One of my favorite quotes in this world is this one, by Emerson-

"To laugh often and much; to win the respect of intelligent people and the affection of children; to earn the appreciation of honest critics and endure the betrayal of false friends; to appreciate beauty, to find the best in others; to leave the world a little better; whether by a healthy child, a garden patch or a redeemed social condition; to know even one life has breathed easier because you have lived. This is the meaning of success."

To me, that quote means you don't have to cure cancer or end hunger to make a difference. All you have to do is come in, do your thing and leave the world just a bit better than you found it. In doing that, you leave your mark on this place. And in leaving your mark, you live forever... Nobody here will ever find me. But I will always be around. Just like the songs I leave behind me, I'm gonna live forever now.

I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna cross that river
I'm gonna catch tomorrow now

You're gonna wanna hold me
Just like I've always told you
You're gonna miss me when I'm gone

Nobody here will ever find me
But I will always be around
Just like the songs I leave behind me
I'm gonna live forever now

You fathers and you mothers
Be good to one another
Please try to raise your children right

Don't let the darkness take 'em
Don't make 'em feel forsaken
Just lead 'em safely to the light

When this old world has blown us under
And all the stars fall from the sky
Remember someone really loves you
We'll live forever you and I

I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna cross that river
I'm gonna catch tomorrow now

I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna cross that river
I'm gonna catch tomorrow now

I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna cross that river
I'm gonna catch tomorrow now

I'm gonna live forever
I'm gonna cross that river
I'm gonna catch tomorrow now

I'm gonna live forever now
I'm gonna live forever now
I'm gonna live forever now
I'm gonna live forever now

Dream of angels and sunshine
Rivers of red wine and orange peel blue

Dream of angels and sunshine
Of rivers of red wine and orange peel blue
Dreaming of you

Live Forever
Billy Joe Shaver, Eddy Shaver

I am now the proud (digital) owner of the Statler Brothers' "Nothing As Original As You."

Okay. So a bunch of you probably have no clue who the Statler Brothers are. Those of you that do probably think I'm crazy for doing backflips at 2:32 a.m. over this fact. However, this song is perhaps my all-time Statler Brothers favorite since I was old enough to operate a record player. As cheezy as it sounds, I wanted to visit Washington, D.C. the first time I heard this song... And I've sung it (to the annoyance of others) on every trip there that I've made.

So, what's the big deal? Until now, it's never been available on digital media. In fact, until now... It's never been on a CD that I've seen available for purchase. So, I'm hearing this song for the first time in eons.

I have Alex to think for this. I was sitting back on my couch thinking of going to bed when I looked up at a collage frame that includes a picture of Alex from our 2000 trip to D.C. I started to hum the Statler Brothers and thought I'd give the song it's semi-annual Google (which usually reveals little to nothing). This time, I found it on a brand new CD of old Statler classics and the cartwheels started.

---

Sitting in a Hotel Room in Washington D.C.
Looking out the window at the miles of History
Somewhere in the skyline is the Capital Dome
And the White House that just a few men have called home

Paintings by the masters, hanging on it's walls
Words of the greatest still ringing in it's halls
Antiques and Heirlooms from another century
Statues and Monuments just waiting there for me

And today I just saw the first airplane that flew
Saw a dinosaur and a Space Module too
Saw Washinton's Monument and marveled at the view
But even here there's nothing as original as you

Saw a play at Ford's Theatre and let me tell you this
The Pentagon is something...no one should ever miss
Saw Jefferson's Memorial and I saw Lincoln's too
I don't think there was one thing I missed seeing, except you

'Cause today I just saw the first airplane that flew
Touched a moon rock and saw a Senator at the zoo
Got lost seven times on Pennsylvania Avenue
But even here's nothing as original as you
Even here's nothing as original as you

As I was driving into work last Friday, I was playing a bit of Paul Sanchez in my CD player. Oddly enough, after putting in back-to-back shifts (for a total of 48 hours), I woke up Sunday morning singing the same song I'd been listening to Friday. It was almost like my life had been on pause for two days. The long shifts at work feel like that sometimes.

"I Dreamt I Slept"
By Paul Sanchez

I know it's late but my telephone
Convinced me to give me to give you a ring
People tell me you've fallen in love
And I've started remembering

There's a photograph of us I have
And we never seem to change
I'm glad to hear that you're doing all right
But I dreamt I slept in your bed last night

We were lying close but I know it's mostly
Because you mattress sags
I kissed your lips and I held you tight
I dreamt I slept in you bed last night

I had been drinking thinking that time was
A drunkard's empty cup
If this dream I'm having feels just like heaven
Then hell would be waking up

But my bed is firm and I've had to learn
What it's like to sleep alone
Now I know another your arms invite
But I dreamt I slept in your bed last night

I've fallen in love with the first few verses of Andy Grigg's new release, "If Heaven." Now, let me say that I'm not ready to go anywhere. But if I were to die, this is the sort of message I'd probably have for folks. Hey, this is what happens... And if heaven is anything like I think it might be, well... There's nothing wrong with that a destination.

Also, there is something powerful in the second verse. I put myself in those shoes. I imagine my hometown on a summer's day in 1985. The world was ahead of me. And it's amazing to think of all the things that have happened since -- good and bad. Life gets bogged down sometimes. We begin to think that every day will be like this one. And, yet, we have so many things in store for us that are impossible for us to imagine today. At least, that's how my life has worked out. I hope it continues that way (for the better).

If heaven was an hour, it would be twilight
When the fireflies start their dancing on the lawn
And supper's on the stove and momma's laughing
And everbody's working day is done

If heaven was a town, it would be my town
Oh, on a summer day in 1985
And everything I wanted was out there waiting
And everyone I loved was still alive

CHORUS:
Don't cry a tear for me now baby
There comes a time we all must say goodbye
And if that's what heaven's made of,
you know I -- I ain't afraid to die.

So, it's over. Alex and her crazy friends left about 6 p.m. Sunday evening. I was worn down by the time they left... and torn in two directions. I wanted the friends to be gone, but I wanted Alex to stay. But more on that later. The trip is over. I have to be at work in four hours, so I should probably catch a nap.

Until next time, ponder these lyrics. Alex says that Pat Green's "3 Days" pretty much sums up how she feels about her visits with me. She could be on to something. But, then again, the more I learn... the more I know... the more I feel... the less it all makes sense. Is it supposed to make sense?

( 3 days )

I don't want to be the one who's old before their time
And lose the wonder that I felt as a child
I can't run this race believing I might lose
There's still so much to see, and so much left to do

Yes I'll fall before I fly
But no one can say I never tried

Oh we just get one
Ride around the sun
In this dream of time
It goes so fast
That one day we look back
And we ask
Was that my life?

I close my eyes and think how lucky I have been
To hold the ones I love and share my dreams with them
All those sunny days and all those starry skies
Good morning kisses and sweet goodnights

I can't tell them enough
Just how much that they are loved

-"Was That My Life"
Jo Dee Messina

"There’s a Bible on the dresser and a sign hung on the door and a woman in my arms who shouldn’t be. I’m to the point of no returning but I’ve been here before, this cheating life is nothing new to me. There’s someone to be considered so I call her on the phone and say the job is taking longer than I planned. I don’t have the heart to tell her that a stranger’s turned me on and I’m headed for the boken promise land.

Tonight, I’m crossing over and I’ll reach the cheating side and I’ll hate myself for coming here again. Where the streets are paved with misery and lives are built on lies... A place they call the broken promise land."

"Broken Promise Land"
Mark Chestnut
CD: Too Cold For Home

And I don't want the world to see me
'Cause I don't think that they'd understand
When everything's made to be broken
I just want you to know who I am

And you can't fight the tears that ain't coming
Or the moment of truth in your lies
When everything feels like the movies
And you bleed just to know you're alive

Is it possible for cheezy 70s lyrics to apply to present day?

At times I understand you
And I know how hard you've tried
I've watched while love commands you
And I've watched love pass you by
At times I think we're drifters
Still searching for a friend
A brother or a sister
But then the passion flares again

I'm a few hundred miles inland... And folks from coastal Louisiana and Texas are already showing up in these parts. God be with 'em down there with ol' Lilly hits.

Hurricane Party
Paul Sanchez
Recorded by Cowboy Mouth

My hurricane party got out of control.
I'm lying in the gutter eating tootsie rolls...
with red-ant bites all over my ass,
beating on my buddies with a base ball bat.

We had a little party -- me and my friends.
A hurricane was comming to New Orleans again.
Somebody brought scotch. Somebody brought beer.
Should've kept the hooch and thrown 'em out of here.

A friendly game -- a penny a hand.
Smoke a cigar. Act like a man.
Waiting for the gale force winds to blow...
Shuffle up the cards and let the liquor flow.

My hurricane party got out of control.
I'm lying in the gutter eating tootsie rolls...
with red-ant bites all over my ass,
beating on my buddies with a base ball bat.

Somebody's girlfriend showed up by surprise
with cookies in her hands and dollar signs in her eyes.
I started dipping her cookies in scotch.
She won all my money and my pocket watch.

Well I passed out and I woke up,
the house was empty and so was my cup.
From out on the front porch I heard a shout,
"I wish they'd come in so I could throw em' out."

My hurricane party got out of control.
I'm lying in the gutter eating tootsie rolls...
with red-ant bites all over my ass,
beating on my buddies with a base ball bat.

Everybody's wrestling out in the dirt.
I laughed so hard till my stomach hurt.
They saw me clean they heard me laugh.
Tthey started charging at me and I grabbed a bat.

My hurricane party got out of control.
I'm lying in the gutter eating tootsie rolls...
with red-ant bites all over my ass,
beating on my buddies with a base ball bat.

from "Spirit of a Boy, Wisdom of a Man"
performed by Randy Travis
words and music by Glen Burtnik and Trey Bruce

"It's a constant contradiction
What feels good & what feels right
You live with the decisions you make in your life
And what steers your direction is hard to understand
The spirit of a boy, the wisdom of a man"

Rascal Flatts: "I've loved like I should and lived like I shouldn't. But I had to lose everything to find out." Rascal Fletch: "True. True. And I know it now... there's no need for me to lose anything at all."

It's 4:32 here and I'm still awake. I just thought I'd let you guys know. I'm damn tired... and quite sleepy... but it's not like I'm fighting sleep. It's just that I'm not in bed and my body hasn't decided to overthrow its government yet. And now I'm rambling and making less sense than should be desired.