So...I have been in Tulsa...sort of. My family has been on the road for a long, long time. We left Saturday at 10:30 AM and we got back Monday night at 10:30 PM. The trip included:
1. Lunch with Grandparents - Saturday afternoon in Oklahoma City, OK 2. Dinner with my parents' old friends - Saturday night in Dallas, TX 3. 20'th Anniversary Celebration at my dad's very first church - Sunday morning in Dallas, TX 4. Viewing for my Great-Grandfather's passing...he was 97 years old - Sunday night in Nacogdoches, TX 5. Funeral for my Great-Grandfather - Monday morning in Nacogdoches, TX 6. 51'st Wedding Anniversary Celebration Dinner with my Grandparents - Monday night Oklahoma City, OK
Between all the stops was lots and lots of driving. I felt like we were on tour or something, but it was really nice to see all my family. I haven't seen my grandparents in a while, but I got to see both sets on this trip. It was a pretty good deal. Tomorrow I fly out at 7:15 to see Julie and spend the rest of Spring Break in Florida...this excites me.
My laundry is done. I gotta fold it and re-pack. I will leave you with a nice little video that my brother and I made with my handy/awesome MacBook Pro in the back seat of a mini-van. My brother is the man...
Currently Watching Sin City By Robert Rodriguez, Frank Miller (II), Jessica Alba, Devon Aoki, Alexis Bledel, Powers Boothe, Rosario Dawson, Benicio Del Toro, Michael Clarke Duncan, Carla Gugino, Josh Hartnett, Rutger Hauer, Jaime King, Michael Madsen, Brittany Murphy, Clive Owen, Mickey Rourke, Nick Stahl, Bruce Willis see related
Alright...well its been almost 4 months since I last posted. Go me... Here are the highlights.
-Last semester ended up great. I had my best jury ever...it was lights out. -Christmas break was awesome. I sold my computer...got a new one...and gave my iPod away as a Wedding/Christmas gift...I am hoping to replace that soon as well. -My family now lives in Tulsa, OK. My dad is pastor at Tulsa Central Church of the Nazarene. It is a nice place with lots of great restaurants. The people there are treating my family like royalty...its kinda weird sometimes, but they are nice. -I love travelling and playing music. I can't wait for the summer when that is all I have to do. -It has snowed a couple times here in Nashville. After having a Christmas break with temperatures in the 70's, it has been in the 20's the past month or so, and I am ready for it to warm up!! It was 50 today...and it will be warmer tomorrow. Bring it on Global Warming...show me what you got, cause I'm cold! -I like school. I am learning so much everyday. It keeps me busy, but I wouldn't have it any other way. I am thinking a lot about the future. I definitely want to pursue graduate work in music, and then go into teaching. Well...that is the plan if none of my friends get famous, and I get to tour play music with them. That would be awesome!! -I get to go to North Carolina this weekend. I will get to see lots of friends, and I know it will feel like home. Even though my family isn't there anymore, I will always claim Raleigh, NC as home. -I started working out...this is also a good thing. -I got my Memphis Sound 2006 DVD, and it makes me miss Drum Corps a lot... -I think Guitar Hero is fun. I was made to play that game! -I'm taking Bass lessons. It is the first time ever, and I am learning a lot. I love it. -Spring Break...only 2 weeks away... Again...this is a good thing.
There are probably a thousand other things to mention, but I'm sleepy.
The weather today was just plain ole gross. It never really rained, but it was more like that thin mist that is just carried with the breeze. It really sucked at work tonight. Cold and windy with this relentless mist. The only good thing is that I was allowed to go home early because of the weather...except I didn't go home. I went to Taco Bell with the two guys I worked with and we just talked. It was cool. Brian mentioned this book that he is reading called "The God Delusion". It sparked some interest, so I ran to Borders on my way home and read a few pages...very interesting. Pretty much it is a smart Atheist talking about why it is very unlikely that a God exists. He is a good writer...I think the book will spark some controversy. I found an interview with him. Check it out and let me know what you think...
This break has been much needed...I have enjoyed it much.
This whole school thing, plus PR, plus working with high schools, and trying to throw a social life in there gets real hectic. Somedays I don't even think I get an original thought in there...I am so caught up in trying to take care of my responsibilities that everything else takes a back seat...it can be dangerous.
The break has been awesome. Friday night I went to a McGavock football game to watch the band perform. It was their Homecoming game, and the band was definitely not thinking about their performance. It was still fun though, and I love working with those kids. They are good kids.
Saturday I was with McGavock all day as well. They had a band competition locally at Overton High School. It was a full day. 2 hour rehearsal in the morning...eat and get dressed...drive to show site...warm up...perform Prelims...take a break, eat, relax for a few hours...get dressed again and rehearse for an hour...warm up...perform finals...awards ceremony. For those interested, McGavock had a sketchy performance during prelims, but their finals performance was great. It was probably their best performance of the year thus far, and it showed. They won by a full 2 points over the second place band (Page High School). That was a fun day... Julie came with me and I got to spend the entire day with her...that was nice because we haven't spent hardly any quality time together in about 2 or 3 weeks.
Sunday...hmm...a simple day... Church, eat at a sports bar and watch football (go Panthers!), nap, played some volleyball, had dinner at Julie's place (her and Dana and Tasha made some good baked ziti), and then watched a movie, hung out, end.
Monday was a beautiful day... I had to try and get some work done on this composer paper for Music History. I woke up and went to the library...got some books...and then Julie and I had plans to head out to the park. Ohh...but first we stopped by Jimmy John's to get some food. (they are maybe better than Subway...but nowhere close to Quizno's) The park was nice...I got a lot of reading done, and being outside just makes you feel good about yourself...almost like your working out or doing something that is really good for you except that I just sat on a blanket and read...but it was still awesome. The best part was when these two guys walking around with a video camera and a microphone came up to us and asked us if they could interview us. We were both like "sure".
Story goes...these two guys are freelance video guys that do filming for lots of different people. Today they were working on a project for Lifeway. Apparently Lifeway does this Sunday School series called "Fuel" for teenagers, and they want to make a similar product to be used in college/young adult classes. They were collecting interview footage for this particular thing. It was kinda weird at first to be interviewed...cause the first thing I had to say was "My name is Kevin Whitsett. I am 20 years old, and Lifeway has permission to use this interview footage." Man...so there were these questions like "How far do you walk in a day?", "How much is your monthly cell phone bill?", "What did you have for dinner last night and what did you do with the leftovers?", "How much money do you think it takes for a family of 4 to live in America today?", "What is your definition of poverty?", "Do you still think AIDS is a problem in the world today?" "What was the last thing you did to help a poor person?" Stuff like that... And so I am sitting there with a camera in my face and a microphone below my chin trying to come up with some intelligent answer to these questions. They weren't so tough at first, but then they started talking about poverty and AIDS and helping poor people, and I was thinking "Man...these are getting tough..." I know that everyone who has grown up in church or at least attends on a regular basis as seen those interview montages with all the trendy people giving answers to all these questions. There is always that one kid that gives the typical, conservative answer...someone who gives this ultra-liberal and off the wall answer...the person who just gives the ingnorant, "I know nothing about anything" answer, and you are just sitting there thinking..."Man...if I were ever interviewed I would give the deepest, and most original and thoughtful answers ever..." Well...I was interviewed and I don't even remember what I said for half the questions. I am now an interview montage super-star (and so is Julie...she got to go after me). To end this ridiculously long story... These guys are cool guys, and they were really nice and we talked to them for a little while after the whole interview thing was over. They have an independant film at the Sundance Film Festival being reviewed right now. Check it out at www.thehumantrace.com. The guy who plays the Sheriff in the trailer is the camera dude from the park. His name was Jeff...he is a cool guy... So...next time you go to church be on the lookout for me...who knows when I may pop up on a video screen to offer some indepth look into our life on this earth.
Now since this is the longest post ever, and I know that nobody ever reads posts this long. I have to write this Music History paper...I am a procrastination mastermind. Back to the grind.
