Ben Hates Karaoke.

Yes, it’s true. I’m not the biggest fan either, but Ben’s hatred runs deep. One of our close friends, who shall remain anonymous and will be referred to as FRIEND, recently found out about this and sent Ben an email. Ben’s final comment made me laugh out loud at my desk.

Here is how the email conversation unfolded:

FRIEND: Hey buddy! I heard that you “hate” karaoke, is that a true statement? I understand feeling pressure to sing and not really wanting too…but to say you hate it? I mean I don’t like to dance, but I wouldn’t say I hate it by any means! I would humbly request your response, I am puzzled by this rumor that is floating around.

BEN: FRIEND, I hate karaoke. I want to like it, but the feelings that it envokes within me can only be explained as a putrid anxiety. I guess I have been very talented at hiding it until now! Everyone all parades around and sings, and then pressures the non-singers into compromising personal integrity and comfort so the singers don’t feel like the only idiots singing in front of a moniter. I understand it is the epitome of entertainment for some individuals and even cultures (Japanese) But it is nothing short of social holocaust. Sorry to drop that bomb, bro! Maybe one day there will be a world where karaoke and non-karaoke participants can sit down and enjoy the singing idiots in a pressure free environment.  -Ben

FRIEND: Hmm…Well I suppose you can’t blame someone for an opinion. I can’t help but wonder though…do you hate the art of karaoke, or do you hate the singers who apply the pressure that creates the obligation that you must sing? I feel that is what you are getting at with your closing remarks, I would just like clarity.

BEN: Karaoke is a stretch as an art-form, I am hesitant to credit Karaoke as anything inspirational. I also believe, it is hard to separate the pressure pushers from Karaoke as a whole. I believe where one is, there will always be the other. (Like bars and drunks) If I had to be quoted, I would probably say, “Karaoke in all aspects and forms, embodies wayward and akward social displays mixed with conflicting intrapersonal messages that elicits a spectrum of responses ranging from confused admiration and disillusionment to disgust. It is a detriment to society and the human condition. If Jesus was at a Karaoke party instead of a wedding party, his first miracle would have been to obliterate the concept of Karaoke from the human experience.” Once again, sorry for the poop on karaoke party, but I am merely just sharing my position on this matter. I hold nothing against those who enjoy karaoke, (love the sinner, hate the sin) and will continue to smile dumbly and even participate begrudgingly in future karaoke events. Thanks for your concern though, friend! -Ben

Germans, Weddings, Anniversaries and Wicked!

I have so much to post, but none of my pictures are downloaded yet! So I will fill you in briefly on the latest news in our life:

• We had some lovely Germans stay with us a couple of weeks ago. When Ben was in high school did participated in the foreign exchange program for a month and stayed in Germany. He stayed with Lorenz and his family while there. Lorenz also participated and he stayed with Ben’s family that year. Well..Lorenz and five of his friends decided to take an East Coast road trip through the States and we were one of their stops. We had a great time and hope to stay with them one day when we make our travels through Europe.
• Tina and Adam got married! Yay! This was my first wedding shoot and it went well, but I still have tons of photos to edit!
• Ben and I celebrated our 3-year dating anniversary last week (Oct 16) by having dinner at Mud Pie in Chattanooga and seeing a movie, Eagle Eye.
• We met up with Dan and Jessica and sweet Halle before making our way to the theatre. They are an awesome couple and we love spending time with them. We just wish we had longer! And they have the most precious little girl and live in the cutest town outside of Atlanta.
• We saw Wicked the musical this past weekend at the Fox Theatre in Atlanta. We also had dinner at the Melting Pot for the first time. It was a great weekend with delicious food and wonderful friends.

Pictures to come!

Cha Cha!

The other day at the Bistro our friend Jenn introduced us to latest time-wasting entertainment: Cha Cha. Jaime just blogged about it and did a great job so go check it out: Barks Blog

All you do is text Cha Cha @ 242242 and ask anything you want. If it’s a complicated question it make take longer to reply so be patient.

Here are some questions I’ve asked:

• What is the capital of Jordan? Amman is the capital and largest city of Jordan.
• How do you make a real margarita? Margarita recipe, 3 parts of tequila, 2 parts of orange flavored liqueur, 1 part fresh lime juice, coarse Kosher salt.
• Should we run to the bank asap, withdrawl our savings and store it under the mattress or just leave it in our account? If you have over 100,00 split it across banks to be covered by FDIC insurance, otherwise you’re safe.

Cha Cha is awesome.

Please Talk To Strangers…

Ok, let me clarify the title, if you are under 16 years of age and home alone, or are approached by a representative of any religious sect whose title includes the words “Davididian, Nuwabian, sojourners of perpetual creepiness, or a combination of more than 5 “less-threatening ” words, (example: Freedom liberty family fellowship evanga-worshipful seekers of the seventh revelation) then pay no heed to the title and run away! I merely want to address the blinders we often put on to the rest of the world. You know, the intentional disregard of all people in our “peripheral” vision on a daily basis. We get locked on to schedules, meetings, productivity, and all of the above at the sacrifice of isolating ourselves to an island of comfort and stagnicity. (Yes, stagnicity isn’t a word, but I called Webster and it’s pending for his next edition.)

Mine and Cassie’s blinders have been ripped off in the past two weekends by enthralling strangers around us. A mechanic and part-time Santa-Claus and missionary that traded me a banjo for a fiddle was only the start of these encounters with who, in every definition of the word, would be regarded as strangers. To follow would be a folk-hearted believer named Katie in ATL that knowingly traded a beautiful fender resophonic guitar for a quirky little banjo-lin simply because she wanted me to have it. Cassie and I were walked through 3 generations of a family business by a tailor in Chattanooga, helped a family propose via 20ft sign from the Market street bridge for their son, and ran into a tightrope walking (slack line) hoola-hooping couple in the park that granted me the pleasure of embarrassing myself on a tightrope. In talking, he was a regular supertramp, trotting the US from Alaska down the west coast and finally to Chattanooga TN for the climbing.

Very different people, yes, but the one thing that they all had in common was their innate ability to capture mine and Cassie’s hearts and admiration in the span of a single conversation. What has God been trying to show us? As much as we believe in miracles, we also are seeing a very different form of them. I think the miracles of our days aren’t necessarily spiritual outbursts in public leading millions to dive into the closest source of water for impromptu baptism. No, what God is doing in our collective midst is much bigger. He’s calling for talking to strangers. (Outside of the 15 min Sunday morning greet and seat? Gasp!) I count it a small miracle when I can see past my own world to connect to someone else’s. And as lost as I have become at times in my own schedule, I continue to be pulled out by wildly engaging encounters with people I’d normally avoid or disregard. So friends we implore you, from our hearts to yours, Please talk to strangers.

-Ben and Cassie

Whirlwind of craziness!

Well, March is flying by like crazy! We’ve got some pics to put up later, but we had a great St. Patty’s Day party last week at the Barks and then a great Easter weekend with my family in TX. And there’s much more to come! Hope everyone is having a great month and a wonderful start to Spring.

Be blessed!

Coyotes and Marshmallows

We went camping this past weekend near Gee Creek and while we had a good time, it was soooo cold! I think we had three or four blankets spread out on the bottom of the tent and then another one thrown on top of our sleeping bags! We had a great time though and Maggie just loved it. She’s getting a North Face jacket for Christmas I think! Well, I don’t know if they make those for dogs, but she’s getting one if they do. Anyways, we had a great time, ate good camp food, listened to the coyotes in the middle of the night and had the best coffee the next morning. Thanks for the pics everyone!

The next morning…

Ben likes to jump over fires for amusement

Our campsite

Amber looks great the morning after

Beth and Jason – so glad they made it

Maggie was such a little camper

Aww

Notice Laura’s outfit. 🙂

The ladies of the campsite

hmmm

and again. hmmm.

I just love Maggie’s floppy ears!

I don’t know if you can see it, but we are brewing freshly ground Starbucks coffee out of the back of the FJ. Thanks babe for taking care of that!

How adorable is she?! Yes, we are those people who love their dog like a child.

A little coffee quiet time

Our tents

Sausage and eggs for breakfast. Yum!

Engagement Party!

Like I said in the last post, we have some great friends. Laura organized an engagement party for me and Ben and Tina and Adam. We had a great dinner in Cafe Roma in downtown Cleveland. It was so nice and we had wonderful food and equally wonderful company. Thanks to everyone who came! (And thanks to Kevin for the photos!)

Lovely friends and Creme Brulee

*Disclaimer: this post will be lacking in pictures, but chock-full of mushiness.

With that said, we have been truly blessed by our friends here in Cleveland. We have an amazing core group of people that we’ve grown quite close to. We laugh and cry together and we’ve become close enough to be genuine and honest with each other. We don’t say it enough, but Ben and I appreciate this group of friends so much. Each person brings something so unique to the group and we are honored to be around them. We couldn’t imagine a better group of friends.

A couple of those friends, Jason and Jaime, had us over for dinner a few weeks ago. It was so lovely and yummy (Jaime is an amazing cook.) We always enjoying hanging out with them. For dessert Jaime put to good use her great score at the Habitat Store earlier that morning – pretty, white souffle cups. She made some excellent creme brulee, which Jason and Ben happily set the torch to. 🙂

The Habitat Home Store

Jaime works at Habitat for Humanity and a couple of Saturdays ago we volunteered at the home store. It was so much fun and Jaime walked away with something great to use in the kitchen (more on that in the next post!) Also, thanks for the pictures Jaime!

On our way to Firehouse for lunch. Yum!

There was a heater above us keeping our hands toasty.

We are expert sorters.

You never know what treasures you’ll find at the home store.

Flowers, madame?

Use those muscles, boys!

Superbowl Party

My roommate Tina and I hosted the Superbowl Party at our place this year. It was so much fun and we had so much good food! Needless to say, my weekly weigh-in the following Tuesday did not go so well. (thanks Kevin for the pictures)

The game was on during our usual Bible study time, so Ben shared on Lent a few minutes before the game began.

Ms. Tina, the beautiful

Mike and Rebecca

Me and Maggie

Ben again, because he’s so cute

Amber and Laura

Ben. Hmm.

Ready to cash out