"upguppy" or "i spent the first 3 months of my marriage watching my husband create this pretty cool website which you should check out"

here it is, the website that ben's been working on for what seems like forever. mind you, this is just the alpha draft. they are not quite ready to move forward into the beta. i think that it still turned out pretty cool.

it's a top-10 ranking site allowing anyone to rank anything and everything they can think of, from their top-10 movies, to top-10 hotels they've stayed at, or even more serious topics like top-10 pressing issues of our time. if you check it out, please note that it is still in testing phase (evidenced by one of the first rankings you see "coolest coptix employees").

blogging hiadus

the blog has taken the back seat for the past little while. transition has been relatively smooth, but i have yet to set back up in front of my computer. i'm tentatively rethinking the purpose of this little guy, mostly because it originally was intended for updates on life after i moved up north. moving back south has thrown me for a bit of a loop. so a new title and a new purpose might be in the works.

oh, and my digital camera needs to be retired, so pictures might be a while in coming.

white men can dance

i've watched this so many times, because, well, it is really, really funny. and in light of all the recent "rove-scapades" from ron and josiah q., i thought i would post it. enjoy.

Daily Show - MC Rove

visitors, updates, ramblings...

paul and capria jaussen were in the city this last weekend visiting the rotten apple for the first time. ben and i got to hang out with them sunday evening. it was, of course, excellent. i had not seen either of them since they moved to seattle 2 years ago. not much has changed except for capria's hair length (lucky girl can pull off anything!)

and on to other news...

ben and i after much deliberation and consideration have decided that when our lease runs out (may 8) we will be leaving shelter island and moving back to chattanooga for a time. there are many reasons for this move, which i will not get into here. we made this decision a couple of weeks ago, but have not had the opportunity to share the news with everyone yet.

in lieu of this, we have both been caused to reflect on where we are now and what this means for us. the future plans we both had before we got married now seem farther away. yet there is an energy that seems to drive us both together and forward, though we know not to where we are going. is that faith? is that the Lord leading us? it is something we are both in prayer about. what this means for both our former plans for school we have no idea. neither ben nor i have given up on our dreams and goals. but they seem to be transforming into something else.

the words "relationships, friendships, community" are all becoming part of our dialogue more and more. and questions come after. what does the relationship between ben and i mean for the relationships with the rest of our community? and where does our community lie? we are in the process of learning about these things in our context of marriage. and this is beautiful. to share and be shared with. to know and be known. to love and be loved. and when we recognize this, we both look outward for those who are in our community, desiring to be with you again, to give to you these things that we are learning and growing in together.

this time here on shelter island has been a fruitful one. a place of healing, growth, solitude, learning, rejuvenation, and heck, an extended honeymoon...

snow!

i was starting to wonder if we'd ever actually get snow up here. i mean, when i think of an island, i think palm trees, white sand beaches, mangos, coconuts (kiko, you with me?) so, it got cold, but that's been about it until now.

we got our first snow fall. i'm experiencing it with a mixture of feelings. it's beautiful and adds visual texture to the already cold environment. that's great. but for a girl from california, i've finally realized the need for snow shoes. my feet have been perpetually cold and wet for the past week. (i'm such a baby...)

i've never lived in a place that truly represented the 4 seasons. california is almost seasonless, and chattanooga gets A snowfall maybe every 4 years. how fun to finally see a white winter AND to enjoy it with dreamy weaver.

'footprints' are from right outside our front door. 'flowers' are the hydrangeas from the back patio that were so beautiful and lavender in colour when i originally moved to shelter island. i guess they don't do so well in the icy conditions. ah, they'll be back...

nuptials

for some reason, i can't seem to upload a larger image here. but this is a shot from the bweavers wedding ceremony. thanks to em franks for taking some pictures. we're hoping to have some more images to put up on flickr as soon as we collect the lot of them from my mom and brian durham.

ta da!

the expected "where was i a year ago?" post

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE! (two days late)

after a month long hiatus from blogging, i'm back on again. of course, it being a new year, i start to think back, like i always do, over the past year. where was i last year this time? so much has changed, so many blessings, so many surprises.

story 1: after spending christmas with my brother i sent him off to join the military. he has since refound the love of his life, was married to her in august, and as of a week ago they are living in clarksville, tennessee, he being stationed with the 101st airborne at fort campbell, kentucky. that has been a wild yet wonderful ride for them.

story 2: my almost common law roommate, kiko, last year this time was also just getting to know the man who would then propose to her in april to be married this past august.

story 3: lisa riley... well, just copy story 2, but replace "kiko" with "lisa," "the man" with "trippy farmer," and "august" with "september."

story 4: charity and lang are officially empty nesters and finally became scooter owners (after years and years of talking about it)

story 5: andy, brent and morris became roommates (oh wait, they too are almost common law. silly me)

story 6: the galpins continue trucking along in st. louis. can you believe it's been a year and a half?

story 7: kristine zacharias became a home owner.

story 8: ben and anna are having babies!!

story 9: farron finally got a job that she loves.

story 10: chris totten moved COMPLETELY across the country to live and pursue music with his brothers.

story 11: isaac's music career is continuing to grow.

story 12: josiah roe and i officially became friends.

story 13: sean loftin and michelle higgins were engaged at the beginning of december (just snuck in there, didn't they?).

story 14: me? well, enough said. way too much this year, but so many wonderful outcomes. the Lord infintely has blessed ben and i in the healing and rejuvenation of our relationship. he has brought us both through so much and then back together again. it is a testimony to his faithfulness. in addition to that, my relationships have continued to blossom and grow with all my friends and family. it's been a good year.

for your viewing pleasure a very unique photo of ben and i from christmas day. we've never taken one like this before nor have i shown or posted a picture quite like this of me with anyone. simply put, this is a photo in an entirely new fashion.

the woman behind the man

and we all thought it was LANG who was the computer genius. little did we know he gets all his chops from his lovely wife charity...

jk

the story really goes like this: i had a lovely week last week, first seeing friends in chattanooga and then visiting with ben weaver's family in kentucky on thanksgiving day. it was a typical thanksgiving. lots of food, family, dogs and mayhem running around. ben's family was incredibly welcoming and very easy to get to know. it was a fast week, and ended with me back in the northeast on friday, sad but true.

the martin's, who were in nyc for thanksgiving themselves, then graced me with their presence on sunday. we had dinner at vine street that night, lots of good food and conversation, and then woke up the next day to patter around in our pj's until i dropped them off at the hampton jitney stop where they caught a bus back up to the city to fly back to chattanooga.

i was giggling when i took this picture: two martin's in my house, each with a white mac in their laps, sitting in my giant overstuffed chairs. how perfect.

it was so great, though, that they came down to see me. i just love them both so much. i miss everyone in chattanooga a lot, actually. thanks so much to everyone who came to dinner at char and lang's last tuesday. i really meant a lot to see you all, even if just for a brief moment.

dusk

i went back out to montauk this afternoon (this time, sadly, without ben weaver) in time to watch the fishing boats come in. to my surprise it was just about dark already.

just to give you an idea of how very east i am, this picture was shot at 4:30 this afternoon. by 5:00 it was close to pitch dark. it really gave a piercing sense of finality to the day.

i think it was lang who quoted chris mccartney to me once as saying, "darkness, in contrast to lightness, is in a sense a more true reflection of who God is because there are many variations of light. but darkness in itself is complete." there is a whole conversation in there somewhere. regardless, i do find myself in some ways overcome with reflection when i am in the dark. nothing else to see, nothing to be distracted by, just me and the Lord.

birthday's are never overrated

i had a fantastic birthday weekend. ben weaver came to see me and we got to do all kinds of fun things. walks on the beach (yes, there are beaches here, lots of them in fact), a delicious 8-course dinner, lots of quality conversation. it all added up to a lovely time. i got to talk to all my best friends as well. (kari wanted to make sure everyone knew SHE was the first one to call me on friday.)

i took the beach picture on our beach "hike," and the other is from our dinner at della famina friday night. i'll be in chattanooga next week for a couple of days before thanksgiving. anyone up for group dinner tuesday night? some good ol' bethany cooking?

music interest of the day

jimmy lavalle, the main man behind the music of the album leaf just released a new cd, into the blue again. after starting his solo project in 1998, he has continued to release lp's and ep's every year, all taking on unique yet simple layered techno music. (think postal service.) and then every once in a while he throws in a surprising track of strings. he has impressed such groups as sigur ros to be invited to join them onstage during live performance. they have also assisted him in the making of some of his own music. there is an interesting mention of him on funtimeok.com but get the dirt from the actual website.

i'm unfortunately missing both of his new york shows (tonight and monday), but those of you in california should try to catch him in san francisco on the 21st of november at the independent. here is a track from his new album. it's called writings on the wall.

catch up

my weekend was a good one. it started off with a last minute visit from ben weaver and ended with some good ol' subway hopping', crowd surfing fun with my mother. do you see my face? yes, that's happiness.

my mother got to see where i live and dine at my restaurant. we also went to a very special place i like to call the "lavender house" for hot soup and hot chocolate. it is a restaurant in a house the color of lavender that also grows and sells lavender plants and products.

we went into new york city tuesday and randomnly ran into anna thomas walking down the street. apparently even in the biggest city in the united states you can run into people. on our way to meet up with ben thomas we got stuck in the annual 6th avenue halloween parade. i felt kind of bad, mom getting suffocated by 2 million new yorkers plus not being in costume and all. but mom survived the crowds. what a good sport she is. and yesterday was her birthday, so happy birthday, momma!

CxMen

i may be a sucker. but mostly i'm just continually proud of the cxTeam. they rolled out their new website this past week. despite being a completely computer-unsavvy person, i also know what i dislike about websites. and this one passed my first test: no need to scroll down on the home page! still in the tweaking process apparently, but shoestrings and duct-tape aside, it looks and feels pretty snazzy having just enough interactiveness to be fun yet not so much to be intimidating. it's simple to look at and a good example of their collective talent. as far as chattanooga web development and graphic design goes, these cxBoysandGirls are hot to trot.

one of my favorite parts of the website is the portfolio page. i've had debates with some about the drawers that slide down featuring thumbnails and links for their already developed sites. my only critique: maybe hotlink the actual images in addition to the url text(?). but the drawers are pretty sweet, giving the user a taste of the goods without having to commit to being taken to the actual websites. (i sort of hate pressing the back button every three seconds.)

with the return of beardtopia, it should be perfect. (and man, that ben weaver... what a hottie.)

my secret love of electronic music is out. seventeen years by ratatat (thanks, sarah hughes).

lost in the garden state (or, never take the new jersey turnpike for fear of going bankrupt)

i drove to see my brother and sister-in-law last week in virginia. the most direct route, albeit the most expensive due to excessive toll roads, is the i-95, aka "new jersey turnpike," straight through new jersey. so i weigh my options: $50 in tolls versus a longer yet more beautiful, peaceful and cheaper drive through pennsylvania... i'm a scrooge, pennsylvania wins. and i'm off down the road, feeling pretty smart in my dirty little bob the saab.

there's one little life lesson i seem to keep on learning over and over again, namely that when i try to avoid anything that thing usually is thrown straight into my path. this is also the reason why i am a terrible liar. and true to form, in trying to avoid new jersey, i somehow ended up lost in new jersey. have you ever been lost in new jersey? i keep asking people that to which most reply, "how do you get lost in new jersey? all it is is one big turnpike." one big expensive turnpike, that is. i sort of think this is how they fund the entire state's economy. so i then decide to try and get out of new jersey as soon as possible. and my next "shortcut" turns into another one of bethany's brainy schemes into confusion.

rainy, foggy, way too much traffic. i think the northeast hates me, or atleast is having fun testing my determination. probably both. my eight hour jaunt turned into a nine, ten, eleven, twelve-thousand year long excursion, through hill an dale, valley and forge. i think i saw the netherlands at one point.

i'm still not really sure where i was or how i got there, only that eventually some kind person in a toll booth told me how to get to virginia. that was after he told me he thought all people from pennsylvania were idiots. i asked him what he thought about people from tennessee. "are you from tennessee, sweetie?" "yes sir..." "i love people from tennessee!" i laughed and drove on.

just shy of lisa loeb, yet with an almost velvet undergroundish flair... mirah's sweepstake prize

libations

i am a big fan of the "dinner party." there is something quite unique in my mind about sharing conversation over food and wine. at least two of those (three according to science daily) are an essential part of life. everyone needs to eat and everyone needs to relate to others, i.e. have relationships conducted over the wavelength of communication, direct conversation being the most common form of this. put those elements together and you have the perfect evening.

from start to finish:

1. form a plan
PLAN: invite friends over to eat and drink (it's really as simple as that, though asking said friends to come bearing gifts is also recommended)
2. buy food
3. cook food
4. eat food with friends
5. drink wine with friends
6. talk
7. look at huge mess that must be cleaned up
8. avoid mess (but breathe a sigh of relief when kiko offers to clean)
9. talk some more
10. drink some more
THE END

that all being said, i participated in my first dinner party on shelter island. it was all those things listed above minus one. i reminisced about my chattanooga crew and all the awesome dinners we shared. but it was a great time getting to know people a little better here.

an mp3 from mudhut, a funky mix called dark lady.

goooooaaaaaallllllllllll!

woops. england lost 0-2 against croatia in the euro 2008 qualifier. it's funny, i thought stuff like this only happened in u-8's. one funny headline: "you don't know what you're doing, gaffer" and the article found here ("i didn't expect all this own goal abuse") makes me love the british press.

signs and more

i seem to have discovered an interest in signs. i just can't seem to get enough of them. so here's one more i saw today. i actually ate my lunch here as well. the sign peaked my interest making wonder the various ways they might serve soda for a midday meal. disappointed, i discovered it actually was a normal restaurant. nobody who worked there seemed to know why the restaurant had that name. but i did have some pretty delicious fish and chips...

in more new, has anyone else come across the ONE campaign? i was introduced to it by my now former roommate, cara cote, before i left chattanooga and have since gotten regular e-mails from them. it's fairly interesting, an "end poverty/hiv/aids" endeavor which has a very recognizable face at its head: bono. anyway, i got this e-mail from them today about having "house parties" this month in support of the ONE campaign. i was a little confused by it, imagining peeps packed in a house, drinking too much and dancing on tables. so i got on the ONE website to actually learn something about their organization. it seems to be more of a celebrity commercial than anything else. the "notable signatories" part of the website is filled with pictures of brad pitt, george clooney, fergie, penelope cruz... you get the picture, and very sleek black-&-white pictures of all of them there are. is this another place to post actor headshots or is it a useful organization? i don't have the answer.

mostly i read about the campaign trying to convince the american government to contribute ONE% of their budget (i think i read it correctly) in order to put an end to poverty/hiv/aids in our lifetime. i am sort of back and forth on this issue. why is it that we are asked to go to other countries to provide relief work because it's the "american duty, being a decadently wealthy nation and all," yet when there's a known genocidal maniac ruling a country, how dare we "tell other countries how to run themselves," by removing said maniac from power? i'm not underscoring our responsibility in the poverty issue. it's one that is near and dear to my heart. i think it's that feeling of bored celebrities deciding which issues are "cool" to tackle, and then throwing stones at the american government that kind of bothers me.

it's another one of those frequent jerry maguire moments.
- american government: "this is me out here for you!... help me help you,... HELP... ME... HELP... YOU!"

(really i'm just jealous of those sweet b&w headshots. how can i get me one of those?)

i like pretty things

if you want to see some really pretty, funky cool decorative things go to stray dog designs website. it's all handmade stuff with a lot of colour, character and uniqueness to each piece. i love it all. it's awesome to see companies like this coming out of chattanooga that are getting national recognition as well. they apparently went to the international gift fair in new york and got the city hyped on their goods. anyway, their website rocks, and is done by none other than my good friends at coptix. i love these guys. they are way too talented for their own good.

van damme left his imprint in nyc

i went to the city this week and this is the only photo i walked away with. i'm not sure why... it's the korean war memorial statue in battery park. if you can't see the title of it, it's called "the universal soldier."