Album Release

Saturday, October 25, 2008

The numbers are in.



2= the number of students I've made cry since the first day of school
35= the number of school-owned harps in this county (I think of it as me suddenly adopting 35 children)
.0004= number of harps per capita in Odessa
1362= the collective number of strings on the harps in Odessa
1099= number of harp strings tuned per school day
486= the number of harp strings I've changed since the first day of school
62= the number of days that it's taken me to change strings and make sure every harp is in tune and in playable condition
.05= number of chihuahuas per capita within the city limits of Odessa (estimate)
97= percentage of chihuahuas in Odessa that are stray
92= percentage of stray chihuahuas I see during the course of the school day
.008/1= harp-to-chihuahua ratio in Odessa

Now, if we plug those numbers into this equation:

5d+3a-2(3[25])-psum-i-(d+t)= profit

Our profit turns out to be:

.06

Friday, October 3, 2008

Tongue

Today in Odessa, you are either wearing Red & White or Black and White. Today is the day. Today is the annual Permian Basin Showdown. The two high schools in town will either take or loose all of the glory on the football field in a very important game. This is the day that is has been talked about and will be talked about for months to come. May the best team (Odessa High School!) win.

I received a very surprising phone call from a long lost friend yesterday. We hadn't spoken for about 6 years, and through the power of Facebook, we were reunited. Both his world and mine have done a 180 since the last time we spoke. Life is funny sometimes. Time is funny sometimes. After a couple of hours, I hung up the phone in a strange daze. It's amazing how one person and their words can make or break your spirit. Mine were made. Someone once said that "The tongue has the power of life and death." So true. And so what I want: to have my words bring life to people.

In a town where segregation was legal until 1981 (yes, n i n e t e e n e i g h t y o n e), where good live music is 150 miles away, and where you can't recycle your glass bottles, I'm looking for things to be thankful for. Let's play the "let's be glad" game! Here we go, Pollyanna...

I'm thankful
My Brother
My Sister
My Parents
My Niece and Nephew
Coffee in the morning
The beautiful weather in Odessa today
My students (who inspire me)
My harp and its music
My roommate
Enchiladas from Mi Milos
Long Lost Friends