You keep lying, when you oughta be truthin.'

I used to think "Single Ladies" would be the obvious choice for "flash mob library staff video reenactment day," (which WILL happen at some point) but I've changed my mind. 

***
In the words of the storied philosopher Tim McGraw, "it's the ending of an era, and the turning of a page"...

Goodbye, dear friend. Thank you for forgiving me for the shorty-shorts, bath robes, and dresses with which you have been paired. You've been good to me.

***

A current fascination...

***
Current fascination #2...
Excerpts from Anne Lamott's, Help, Thanks, Wow

“Let’s not get bogged down on whom or what we pray to. Let’s just say prayer is communication from our hearts to the great mystery, or Goodness, or Howard; to the animating energy of love we are sometimes bold enough to believe in; to something imaginably big, and not us. We could call this for Not Me, and Not Preachers Onstage with a Choir of 800. Or for convenience we could just say “God.”” 2-3

“Prayer is talking to something or anything with which we seek union, even if we are bitter or insane or broken.” 5

“Prayer is us – humans merely being, as e.e. Cummings put it – reaching out to something having to do with the eternal, with vitality, intelligence, kindness, even when we are at our most utterly doomed and skeptical.” 6

“I also know that life can be devastating, and it’s still okay to be pissed off at God.” 14

“We and life are spectacularly flawed and complex. Often we do not get our way, which I hate, hate, hate. But in my saner moments I remember that if we did, usually we would shortchange ourselves.” 45

“So I prayed: ‘Help me not be such an ass.’” 67

“I pray not to be such a whiny, self-obsessed baby, and give thanks that I am not quite as bad as I used to be (talk about miracles).” 95

“You’ve heard it said that when all else fails, follow instructions. So we breathe, try to slow down and pay attention, try to love and help God’s other children, and – hardest of all, at least to me – learn to love our depressing, hilarious, mostly decent selves. We get thirsty people water, read to the very young and old, and listen to the sad. We pick up litter and try to leave the world a slightly better place for our stay here.” 101

So God Made a Farmer...

I know I'm not alone in describing this Dodge commercial as my favorite of Super Bowl night. Substandard originality, however, is not going to stop me from devoting an entire post to it. This welcomed two minute reprieve from dancing pistachios and unfunny babies reminded me of my part-time job as an afternoon and weekend deejay at WKYR when I was 17 years old.  In between butchering or laughing at what people called into Swap Shop to sell, I would often play Paul Harvey's "The Rest of the Story," a series I've come to appreciate so much more with age than I did as that high school kid having fun on the radio. It reminded me of navy, cropped FFA jackets so emblematic of warm June nights spent exploring Louisville with Mom, Dad, Leigh Ann, and the assortment of teenage students who had decided to attend the FFA convention at the Galt House.  And most importantly, it reminded me of my favorite farmer, the man I respect more than any other I’ll ever know.

He got up before sunrise nearly every morning and fixed eggs, toast, gravy and coffee. He'd feed animals before and after school, the same animals he was willing to sleep in the barn beside if need be. In the summer, he'd spend every daylight hour working the farm he loved. He was in fact strong enough to rustle a calf, yet gentle enough to be there when his daughters cried. He tamed cantankerous machinery and could shape an ax handle. He could make about anything out of hay wire and feed sacks. He could clear trees and heave bails, but also care for a colt, calf, or pup with compassion that seemed equally natural. He plowed deep and straight and didn't cut corners. 

He was a farmer.
Luckily for me, he was also my Dad.

*For background on the Dodge commercial, see this Huffington Post or this NPR article.
***
If by some chance, I don't buy a Dodge Ram when the ol' Elantra finally waves the white flag, here are some options I'd consider...

How can you not love a hatchback? - Honda Crosstour

I think the new Kia Optimas are quite sharp.

I've always loved Mini Coopers.

I suppose I'd take a BMW hybrid SUV, too.