) It was a good weekend. How about yours?

Look At These

2009-03-19T11:11:00.000-07:00

My younger and more handsome brother, Bill Lawson, has always been interested in photography (wink, wink, nudge, nudge for you Monty Python fans) but has never done any photography work professionally, just as a hobby. We were in the car the other night and he was showing me some of his shots. He loves hiking and has added another element to his hikes by bringing, and experimenting with his new camera.

Bill is not nearly as outgoing as I am and he prefers to stay in the background, maybe that’s why he’s able to take such beautiful photographs. I thought I’d share some of them with you over the next few posts. Let me know what you think:
:

It's Been Too Long

2009-02-12T12:59:00.001-08:00

Things have been kind of busy lately. We finally moved our business from Old Town to Franconia. Our quarters are a little more cramped but it was a good idea. The owners are saving to purchase a building of their won where we can run all aspects of the business including a video studio on site. The move took a lot out of of me, a lot of long hour and work on the last three weekends, but we’re not getting back into our grove, we’ve been here for four days.

Last weekend I chaperoned our Club 456 from church to a water park and snow tubing weekend at Massenuttan Resort near Harrisonburg, VA. Club 456 is made up of youth who are a little to young to be in youth group but want to be involved. They are 4th, 5th & 6th graders, hence the name. The trip was great, we left after work on Friday and got to our condo around 10:45. There were a total of 15 of us. We spent Saturday at the indoor waterpark, came back made dinner and then watch a movie with discussion afterwards.

On Sunday morning my kids and I made a French toast breakfast, checked out of the condo and then hit the slopes for the tubing. I had never been snowtubing and it was a blast. The weather was great, it was in the 60’ss but the snow kept us all cold enough to feel like it was right. On the way home we stopped at Cracker Barrel for a nice lunch. Barb and I had a great time, she even brought along her BFF Sage.

On Monday evening Barbara and I went to our tutoring jobs at church. Barbara has been tutoring a first grader this school year and I am a substitute for any of the other teachers who can’t make it. This week I worked with Balil on perimeters, cursive handwriting and reading. After the tutoring we went to my prayer group for a nice end to the evening.

Tuesday night I met a few SAIC folks from Florida who were supposed to be doing some training for. We met at the Carlyle Grand, and old hang out from our West End Dinner Theater days. Joannie Mathews and Joe Dodd used to like to go there for a nice dinner after a long night and we often had a good group with us.

Tonight I am leading a meeting for Tyson Corner rebuilding plan. The group has been working on the plan for over three years and they’re probably getting tired of t by now. I’m just going to write a summary for the project.

My dad’s birthday was Tuesday the 10th. We are going to celebrate it on Friday since that is the evening that we can all get together. He turned 72 and is still working full time as a VP of a structural steel corporation. More power to you, Dad!

Dani is working hard at school and playing goalie for the women’s lacrosse team. She has been having some stomach issues when she runs for an extended amount of time and that worries me a bit. She is used to running from dance and field hockey but she is seeing the doctor and he’ll let her know what’s going on.

Happy Valentine’s Day!

What's Your Favorite Comfort Foods?

2009-01-26T09:21:00.000-08:00

We’re now in the middle of the winter and we’ve had some pretty cold weather. It hasn’t been as bad other places in the US but the DC area still has it’s chilly moments. I was wondering what are some of your favorite “comfort” foods for the winter? They can be full meals, entrée’s, side dishes,, snacks or drinks, whatever gives you that warm feeling inside. Feel free to give the recipe’s too!

A New Way To Grocery Shop?

2009-01-15T12:10:00.001-08:00

Have you been to Giant Food lately? What do you think of their new log and colors? Dani came back from college and didn’t like the changes. Have you tried the new Scan It devices that the have at the front of the store? If you’re not familiar with these they are a handheld scanners they you scan and bag as you shop with a running total on how much you’re spending and saving.

I decided to try this new gimmick last week. I logged in with my phone number at the front of the store, picked up the scanner the display told me to take and then away I went a-shopping. I usually start in the fruit and vegetable area and then move through the dairy aisle. I ended up with about 20 items in my cart, and knew exactly how much I was spending. “What a great way to shop”, I thought.

My first issue was when I went to the cashier line to check out. I didn’t realize that I was supposed to bag my groceries as I put them in my cart. I was holding everyone up while I was bagged my items. After a few more trips back to Giant I have found a few other issues that I have with this new system. As I now go up and down the aisles it seems as though shoppers are bagging the groceries in their carts and not paying attention as they block the aisles. It’s tougher to get around these people, they are preoccupied with their little scanner and groceries. I also have come to detest the little “Ca-ching!” sound that the scanners make when you scan an item. Everywhere around you, you hear “Ca-ching” throughout the store.

I’m sure that the learning curve will take a little time and people (and I) will start getting used to them and using them properly, just like the self checkout lines that most people have acclimated themselves with. Ah, progress.

My Sunday

2009-01-12T13:08:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a crazy day! I was honored to be a guest soloist at Fairfax Presbyterian Church for both services. I sang Come Thou Fount of Every Blessing for the early service and The Lord is Beautiful with their choir for the second service. It was a song written in Swahili where I did a call and the choir answered, it was a lot of fun. Maybe I can get my choir to sing it.

While I was at Fairfax Pres. Dani and Barbara were at our church, Grace. Barbara was singing at both services with club 456 a youth group made up of 4th, 5th & you guessed it, 6th graders. We all met back at the house after our services and Dani and I took Barbara and her friend Sage to a 456 meeting at 2:00. We stopped at Einstein’s Bagels for lunch and they were out of about everything. After dropping the girls off at their meeting Dani and I drove to Dulles airport to pick up her roommate Rebekah. Rebekah was traveling back from Texas where her family moved last summer. My brother Bill went with us so we’d have two cars. Once Rebekah landed she and Dani left for Shenandoah University and Bill and I came back to Springfield to pick up Barb and Sage.

Sage’s dad called asking if Barb could go to the movies with them. They were going to take the bus so I offered to drive them all and drop them off. On the way back home I stopped off at Giant for groceries and as I got to the parking lot my brother Bill pulls up. We decided to go and have dinner at a Chinese restaurant in Burke. It had been over ten years since I had been there and it was still pretty good.

By the time I made it back home Barb was getting in. She finished her homework, I did some laundry and off to bed.

What I Did Over My Christmas Vacation

2009-01-05T12:52:00.000-08:00

For those of you who don’t know my Lady, here she is.

First of all, I didn't take a Christmas vacation.

I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season. Mine was nice, busy and a bit relaxing all at the same time.

Dani and Barbara left for Florida on December 22 to visit their mom and her husband for the holidays. Mary’s parents have also moved to Florida so they were able to see them as well. As a bonus, Mary’s sister Linda was visiting so it was a close to a Payne Christmas as you can get.

While the girls were gone I helped to lead the Longest Night Service at my church. It’s held on December 21st (the longest night of the year) and is for those who may not be feeling the Christmas spirit. There were people who, over the last year, had lost loved ones, their job or had any other issue that kept them from feeling the spirit. It was a very moving service with a lot of music. We had our choir director Scott, good guy, and three other friends singing.

On Christmas Eve I sang at both of the services at Grace Presbyterian. I was fortunate enough to be asked to sing a few solos at each, Who Comes This Night & Gabriel’s Message. Scott accompanied me on guitar and they went pretty well. After the services I went to some dear friends, Dave and Janet Little, for a Christmas Eve party. The food was great but the company was even better.

Lady and I got up Christmas morn and started cooking dinner for my family who was coming over at 2:00. 2:00 came quick enough but I was able to have the food ready by then. I usually cook a turkey with all of the good stuff with but this year I decided to cook a roast. I still added a few of the “turkey dinner” sides. My folks, brother Bill, sister Diane and her husband Brian and daughter Betsy all made it for dinner and then we exchanged presents afterward. It was very nice and I was zapped by the time most left. My brother Bill hung around and we decided to head downtown to see the National Christmas Tree. It is a tradition with the girls and me but since they were basking in sunny Florida Bill and I decided to keep the tradition alive.

We made a good choice in bringing Lady with us, that dog is a chick magnet! The place was more crowded than I can remember in the past years and there were a ton of women who wanted to have their picture taken with her. Of course I had to be petting Lady when they took the shots so I am in every one of them. I overheard the majority of them walking away saying something about Photoshop and cropping pictures. Not sure what that means.

On Saturday between the holidays my friend Leanne and I went to the Kennedy Center to see A Night Of Andrew Loyd Webber Music. There was a full orchestra on stage and six Broadway singers including Liz Calloway who Mary and loved in Baby. The concert was great but I know friends who sing good enough to have been in the show. They know who they are.

Since the girls were gone for almost all of the Christmas vacation I decided not to take time off of work except for Christmas Day. I got a lot of work done at the office and it was pretty quiet there. On New Year’s Eve I had dinner with my brother Bill at Metro 29 Diner in Arlington. If you haven’t eaten there you should really give it a try. It’s as close as you can get to a New Jersey or New York diner in Northern Virginia.

After dinner we went to my parents house where my sister and her family was. We quietly celebrated midnight with Dick Clark and Ryan Seacrest and my family and then went home. On New Years Day I help my boss and friend Doug work on his house since we are moving our offices there within the next three weeks. We were able to get a lot of good work done but there’s still a lot more to do.

My girls got back home on Friday afternoon and we celebrated our Christmas that evening. They seemed so glad to be home and I know that I was ecstatic that they were back. Saturday was chillin’ out day with my folks and brother coming over to give the girls their presents. We stayed home and played a game of The Office, I don’t care how often you watch the TV show some of the questions were still hard.

Sunday was back on the regular church schedule, two services. The girls were pretty tired so I drove them home in-between the services so they could rest while I went back to sing the second. After church I was actually able to do some house cleaning and made chicken stir-fry for dinner. And here it is, Monday, all of the holidays are over, time to put away all of the decorations (kept them all out because of the girls getting home so late) and enjoy Dani as much as possible before she takes off for school again on Sunday.

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and may God bless you in 2009.

Celebrate!

2008-12-08T07:37:00.001-08:00

As we all know, this is the time of the year in which we celebrate the birth of one who means so much to us, one who teaches us how we should live our lives and one who is our protector.

Happy Birthday. Antonio Bullock! On Wednesday he will turn 29!

What Are You Thankful For?

2008-11-21T12:16:00.000-08:00

It’s recently been a difficult time for our country and maybe for us as individuals but if you are able to read this on a computer then you must have a lot to be thankful for. Forget all of the bad news we hear everyday and answer this question: What are you really, truly thankful for? It may be one thing or it may be a slew of them. Here’s the place you can share what they are, we'd all like to know.

We Have A Winner!!!!

2008-10-16T07:40:00.000-07:00

Krissy with her handsome husband Kevin.

KRISSY DOYLE has correctly answered the three items that I ate at the Redskins game on Sunday. With clever cunnery she deducted that I consumed a Hot Dog, Nachos and a Diet Coke. Let’s hope the Redskins have as good of a week as Krissy has had.

Krissy wins a $10 gift card to Starbucks! Congratulations Krissy, enjoy your caffeine and thank you for playing!

Here We Go , Again!

2008-10-13T14:06:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I attended the Washington Redskins game at FedEx Field. Because of the Skins loss in the last two seconds of the game my mood would have been downright awful except for the fact that my tummy was happy. I consumed three items at the game. What were they??? The winner will receive another glorious prize!

Your choices are the following: Beer, hotdog, water, pizza, vodka & cranberry, hamburger, nachos, ice cream, soft pretzel, sausage & peppers, Snickers Bar, chicken strips, french fries, crab cake sandwich, Coke and Diet Coke.

There's A Winner!

2008-09-22T11:07:00.001-07:00

Although she does not live with me (she’s away at college) and I usually never eat breakfast, I must announce that Dani selected the correct three items. They were Banana, Crackers & Granola Bar. She has won a $5 gift card from McDonalds and she is not eligible for the next two contests. Congratulations Dani and a big Thank You to all of the contestants. I look forward to your guesses in the next game. Look for it, it’s coming soon!

Guess What I Had For Breakfast Today???

2008-09-18T07:09:00.001-07:00

There were no winners for the "Lunch" contest (although some valiant efforts and some great suggestions, Antonio) so I will add the prize to the prize for this contest. The correct answer for the "Lunch" contest was SOUP, Chicken Noodle SOUP.

I had three of these items for breakfast this morning. Which three did I eat? There's a prize for the winner or whoever gets the most right. Here they are:

Guess What I Had For Lunch Today???

2008-09-15T08:50:00.000-07:00

100th Post!

2008-08-27T08:53:00.001-07:00

Friday morning Barb and I took Dani back to school at Shenandoah University to start her sophomore year. By the time we packed the car and got to her dorm the campus was full of students who seemed excited about being back at school, and parents who were tired from hauling a ton of their kid's stuff up flights of stairs to the dorm rooms.

Upon arriving we were greeted by Rebekah, Dani’s roommate. They were roomies last year and are again this year. Rebekah’s a nursing major and a very sweet girl. Maybe Rebekah’s not all sweet but what isn’t sweet is funny and endearing. After filling out some forms and finalizing all of the paperwork for year two we emptied Rebekah’s SUV up the three flights of stairs and down a long hall. Then we did our car and afterwards made a trip to the storage space that the girls rented over the summer so they wouldn’t have to schlep everything back home. After dumping everything into their room we stopped for lunch at the nearby Bob Evens. Barb and I gave them kisses goodbye and headed back to Alexandria so I could spend the rest of the day and night at the office.

We’ve been in close touch with Dani and she is doing well. Her classes started Monday and she has a pretty full schedule but get this, she’s now on the field hockey team! She’s never played it before but she decided that it was something that she wanted to try. Of course I asked her if she is now a lesbian, not that there’s anything wrong with it, but she assured me that she is still heterosexual.

On Saturday, Barbara, my friend Doug and I went to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. It was the opening day and we had a blast. The place was crowded and the weather was great. We saw a few shows,, did a few games and ate some very different foods. I had a good time throwing axes, death stars, and knives. We also rode huge wooden slides that ran down the side of a hill throughout the woods. The jousting was fun but Barb was getting concerned that the horses weren’t enjoying themselves. If you have a weekend day that’s open within the next few months I suggest you head up near Annapolis and spend a day at the fair.

Barbara and I have orientation for school on Friday morning. Barb has never attended school in Fairfax County so it’s new for her and I think she’s excited, I know I am. She’ll be attending the same school that Dani attended and I am looking forward to her being here every night. The only negative is that I’ll have to stop all of my women from coming over at all hours of the night.

Have a blessed day!
Jim

Beach Time for the Lawsons!!!

2008-08-12T21:51:00.000-07:00

Dani & Barb on the beach

Dani, Barbara and I got back from our beach vacation last Thursday evening and we all had a wonderful time. The three of us haven’t been on an actual vacation in about five years. Dani and I have done mission trips and Barbara and I have gone on hiking trips and the girls have been on trips with Mary but we haven’t been able to work out a vacation until now.

The trip started out on a very low point. On Saturday morning we were packing our car and my computer guy (PC Buddy – good guy, let me know if you‘d like his number) stopped by to do some computer fixes at the house. While he was working on the computer he asked to see my Mac PowerBook that I use for work. I went to the car to retrieve it and you guessed it, my briefcase was stolen with the PowerBook and all of my work. So our first stop on vacation was at the police station to file a report and then a call to the owners of the firm I work for. To their credit, the only grief they gave me was for taking work with me on vacation. They're good people.

After starting our trip about five hours late we made it Ocean City, MD. I’ve always thought of OC as a pretty dirty town, someplace you go to if you only have one day to get away, but we stayed at a nice little resort about a mile west of the city and we had a great time.

Jim saving lives

The resort had activities for all ages of the family including themed swimming pools, indoor and outdoor.

Jim & Barb win 1st place in the resort scavenger hunt

We spent a few of the days at Assateague Island at the National Park while beached and hiked through the back bay seeing the wildlife and the ponies.

Barb & Dani on a Back-Bay island

Wild pony on Assateague Island

We took a sunset speedboat ride up the coast to Delaware with 20 other people, it was a bit chilly but great fun. Speedboat called "Thriller"

We spent a few hours at the go-cart track and the bumper boats.

Dani & Barb soaking and bumping each other

We drove up to Rehoboth Beach for an evening.

We spent plenty of time in the ocean and in the sand.

We had our daily-recommended amount of Boardwalk time.

My girls

On our last day, Dani’s friends Margaret and Emily drove up to join us and spend the night. They are always a joy to have around.

Barb, Margaret, Emily & Dani

The trip was so relaxing and refreshing. We woke up each morning and said, “what would you like to do today?” and we did just that. We really didn’t have any plans (other than mine, which was eating a meal at Phillips)

Gotta love those crablegs!

and we loved the whole trip. It only lasted five days but they were five well-spent days.

Now I’m back home and at work trying to recreate all of those files I lost with the PowerBook and getting friendly with a new computer. 51 weeks of this for one week of fun. It was worth it.

Video Work

2008-08-01T08:02:00.001-07:00

I have been writing and directing some video work for my job. I thought I'd post some of them for your viewing. The first is a video for the World Hunger Program. Let me know what you think.

It's Friday!

2008-07-25T13:58:00.000-07:00

So, here’s what’s been going on recently. Barbara is back home and seems to be enjoying here summer. The only problem is that most of her friends live in Maryland (she used to go to school there) and we’ve been having a difficult time trying to get some play time with them. They are either out of town or not available to meet when we are. It’s been frustrating for her because she won’t meet thee kids she’ll be going to school with until school actually starts after Labor Day. I know it’ frustrating for her but it tears my heart out when your kids not happy.

Dani is in Petersburg, VA right now at Tri Cities Work Camp. She does this every summer with youth group. Technically she is out of the youth group at church because she’s now in college but a few of the college students are still great friends with others in the group and they are welcome to do go on the mission trips. Dani has been putting up walls and doping a lot of painting while she’s been there. They arrive home tomorrow. Barb and I drove down there after work yesterday afternoon to see their “gift sharing”. It’s when the work teams get together and create a gift (it’s usually movement to music or a skit) and present it to the community on their last day there. It was so worthwhile driving all the way there because the gifts were fantastic and meaningful.

Next week is VBS (Vacation Bible School), Dani is teaching and Barb is attending. They have changed the schedule over the last few years. Their now holding it in the evening so more parents and kids can participate. We have the closing night on Friday and then Saturday morning we head to the BEACH! This will be our first vacation together in four or five years. I am really looking forward to it.

After coming back from the beach the girls are going to fly down to Florida to see their mom for a week. Then back home where Dani will start to pack to go back to Shenandoah University and Barbara will start to get ready for the 6th grade at Cardinal Forest by our house. This will be the first time that Barb goes to Cardinal Forest; it’s the school where Dani went.

I have been asked to do a play in February. My great friend, John Hollinger, asked me to do Lend Me Tenor at a new theater company in Fredericksburg. I have done the show at West End Dinner Theater seven or eight years ago where I played Tito Marelli, the world’s greatest opera singer, (aka as Il Stupendo). I’ll be playing Tito again and I love the play, it’s hilarious when it’s done right and I have no doubt that the show will be great. Other than John, there’ll be other old friends in the show so I know we’ll have a blast. I think the show only runs for three weekends so it’s not a huge time commitment, the traffic driving down there is lousy but it’s only for a short time.

That’s it with the Lawsons. I hope you all are having a fantastic summer and don’t forget to watch your’s truly in Dancing with the Dinner Theater Stars on Mark Minnick’s blog. He has shown four episodes so far and two more to go. Once all of the episodes have been posted then you can vote for me on his site, http://thefollowspot.blogspot.com/ you may have to scroll down a bit to see all of the episodes but trust me, it’s worth it! Don’t forget to go back to the site, watch them all, and vote for me!

Hello, Hello, Hello!

2008-07-03T14:46:00.000-07:00

So maybe this has turned into a one “one-entry-a-month” blog, I hope not but I have ben lousy about keeping up with it lately.

Barb and Dani are having a great summer playing with their friends while Dad toils away at work all day. We’re heading to the beach a little later on this summer, nothing but relaxing and spending a lot of money.

Dani will be going to Tri-Cities work camp to help rebuild homes again this summer. She just got back from Mississippi where she has spent three or four trips rebuilding homes from Katrina. The town is finally in shape and they invited everyone back who helped to rebuild, she had a great time and everyone in the town was so appreciative.

I was recently was in Chicago to teach an all-day class on communications to the US Citizen and Immigration Services of the Department of Homeland Security. It was the first class that I taught for an entire 8-hour day and I was more than a little nervous. My fears were calmed after the first five minutes or so when the class started eating everything I was dishing out. It really was a good experience.

I’m supposed to go to the AT&T Tiger Woods Golf Tournament on Saturday but I’m not sure if I’ll make it.

What else? I saw Get Smart like everyone else and I enjoyed it. I’m very excited that a TV show that I really enjoyed is making somewhat of a comeback. The cast from Arrested Development will be making a feature film soon. I guess they saw all of the hoopla from Sex and the City.

Have a great 4th of July!

Just Checkin' In

2008-06-05T11:34:00.001-07:00

So, Mom and Dad are cruising the high seas right no and I think they are somewhere off the coast of Belize. Their 50th anniversary is on Saturday, which they’ll be celebrating with hundreds of other seniors at the clothing optional island. Look for them in the latest collection, Seniors Gone Wild! I’m sure they’re having a great time, I just hope that neither of them have had any seasickness.

My brother Bill is taking care of their pets while they’re sailing the seven seas and he's having a great time with them with all of the storms yesterday and the lack of electricity. Speaking of storms, weren’t they something? My girls and I were going to the National’s game but decided better. They started the game but canceled it after a short amount of time.

Instead of going to the game we decided to go out to dinner, one of Barbara’s favorites, Friendly’s. Friendly’s wasn’t too friendly last night. They were overwhelmed with customers because they were one of only a few restaurants that actually had power and they were really unprepared. It took us about 40 minutes to be seated and the food made it out to us over an hour after that. I felt sorry for the staff because they had no idea why everyone was descending on Friendly’s. At one point, the manager came out form the kitchen and stopped by our table. I told him why everyone was there and he finally understood why they became so popular so quickly. I loved my Happy Ending.

On the way home we still had most neighborhoods without power and there were still power lines lying in the streets, the police and fire vehicles were everywhere. But, if you live in the DC Metro area then I am sure you went through the same situation as we did.

I think we are planning to go to Celebrate Fairfax tomorrow night. If you haven’t been to it, it’s really a lot of fun. They hold it at the Fairfax County Government Center http://www.celebratefairfax.org/ and they have a midway fair, a technology area, a bunch of music venues and pretty much something for everyone. It usually costs $10 for adults and it’s worth the money. Last year we saw Smashmouth, the year before was Uncle Cracker, before that was Pat Bennitar. This year Bowling for Soup and Joan Jett and the Blackhearts are playing. Check it out if you’re not doing anything Friday night, Saturday or Sunday.

2008-05-22T12:55:00.000-07:00

It’s softball season again and after a few rainouts, tonight we play our first two games of the season. Let share with you a little of my softball background. A few years ago, while I worked at The Tech Council of Maryland, the staff decided to man a softball team in a coed league. Everyone thought it was a good idea to play as a team and we all had the attitude that it really doesn’t matter who wins, as long as you’re having a good time.

When we had our first practice I quickly realized that the majority of our team had never played softball before, much less played on a team. That was still fine, remember it’s not if you win or lose.

By the time we played our first game we had a pretty goods idea how the season was going to turn out. Now most of our games were double-headers so the evenings were long commitments. T the end of the first game the score was something like 46 to 1 with us being on the short end. Losing by 45 runs isn’t a great incentive to rally thee team for the second game of a double-header.

As the season went on (a total of 18 games) some members of the team started to drop by the old water hole before and after the games. Now, don’t get me wrong, I have no problem with a bit of imbibing but showing up to the games three sheets to the wind made it pretty difficult to win a game much less getting through a game with someone on the team challenging the opposition to a fight. You can imagine how hard it was to get excited for the trouncing were getting every game.

It got so bad that we had a hard time fielding a team each night. Since it was a coed league we had to have at least five women and five men on the field. Fortunately for us we hired a 19 year-old intern who helped us to field the team. She was on the field on her first day of work; we had to stop at Target to buy her clothes and shoes to wear.

It was the last game of the season and we were 0-17. We had a chance; we were up by two runs in the bottom of the last inning. The other team knew that we had never had a win and we knew it was finally going to happen, you could feel it in the air, victory was within our reach. Until those son-of-a-bitches scored three runs off of us and that’s the way we finished the season, 0-18.

Fast forward to my church’s team. Grace Presbyterian has had a softball team for as long as I can remember. I’ve always wanted to play on the team but doing theater all of those years kept me off the field and on the boards. Last year I finally got a chance to play on the Grace team. It was halfway through the season and the team was still accepting anyone who wanted to play. The league is a men’s league and apparently Grace has been a dominating force in the league for quite some while.

Halfway through my first game with the team the manager put me in as a designated hitter. The team had never seen me take a swing or even played the field. The first pitch I drove a line drive down the left field line and took it in for a double. The next time up was a single and then the last at-bat for me was another double. I was finally having fun playing softball.

The 2007 Grace team went on to have a perfect season with no losses and we ended up winning the tournament as well. Tonight starts a new season and the slate is clean. Who knows what kind of season we have? What I do know is that we have some pretty good ballplayers on our teams and I’m proud to play a few innings with them now and ten.

If you’re in the Springfield area tonight near Wakefield Park feel free to drop by the games, 8:40 & 9:50 at field 4. Play ball!

A Proud Dad!

2008-05-08T08:28:00.000-07:00

I know I’m just sounding like a proud father but that’s exactly what I am. Two wonderful things are happening with my girls, Dani is finishing her first year at college and Barbara has decided to come home to be with me and Dani.

First, let me start with Dani. Dani has fought a few hurdles over he last 19 years of her life. There were points where she (and Mary & I) were so frustrated over school work that I thought it would be a struggle for her to just graduate high school. Dani has always been someone who doesn’t give up If she was having as problem learning or understanding something in school she would work as hard as she could to find other ways to understand it. By the time she was in the eighth grade things started to click and by the end of her senior year she graduated high school with an advanced diploma. There are many young people who do that but what impresses me so much about Dani is the obstacles she had to overcome to get to that place.

So, let me get back to finishing her first year at college. Dani is attending Shenandoah University in Winchester, VA. Shenandoah still has the conservatory but it is now part of the university. Her mother, Mary, went to the conservatory for a while and her Aunt Linda graduated from there. Dani is majoring in elementary education and minoring in dance. Dani’s roommate, Rebekah, is a great young woman who is majoring in nursing and she and Dani get along fantastically. Rebekah is from Ohio, about 9 hours away from school, so she has come home with Dani and stayed with us a few times. It’s been a pleasure having her with us.

It makes Mary and I so proud to see Dani thriving in a university setting. She’s doing well in school and her grades are something for her to be proud of.

Mary (my ex-wife) and her husband decided to move to Florida last year and with that move came some tough decisions. Dani has always lived with me at our home and Barbara has been with both of us and most recently going to school where Mary lives and being with me on the weekends, holidays, summer and any other times that she didn’t have school. Barbara decided that she would try going to school in Florida. Mary picked out a great private school (I’ve been there and it’s a very nice Christian school). Barbara has come back for all of the holidays and about a weekend a month.

After the Christmas break, she gave me a call and said that she had made a decision, she was coming back home. We had a long serious talk about it and then Mary and I had a good conversation and it was decided that she would be back here. Of course, she’ll be down to see Mary on holidays, and anytime she wants to see her. Who knows if this will be a permanent decision for her but for right now this is what she wants. Mary and I will revisit it at the appropriate times. It was extremely tough to see her go to Florida and I know it will be just as tough for Mary to see her come back to Virginia.

Maybe this post has gotten a little too personal but as you can see, I am a pretty happy dad. Now, can anyone help out with tuitions?

Help Us! It's Vacation Time!

2008-04-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

I know I posted something like this last year but it’s time to do it again. Dani, Barbara and I haven’t been on a vacation together for a long while and we plan on going somewhere this summer. My thoughts are that we’ll stay in the states; Disneyworld & DisneyLand are out because they’ve been to theme recently. I asked the girls to come up with a short list of places they’d think were neat to go. They could be cities, national parks, anything.

Now it’s your turn: what suggestions do you have for a 4-6 day vacation. We could fly or drive (I think I’d rather drive if it’d be within 400 miles or so. Help me out, where would you go with a sophomore in college, a sixth grader, and an attractive, well read, man-about-town?

Happy 5oth Anniversary Mom & Dad !!!

2008-04-21T13:30:00.000-07:00

It’s celebration time coming up for my parents. On June 7th they will be celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary. They made it about 39 years longer than I did.

For their anniversary my brother, sister and I wanted to do something special for them. They usually don’t like a big fuss to be made over them but come on, man, it’s their 50th!

We decided to create a menu of gifts for them to make a selection from. On the menu was listed five different gifts and they were told to select one of them. The gifts were things like a trip to Hawaii, a party for 50 of their closest friends, a marriage ceremony to re-new their vows, a cruise, or the last item was Dealer’s Choice where they could chose a trip to anywhere they’d like to go. After a lot of prodding, (I thought they would take the party) they finally decided to take a cruise. This will be a first for them since they have never taken a cruise.

Another treat for them is that my cousin and her husband (they are close to my parents age) decided to go with them. (I thought they’d take the party) They all get along great, she is retired and he a retired Navy officer (used to fly those fighter jets) and they have been on many cruises. My folks will be in good hands.

They’ll be leaving from Tampa and going to the Cayman Islands, some island in Mexico, Belize and the Honduras (what’s wrong with a party?). I was over at their house to book the flight the other night and it was very entertaining. My folks don’t fly too often and it’s been a while since Dad has been on a plane. He wanted a window seat but he also wanted a seat in the exit row for more leg room. The window seat in the exit row looks out over the wing. He doesn’t want to look out over the wing. But he wanted the longer leg room (they should have taken the party). After a few hours of intense decision-making we bought the flights and printed the tickets.

Now we are having discussions like this: “ I saw online that there are a lot of robberies and kidnappings where we’re going”. “Mom, stay with the cruise excursions and you’ll be fine”. “I really have never liked the water, we’ll probably get seasick”. “Mom, we’ll get the wristbands and the Dramamine from your doctor before you go and you’ll be fine”. “What if they won’t let us sunbath on the deck in the nude?” “Dad, leave me alone, I must go and throw up.” (Take the damn party!)

I’m sure they’ll have a wonderful time and want to take another cruise the week after they get back. I am just delighted that they beat they odds and have spent 50 wonderful married years. My kids are lucky; chances are they won’t have to get me anything for a 50th anniversary. But if, by some strange chance I do get remarried and end up celebrating a 50th anniversary….I’ll take the party.

That's How I Roll

2008-04-16T10:46:00.000-07:00

Well, I finally bought a new car. If you remember, my Sebring died about three weeks ago and the engine was kaput. They wanted 6 grand to fix it. I decided to head to Carmax and look at some other sedans. I liked the Chevy Impala and thought that I was going to purchase one but then Ron & Trish strongly suggested that I look into a Hyundai. I found a 2006 Santa Fe with 20,000 and really liked the look but then Dani saw a Ford Escape and we took it out. Did I tell you I hate car shopping? Within an hour I was writing a check and within two hours I was the proud owner of new vehicle. I really like the SUV and it is pretty loaded. I usually but a car with hardly and accessories but this one was hard to pass up. Wish it a long life since I drive them til they're dead!

Tears, Nats and a Dead Car

2008-04-04T07:34:00.000-07:00

This has been a long week. I started off the weekend saying goodbye to Barbara at the airport as she flew to Orlando to finish out the school year. The good part is that she has decided that she’ll be coming back home at the end of May and will be going to school here next year. I can’t wait!

On Sunday Doug Osborn and I had tickets to the National’s season opener and the grand opening of the new stadium. We got to the park around 4:00 for an 8:05 start. The stadium looks great, plenty of good food and extras. The made a huge whoop-di-doo about the opening ceremonies with fireworks, a fighter jet fly-over and President Bush throwing out the first pitch. He’s got a pretty good arm. The game ended with Zimmerman hitting a walk-off homerun in the bottom of the ninth inning with two outs for the win. What a great way to start the season ion a new stadium!

I do have a few suggestions for improvement. By game time the concession lines were extremely long and the filed out into the walkway. They need the zig-zag lines so there won’t be bottlenecks throughout the stadium. I’d also suggest that they make the menus larger and better lit. You can’t see what they’re serving at each booth until you get close the front of the line.

I worked Monday night and Tuesday night and had Wednesday evening off. Unfortunately I screwed up my back and was in a heck of a lot of pain on Wednesday night and had to see the doctor Thursday morning for medication. It’s getting better but there’s still a good bit of pain. It only hurts when I breathe.

Tonight I am seeing an old great friend of mine. David Badzik (he now goes by Van but he’s Dave to me) is back in town from Bainbridge Island, WA. He brought his two boys with him and we’re all going to meet at his sister’s place for a cookout. Good times, good times.

I have a memorial service to sing at tomorrow afternoon at my church and I think that Doug O and I will head to the Arlington Cinema Draft House tomorrow night. Good times, good times.

Oh yeah, one small thing, my car DIED! I was driving down 95 south and the engine just stopped while I was going about 70mph. I was able to get it over to the exit ramp where a man in a pick up truck pulled over and said he was a AAA driver and he’d go get his tow-truck. An hour later thee car was in the garage back in Springfield and the “good news” came. The antifreeze had leaked through the head gasket and it mixed with the oil and screwed up the pistons. To make it simple it needs an entirely new engine for the low cost of over $6,000. Congratulations Purple Heart, you just got yourself a donation! My parents have been extremely kind to let me drive one of their three cars while I shop for a new one. So when you see some hot lookin’ guy cruisin’ around in a dark green Camero, give a wave because that’s me, at least for a little while longer. Good times, good times.

List of Thankful 5 - Day 14 Final Day

2008-03-27T11:39:00.000-07:00

1. Faith – It gets me through everyday.
2. Breathing – Waking up each day, isn’t life grand?
3. Nourishment – Be thankful always.
4. The Bible – It’s worth a read.
5. Love – My children, family, friends, Jesus & God. “..out of all of these, the greatest is love”.

List of Thankful 5 - Day 13

2008-03-27T11:35:00.000-07:00

1. A Good Waiter or Waitress – Doesn’t the whole meal go better when you’re not trying to get their attention?
2. Gasoline – Even though it’s getting more and more expensive at least it’s still available.
3. Bluetooth – Talk and drive with both hands on the whell.
4. Spring – I love seeing the buds on the trees.
5. Being 6’2” Tall – I have said some pretty stupid things to persons and they haven’t tried to punch me out.

List of Thankful 5 - Day 12

2008-03-27T11:25:00.002-07:00

1. Multigrain Bread – I have been buying the 15 grain or the Nutty grain bread.
2. Intervention – The show on A&E. It really tears me up but it shows how families and friends are affected by the addicts.
3. Flavored Creamers – Throw a couple of the Irish Creams into a 7-11 hot chocolate, mmmmmm…good
4. Deodorant – I’m very thankful that some of you use it as well.
5. Refrigerators – Think how lousy it’d be if we had to go out and slaughter a chicken or cow every time we were hungry.

List of Thankful 5 - Day 11

2008-03-27T11:25:00.001-07:00

1. Eyesight – It would be tough without it.
2. Antibiotics – How many lives have been saved over the years because of antibiotics?
3. Flight – 100 years ago who knew we could get around the world in 24 hours?
4. Outback Steakhouse – The steaks are good but try the salmon.
5. Microwave Ovens – Now I can eat my frozen dinners in a few minutes when I used to have to wait 45 minutes until they were not edible

List of Thankful 5 - Day 10

2008-03-27T11:21:00.001-07:00

1. Printers – 20 years ago we couldn’t print or make copies in our homes.
2. Hair – The more I lose it, the more I appreciate it.
3. My Waist – The more I lose it, the more I don’t miss it.
4. Cell Phone Block – Not receiving telemarketing calls on my cell phone.
5. The National Do Not Call List – Very limited telemarketing calls to my home. If you’re not on it, you need to be.

List of Thankful 5 - Day 9

2008-03-27T11:16:00.000-07:00

1. Parents – Who let me borrow their extra car when mine breaks down.
2. Continuing Education – I am constantly taking classes and learing more and more each day.
3. People Who Forgive – Thank you
4. The Lord Who Forgives – Being forgiven without deserving to be forgiven. THANK YOU.
5. The Rain – I love sitting in the car while it’s not running and just listening to the rain hit the roof or windshield

List of Thankful 5 - Day 8

2008-03-27T11:11:00.000-07:00

1. Mass Transit – Even though the Metrorail has a lot of problems it still is sometimes the best way to get around.
2. Nachos – I’m a sucker for them…..and it shows.
3. Trust – It’s a great feeling when you can speak confidentially to someone and know that no one else will hear it.
4. My Bed – It’s always there waiting for me to keep me warm and (sometimes) well rested.
5. Blogs – Let’s see a show of hands, how many people wanted to know what Mark Minnick was doing or thinking 24 hours a day?

List of Thankful 5 - Day 7

2008-03-27T11:03:00.000-07:00

1. Being Able to Sing – God gives each of us skills and talents and we should be thankful for whatever they are.
2. Coke Zero – Doesn’t taste too bad, does it?
3. Education – No matter how far you’ve gone through school, our school system is still one of the best in the world.
4. Corner Gas – Check out this sitcom on TBS, I’m a fan.
5. Police, Fire & EMT – It’s hard to believe that critical help is always just a few minutes away.

List of Thankful 5 - Day 6

2008-03-27T08:18:00.000-07:00

1. Being able to Read – Think about what it’d be like to go through life without being able to read.
2. Clean Water – There are so many places in the world that doesn’t have clean water to drink.
3. Electricity – We flip the switch and 99% of the time the light goes on.
4. Being in Love – When it happens, isn’t it a great feeling?
5. Comfortable Shoes – When Tom Hanks did his first directing job he asked Steven Spielberg for advice. Spielberg’s advice was to always bring an extra set of comfortable shoes on the shoot.

List of Thankful 5 - Day 5

2008-03-18T21:11:00.000-07:00

Love - Being in love with someone you can trust your feelings with.
Love - The love for the closest people in your life, children and family.
Love - The love for your true friends, male or female.
Love - The love of enjoying something that brings you joy like going to the National opening day, seeing a really good movie or playing a hard fought game of Killer Bunnies with great friends.
Love - "Man, I love this restaurant."

List of Thankful 5 - Day 4

2008-03-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

Clothes - Everyday I get up and I have to decide what to wear. We are so blessed to have clothing.

My parents - I know I mentioned them on day 1 but it is so great that I'm an adult and able to enjoy them as friends.

Cable TV - For those who grew up in the DC area may remember channel 4, 5, 7, 9, 20 and PBS on 26. Plus they always played the national anthem while the American flag flew when the turned off the power for the evening.

Instant Communication - Cell phones, computers, text messaging, we no longer have any excuse for not being able to communicate with anyone.

Off Buttons on Cell phones, computers and pagers.

What's your list today?

List of Thankful 5 - Day 3

2008-03-16T17:52:00.000-07:00

Physicians (Dr.s, nurses, EMTs, etc.) - I recently had a scare with prostrate cancer. I had the biopsy amongst other tests and they all came back benign, thank God.

Sunny Afternoons - We have had some beautiful sunny afternoons lately, doesn't the warmer weather feel great?

My Job - My place of employment is extremely busy and the hours get pretty crazy sometimes BUT I get to do different things every day (some very artistic) and have the pleasure of working beside some of the most wonderful people I have ever met.

Lady - My Golden Retriever, she's a year and four months old, sheds all over the house but is a faithful and loving companion.

My Home - There are so many homeless persons in the world and even in our area that we all have to be thankful for a place to stay warm and rest our heads at night.

Add anything to your list lately?

List of Thankful 5 - Day 2

2008-03-15T21:20:00.000-07:00

My friend Helen - one of my dearest oldest friends, there's no one like her and there never will be.
My friend Doug - the man who is always there for me, I said ALWAYS! Everyone needs a Doug in thier life.
My car - Can you imagine what our lives would be like if we couldn't drive wherever we needed?
More food than I need in my kitchen - there are up to 12,000 children who die each day from starvation or malnutritian.
My friends in faith - all those who suppport me with my lifetime faith journey.

What's on today's list for you?

List of Thankful 5 - Day 1

2008-03-14T11:11:00.000-07:00

I heard a speaker this morning at a prayer breakfast I attended and she spoke about being thankful for everything in life. So here it is, for the next two weeks I am going to post each day with 5 things I am thankful for. Some may be small, some may be huge, but I'll be thankful for each.

If you feel so inclined, feel free to comments on what you're thankful for. Here it goes.

Day 1

My family - My daughters, my parents, my siblings and all relatives (this one was a no brainer).
My health - I sometimes try to think how it would be if I wasn't able to walk or see or get out of bed in the morning.
My friends - I have been so blessed with many of you as friends as well as people in my office that I consider dear friends. Life would really suck without you all.
A Sense of Humor - Can you imagine what each day would be like without being able to laugh at yourself with others?
My ex-wife - I know, I know, it may sound strange but I am very thankful to her for the wonderful years we were married and for sharing two lovely daughters with me.

So there it is, my first 5. Check tomorrow for the next 5. What are yours?

Who?

2008-02-12T13:16:00.000-08:00

Hillary

Huckabee?

McCain?

Obama?

It's Movie Time

2008-02-06T12:14:00.000-08:00

I’m all into this poll stuff. Let’s talk about movies! The following are lists of movies in three categories. Let everyone know your favorites, but you don’t have to stick to the list of suggestions I have complied. Let’s hear it, which movies can’t you live without???

Comedies

A Night at the Opera (All Marx Brothers fans knows this one)
Caddyshack
The Jerk
There’s Something about Mary
Airplane
A Fish Called Wanda
This is Spinal Tap
Young Frankenstein
Waiting for Guffman
The Blues Brothers
Groundhog Day
Animal House

Scary Movies

The Shining
Physco
The Exorcist
Halloween
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre
Jaws
The Ring
Alein
The Silence of the Lambs
Saw
Rosemary’s Baby (If you haven’t seen this one, do!)
Amityville Horror
Nightmare on Elm Street

Romantic Comedies

Moonstruck
When Harry Met Sally
Shakespeare in Love
My Best Friend’s Wedding
It Happened One Night (Classic)
Pretty Woman
The Wedding Singer
As Good as It Gets
Sleepless in Seattle
Love Actually

So, what do you think???

What's for Dinner?

2008-01-31T09:52:00.000-08:00

Brandon in his early years

Here's the latest poll: What is your favorite meal for under $15 per person? Where do you get it and what does it consist of? Is it fast food, take out, sit down or at home? Be specific!

What's Your Favorite Number?

2008-01-25T11:26:00.000-08:00

It's Quiz Time Again (This one's easier)

2008-01-03T13:03:00.000-08:00

Let’s start the New Year off with a bang of a quiz that everyone should pass with flying colors. Over the holidays, the lovely Trish whispered in my ear that my quizzes got to be a little too difficult. Well, let’s make a change for just this once and give everyone a chance to answer the entire list of questions correctly!

Are you ready? (As usual, answer all of them first and then scroll down for the correct answers).

Here we go!

1. What is the official name of Washington DC’s National Football League franchise?

2. Name one star of The Bob Newhart Show.

3. What is the name of this blog?

4. Name the first book of the Bible which starts out with “In the beginning…”. (I will also accept the name of Phil Collins old band.)

5. What differentiated Rudolph the Red Nose Reindeer from the other reindeer? (I will also accept the subject of Janine’s rant on the Follow Spot)

6. What soft drink is Diet Coke based on only without the calories?

7. What vegetable do French Fries come from?

8. How do you get your clothes clean?

9. Which is the harder substance, Silly Putty or a rock?

10. Who is one the most handsome eligible bachelors around?

11. What is the capital of the United States of America?

12. Who is credited with inventing the telephone? (See if his name rings a bell.)

13. Which recording artist made the hit album “Thriller” in the ‘80s?

14. Who lives at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, Washington, DC? (It’s also referred to as “The White House”)

15. Who is currently the host of Late Night with David Letterman?

16. What is 10% of 100?

17. Who wrote Romeo and Juliet?

18. In which state does New York City reside?

19. Please explain why it is not a good idea for children to smoke.

20. Why does Jim Lawson have an area on his scalp that doesn’t seem to grow a lot of hair?

Scroll down for the answers.

1. The Washington Redskins

2. Bob Newhart, Suzanne Pleshette, Bill Daily, amongst others

3. Actormann

4. Genesis

5. He had a red nose.

6. Coke or Coke-a-Cola

7. Potatoes

8. You wash them. (If you said you “warsh” them then you got this one wrong. Sorry Minnick)

9. Silly Putty (unless you left it out on the back porch during a winter freeze).

10. This answer can be extensive. Your answer is correct as long as you’ve included “Jim Lawson” on your list.

11. Washington, DC.

12. Alexander Graham Bell

13. Michael Jackson

14. The President of the United States (Currently George W. Bush)

15. David Letterman

16. 10

17. I will accept William Shakespeare or “that guy from England, you know who I mean”.

18. New York

19. I will accept any of the following: it can cause cancer, it has an awful odor, it causes yellow stains on your teeth and fingers, it is a far too expensive habit for a child to be able to afford, it has recently been proven that smoking actually does NOT make you look cool.

20. It is a little known fact that many years ago while a Navy Seal, Jim Lawson was on the coast of Argentina performing a top secret mission to remove the sitting president, Eduardo Al Pacino. While offshore of Buenos Aires, Jim was scuba diving at 23:00 hours in the midst of the murky Rio de la Plata, just off of the Atlantic Ocean. While waiting for his signal to kidnap Pacino he was suddenly struck at the top of his head by a iceberg that was about 3,000 miles off course from it’s natural habitat. Lawson was in a coma for more than two years and when he finally came to at Bethesda Naval Hospital the only scar he carried with him was a 4”x4” spot atop of his skull which no longer grows hair. (I will also accept that Jim has a bald spot.

How did you do? Let me know!

My Hope For You

2007-12-19T08:25:00.000-08:00

As the year comes to a close and we celebrate the birth of Jesus there are a few things that I wish for each of you in the upcoming year. I would like to start off by thanking each of you for stopping by and reading my thoughts every now and then. A special thanks to those who leave comments or send me emails letting me know what they think about the posts.

I hope for each of you that you will feel no pain in the New Year. There are many kinds of pain. I hope that your physical body will answer your every need and request. I hope that your knees will not ache when you get up, I hope that your backs will not be strained, I hope that your head will not ache with migraines, and I hope that your feet will not cause you discomfort. I also hope that you will find no serious illness throughout the year, no broken bones, no cuts or bruises that won’t heal, I hope that cancer will never find it’s way into your body and that all of your organs will continue to work as they were designed to do.

I hope for you that you will be able to afford your needs this year. I hope that each statement that comes to your door you will be able to pay in full in the appropriate amount of time. I hope that no disaster will strike you that will leave you with an empty bank account. I hope that you find yourself with funds left over that you will be able to help support others who are not financially secure. I hope that you will find a place and time in your heart to reach and offer your time and dollars to those who are far worse off than you.

I hope for you that you are inundated with friends. There is no worse feeling than being alone. I hope that you remember that to have friends you need to be a friend. I hope that you remember that friendship is caring, sharing, and being there for others even when they don’t ask you to be. I hope you remember that true friendship is not always waiting for a “thank you” but grateful when you do get one.

I hope that you are able to reach out to your family far and near this year. We are not here forever and neither are our families. I hope that the issues between you and your relatives will be forgotten, there is rarely an issue that cannot be forgiven, once someone has left this world it’s difficult to ask forgiveness for holding a grudge. I hope that you embrace your loved ones both physically and emotionally.

I hope that you have peace with yourself. This is sometimes one of the most difficult tasks to accomplish. I hope that you are not too hard on yourself and don’t try to raise your self-expectations so high that they can never be reached. I hope that you are able to forgive yourself like you’re able to forgive others.

I hope that you are able to feel love; love of a partner, love of a child, love of a friend, love of a parent, just love. I hope you let yourself love and let yourself be loved. I hope that you find that even though love can hurt it can be the most wonderful feeling and it can help to heal wounds.

I hope for you that you find a renewed faith in our fellowman. I hope that in that faith you can grow your faith in an ultimate being. No matter what your faith is or if you have no faith at all, I hope that you will be touched this year and come to know that there is a Savior who loves you and you can become closer to that One.

I hope, no, I pray that you find all of these in 2008. Thank you all for being a friend and I know that my life would be very different if I had never met each one of you. May God bless you and have a great Christmas, Hanukah, Kwanza, winter break or whatever you celebrate and a happy New Year!

Jim

Tis The Season

2007-12-06T13:46:00.000-08:00

Okay, Let's hear it! Share with the reading audience the following:
1 Your favorite Christmas Movie?
2 Your favorite Christmas TV show?
3 Your favorite Christmas hymn?
4 Your favorite non-faith Christmas song?
5 Your favorite Christmas cookie?
6 Your favorite Christmas present you've received?
7 Your favoriate Christmas present you've given?

An Advent Video

2007-12-04T09:36:00.000-08:00

Here is a video I was part of for our church. It is part one of four for the Advent season. We did the enire thing in our offices with the excellent work of our Director of Film, Mark Rosera. I'd love to hear your comments. - Jim

Can You Answer These?

2007-11-19T07:42:00.000-08:00

Quiz Time

Here's a truncated quiz for the holidaay week. Try to answer them all before you scroll down for the answers. Good luck and let me know how you did in the comment area or by email!

1. How much is a gross?
2. Who is the governor of California?
3. What are the California’s Governor’s chances of becoming president in 2012?
4. Which Christmas movie did George C. Scott appear in?
5. Who owns the Washington Wizards?
6. Who is the governor of the commonwealth of Virginia?
7. In the Andy Griffith TV show, name three guest stars who went on to star there own shows or movies.
8. What year did the Magic Kingdom open, Disneyworld? (within 2 years)
9. Who is the governor of the state of Maryland?
10. What was the original name of Exxon?
11. Can you name four Central American countries?
12. What is Ruth Wakefield, who ran the Toll House Inn, known for?
13. Who is the starting quarterback for the Washington Redskins?
14. Who played the lady in When Harry Met Sally who delivered the classic line, “I’ll have what she’s having”?
15. What is the shortest day of the year?

Scroll Down for Answers

Answers
1. a dozen dozen = 144
2. The Honorable Gov. Arnold Schwarzeneggger
3. Zero – he is not a natural born U.S. citizen
4. A Christmas Carol – 1984
5. Abe Pollin
6. The Honorable Gov. Tim Kane
7. Bill Bixby, Jack Nicholson, Bob Denver to name a few, I know there were many more, these just came to the top of my head.
8. 1971 (October 1)
9. The Honorable Gov. Mark O’Malley
10. Esso
11. Belize, Costa Rica, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, Nicaragua, Panama
12. Inventing the chocolate chip cookie
13. Jason Campbell
14. Rob Reiner’s (the films director) mother.
15. Winter Solstice, December 21st.

Can You Do All Of These?

2007-11-08T06:15:00.000-08:00

I put together this little list of things that I think that most people over the age of 21 should be able to do. Let me know if I'm off base on any of these. How many can you do???

1. Start a successful fire in a fireplace, at a campsite, and in a barbecue (yes, you are allowed to use matches)
2. Sand and finish or stain a piece of furniture
3. Create a blog on Blogspot
4. Set a VCR or DVR
5. Throw a spiral
6. Tie a necktie
7. Parallel park in three movements
8. Dance on a dance floor without looking like an idiot (this is up to other’s discretions)
9. Use chopsticks without going hungry
10. Swim one lap
11. Perform the Heimlich maneuver
12. Use a compass and a map to get yourself out of the woods
13. Wrap a present with creases (putting it in a gift bag does not count)
14. Change a flat tire
15. Jump-start a car
16. Check the oil in your car and add a quart if needed
17. Open a champagne bottle
18. Cook a Thanksgiving, Christmas, Easter meal for four by yourself
19. Snap your fingers
20. Whistle (no matter how bad it may sound)
21. Take digital pictures and download the to your computer
22. Play poker
23. Sew a button
24. Iron a shirt or blouse
25. Change a baby’s diaper
26. Keep a plant alive for more than a year
27. Read a map and get from one destination to another
28. Perform CPR
29. Write a quality letter of recommendation for a friend
30. Find a stock quote in the newspaper or online and know what it did yesterday.
31. Know one stock joke and be able to tell it in front of a group
32. Hard boil an egg
33. Hammer a nail without it bending
34. Fry an egg and flip it without breaking it
35 Know the lyrics to the National Anthem (I didn’t sy you have to be able to sing them)
36. Recite The Pledge of Allegiance

Quiz #3 ( A little Easier Than The First Two)

2007-10-23T09:29:00.000-07:00

I’ve been getting some feedback that the quizzes have been a bit too challenging, not for everyone, but for some. So here is my solution; starting with today, I’ll do a quiz every so often that won’t be as difficult for the masses.

Here we go, you know the procedure, try answering all of the questions before scrolling down to see the answers, and please refrain from using Google.

1. What was the major interstate that went from Maine to Florida before interstate 95 was built? (Hint – it is still there, some of you live near it and the Lazy Susan Dinner Theater is just off of it.)
2. Who was our 16th president?
3. Name two “superhunks” that guest starred and played boyfriends to Rachel & Monica on Friends.
4. What is the capital of New York?
5. Tom Hulce played Pinto in Animal House. What breakout role did he play in the Oscar nominated movie where he played the title character in 1984?
6. What’s the last book of the bible?
7. What is the square root of 144?
8. Thurl Ravenscroft played the voice of Tony the Tiger for over 50 years. What song did he sing in a classic Christmas cartoon?
9. Name the two longest rivers in the US.
10. Name four of the Little Rascals.
11. What is the tallest building in Washington DC?
12. Name the two undefeated teams in the NFL today.
13. What is Virginia’s state bird?
14. What is Maryland’s state bird?
15. Who was Popeye’s girlfriend?
16. Who will be taking over the Tonight Show when Jay Leno retires in 2009?
17. Why do firemen wear red suspenders?
18. Can you remember Jim Lawson’s birthday from the last quiz?
19. Who brought ‘sexy back”?
20. Name the two main Washington DC Newspapers.

scroll down

keep scrolling

just a little ways further

the answers are coming

here they are

Answers
1. Rt. 1
2. Abraham Lincoln
3. Bruce Willis & Tom Selleck
4. Albany
5. Wolfgang “Amadeus” Mozart
6. Revelations
7. 12
8. You’re A Mean One, Mr. Grinch in the Grinch Who Stole Christmas
9. The Mississippi and the Missouri. Most people think the Mississippi is the longer of the two but the Missouri is actually longer by 210 miles.
10. Buckwheat, Spanky, Alfalfa, Darla, Steimy, etc…
11. By law, it is the Washington Monument BUT the cross on the National Cathedral is just a little taller. The Washington Monument is 555 tall.
12. The New England Patriots and the Indianapolis Colts
13. The Cardinal
14. The Baltimore Oriole
15. Olive Oyl
16. Conan O’Brien
17. To keep their pants up.
18. January 21st
19. Justin Timberlake (Jim Lawson is also acceptable)
20. The Washington Times and the Washington Post

Breaking News!!!

2007-10-11T10:08:00.000-07:00

News Flash
October 10, 2007 11:49 p.m.
Plato's Resort

Lawson on a day off

Jim Lawson, Man About Town, decided to take a well deserved break from his hectic schedule for a little rest and relaxation. Seen here, Mr. Lawson is enjoying himself at the world famous Plato’s Resort. As usual, his throng of beauties accompanies Lawson just about anywhere he goes. “Don’t you love their little outfits?” asked Lawson to the hordes of paparazzi who were waiting for him at the main door to the resort.

When asked to comment on his bachelorhood Lawson replied, “It’s not really what it’s cracked up to be. Keeping company with a different woman each night, never having time to enjoy the little things in life like mowing the lawn, cleaning the garage, taking out the trash, you know, all of the things that help to keep us grounded.” “I envy all of those men who are married and have to come home to their wives each night, each and every night, every single solitary night, every blessed god-forsaken night”. The world-renowned entrepreneur then wiped a single tear from his eye.

As the paparazzi agreed with Lawson he returned to the executive “Socrates” hot tub with his entourage in-tow.

TAKE THE QUIZ 2 !

2007-10-08T11:19:00.000-07:00

That's right, with Joey's suggestion I have made the quiz a reoccurring feature (until I get bored with it). As always, try to take the entire quiz before scrolling down to see the answers. Good Luck and let me know how you did on this week's quiz!

Quiz 2

1. What is the name of the country in now in the news that used to be called Burma?
2. What did Chandler have that was “extra” on his body?
3. What local diva fell down the stairs while playing the title character, “Mame” at the West End Dinner Theater in the late ‘80s?
4. What portion of land did Seward’s Folley represent?
5. The tagline, “They’ll never get caught. They’re on a mission from God.” Is from which movie?
6. What is a prime number?
7. Which Maryland actor, who also worked in Virginia, became a reverend after a life-changing incident?
8. What is the Pillsbury Doughboy also known as?
9. What was Reagan National Airport before it was an airport?
10. Which characters did Joe Dodd play in the famed production of Peter Pan at the West End Dinner Theater?
11. Who wrote the song, “It’s Rainin’ Men”?
12. What year was the Berlin wall “officially” torn down?
13. What was the occupation of Ralph Mouth’s father?
14. Which Metrorail station has the longest escalator?
15. When is Jim Lawson’s birthday?
16. Who was Jesus’ 2nd cousin who died while Jesus was starting his ministry?
17. What was the name of the dog who portrayed Sandy in WEDT’s production of Annie?.
18. Who was originally cast to play the Tin Man in the Wizard of Oz?
19. Who began developing Columbia , Maryland in 1963?
20. What company do Jim, Pam, Dwight, Michael, Toby, and Ryan The Temp work for?

Answers Below
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Answers

1. Myanmar
2. A third nipple
3. Jean Anne Kane (sorry if I misspelled)
4. The Alaskan Territory
5. The Blues Brothers
6. A prime number is a natural number which has exactly two distinct natural number divisors: 1 and itself. Ex: 2, 3, 5, 7, 11, 13, 17, 19
7. Rev. Rob McQuay
8. Poppin’ Fresh
9. Most of it was underwater and 20 million cubic yards of sand & gravel were moved onto the site in 1938.
10. Nana & The Croc –ooooo, scarey!
11. Paul Shaffer of the Late Night fame.
12. 1990
13. He was a wise-cracking dentist.
14. The Wheaton station’s escalator is 230 feet and takes 2minutes and 45 seconds to ride.
15. January 21, and speaking of Jim, you can still see him as Pseudolus in A Funny Thing Happened On the Way to the Forum until October 28th.
16. John the Baptist (Mary & Eilsabeth were first cousins)
17. Rocketman – named after Elton John’s hit.
18. Buddy Ebsen (Jed Clampett)
19. James Rouse of The Rouse Company
20. Dundler Mifflin, Inc.

TAKE THE QUIZ!

2007-10-03T12:41:00.000-07:00

Here is a 20-question quiz. Take it and let me know how many you got right. The answers follow the quiz but try to take it without Googling the questions. Good luck!

1. Who is the Secretary of State?
2. What was Billy The Kid’s real name?
3. Who Played Judd in the original cast of Okalahoma? (hint – he also played Benjamin Franklin in the movie 1776)
4. What instrument did Antonio Bullock play in high school?
5. Which team lost the first Super Bowl?
6. Which state is known as the “Beehive State”?
7. How did George Bailey lose partial hearing in “It’s a Wonderful Life”?
8. Who had the neighbors George and Martha Wilson?
9. Who is Fiona’s voice in Shrek?
10. Who fought in the war of 1812?
11. Where is Roosevelt Island?
12. What was the win-loss ration for your Washington Nationals for the 2007 season?
13. Finish the lyric: McDonald’s is your kind of place, hamburgers in your face, French fries up your nose, milkshakes all over your toes. McDonald’s give me my money back before……… ?
14. What was the address of the West End Dinner Theater?
15. What was Burn Brae’s address?
16. Who was Robert Simpson Petrie’s boss?
17. Why did Radar O’Riley leave the 4077?
18. Who will win the next presidential election?
19. Where will Mark Minnick be for the next month?
20. What is the world’s population (take a guess)?

How well did you do????? Let me know in the comments section.

Scroll down for the answers.

Answers
1. Condoleezza Rice
2. William H. Bonney
3. Howard Da Silva
4. The trumpet
5. Kansas City Chiefs
6. Utah
7. He jumped in the ice water to save his brother.
8. Dennis the Menace (or the Mitchell’s)
9. Cameron Diaz
10. The United State and Great Britan
11. In the Potomac river between Washington DC & Virginia
12. 73W – 89 L
13. …I have a heart attack, McDonald’s is your kind of place.
14. 4615 Duke Street, Alexandria, VA 22304-2505
15. 3811 Blackburn Road, Burtonsville, MD 20866
16. Alan Brady
17. His uncle died and he was now the man of the family and had to go back to the farm to take care of his mother.
18. ???
19. China
20. 6,602,224,175

Let me know how you did!

Life at 45

2007-09-25T11:17:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I find it hard to believe that I am actually 45 years old. I don’t feel that I’ve lived long enough to be 45 years old. Think about it, when you were a kid and your parents were around my age, or someone who worked with your folks, or someone who was at your church was 45, they were respected and were considered grown up. Yes, it’s true that I have raised children, own a home, traveled all over our world, held rather prestigious positions but I still feel like I haven’t grown up. How are you supposed to feel in your middle age? Aren’t you supposed to feel that you are a secure member of society, accomplished wonderful things that have helped our community? I think that’s the way my folks felt but maybe they had the same insecurities that I have accumulated. How in the heck will I ever retire? Will I still be dancing around in a toga or pulling a cart through a Russian/Jewish town for a group of blue hairs on a Sunday Matinee when I’m 70? Will I even get to 70?

So, here I am with all of these questions about being 45 and the irony is that they really don’t matter because January is just around the corner and with January comes 46. The truth is that being 45 is probably the greatest age yet for me. If you had told me when I was 25 that each year would get better I would have never believed you. For those of you who are not 45 yet, get ready because it’s a blast and for those of you who are older than 45, I look forward to having the fun that you’re enjoying right now. Ain’t life grand?

Help Me With My Selections!

2007-09-18T10:36:00.000-07:00

Here is my Netflix Queue. What is missing from my list, any suggestions? What should I drop?

A Shot In The Dark

Dr. Strangelove

Being There

Harold & Maude

Schindler’s List

Apocalypse Now

The Deer Hunter

A Streetcar Named Desire

The Shawshank Redemption

Saving Private Ryan

Shaving Ryan’s Privates (seeing if you were actually reading these)

Sophie’s Choice

Broadway – The American Musical Parts 1, 2 &3 (Documentary)

Modern Marvels – Disney World (Documentary)

The Departed

Babel

The Break-Up

Munich

The Italian Job

Garden State

The Producers

The Painted Veil

The Pursuit of Happiness

The Nativity Story

Pay It Forward

Crash

Failure To Launch

The Illusionist

Mystic River

Capote

Masada

Get A Life (TV Show)

The Heartbreak Kid

10 Things That I Don’t Really Care For

2007-08-31T13:57:00.000-07:00

Once again, in no particular order.

1. Raw Onions, that’s right, raw onions. I can certainly enjoy onions cooked into a sauce or a dish but I have never liked onions on a sandwich or in a salad. I can go for an onion ring every now and then but please keep out of my potato salad, etc. Oh yeah, I don’t really care for them grilled, no onions on my steak and cheese.

2. People who have just gotten a little bit of power and they think that they’re now a ruler. I don’t have any examples, and if I did, I wouldn’t say it here. But I’ve worked with a few over the last 25 years and it’s sad to see a good person who is in the position of power who lets it go to their head.

3. Drying off a wet dog. I know that this is controversial but I hate taking my dog out in the rain and her getting dirty & wet and mussing up the floor and carpet. Then, when I try to dry and clean her paws she thinks that it’s time to wrestle. Usually she wins. I hate when that happens.

4. Waiters who disappear when it’s time for your check. How often does it happen when you’re out to eat at any type of restaurant and the server is has been very attentive but you’re ready to pay and hit the road……no waiter! Where do they go? Don’t they want to turn over the table and get my butt out of the seat so they can wait on others and make more cash? You’d think so, it happens to often to be a coincidence. It never happens in dinner theater because you’re on a such a tight schedule.

5. Getting the first few drops of water on your food when a ketchup bottle is turned upside down. You’re at your favorite eatery and they serve the best fries, you turn the bottle over and you have now ruined a good four or five fries. I know, I know, “shake the bottle first”, but sometimes I forget.

6. Cashiers who don’t speak or never say, “thank you” when you pay them. Since I am giving them my money don’t I deserve a “thank you”? Sometimes I’m an ass and when I hand over the money and they are silent I say, “Thank you…oh, that’s right, you’re the one who’s supposed to say thank you.”

7. Drivers who use exits ramps to pass stopped traffic on I95. They maybe pass 20 40 cars, are they really going to get there faster than me? Are they more important than the rest of us drivers? Maybe they are, at least they think they are.

8. Leaky showerheads. I have a showerhead in the girls bathroom and have tried all that I can think of to stop the drip, drip, drip. I guess it’s time to bit e the bullet and call the plumber.

9. It is inevitable that when I cook a nice dinner and sit down to enjoy it the phone will ring within the first four to six minutes. It could be my folks to thee Queen of Sheeba but someone always calls. I’m not saying I don’t want those calls but how do they know when I’m about to eat? It’s not like I eat at the same time everyday.

10. Lists of 10 things. When will all these people stop creating lists of things they love or things they hate? Come on people, I think someone else atrted doing it back in the early 80’s. Can’t you come up with something new?

10 Things That I Really Like (In No Particular Order)

2007-08-23T08:24:00.000-07:00

1. My Kids
I think it should go without saying (but I must say) that I like doing anything with my daughters. They are full of energy, life and are both very bright and humorous. Just sitting around the house with them is a joy. Going to events, shopping, church or just playing around makes my day. There’s a lot of love here.

2. Outback Steakhouse
Funny that something about food would be near the top of my top 10 list. I am an original kind of guy; I like the Outback Special, (nine ounces is enough for me) medium well with a side of baked potato with butter and sour cream. I usually get the house salad with Thousand Island dressing and no onions. I’ll also get an order of sautéed mushrooms on the side to share with anyone at the table. I like the seasoning on the steak and the bakes potatoes come out nice and crusty.

Most recently I have been ordering the grilled salmon with steamed vegetables. I like the sauce that comes with it and I usually don’t order a salad if I have the salmon. Who ever thought that fish would be more expensive than a steak?

If am with people who order an appetizer then I'm happy to enjoy the Cheese Fries or the Bloomin’ Onion. Funny, I don’t care for onions but the Bloomin’ Onion or onion rings are okay with me.

3. Baseball
There’s nothing like going to a baseball game. I love watching the game and playing the game. It probably goes back to the days when my I played Little League and my dad was very involved by coaching and umpiring, We used to play catch in he backyard just about every night. He would help me with my throwing, fastballs, curves, etc. It was a great way to spend time together. Even after I graduated from Little League I still helped my dad coach my brother and even put in some umpiring time myself.

I really love the green grass when you first walk into a stadium or onto a field. A baseball park or field holds something magical for me. As a spectator I love watching the game while eating a hotdog. I don’t care for the large dogs; just the regulars are fine with me. Funny how I brought it all back to food, isn’t it?

4. Flying
There are times when I have to fly for business and it can be a pain in the rear with all of the hustle at the airports but I do love being able to take off and soar in the air. I always request a window seat that is not situated over the wing because I like looking out the window at the ground below. It’s always exciting to me when I fly to the west coast and we fly near or over the Grand Canyon. When I flew to Israel last year we flew over the Italian Alps and it was fascinating.

Because of business I used to have to travel to Las Vegas a good bit. One Friday morning as I was scheduled to leave Vegas I got the airport and they told me that my plane was overbooked. They gave me a free roundtrip ticket and a few other things but the next flight was the Red-Eye at midnight. I went back to the strip and decided to take a helicopter tour of Vegas and the Grand Canyon. It was a costly trip but I got to sit in the co-pilots seat of a turbo jet copter. We took off from the strip, headed through the desert, flew over Lake Mead and Hoover Dam and then headed to the Canyon. It was terrific flight with the pilot taking us all through the canyon, following the Colorado River and climbing up the walls of the canyon. It was breathtaking.

Another memorable flight experience was when Mike Tilford, an old Kaiser Permanente buddy, and I decided to go parachuting. We registered for a half-day class at Harwood Paracenter and proceeded to learn how to jump out of a perfectly safe plane. We decided that the tandem jump would be the best for us. We jumped out the plane at 8,500 feet and free fell for 5,000 feet until we opened our chutes at 3,500 feet. It’s hard to explain the feeling you get when you do something like that. I had a lot of fear when I was stepping out of the plane but once we were falling all fear left me. The only time I felt unsafe was when I was about 200 feet from the ground and was getting ready for the landing. All went well when I landed on my feet, dropped to one knee like I was kneeling and then stood right back up. I suggest you try it once!

5. Traveling
I love going places that I have never been before. If I could, I would do mission work about seven months a year and travel all over the world. I have been fortunate enough to do mission work in Mexico, I have been to Guatemala, France, Germany, Austria, Italy and last summer I went on a Pilgrimage with 20 or so other friends to the Holy Land, Israel and Palestine. There’s a chance that we’ll be going back again next summer but instead of just being a tourist we will have the opportunity to actually get dirty and do some mission work.

6. The Office
I don't mean sitting behind my desk, but the TV show The Office. I really enjoy each episode and so do my girls. They enjoy it so much that they've purchased each season on DVD. After the first season NBC switched it to Thursday nights, which is the same night as my choir rehearsal so I would always miss it (No TiVo here). Then Dani started to download it on her iPod and she’d let me watch the episodes that I’d missed. I’m sure you’ve all seen it but it is still a good show.

7. Singing
I’ve been very blessed that I have been given many opportunities to sing. My earliest memory of singing was when my dad would get out his guitar and my mom and us kids would sit in the living room singing. It just sort of took off from there. As a child I sang in the chorus at school and the choir at church. In high school I wasn’t able to fit the class into my schedule but I was able to sing in the Madrigals and was even lucky enough to make State Choir my senior year. I’ve been singing in shows and at church ever since. I really love singing in the choir and it doesn’t matter what style of music. I don't have to be singing in front of anyone, I just get a real kick out of singing.

7. Breasts
Enough said (although, preferably on a female).

8. My Family
For some reason the older I get the more I enjoy my family. My daughters are the main joy in my life but I am referring to my parents and siblings. There was a point sometime in my early 30’s that my parents no longer were my parents but became my friends. I’m not sure if the change was in them or with me but a whole new relationship opened and I am ever more blessed because of it. My brother and I have also become extremely close over the last ten years. He is always there when I need something and I hope that I am there for him. I have also grown a great respect for my older sister. We weren’t that close when we were younger but as she (and hopefully I) have matured I really have come to know a wonderful person in her. I admire her individuality and tenacity.

9. Driving
Don’t get me wrong, I don’t care for driving in all of the DC Metro traffic each and everyday but what I do enjoy is driving in areas that doesn’t seem to have the traffic that we do here. My real estate agent whom I bought my house from 14 years ago still sends me a newsletter that she sends to all of her clients each fall. In that newsletter she has a different fall driving tour through the hunt country in Virginia. There are usually a few versions of the tour; one which lasts about 3-4 hours and one that has you spending the night at a Bed and Breakfast. The drives are beautiful as the leaves are turning and there are rarely any other drivers on the roads. That’s the kind of drives I like to take.

10. Being Involved With My Church
It may sound corny but my relationship with my faith and my church has grown leaps and bounds over the last ten years or so. There have been many situations that have come and gone and I feel that I have been able to weather those storms because of my faith. I don’t mean to be preachy because I really don’t feel that comfortable when someone starts to get preachy with me but I know that I am loved and will always be taken care of. I have a Lord and savior. And that’s a pretty darned good feeling.

There you have it, just some things that I like, I could go on and make the list 20 or even 100 but 10 are enough for today.

Forum Opens With a Lot of Fun!

2007-08-08T08:49:00.000-07:00

The last few weeks have been pretty busy and tough. Tech week at the Riverside was relatively smooth which I think can be attributed to a few different things. The changeover Sunday evening stayed on schedule, which made for a easy tech rehearsal Monday evening. Kudos to the tech staff.

The costumes were pretty much complete by Tuesday night so we had no problems with that addition. Wednesday night was a final run without an audience and without stopping. It's a huge help that the set is a one unit set with only two pieces of furniture brought on during the show. Talk about an easy process.

The Riverside has a tradition of letting their annual subscribers attend the final dress rehearsals on Thursday night of changeover week. In my past experience they usually get between 10 – 15 people but this time we had around 40 which was actually helpful, we pretty much knew which lines were funny but it always helps t hear the audience’s reaction.

Friday was opening night; Dani and Barbara decided that they wanted to be there. We had approximately 80 people, which isn’t too bad for August, which is often the slowest theater time of the year. Even with only 80 people the audience was great. Saturday’s house was about double and the show really had the opportunity to shine. I got a few opportunities to stop the show ands work with the audience for a while, I think I’m getting the feel of it.

Steven R. Hayes will be performing Pseudolus on Wednesday matinees since I have conflicts with my job at The Perspectives Group. So if you’d like to see me in the show drop by on Thursday, Friday, Saturday or Sunday. Speaking of The Perspectives Group, the President and Principal, Crystal & Doug Sarno, have graciously decided to invite our whole office and spouses/significant others to come and see the show on Sept 8.

I really think that it’s a good show, the cast all seems to be on top of things, Steven R. has done a fine job of directing and has been very open to suggestions (a big help), Ron Wheman is the producer and the musical director. I really think that Ron gets the most out of an ensemble musically than anyone I have ever worked with.

Let me know if you’d like to come and see the show. I get a cast price, I’m not sure how much of a discount but everything helps. Email me and I’ll get the info for you, actormann@aol.com See you at the show!

2007-07-26T08:03:00.000-07:00

Life has been such a whirlwind lately but I’m sure it’s no different from any of you. My new job has been taking up a lot of my evening time as well as my day hours. We are working on a couple of really interesting projects which take a good bit effort and time.

The first project is to end homelessness in Fairfax County within the next ten years. We are working with the Fairfax County government and task forces to create a ten-year implementation plan to present to the county Board of Supervisors by the end of September. The board will then vote on it and if it passes then they will put the plan into motion and we’ll be on our way to a non-homeless county. It may sound easy but there is a ton of work to do.

Another project we are working on is the four new Metro Rail stops approved for Tyson Corners and how the town will be effected. What will Tyson’s look like over the next 25 years and how will everyone live and move about. The majority of the meetings with the public and committees take place in the evening since that is their free time so it’s taking a bit of a toll on me. But, once again, a good cause.

I also just got back last night from Chicago where I visited FermiLab which is a Department of Energy site and the home of the world’s largest accelerated collider. There is one being built at CERN in France, which makes this one obsolete so FermiLab is working on getting an ILC (International Linear Collider. The collider will be a 9-10 meter tube, which will run for 20 miles. The kicker is that the tunnel will be placed 300 feet underground. I am working with the public task force to try to figure out how to make this 20 billion dollar investment work.

Honestly, I never thought I’d be writing on my blog about linear colliders and homelessness.

Dani has been at Tricities work camp this week with her youth group from church. They sleep on the floor of the gymnasium of a community college in Petersburg, VA and go out in teams of seven each day to rebuild and work on people’s home sin the community who are in danger of being condemned (he homes, not the people).

Dani returns Saturday and so excited about getting ready to leave for college on August 21st. Before she goes to school she’ll go visit her mother for a few days in Florida. It’s been awhile since they’ve seen each other.

Barbara is doing well and has had the opportunity to spend thee night with my folks while I was in Chicago. My parents have two new Bichon Frise puppies so I think she enjoyed herself. She’ll be going to Florida with Dani next week to get ready for the 5th grade.

I have been working very hard to try to learn my lines for the show I am doing, A Funny Thing Happened on the Way To the Forum. Tech week starts this Monday and I am busting my butt to get the lines down b. I have missed so many rehearsals because of the work I am doing in the evenings but I think I’ll be ready for opening night, Friday, August 3rd. The show is at the Riverside Dinner Theaterand Conference Center in Fredricksburg, VA. Let me know if you are interested in seeing the show. I will be performing Thursday nights , Friday nights, Saturday nights and Sunday matine's. The show runs through October 28th.

I know I said that I would post pictures but I am always at the wrong computer when I have a free minute. They will be coming soon!

What's up?

2007-06-26T11:14:00.000-07:00

Life’s been a little hectic lately but just as exciting as ever. I spent the week, last week, in Oak Ridge, Tennessee facilitating for the Department of Energy. They’re in the middle of a program for the last few years in which they are attempting to bring federal employees together from all of their facilities across the country to write procedures, which all employees can follow. And you thought you had an exciting week.

On Monday I drove to Reagan, left my car there and flew into Knoxville on US Air. My car wasn’t ready at the Enterprise desk so they ended up giving me a brand new minivan/4x4 thing that was actually fun to drive. It’s about a forty-minute drive from Knoxville to Oak Ridge with hardly any traffic even during rush hour. I stayed at the local Double Tree, which I’ve stayed at before (you know, the place that gives you a warm chocolate-chip cookie when you check in).The work at the DOE was one the boring side but the people from all over the country were nice and easy to work with.

While I was gone, Dani and Barbara were home with our Golden Retriever, Lady. They spent most of the days at the pool with friends and in the evenings my folks stopped by a to have dinner with them but the most exciting evening for them was when they had a sleep-over at my brother’s house. The highlight of the evening was when they sat down to watch the DVD of the Simple Life, season four. My brother Bill was an unwilling participant.

When I checking my flight prior to coming home on Friday I realized that my return flight came into Dulles instead of Reagan, I really should have paid closer attention. I think from now on I am going to purchase my flights directly from the carrier instead of going through Travelocity and such. Fortunately, Bill came to the rescue and picked me up at Dulles and drove me back to Reagan during Friday rush hour. He will surely get into heaven because of that.

A dear friend of ours from church passed away and his funeral service was held Saturday. His name was Francis Gipson, an African American in his 80’s. The reason I mentioned that he was an African American is because of the impact he had on so many people with his life stories. Francis was one of the first troops to land on the beaches in Normandy with his all black platoon. As he found himself lying in the sand while so many other soldiers around him were being killed he prayed this one little prayer that has stuck with me, Thank you Lord, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Jesus, Thank you Lord. Whenever I don’t know what to say in a prayer I go back to Francis’ prayer.

Mr. Gipson was also a college football player who, I am told, would have been drafted into the NFL if he was white, he was that good. Francis left a huge impact on all that he met whether it was shaking their hand or helping someone out. He also help to start the Men’s choir at church 16 years ago. Thee men’s choir sang at the funeral service and I was also honored to be asked to sing a solo, Amazing Grace. Francis started asking me to sing at his funeral about nine years ago, I kept telling him to take his time.

On Saturday night Barbara and I took Dani to Dulles after her dance recital so she could fly to Florida to see her mom for a day or so before she met her friend Marikaa as they set sail on their cruise to thee Bahamas! On Sunday Barbara and I headed back to Dulles so she could visit her mom in Florida for the week while Dani was gone. I am sick of Dulles. I got pictures from Dani’s phone on the ship and I am sure she is having a fantastic time.

Rehearsals for A Funny…Forum are going well. I’m having a great time working again with my friends John Hollinger and Steve Hayes but man, oh man; I have a heck of a lot to learn before this thing opens. I’m doing a lot of yelling in the show; I hope my voice holds out. The show is at the Riverside Dinner Theater in Fredericksburg and runs from the beginning of August through October. I’ll be doing most of the Thursday show plus Friday & Saturday nights and Sunday matinees.

Dani is coming back on Saturday in time for us to go to orientation at Shenandoah University on Monday and then we pick up Barbara on Monday night. That’s right, DULLES!

I promise I’ll post some graduation pictures and such coming up soon!

A Few Thoughts from Jim

2007-06-07T06:37:00.000-07:00

A plug for Mark Minnick’s blog and his latest interview with a dear old friend, Anita O’Leary (http://thefollowspot.blogspot.com/) but don’t go there until you’ve read and commented here first.

I am thoroughly enjoying my new position at The Perspectives Group in Old Town. I have been working with them for a few months now and the schedule is daunting. The main project I am working on now is with the Fairfax County Board of Supervisors as they implement a plan to end homelessness in the county within ten years. It’s pretty aggressive but I have been working with about 100 government, nonprofit, faith-based organization, and private company employees who are all a lot smarter than me. There’s a huge group of citizens who devote a lot of volunteer time to work on this issue. The people whom I work with at The Perspectives Group are also fantastic in their own right. It’s a real blessing for me that I am now part of their team.

Dani has her senior prom tomorrow night at the Key Bridge Marriot. She’s going with a large group of seniors from West Springfield High School in a huge limo. She doesn’t know a lot of the kids but I think she’s going to have a great time. There will be a picture taking opportunity at one of kids houses so I’ll post a few shots of her and the rest of the group in a few days.

What comes after prom? Graduation! Dani is so excited to be graduating and to be able to move on to college. She really would have liked to have skipped her senior year and have gone straight to college because she felt she was ready and was done with high school. Her graduation will be held at GMU’s Patriot Center on June 13th. Barbara and I ,my folks and brother and sister will be there as will her adopted uncle Doug. Her mom will be flying up from Florida for the festivities, Mary’s folks will be there as well. After graduation Dani will be taking a cruise with one of her dearest friends, Marikaa and her grandparents. Then Dani comes back for a mission trip to Mississippi/Katrina followed by another mission trip to Tri-Cities which she has done for the past six years. After all of her travels she and I will be going to orientation at Shenandoah University at the beginning of July.

So, you may ask, “Jim, how are you going to keep yourself busy over the summer, other than with your job, taking care of the house, taking care of a puppy, etc?” Well, Ron Wehman and Steven R. Hayes asked me to come down to Riverside DT in Fredericksburg to play Pseudolus in a Funny Thing Happened on the Way to the Forum. It’s a role I have always wanted to do but because of my work schedule I didn’t think it was a good idea. Compromise, my friends, compromise. They said that since I couldn’t do all of the performances that I could do the Friday night, Saturday night and Sunday matinee shows. Also, some Thursdays when I don't have work conflicts. That works out great for me and for Steve since he’ll be playing the role when I’m not on and he has done it before. I’m excited that I get to do the show with some old dear friends especially John Hollinger. John and I started doing shows together at the Lazy Susan about 24 years ago. John’s a great guy but I don’t understand how he has aged and I haven’t. The show runs through August, September and October. I have a ton of lines and lyrics so I have to get my butt in gear.

Today is my parent’s 49th anniversary! I can’t tell you how happy I am for them. I’m not sure what they’ll be doing to celebrate but I do know that I have to start planning for next year. How can they celebrate a 5oth without their kids throwing them a huge party?

Barbara is going to a week of summer camp while she’s in Florida this month. So far they have gone to Chuck E. Cheese, the movies, and had Ice Cream day. Whatever happened to outside sports, arts & crafts, etc? Anyway, she seems to be enjoying herself. We went shopping for a phone for her to add her on to the Family Plan with Dani & myself. I wanted her to be able to call me whenever she wanted to without always asking to borrow her mom’s phone. She’s now the coolest nine year old since she has the Strawberry Chocolate phone, ooooooo.

My friend Doug Osborn, who is a Major in the US Army, is finally back in the area. Over the last three years he has been sent to Iraq ( a few times), Afghanistan, and for the last nine months he has been stuck in Rock Island, IL . The nine-month job was supposed to last a month and a half. But he is back and finally able to sleep in his own bed. It looks like he’ll be able to stay here for a good while. He has also added a new member to his family. He adopted a pug puppy named Sammy who has been his traveling companion for the last few months. They look just like each other.

Speaking of puppies, our golden retriever, Lady, will be seven months old next week and is growing like mad. She really is a great girl but there is no doubt that she’s still a puppy. You have to watch her all of the time just so she doesn’t get into things she’s not supposed to. She and Dani have become great pals, I’ll post some new pics shortly.

That’s about it from the Lawson. Have a great day and God Bless!

My New Job!!!

2007-05-10T07:45:00.000-07:00

I am very happy to say that I have accepted a new position with a firm in Old Town, Alexandria, The Perspectives Group. I had been doing consulting work for them while I was on my job search. After a few weeks the owner and the principal asked me to join their team as the director of business development and a senior facilitator. After a few weeks of mulling it over I decided that it would be a great fit for me and. The are a husband and wife team whom I have known for awhile from my church. We even went to Israel and the Holy Land last year together, an awesome couple.

In my position I am reaching out to primary contractors for us to sub-contract with them as well as sending in bids for federal, state and local RFPs. The Perspective Group is a small woman owned firm with a strong value based work ethic. They enjoy working on large contracts and there is nothing wrong with making a good living but they believe that when you do make a good living it is because you have an obligation to do work for those who are in need of help. It’s a job that I can be proud of.

Fairfax County government has proposed to eliminate homelessness in the county within ten years. The have hired us to facilitate creating the action plan with large work groups to make this idea come to fruition. It’s really great working on projects that are honorable.

I am back in the same neighborhood as I was when I was with PCIA a few years ago so I know a good amount of people in the area. On my second day I walked to a local lunch pick up spot called Perfect Pita. While I was ordering my salad (yes, a salad, can you believe it, I’ve lost 24 pounds in the last month and a half) when my dear friend Kevin Doyle came up and put his arms around me. Kevin only works a block away from my office so I hope we’ll get to see more of each other and have lunch every now and then.

2007-04-18T04:58:00.000-07:00

Heavenly Father, bless those who have been so tragically affected by this catastrophe. Please be with those who were injured, those who have died and their family and friends. Comfort those who are grieving including the gunman’s family and let everyone know that there is relief and healing in Jesus Christ. Through His name we pray, Amen.

We All Live In A Yellow Submarine

2007-04-15T12:17:00.000-07:00

Me and Will Lee (Late Night w/David Letterman)

My great friend Doug Osborn treated my brother Bill and I to a great concert last night at the Warner Theater downtown in DC. Ever hear of the Fab Faux? It’s a Beatles tribute band made up of pretty well known musicians for the New York area. There spin on the tribute band is that they use the exact instruments, speakers, amps, and microphones. They play the songs EXACTLY as the were originally recorded including the exact sound effects, you know the Beatles always added little sounds on their songs.

The group was started by Will Lee and Jimmy Vivino. Will is the blond bass player for The Late Show with David Letterman, Jimmy is the guitarist for Late Night with Conan O’Brien. The rest of the band has a resumes a mile long and has played and recorded with just about everyone. The also had a horn section that included Tom “Bones” Malone who was the trombonist for the Blues Brothers in the movies and on tour in the Blues Brothers Band which Paul Shaffer lead with John Belushi & Dan Ackroyd which I saw at Merriweather Post back in the early ‘80s.

I got to meet the band at a Meet & Greet afterwards since I had VIP tickets. All of the musicians were great to talk with and were ready to spend the time to actually have a conversation. All in all, a pretty cool night.

Guess Who Replaced Don Imus!!!!

2007-04-13T19:19:00.000-07:00

That’s right, I was in the right place at the right time. Rev. Al is an old friend of mine and about a month ago he asked me if I’d be interested in replacing Don Imus on his show. I told him that I had a snowball’s chance in hell of replacing that lizard-skinned fart on the radio. Can you believe it, the old Rev. came through? But he never could have done it without my uncle Jessie. I want to thank them both for proving that two men who have seriously tainted backgrounds can yell loud enough to make the whole country think that a travesty has happened. Thanks buddies! I never liked Imus and think he’s a pompous ass but in the words of Mr. King, “Can’t we all get along?”

Actually, this is a pic of me in the recording studio as I am doing voiceover work for books on CDs. That’s right, that CD you purchase at your local truck stop probably has my voice on it. Let me know if you’d like yours autographed.

Some Pics of Lady

2007-04-09T19:41:00.000-07:00

Here is Lady, our new Golden Retriever puupy. She's almost five months old and just lost her first tooth. Question...should I put it under her pillow tonight?

Happy Easter & What's Been Going On With Jim?

2007-04-08T18:27:00.000-07:00

First and foremost, Happy Easter, He is risen indeed. My day started with rising at 5:20 am and getting to church to sing at the sunrise service by 6:20. I sing in a praise band as well as play percussion instruments. I then sang in the choir for the next two services. We had a full brass section, the pipe organ, our hand bell choir and timpani for the last two services. I must say that the music sounded fantastic and as usual on Easter we end the services sing the Handel's Hallelujah Chorus. After church my family all came over for dinner. We had ham, scalloped potatoes, green beans, hot cross buns and a peach pie for dessert. The afternoon ended with climatically with our new puppy jumping up on the kitchen counter and flipping the pie onto the floor and devouring half of it. Happy Easter!

Back to the puppy. Yes, the golden retriever that I mentioned in a past post has been adopted by me and the girls. Her name is Lady and she getting close to five months old. She was a Christmas gift to my folks by my sister. What is that rule about never giving a live animal to someone for a gift if they don't know their getting it??? Anyway, Lady has grown large enough to hop over my parents backyard fence and they live on a road with a lot traffic. They were concerned that she would get hit so two weeks ago she came to our place for a visit and decided to stay.

Lady is really a lovely girl, she's all blond and is learning the Lawson household rules very fast (except for pie eating). The girls and I really love her, my folks miss her but are here often to play with her.

You may have seen on Mark Minnick's blog that I am on Nutrisystem. I started two weeks ago and so far I've been making progress. My goal is to lose at least 40 pounds and I have no doubt that I'll be able to do it. I tried this diet for the first time about 14 years ago and I lost 42 pounds in 12 weeks. It's not that difficult, you just have to strictly stay on the diet.

I recently made a professional move regarding work. My position was eliminated at TCM and am in the process of transitioning into a new position. In the meantime I have been doing consulting work for The Progressive Group. When a door closes, a window opens. The Progressive Group is owned by two members of my church whom I traveled to Israel with last year. They are great people and needed someone with my experience to facilitate programs for their clients. I am also doing voice over/recording work for books on CDs which I used to do when I did theater full time.

Hip, hip, hurray! Dani was accepted to Shenandoah University to major in education and minor in dance. She is so excited to go there in the fall and I am excited to return to my male prostitute days to pay for the unbelievably exurbanite costs of a private school. It's like buying a nice new car every year. BUT, she was accepted and that is the main thing, I am so proud of her.

Okay, that's enough catching up for now. I will be posting more frequently and get back into the groove. I missed you all. Much love.
Jim

Outlaw Reunion

2007-02-13T08:51:00.000-08:00

Last Saturday night my girls and I met up with my ex-brother-in-laws at Dave & Buster’s in White Flint.

Rick & Michael

It has been at least three years since Rick Rohan and his son Christopher and the Lawson’s have seen each other. It’s been almost nine years since Michael Replogle and I have been together. The three of us call ourselves the Outlaws as opposed to the in-laws. We all were married to three sisters and subsequently were divorced. I thought I’d pop up a few photos of the evening.

The Cousins - Chris, Barbara & Dani

Michael is remarried and has a five year old son. He has been teaching musical theater in the Fairfax County school systems at Fairfax High School for the last seven or eight years. Rick is producing books on tape (I guess they’re CDs now) for a good while and even has his 20 year-old son, Chris, working at the same studio. They gave me a sample of their work, not too shabby! Rick hasn’t remarried but is in a long-term relationship. As for me, not near the alter again but when the right lady comes along I’m sure I’ll be ready.

Rick, Michael, Barbara, Jim, Chris, Dani - We'll always be family!

Another Christmas Present????

2007-01-17T12:32:00.000-08:00

With all of the Christmas gifts put away I would be remiss if I didn’t mention one gift that was not for me. As a matter of fact it wasn’t even for my girls, it was for my parents.

My older sister, Diane, told my parents that her gift to them wouldn’t be able to be picked up until near the end of January. Well, the time has come and they picked up the “present” two nights ago. Here she is!

It’s an eight week-old Golden Retriever. Her name from the breeder is Vixen; the litter was named after the Santa’s reindeer. I don’t think my folks will keep the name Vixen but we are all giving them our suggestions for a new name.

She’s an adorable little lady who still needs some work on her potty training and my mom called me around 11:00 pm the other night asking if this would go on all night. In the background I could hear the yelps of a puppy that was laid down to sleep in her cage. We have experience raising a puppy Golden Retriever when 13 years ago we got Brandy on her eight-week birthday. There is nothing better than having a Golden and no better pet for a family with kids. Dani has been putting the bug in my ear about us needing a new puppy but Barb has been a little hesitant. Barb and I were with Brandy when we had to say goodbye to her over a year ago. I can certainly understand Barbara’s feelings.

Barbara thinks that my folks should name the puppy Lucy or Shelly. Dani thinks that since she is a blond she should be named Vanilla and called Nellie. My mom said that she liked Gretchen (huh?) and my brother suggested Trudy since she is intruding on my folks other two dogs and cat.

You can’t debate it, she’s terribly cute and fun to play with….but I get to say goodbye to her and go home when I’m done playing with her. New puppy for the Lawsons??? Hmmm, maybe one day.

You Mean He Actually Posted Something???

2007-01-05T11:38:00.000-08:00

Okay, here is a very eclectic post. The first picture is of my little Barbara running out of school to greet her daddy. Barb is now a patrol and has on her first set of spectacles. Que chic!

Here is where my staff had their holiday lunch. None other than the Laurel Racetrack where race number three was named after our association (hence the title).

And they're coming down the stretch……

I bet on the nag with three legs. What was I thinking? This is how I lost all of our Christmas account. Why do I feel like Homer Simpson?

If I had won money they would have let us eat lunch inside the clubhouse. This is where we ate our horsemeat sandwiches.

How did your office or workplace celebrate???

How Was Your Christmas??? Mine was Great!!!

2006-12-27T07:39:00.000-08:00

What a great Christmas we had! On Christmas Eve the girls and I went to church for both of the 6:00 & 9:00 services. Dani choreographed a liturgical dance that she and her friend Emily presented at the services. They were fantastic and I had a lot of people tell me that they were great. I'm not too proud, am I?

I sang in the choir at both services, I sang a solo called Who Will Come This Win’try Night? which James Taylor recorded on his Christmas album. Scott Seifried, our choir director, accompanied me on the guitar and his arrangement was great, it made it so easy to sing. At the late service the choir sang On A Starry Night, a real pretty piece.

We got home around 11:15 Christmas eve and Barbara immediately put out cookies and milk for Santa. We were out of carrots so she made a plate of apple slices for the reindeer. Up to bed with everyone, prayers said and then to sleep. Barb was out in about 10 minutes.

At 8:30 am Barbara came into my room and told me to get up, I asked her why and yelled, “It’s Christmas!" She then proceeded to jump up onto Dani's loft bed to wake her up. We all trod downstairs to a living room where underneath the tree was filled with gifts. After we opened our stockings the girls insisted that I opened the first two gifts. The first was a large wrapped box with a long note on it. The note went on to say that "this was the best gift in the world, a gift that keeps on giving, no other gift has ever been given that anyone enjoyed more, ever!" Folks, this is what I opened....The Magic Bullet! My girls have been hooked on the Magic Bullet infomercial and love the old lady who has a cig butt hanging out of her mouth. Quesadillas in 7 seconds, chicken salad in 6 seconds, mixed adult beverages in 5 seconds, anyone?

My second gift was a collage that Barbara had made for me from school with pictures of wonderful things and biblical saying about the Christ child being born. It had many things about love and I will cherish it forever.

After opening way too many gifts we cleaned up the wrappings and got ready for my family to come over at noon. My mom, dad, brother, sister and niece all made their way to our place and we enjoyed a delicious brunch. We had ham, turkey, rolls, sweet potatoes, fresh fruit & veggies, breakfast casserole. We were all smiling by the time we were finished eating.

We then proceeded to open up way too many presents that my whole family exchanged. We always go too far with the gifts but we have a fantastic time and I can't think of a better family that I would want to spend time with. There was a ton of love in my living room.

I then took the girls to see their mother, Mary, and her family. I then got to spend some really good time with my brother Bill and my friend Doug. We had a nice dinner and decided to see A Night At The Museum. The movie was pretty good, not too crowded but enough people that you didn't feel alone.

Back to the house after the movie, a little more cleaning up and then off to bed with a smile because of the knowledge that I didn't have to get up at my usual 5:15 am. I hope your Christmas was wonderful one!

Oh, The Places I've Been

2006-12-14T08:48:00.000-08:00

So many people chose to travel when it comes to the holidays. Some travel for business, some to get away from it all and some to visit loved ones. I thought I’d share some of my recent journeys with you.

Last Friday I drove on the Washington Beltway. This “superhighway” is known as Interstate 95 and Interstate 495. Confusing? Sometimes, but an experienced metropolitan DC driver can learn to navigate this modern monster.

It’s hard to believe that even though most humans have two good legs to walk on inventions are still being created to help us transport ourselves. I came across this device at a local Metro station. It is called an escalator and it helps you to go from one level to another. One bonus to this newfangled contraption is that it may be used for rising or lowering. The escalator still has some bugs to be worked out as it stopped while I was riding down and I was stuck for almost three hours before they got it started again.

Stop beating your clothes against a rock down at the creek! As I opened my mail yesterday afternoon I was regaled by an envelope from someone I had never met or even heard of. A person named Coupons Express sent me approximately 45 short missives, which informed me of offerings that local shopkeepers were making (I think the offers were only to me). I’m not sure why I was selected to receive these “specials” but obviously I had done something in the past to warrant this honor. The one that immediately caught my eye was for a new business that is called Dry Cleaners. I know what you’re thinking, “that’s an oxymoron!” Much to my surprise, they actually clean your clothes inside! The system is fascinating, you bring your clothing to their place of business, hand them over to a nice Asian woman and she asks you when you would like to pick them up.

I must admit that I was skeptical about whether my clothes would have that fresh “just-beaten-on –a rock-in –the-local-stream” look. When I picked them up I was astonished, not they only look cleaner than when I wash them but they were dry to boot! Additional bonus alert – If you smile at the nice Asian ladies they will give you free plastic wrap that is hung on your clothes. I’m not sure what the plastic wrap is for but I found a nice use for it when I glued it to the outside of my windows, it’s insulation time folks!

As the sun was going down, my body needed rest after such an exciting day so I wrapped myself up in my raccoon coat and snuggled in for a good sleep. Wow, modern technology has really jumped leaps and bounds since the wheel was first invented. Where will it ever stop? Now if only someone would invent a way for me to be able to go to the bathroom indoors I’d be a happy man.

The Old Guys Are In An Old Show

2006-11-22T11:38:00.000-08:00

I had a great time last Monday evening. Joey Whalen, from Janoose Productions fame, has gotten a group of rag-tag performers together to recreate one of the old West End Christmas Shows for a one time shot at the Workhouse Arts Center at Lorton. The show will take place on Saturday, December 9th at 4:45 p.m.

It was great seeing old friends like Caren, Ron, Laurie, Antonio and Ryan. The inimitable Ms. O’Leary and Electa will join us at the next rehearsal. Anita didn’t need to be at the first rehearsal since she was present at the birth of Christ and knew most of the songs as they were being written.

I’ve known some of these friends for over 20 year and I must say that they haven’t changed one bit. We all have a full head of hair, haven’t gained a pound and still have most of our original hips. The choreography has been toned down in this production and I’m not sure why. No one had trouble getting down on one knee for the Sleigh Ride number and three of us were able to get up without help. The Mistletoe Wheelchair Ballet should be the highlight of the performance! Although I do think that Joey should have spent a little more money and gotten the electric wheelchairs. Those gas-powered ones make so much noise but damn, are they fast!

Feel free to drop by for the performance on the 9th. By then, well have the batteries replaced in our hearing aides and should be able to stay in tune. Check out the web site for directions, www.lortonarts.org
Happy Thanksgiving!

Trick-Or-Treaters Who Came to My House 5

2006-10-31T17:39:00.000-08:00

Trick-Or-Treaters Who Came to My House 4

2006-10-31T17:20:00.000-08:00

Trick -Or-Treaters Who Came to My House 3

2006-10-31T17:15:00.000-08:00

Trick-Or-Treaters Who Came to My House 2

2006-10-31T17:10:00.000-08:00

Trick-Or-Treaters Who Came to My House 1

2006-10-31T17:02:00.000-08:00

Daylight Savings Time

2006-10-29T04:50:00.000-08:00

I sing at two services every Sunday morning and get up pretty early for a weekend but, man, oh man, it was great getting the extra hour of sleep this morning because of the outdated Daylight Savings Time change. It was originally created for farmers to get an extra hour of work in from their children because of the days getting shorter. What is the percentage of kids working on farms today? I would venture to say not that many but I sure do love that extra hour. Oh yeah, I'll be hating life in the spring when it's time to "spring ahead" the clocks and lose the hour. But at least I can enjoy it today!

Please Forgive

2006-10-16T05:45:00.000-07:00

I know I have been remiss about creating new posts, we all have a ton of stuff going on in our lives so I won't use that as an excuse. More will be coming soon, thank you for your patience.
In the meantime, please enjoy these pictures of Scarlett Johanson and Brad Pitt and myself.

Are You Ready For Some Football???

2006-10-11T10:14:00.000-07:00

If you don’t read the sports pages regularly you may not have noticed that my fantasy football team won its first game this past weekend! Halleluiah, it’s finally happened! Now I can boast of a 1-4 record in the All Smack Talk Fantasy Football League. Let the smackin’ begin!
Stay tuned; I’ll keep you posted on how great of a win we have this weekend.

Here Comes The Bride

2006-10-02T08:54:00.000-07:00

About two weeks ago I received a call at my office while I was in the midst of trying to complete three or four projects on time. The call came from a young lady who said that she and I used to sing together in a group of high school age people back in my youth group days called Christ Messengers. Now, I remember the group with tremendously found memories but I didn’t remember the woman’s name. She explained that she was four years younger than I so that should be the reason for me not remembering her (that, and not seeing her for over 25 years).

She went on to explain that she was getting married in two weeks and she would like me to sing at her wedding. The wedding was to take place at the same church, which I still attend. I checked my calendar to see if I had anything special happening on the day and it looked clear. I asked her what music she would like and she said that anything that I liked would be fine. I thought that it was a little strange but I figured I’d go through all of my music that I’ve sung at weddings and make a nice selection.

Jump ahead 10 days. As I am driving home from picking up Dani from her dance classes one night it hits me, I have a wedding to sing at in a few days and I haven’t even thought about looking for music. After getting home and going through the old stand-bys for weddings I thought that since I was able to choose which music to sing I would take advantage of the situation and sing something that I really liked. I decided upon I Chose Right from Baby. Even though I love this song (and musical) the song has some history for me. My ex-wife Mary and I used to listen to this musical when we were engaged and I Chose Right was our first dance at our wedding. I have to let the cat out of the bag; I am a big sentimental fool. I even tear up at McDonald’s Christmas commercials and don’t even get me started on Extreme Makeovers Home Edition.

I sent the lyrics to the bride-to-be and never heard anything back from her. I don’t understand brides; just because it’s a few days before the wedding they think that they are too busy to spend a lot of time with us peons. Anyway, I made it to the wedding, ran through the song with the accompanist and it felt pretty good. I was out in the hallway before the ceremony and I was introduced to the groom. He looked at me and said, “I know you. I used to have season tickets for the West End and I think I’ve seen every show you’ve done there.” He was very pleased to have me singing at his wedding, a nice surprise.

The wedding went great and the song went just as I had hoped. I was glad that I could share a song that brought me a lot of joy. (Oh my gosh, I am so corny) Afterwards I spoke with the bride (I still didn’t recognize her but she was beautiful, all brides are beautiful, aren’t they?) and mentioned to her that her husband told me that they had been to West End many times. She rolled her eyes and said “Oh, that was his ex.” Glad that I was able to bring up his ex at her wedding.

I didn’t go to the reception but had a few couples come up to me in the narthex of the church saying how much they missed the West End. It really did bring pleasure to many people, not just us actors.

Gonna' Get Midieval On Your ***!

2006-09-27T20:06:00.000-07:00

With my oldest daughter, Dani, joining her friend and his family on a trip to Busch Gardens, Barbara and I decided to take the day and trek across the state line and fall back about 500 years to the Maryland Renaissance Festival. I’ve been a few times before but I’ve never encountered a crowd as large as this past Saturday. The place was jammed with actor-wanna-be’s dressed in medieval costumes and to top it off, it was Pirate weekend! Not that it was a bad thing, it actually was quite fun and even my little Barb decided to rent a Maiden costume.

Someone tell me who this woman is, what she is doing and why she encouraged me to take her picture (yes, that's her legs behind her head).

Of course there was royalty at the fair!

The fair should last a few more weeks, if you have a day I suggest you check it out especially of you’ve never thrown axes, knives, shot arrows, eaten a huge turkey leg and been yelled at by common street whores. Huzzah!

7th Grade Essay

2006-09-20T20:03:00.000-07:00

Essay
By
Jimmy Lawson

Mrs. Henderson’s 7th Grade Class
Period 3

To Kill a Mockingbird
By Harper Lee

As you finished reading To Kill a Mockingbird what message do you think the author, Harper Lee, wanted the reader to take with them? Your essay must be at minimum of 300 words.

When my wonderful and talented teacher strongly suggested that we read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, published in 1960 (the same year my mother was born), I thought, “What a wonderful idea! There is nothing better for a 12 year-old student to do with his free time than read a wonderful book like To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, published 1960. (62 words)

As I read To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, published in 1960, it took me back to a wonderful time in my life when I was a young boy. I was watching an episode of Charlie’s Angels where all three of the angels were arrested and thrown into a women’s prison where they all had to take showers together and a man who was a guard sprayed them with a hose but he wasn’t a real guard because he was hired by one of the bad guys that the angels were trying to catch so they went undercover and got arrested so they could be in the prison posing as prisoners to catch the bad guys, it was really wonderful. The leading lady in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, reminding me of Farrah Fawcett when she was trying to make the warden of the prison fall in love for her because the leading lady in To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, was a lady too. Many ladies like to try to get men to fall in love with them, sometimes they don’t even care what the men look like, but if he has a lot of money she probably thinks he is really handsome. (208 words)

The message that Harper Lee who wrote To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee, published in 1960, wants us to take with us is men and women should try to be nice and wonderful to each other. Bosely was always wonderful to each of the angels and that is a good way to be. (54 words)

Do I get extra credit for 324 words?