Grilling

This one will be short and sweet... or should I say, grilled. If it's one thing I love about summer, it's grilling food. Any kind of meat is good... steaks, chicken, pork chops, ribs, the list goes on. Even some vegetables.



Just look at that, you can almost smell it now. This was just one part of our menu today, but I thought it turned out really well. For the chicken, I used a recipe that I saw in the Chattanooga Times-Free Press. It goes something like this:

Apple-Smoked Chicken Thighs

2 cups apple juice

2 tablespoons turbinado sugar

4 large bone-in chicken thighs or thigh/leg combination), rinsed and patted dry

1 tablespoon freshly ground black pepper

1 teaspoon fine sea salt

1 cup wood chips, soaked in apple juice and drained

For apple spray: Put juice and sugar in stainless-steel saucepan over medium heat, and simmer until sugar is dissolved. Cool to room temperature and pour into a plastic spray bottle.

Sprinkle the chicken with pepper and salt; set aside while you prepare the grill. When coals are ready, spread them evenly across half the grill; scatter wood chips over hot coals. Place chicken over indirect-heat side of grill (not directly over coals) and spray with apple juice. When smoke starts to rise, close the lid. Place a candy thermometer in the grill vent. Smoke chicken at 225 F to 250 F for 1 hour, spraying chicken every 20 minutes. After 1 hour, spray chicken again, then transfer to direct heat over hot coals for 2 minutes, turning as necessary, or until the skin has crisped all over.

For the record, I substituted chicken breasts for thighs, since... what can I say?... I'm a breast man. But seriously, these turned out to be very tasty. Juicy, with a definite apple flavor. I recommend giving it a shot sometime.

Hate to run, but I think I'm up for a second helping now...

Crazy Dreams

I can dream almost any time I fall asleep. If I hit "snooze" on the alarm in the morning, and drift back to sleep in that nine minute period, I can usually have another dream. I've been told that this means I am not getting a very restful sleep, though I seem to be doing okay. Nevertheless, my mind usually tells some interesting stories during the night. I just thought I would share some of last night's.

It starts with my parents and I riding around Chattanooga (if you are in Nooga or familiar with the area, we were apparently on Amnicola Hwy). Somehow I take a wrong turn before I get to Dupont Pkwy, and end up in an area near the river that I had never even been to. This area had all sorts of shopping establishments and restaurants, including a mall that I didn't even know existed.

So, we go in this mall and start looking around. Before we know it I look at my watch and notice it's almost 2:00 in the morning. This security guard comes up to us about this time and tells us the mall is about to close (I wonder exactly what kind of shops were in this mall to be closing at 2?). When we step outside, the sun is up and it's bright as day outside. Naturally, I'm freaking out. We start driving down the road, just wondering what the heck is going on. Suddenly the "sun" starts moving across the sky. We realize that this is not our sun, but actually a comet. A few moments later, it apparently explodes somewhere in the earth's atmosphere. We heard the explosion, but apparently it didn't do any damage around us. Still, scary stuff.

Apparently I woke up after the comet explosion, but went back to sleep. That is when the second dream took place. In this dream I was being released from jail (!) and the year seems to be 2012. Strangely, I get out wearing a dress shirt and slacks, and I am desperately searching for a necktie. I find myself in an old, rundown factory where I must have had some items stored while I was incarcerated. Unfortunately my items are not there. Of all people, Larry the frickin' Cable Guy (I'm not a big fan) was there to tell me that while I was locked up, the country had completely fallen apart (I could make a political rant here, but I'll spare you all). Cities had been burned and communism had apparently taken over. At this point, I don't know what to do.

I somehow find a phone, and now call my parents for help. My mom answers and I tell her that I have been released from jail, and want to come home. She is hesitant, though. Apparently I was locked up for "supposedly" killing somebody (!), though I know that I was innocent. My own mother isn't sure though. She doesn't know if she wants me to come home. However, in the next instant I am back in Florence at my parents' house. My brother begins to tell me what all has changed in the three years I was in prison. For some reason, instead of telling me how the country became full-on communist, he is more concerned with updating me on TV storylines. I was happy to learn that my current favorite show, Two and a Half Men, is still on the air in 2012.

So there you have it. I believe there were a few other parts of my dream world last night - I recall being in the backyard of my childhood home, looking over the fence at a pool party happening next door. But this "story" is very hazy. Unfortunately I tend to forget my dreams almost as soon as I wake up, unless I write them down. Hopefully you have enjoyed the parts I did remember.

What are you doing, RIGHT NOW???

So I doubt anything I say will be something you haven't thought about before, but I wanted to at least put my spin on things. I bought an iPod Touch last week (shameless plug, but I highly recommend it), and it has led me to being online even more than usual. It's not the iPhone, where you can almost literally have an internet connection anywhere; it can only hit wifi hot spots. Still, it makes me feel like I am even more connected than I have ever been.

And that's what I want to talk about, this "connectedness" (to coin a word) that we all have nowadays. I mean, I'm 26, only eight years out of high school. That time has flown by, but really, in the grand scheme of things eight years is not that much. But I think about how relating to people has changed in those eight years and it's almost amazing.

In 2001 "chatting" online was still cool - as in, actual chat rooms, on AOL, or Yahoo, or whatever. Instant messenging was around, but probably still not done by a majority of people - only high schoolers and college kids. Still, it was not the main way we communicated with people. Even high schoolers still used the phone for the most part. Not cell phones, land lines. I think I had two friends with cell phones, and that's it. Texting had not even become an option yet.

Now look at where we are today. We don't even chat or IM with people in real-time anymore. It's almost like we've regressed in that sense. Now, we have Facebook to take its place. Obviously Facebook is more advanced than IM conversations ever were. We literally post every bit of information about our lives on there. If we take a trip, and have pictures to prove it, it's on Facebook within the hour. People find out if you've started or ended a relationship with someone simply by looking at your profile.

Facebook has also, in ways, become the determining factor in whether you are "accepted" by someone or a group of people. Now I know there are plenty of people out there that pad their friend lists with people they just randomly meet in class and then never talk to again. I'm talking about the people you meet and actually expect to see and spend time with sometime in the future. Once you have looked at each other's profiles, and add each other as "friends", you know it's acceptable to talk to them/contact them/whatever. Of course, that interaction no doubt eventually happens on Facebook, not face to face or on the phone.

Then of course there's Twitter. It takes Facebook statuses (stausii?) to a whole new level. I mean, we are already to the point where Facebook status updates now consist of "_____ is fixing dinner and then watching TV!". And I'm not saying that I'm not guilty of it. But now you have Twitter come along, and almost everything you do is summed up in 140 characters. When people start posting status updates, or tweets, from the bathroom, on their iPhone or Blackberry or whatever... you wonder if a line has been crossed.

So in all this rambling I'm not really sure I have a point. I guess the point is, we are more connected than ever. We now constantly know what each other is doing, almost 24/7. Where does it go from here? Will it get to the point where our every move and action is not only told to the world, but also GPSed so people know our exact location as well? That's already happening in ways. It's not scary to me, really. I'm just anxious to see where this all goes next.

What to Do With Braly Stadium

I don't know how many of you have heard about this, but there have been some speculation lately that the D2 Championship Game could be moved out of Florence after this year. The TimesDaily ran an article about it a few days ago here. The NCAA made a list of demands for upgrades to Braly Stadium. Included were such things as artificial turf, new lights, and a video scoreboard.

Braly as we know it today is a nice place to watch a football game, especially at the D2 level. I know most of us haven't been to many other D2 stadiums, but I have seen some pictures; trust me, there are high schools with better facilities than some of those teams. However, I think I understand what the NCAA is saying here (and I agree with the NCAA on very few things). The D2 championship game needs to be played in one of the best, if not THE best, stadiums in the country. It gives the players and the fans going to the game something to look forward to. While "pretty nice", Braly is far from being the best even in D2.

One thing I feel should be addressed is the parking situation. While there are a lot of college football stadiums that require you to park on the street in a neighborhood, we can do better. I present to you exhibit A:

If you notice, on the south side of the stadium there is a baseball field that was once used by Coffee High School. Well, as you know that school no longer exists. Florence High School plays their baseball games at the former Bradshaw High School. This field may be used by a JV team, I'm not sure; regardless, baseball fields are not hard to replace. In my opinion, this piece of land should be used to build a parking deck for gamedays. This would obviously solve a lot of the parking problems and put you directly at the field when you get out of your car. Also, the deck could be used by UNA students during the week (with the shuttle buses used to take students to campus).

This picture is looking towards the south endzone at Braly. If the parking deck is rising above the field there, why not add an additional bonus: a couple of luxury boxes on the end facing the field, a la what was done at Bryant-Denny Stadium? Some new concession stands could also be incorporated, perhaps offering some "higher end" foods than what you find currently.

The final part of this plan would be a new "plaza" style entrance at field level in the south endzone. It would be here that fans could meet before the game, perhaps buy some souvenirs, etc. Statues could be incorprated, just like at Bryant-Denny, to honor former Lions and the national championship teams. Walking into the stadium here, you would be looking up towards the north endzone where I envision a new HD scoreboard would be. It would make for a great entrance to the stadium and pump up not only UNA fans, but fans visiting for the championship game.

Those are just a few of my thoughts, I'd love to hear others.

Chapter One

I had posted this in a note over on my Facebook site, and decided to do the same here. Lately in some fits of boredom I have been running through my head some ideas for a book I'd like to write. I'm usually more of a nonfiction reader, but I think I have a pretty good basic storyline for what I want to do. I've always enjoyed writing (I was a journalism major for about 35 seconds), but I have to confess that part of the inspiration for this came from my good friend Andrew.

So anyway, this is what I have so far. I don't really know where it goes from here, I am still working on that. I know it's long, but give it a read if you have the chance. I'd like to hear any criticism, good or bad. This is something (writing) that I still feel will be a part of my life going forward, so I need any constructive criticism I can get. So without further adieu...

***

The headlights grew ever brighter in the rearview mirror. Any other time he would have shrugged it off, but this time, he knew there was something different about the trailing car's movements. Sure enough, as his grip instictively tightened on the steering wheel, the car lurched forward as steel met steel at the car's rear bumper.

"What the...!?"

The car, or now what he almost positively knew was a full-size pickup truck, rammed the rear bumper for a second time. The teenage driver whipped his head around, not to look through the high beams, but to check on the boy strapped in the car seat behind his right shoulder. The young boy began to cry. "Shhhh", the teenager said, "it'll be alright", almost as much a reassurance to himself as to the child. "I've got to lose him somehow".

He floored the accelerator, and the old V8 began to roar as it reached down deep for every extra horse it might produce. For a split-second, he thought the rear tires lost their traction as the light rain had now become a full-fledged downpour. Somehow he kept the car under control. His own headlights, dimmed with the car's age, were having a hard time cutting through the moisture-laden summer air. To make matters worse, his own sweat begin to drip into his eyes and cloud his vision. Still, the truck remained a few car-lengths behind as they went through a gradual curve on the two-lane road. "If I can just get to the straightaway, maybe I can lose him".

Up ahead, he knew the road straightened out as it came to an old bridge crossing the creek. Once past the bridge there were several turns, one of which he might could take to evade his follower. The key was to put some distance between them. He pressed on the gas even more, feeling the pedal come in contact with the exposed metal on the floor. The bridge was up ahead, and the white fence posts to his left were starting to look like one continuous line in his periphreal vision. Still, it looked like he was beginning to pull away. His breathing slacked just a bit, though perhaps he had been holding his breath for a few seconds - he couldn't even remember. He glanced again in the mirror at his backseat occupant, whose tear-stained face he saw looking out the back window. "We're almost there", he thought.

The car bounced as it reached the end of the bridge where the deck met the asphalt. He eased off the accelerator, contemplating his next move. He had to take one of the turns; or, would the truck anticipate that? Should he keep going instead? His eyes left the road just for a moment, perhaps to check the speedometer. Whatever the reason, it proved costly. Through his own perspiration and the deluge outside, his eyes focused on an object just to the side of the road about a hundred yards ahead. Suddenly, it was moving out in front of him. He slammed the brakes hard and turned the wheel. The rear of the car swung to the right, and he fought with the wheel to regain control. It was too late. The car skidded off the left side of the road and went into a roll. The child screamed. The teenager braced himself and prepared for... the end, whatever that would be. Finally the car came to a rest, sitting up, at the bottom of a revine just above the water's edge.

It might have been only seconds that passed, or it could have been hours. The teen shook his head, which was now throbbing with incredible pain. He tried to clear his blurred vision as he looked out the broken glass of the front windshield. His first thought was not to help himself, but to check on his young passenger. He slowly started to turn around. A searing pain shot through his right arm. "Something's probably broken", he thought. He reached back with his left arm and touched the toddler's body. He shook him. No response. Blood was running out of his nose, but he could feel him breathing. "Help", he muttered, to nobody in particular. He opened the driver's door and fell out of the smoking vehicle and onto the wet ground.

Struggling to find his feet, the adrenaline began to flow through his body. With a somewhat clearer mind he realized he had to get back up to the road and find somebody. He started climbing a hill, slipping at first before managing to start the ascent. His right arm dangled from his body, useless. The 25 or 30 foot climb felt like a mountain. At the top he stopped to catch his breath. The rain, sweat, and now blood pouring from a gash on his forehead all mixed in his mouth to produce a salty metallic taste. He spit and started looking around for signs of an approaching car. Sure enough, one was coming from the direction opposite the bridge. He stared into the lights as the vehicle slowed and pulled onto the shoulder just a few feet from where he was standing.

Two men stepped out of what he saw to be a Ford truck. "I need some help", he choked, his hoarse voice sounding like someone else's. "Yeah, you do", one of the men shot back before stepping in front of the teen. He fell into the man's arms, his own strength now diminishing. He barely felt the ground as the man let him go, allowing him to fall into a crumpled heap. "Pick him up!" another man barked. The voice was recognizable in an insant, and the boy snapped to attention. He now realized the truck for what it was. With a burst of energy that shocked the two men, the teenager took off running in the direction of the bridge. "Get him!" the driver growled to his passenger, reaching in the truck to pull out a rifle before joining the chase on foot.

"I have to get to the other side", the boy thought, not really knowing what his reasoning was. Halfway across the bridge though, his injuries caught up with him. He tripped and landed hard on his already limp right arm. He coughed, and it hurt. Bad. He knew he should stand up but just couldn't do it. He closed his eyes as the two pursuers reached him. He gasped as one man kicked him in the stomach, and reached to cover himself with his left arm. The two men pulled him up to his feet and pushed him against the railing on the side of the bridge.

"Didn't I tell you not to run, you little bastard?" he heard the more familiar voice say, though it echoed through his pounding head. He felt the older man's hot breath just inches from his face. He tried to open his eyes but they refused. All he could think was, "please let another car come down that road". But none came. "Just finish him off, he's caused us enough trouble", the other man said. The teenager heard a familiar metallic "click", a sound he knew all too well from years of hunting in the woods behind his house. He felt the cold point of the gun barrel on the side of his head, for an insant almost helping to relieve the awful headache. His eyes still closed but his other senses seemingly heightened, he thought he could hear a young boy crying in the distance. "Please help him", he started to say, but didn't finish the sentence. The older man whipped the gun around and with all the force he could muster, rammed the butt of the rifle into the boy's stomach. The blow lifted him off the ground and back, and over the bridge railing. He was powerless to stop himself. The world around him became a slow-motion blur, as he flipped around to see the men standing over the side watching his descent. He saw light bouncing off the raindrops falling around him, and thought he heard the boy crying one last time. Finally there was a brilliant flash that seemed to completely surround him, and the pain escaped his body. And then...

The Anniversary

One year today.

That is how long it has been since I officially got settled in here in Chattanooga. One year ago today I started my first “real” job and got out of the cocoon that was Florence. Of course, a lot of people get away from home long before their 25^th year, so I was late to the party. A scholarship to UNA was too much to pass up though, and even after it was gone I couldn’t pull myself away from family or friends. So it took a while to get here, but now I’m away and a whole year has already passed. So what have I learned?

I've learned that starting out on the bottom of your field is not fun. My job is... let's say, routine. It's not bad by any means. It's just a lot of repetitiveness that can lead to being very stressful at times. I feel like a lot of the things I learned in college are not being put to use. Considering I'm paying back $10k worth of loans, I'd like to use some of that knowledge. Oh, and have I mentioned that the pay is not great and I'm probably not getting a raise? Stupid economy. Still, I am thankful to have the job and for the opportunities it has given me, such as moving to Chattanooga.

I’ve learned, however, that living by yourself sucks. I had never done it before last May. I have done it for a year and it has not grown on me. Even though I am shy towards new people, I am at heart a socialable person. Sometimes it drives me crazy to sit there alone.

So since I don’t enjoy being alone, I’ve worked to establish some new friends. It’s not easy when you know nobody in a city. I’m not outgoing; walking up to a group of strangers and introducing myself is not me. My entire life before now I have been able to use school as a way of meeting people. Once that is gone, your social circle shrinks to just those you work with. While I really do like my coworkers, they are mostly all married and have lives of their own. I need different kinds of people to “hang out” with.

So yeah, this year has certainly had its ups and downs. There have been frustrating times when loneliness was at its worst. There have been dates that went nowhere. I have felt like Ted on How I Met Your Mother, desperately searching for that special someone but feeling as if she will never be found. There have been thoughts of ending it all... NO, no, not like that, I just mean moving back home... lol. But there have been good times. The friends I have made are great. I have learned to do things I had never done before. I have had a lot of fun taking in all that Chattanooga has to offer. It's a great city and a great place to live.

I remain optimistic, as I always try to be. I have no idea where I will be one year from now. Graduate school is still a goal for me, and if the opportunity arises I would like to go for it. If there is a better job out there somewhere, in Chattanooga or elsewhere, I will not shy away from it. Above all, I hope that one year from now I feel like I have accomplished as much as I have in this past year.

Springsteen Concert

So it's been a while, but I'm back to let all my crazy fans know what's happening in my life.

I'm sure most everybody has at least heard a few Bruce Springsteen songs. Personally I'm a casual fan, which means I have a "greatest hits" CD and know few songs beyond those. But, I mostly like whatever I hear from the guy. Could care less about his politics, but oh well.

My brother is a huge fan of the guy however, and so on Sunday night him and I went to Atlanta to see Bruce and his E-Street Band at Philips Arena. The drive down was pretty uneventful, except I drove through Gadsden for the first time ever. You know what? I'd be okay if it's the last time I do that. Lots of "red" in that area, if ya know what I mean.

We stayed at the Hilton, which was cool, simply because I can say that I "stayed at the Hilton". Valet parking and all, yo.

The concert itself was pretty awesome. We went through a "lottery" since we had floor seats, and were one of the 450 people allowed to be in the "pit". Basically, it was the area in front of the stage. The majority of the night we were about 30-40 feet from Bruce. I could care less about his sweat hitting me, so this setup worked for me. No opening act (thank God, they usually suck). The second song played was Darkness on the Edge of Town, a favorite of mine that he doesn't play at every show. I was pretty happy to hear it. Other than that, I knew about 5 or 6 songs out of 25. Most were good, but it's a lot more fun when you can sing along with everybody else. Still, nobody appeared to be too drunk, no fights were started, and generally there was no craziness in The Pit. I consider this a good thing. My eardrums also never bled, which is also a plus.

Monday morning, we had a little time before checkout so we went to the World of Coca-Cola museum. It is a pretty cool place to visit if you've never been. Lots of old Coke memorabilia, of course. You can taste-test over 60 products that are sold around the world (and not in North America). There was also a 3D movie. Not a bad way to spend some time for $15.

Random rants, since I am such an anger-filled person:

• Like I said, Gadsden sucks. Lots of traffic lights with no obvious sequence. Also lots of rednecks.
• People that tailgate me, then pass me, then get back in my lane, and THEN slow down, piss me off. I always drive with Cruise on on the highway, so don't get in front of me and slow down. It's just not cool.
• Camera nazis at Philips Arena. Cell phone pictures suck, but it's the best I could do.
• CNN. Actually, the CNN Center and the food court were pretty cool. I just think CNN sucks. So does Ted Turner. So do the Braves, unfortunately.
• Finally, if you are staying in downtown Atlanta and need to get back to I-20 West, good luck. I pride myself on being a pretty good driver and it took me 20 minutes to get on an interstate I could see. I should have had my GPS, but it shouldn't be that hard. Plenty of signs directing you how to get to I-75 and I-85, but none for I-20. The genius that designed those roads needs to be, in the words of Garfield, drug out into the street and shot.
  

You can count on me to take lots of pictures, and you can find them all here: http://picasaweb.google.com/chrisholder262/SpringsteenConcert#. Enjoy.

Later y'allz.