[Cue the music]
These are a few of my favorite things (or more like every single thing):
-Bacon
-Glitter
-People with a purpose
-Tea cups
-A Man In Uniform
-Ambition
-Did I say bacon already?
-Browsing through stacks of used books
-My niece Vanessa
-Christmas time with my family
-Hugs from my brothers
-Singing with my mom and sister
-BIG sparkly earrings
-The fact that my family and friends don’t look at me strange when I tell them what I am going to do with my life
-NPR
-Getting packages in the mail
-Coffee with a packet of hot chocolate
-World of Warcraft
-Martha Stewart Magazine
-Decorating for the Holidays
-Sushi
-Anything Wizard of Oz
-Ebay
-Collecting books
-Talking to people
-Cross-stitching
-Blankets
-My puppies
-Getting pictures developed
-Making cakes
-A sense of accomplishment
-Writing stories people enjoy
-Good quotes
-I am rarely afraid
-My three best friends
-Reader’s Digest
-History (WW2 in particular)
-Smelly candles
-A newly clean house
-Finding old friends on MySpace
-Reading blogs
-Singing
-Finding an amazing musician
-Someone telling me they love me
-Leading
-Proving someone wrong
-Waking up next to someone I love
-Sleeping in
-How I feel after a shower
-That my hair is 1 trillion colors
-Having money to shop
-Getting emails/comments/etc
-Being left alone
-Being in a crowd of those I love
-Loving how I look now
-Sunglasses
-Glittery nail polish
-Hobby Lobby/Michael’s
-Wilmington, NC
-Any book by Isabel Allende
-Raspberry tea
-People who are loyal to me
-Caller ID
-Bright colors
-People that take responsibility for their actions
-After Christmas sales
-Green Chili
-Tattoos (on guys)
-Someone that doesn’t lie
-Girls that aren’t crude
-Ranch Doritos
-Carbohydrates
-Clean clothes
-Giving some I love something nice
-Sonic Cherry Limeade
-People who don’t judge
-I can hold my own in any situation
-Jim Beam Barbeque Sunflower Seeds
-Getting a new shirt I look good in
-Being with my sisters
-Scotland
-My grandma Bonnie’s paintings
-My grandma Rose’s food
-Books on tape
-24
-Snopes.com
-Perfume
-Kind people
-Tiramisu Cheesecake
-A Man that will defend my honor despite the fact that I am perfectly capable of protecting it on my own.
-Teaching myself a new song on the guitar.
-Someone who has had it rough/gotten their ass kicked by life/has been betrayed/been humiliated that doesn't use it as an excuse to be ridiculous and selfish, but instead got up/is getting up, dusting off and ready to take it all on again and show everyone how it pays to lose the victim mentality.
-Jack Black
-Lucrezia Borgia
-Christian Siriano, because he is so effing Ferosh.
-Mother Theresa
-A girl that doesn't think it's cute to play dumb and dress slutty.
-Zana Briski
-Hiro from Heros
-David and/or Amy Sedaris
-Garrison Keillor
-Craig Ferguson
-Anyone that has served/is serving our country, so I can hug you and thank you for being my hero.
-Isabelle Allende
-Shane Coyczan (pretty much the only poet I will ever listen to. Like ever)
-Stephen Colbert
-Princess Diana
-Jamie Cullum
-Conan O’Brien
-Sarah Jessica Parker
-Judy Garland
-JRR Tolkein
-Someone with a purpose... other than drinking beer.
-CS Lewis
-Sherryl Jordan
-Kevin Smith
-Whoever made that movie "Drop Dead Gorgeous"
-Nick Frost
-Any Muppet, but especially Pepe
-Oprah
-The people who keep making/funding/directing/starring in the Scary Movie/Epic Movie/Date Movie movies so I can smack them.
-Lori Mckenna
-Someone that likes glitter more than me
-Lori Moore
-Dave Berry
-Douglas Adams
-The friends I haven't met face to face yet
-Lindsay Buckingham
-God (not now of course)
-Amy Winehouse
-Dale Carnagie
-Anyone of the Artists/Authors/Actors on my favorites list
-Simon Cowell
-Shia LaBeouf
-Anyone that has ACTUALLY finished the book “House of Leavesâ€. Seriously. Don’t lie. You probably own it, but you definitely didn’t finish it.
-PJ O’Rourke
-Paula Poundstone
-People that know how to take a joke/comment in the intent it was given. AKA: Not hyper sensitive to everything.
-Perez Hilton
-Dwight Schrute and his cousin Mose
-Daniel Day-Lewis
-Natalie Portman
Amazing Quotes For Various Reasons:"But all the wickedness in the world which man may do or think is no more to the mercy of God than a live coal dropped in the sea."
-William Langdon-
"I'm shopping for a life jacket so you can continue your trip in denial."
-J. Goss-
"The mind has a dumb sense of vast loss–that is all. It will take mind and memory months and possibly years to gather the details and thus learn and know the whole extent of the loss."
- Mark Twain-
"I feel God in this Chili's tonight."
-Pam Beesly-
"You are only responsible for you."
-JC-
"...What does that have to do with anything?"
-Brad Duncan-
"Only weak people make excuses for their short comings."
-Unknown-
"My face in thine eye, thine in mine appears, And true plain hearts do in the faces rest; Where can we find two better hemispheres Without sharp north, without declining west? Whatever dies, was not mix'd equally; If our two loves be one, or thou and I Love so alike that none can slacken, none can die."
-Tristan & Isolde-
"Pain is inevitible, but misery is optional."
-Unknown-
"Blessed are those who mourn. For they shall be comforted."
Matt 5:4
"He died to make men holy. Let me die to make men free."
-Unknown-
"Don't complain. Just work harder."
-Unknown-
"Who you run with is who you become."
-Unknown-
"Take responsibility."
"Silence is evil's closest ally."
-Gary Amirault-
"Excuses are tools of the incompetent, and those who specialize in them seldom go far."
"Bad excuses are worse than none."
-Thomas Fuller-
"He that is good for making excuses is seldom good for anything else."
-Benjamin Franklin-
"Excuses are the nails used to build a house of failure."
-Don Wilder-
"Do Nothing, Say Nothing, Be Nothing."
"The real man is one who always finds excuses for others, but never excuses himself."
-Henry Ward Beecher-
“Love will find a way. Indifference will find an excuse.â€
"Forgiveness means that you've decided not to let it keep festering inside even if it only comes up once in awhile."
-Doc Childre and Howard Martin-
"Forgiveness is me giving up my right to hurt you for hurting me."
-Anonymous-
"Forgiveness is the final form of love."
-Reinhold Niebuhr-
“Man’s character is his fate.â€
-Heraclitus - (c.540-480 BC) Greek philosopher
“The keenest sorrow is to recognize ourselves as the sole cause of all our adversities.â€
-Sophocles-
“People who shut their eyes to reality simply invite their own destruction, and anyone who insists on remaining in a state of innocence long after that innocence is dead turns himself into a monster.â€
-James Baldwin-
“Don’t ever let them pull you down so low as to hate them.â€
-Booker T. Washington-
"I am like a sword, and life is the forge. To be made a strong sword, I must first be heated in flame then have the crap beat outta me."
-Tom Molone-
"Hard work beats talent, when talent won't work hard."
-Tracey Eaton-
"...Anyone can live for one more minute."
"Real friends stab you in the front."
-Oscar Wilde-
“The mullet giveth, and the mullet taketh away.â€
-JLC-
“Man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them.â€
-Broderick Crawford-
“Man must cease attributing his problems to his environment, and learn again to exercise his will - his personal responsibility.â€
-Albert Eistein-
“ Many of life's failures are men who did not realize how close they were to success when they gave up. â€
-Thomas Edison-
“ My great concern is not whether you have failed, but whether you are content with your failure. â€
-Abraham Linclon-
“A person who aims for nothing is sure to hit itâ€
-Unknown-
“Sanity is not statistical. Stupidity isn’t right just because a lot of people are doing it.â€
-Greg Duncan-
“If life was fair, there wouldn’t be a food chain.â€
-Unknown-
“Familiarity breeds contempt.â€
-Unknown-
“The only difference between a grave and rut is that a rut doesn’t have ends.â€
-Unknown-
“I have enough trouble overcoming my own limitations without fretting over the fact that God has not seen fit to distribute evenly the gift of intelligence.â€
-John Wanamaker-
“Criticism is futile, because it puts a person on the defensive and usually makes him strive to justify himself.â€
-Dale Carnagie-
“All visions start out as a burden.â€
-Dr. John C. Maxwell-
“Your friends, and their opinions don’t pay your bills.â€
-Unknown-
“No one ever wins an argument.â€
-Dale Carnagie-
“Failure is not the opposite of success. The opposite of success is to quit.â€
-Greg Duncan-
“The cowards never began. The weak died along the way. Only the strong survived.â€
“Don’t confuse your friends for qualified opinions.â€
-Dean Kosage-
“A leader never raises himself above his people except in responsibility.â€
-Unknown-
“Difficulty is the excuse history NEVER acceptsâ€
-Edward Murrow-
“Basic strategy: If your enemies know where you are, don’t be there.â€
-Dogma-
â€It’s not stress that kills us, it is our reaction to it.â€
-Hans Selye-
“We either make ourselves miserable, or we make ourselves strong. The amount of work is the same.â€
-Carlos Castaneda-
“We weren't meant to be alone. We need other people. We need a friend. We need a gang. We need a family. Hope is real. Help is real. Hope is real. Help is real..â€
-Jamie, Founder of To Write Love On Her Arms-
“Have NO opinion where you have NO responsiblity.â€
-Dr. John C. Maxwell-
“One of the most important ways to manifest integrity is to be loyal to those who are not present. In doing so, we build the trust of those who are present..â€
-Dr. Stephen Covey in 7 Habits of Highly Effective People-
“When we were children, we used to think that when we were grown-up we would no longer be vulnerable. But to grow up is to accept vulnerability... To be alive is to be vulnerable.â€
-Madeline L’Engle-
"Even in literature and art, no man who bothers about originality will ever be original: whereas if you simply try to tell the truth (without caring twopence how often it has been told before) you will, nine times out of ten, become original without ever having noticed it. "
-CS Lewis-
"An explanation of cause is not a justification by reason.â€
-CS Lewis-
"No one ever told me that grief felt so like fear. "
-CS Lewis-
"An explanation of cause is not a justification by reason.â€
-CS Lewis-
"El me canta en mis sueños, Mi Amor secreto. "
-Unknown-
“If we aren’t capable of being hurt, we aren’t capable of feeling joyâ€
-Madeline L’Engle-
Musicians that are worth their weight in gold (i.e.: Actually possess talent):
-Adele
-AFI
-Alanis Morrisette
-Alison Krauss & Emmylou Harris & Gillian Welch
-Alkaline Trio
-Amy Lee
-Amy Winehouse
-Andrew Bird
-Azusa
-Avalon
-Billy Joel
-Boston
-Brand New
-Cake
-Cameron Goss
-Carrie Underwood
-Celine Dion
-Chris Brown
-Collide
-Cursive
-David Grey
-Dido
-Dixie Chicks (whether you like them or not)
-Esmee Denters
-Esthero
-Five Iron Frenzy
-Flight of the Conchords
-Flogging Molly
-Foo Fighters
-Gary Jules
-Gnarls Barkley
-Heart
-Imogen Heap
-India Arie
-Ingrid Michalson
-James Taylor
-Jamie Cullum
-Jason Mraz
-Jeff Buckley
-Jennifer Knapp
-Jill Scott
-John Mayer
-Johnny Cash
-Jonathan Coulton
-Jose Vanders
-Justin Timberlake
-Kanye West
-Katy Perry
-Kimya Dawson
-K.T. Tunstall
-Leona Lewis
-Linda Rondstat
-Lindsay Buckingham of Fleetwood Mac
-Linkin Park
-Lori Mckenna
-Mindless Self Indulgence
-Michelle Tumes
-Modest Mouse
-Mos Def
-MUSE
-Nelly Furtado
-Nichole Nordeman
-Nightwish
-One Republic
-Owen Pallett
-Paramore
-Pillar
-Pink
-Plain White T’s
-POE
-Rebekah Del Rio
-Rhianna
-Riley Armstrong
-The Roots
-Tenacious D
-Third Day
-Three Days Grace
-Three Doors Down & Bob Seger
-Tift Merrit
-Timbaland
-Tracey Chapman
-Sia
-Sick Puppies
-Skillet
-Spill Canvas
-Steven Curtis Chapman
-Sting
-System of a Down
-The Strokes
-Sufjan Stevens
-Weezer
-Weird Al Yankovich
-Yeah, Yeah, Yeah’s
-Yoav
-Yo Yo Ma
-Zero 7
Everything is better with a Muppet in it.
-300
-21 Grams
-Across the Universe
-AvP
-An Evening with Kevin Smith 1 & 2
-ANYTHING with a Muppet in it
-A Walk To Remember
-Batman
-Batman Begins
-Born Into Brothels
-Braveheart
-Catch and Release
-Clerks
-Closer
-Coming to America
-Conan the Destroyer
-Constantine
-Curse of the Golden Flower
-Dark Knight
-Diary of a Mad Black Woman
-Dirty Dancing
-Dogma
-Donnie Darko
-Dracula: Dead & Loving It
-Drop Dead Gorgeous
-Elf
-The Ernest Movies, particularly Ernest Scared Stupid
-Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind
-Father of the Bride
-Garden State
-Ghostbusters
-The Goonies
-Hancock
-Hero
-In America
-Jar Head
-Jay and Silent Bob Strike Back
-Juno
-Kill Bill
-Kiss, Kiss, Bang, Bang
-Last of the Mohicans
-Life Is Beautiful
-Lone Star State of Mind
-LotR
-Mallrats
-Memiors of a Geisha
-Momento
-Mona Lisa Smile
-Mulholland Dr.
-Nacho Libre
-The Never Ending Story
-The Ninja Turtles
-The Notebook
-Pan's Labrynth
-Predator
-The Prestige
-Reno 911!: Miami
-Saving Silverman
-Schindler's List
-Shaun of the Dead
-Shrek 1-3
-Signs
-Snow Falling on Cedars
-So I Married An Axe Murderer
-Steel Magnolias
-Stranger Than Fiction
-Super Bad
-Talladega Nights
-Team America
-Terminator
-Tristan & Isolde
-Undercover Brother
-Under the Tuscan Sun
-Underworld 1 & 2
-Vanilla Sky
-V for Vendetta
-Wayne's World 1 & 2
-Where the Heart Is
-Wizard of Oz
-Zoolander
Just one more way to rot my brain :)
-24
-Absolutely Fabulous
-Best Week Ever
-Dawson's Creek
-The Deadliest Catch
-Dr. Katz
-Ghosthunters
-Heros (Ben succeeded in getting me hooked)
-Lost
-The Office
-Reno 911
-Rocko's Modern Life
-Spaced
-True Blood
-and Maury Povich (because I must stay up to date on who the baby daddy is).
Books are hawt.
-7 Habits of Highly Effective People
By: Dr. Stephen Covey
-21 Irrefutible Laws of Leadership
By: Dr. John C. Maxwell
-25 Ways to Win With People
By: Dr. John C. Maxwell
-A Live Coal In the Sea
By: Madeline L’Engle
-Am I Making Myself Clear?
By: Terry Felber
-And the Angels Were Silent
By: Max Lucado
-Angels & Demons
By: Dan Brown
-A Series of Unfortunate Events Series
By: Lemony Snicket
-At First Sight
By: Nicholas Sparks
-A Walk To Remember
By: Nicholas Sparks
-A Wrinkle In Time
By: Madeline L’Engle
-Being Happy
By: Andrew Matthews
-The Betrayal
By: Beverly Lewis
-Captivating
By: John Eldridge
-Daughter of Fortune
By: Isabel Allende
-Deception Point
By: Dan Brown
-Diana
By: Sarah Bradford
-Digital Fortress
By: Dan Brown
-Dracula
By: Bram Stoker
-The Dream Giver
By: Bruce Wilkinson
-Dress Your Family In Corduroy and Denim
By: David Sedaris
-Fair Game
By Valerie Plame Wilson
-For Women Only
By: Shaunti Feldham
-The Ghost Orchid
By: Carol Goodman
-The Harry Potter Series
By: JK Rowling
-Hinds Feet In High Places
By: Hannah Hurnard
-Hitchhiker’s Guide To The Galaxy
By: Douglas Adams
-Holiday’s On Ice
By: David Sedaris
-How To Win Friends & Infulence People
By: Dale Carnagie
-I Like You
By: Amy Sedaris
-Ines of My Soul
By: Isabel Allende
-In the Grip of Grace
By: Max Lucado
-The Kushiel Series
By: Jacqueline Carey
-The Last Promise
By: Richard Paul Evans
-Lucrezia Borgia
By: Sarah Bradford
-Marie Antoinette: The Journey
By: Antonia Fraser
-Me Talk Pretty One Day
By: David Sedaris
-The Mermaid Chair
By: Sue Monk Kidd
-My Invented Country
By: Isabel Allende
-Naked
By: David Sedaris
-The Notebook
By: Nicholas Sparks
-The Oath
By: Frank Peretti
-The Poisonwood Bible
By: Barbara Kingsolver
-Portrait in Sepia
By: Isabel Allende
-Prodigal Summer
By: Barbara Kingsolver
-The Rescue
By: Nicholas Sparks
-The Revelation
By: Beverly Lewis
-The Sacrifice
By: Beverly Lewis
-Screwtape Letters
By: CS Lewis
-Small Wonder
By: Barbara Kingsolver
-The Sword of Truth Series
By: Terry Goodkind
-This Present Darkness
By: Frank Peretti
-True Believer
By: Nicholas Sparks
-Twilight
By: Stephanie Meyer
-Winter of Fire
By: Sherryl Jordan
-The Wedding
By: Nicholas Sparks
-When You Are Engulfed In Flames
By: David Sedaris
-Why Do Men Have Nipples?
By: Mark Leyner
-Wild @ Heart
By: John Eldridge
-The Wounded Spirit
By: Frank Peretti
Anyone in the Armed forces. Any time you see one you should thank them. They are the reason that you get to stay in your comfortable house and whine about the government while you have pizza delivered.
The next time you complain about your job, or you cop and attitude because the line in Taco Bell is going to slow, or your feel your life has been ruined by some random, childish drama on myspace/facebook remember that somewhere there is a 20-year-old, dressed in in Kevlar, enduring 100+ degree weather, eating an MRE, walking to his next 72 hour post, missing his wife and family.
That should put some shit in perspective. If it doesn't, you are just selfish and can't be reasoned with.
My Friends and Loved Ones Currently Serving:
Airman Focht, US Air Force;
SSgt Wagner, USMC;
Sgt Stewart, USMC;
PO 2nd Class Casiano,
US Navy;
Private Madigan, USMC;
Cpl Rackley, USMC;
Sgt Hypolite, USMC;
Col Bair, US Air National Guard.
By extension I deeply respect Eli. He went into the Marines when he was only 17. Made Sgt before he hit 21. He did his time in Iraq, deployed numerous other places and still managed to be an excellent husband. He was one of the best the Corps ever had and was a good man. I will never, ever forget that.
My parents and my family.
Senator Kyle.