adam.riggins

Can I vent here for a second?

I work on the 5th floor of my building, and I think it is a reasonable desire to want to take the elevator to and from that floor.  What really peeves me is when I get on the elevator in the morning with other people, and someone has the nerve to hit “2″.  It’s one floor.  Take the stairs! You have to understand, I am sometimes lazy, but even I would take the stairs to the 2nd floor.

If you are carrying a lot of stuff, I might understand.  But for goodness sakes, it is probably quicker to walk than to wait on the elevator.

By that same token, once the clock strikes 5 pm, I am out the door.  An equally annoying thing is when the elevator stops at the 2nd floor to pick someone up to go down one floor.  ARE YOU KIDDING ME?

When you go down stairs, gravity is on your side. It helps you go downstairs just like God intended.  You don’t need to stop an elevator full of people itching to go home just to take it down one floor.

Why, people, why?

I’m a big fan of music, and even more of a fan of picking apart lyrics and relating them to my own life. So, let’s look at one of my favorite songs ever…

Here is a video of me covering Damien Rice’s song “Cannonball”. Also, here are the lyrics, followed by my thoughts on it:

there’s still a little bit of your taste in my mouth
there’s still a little bit of you laced with my doubt
it’s still a little hard to say what’s going on

there’s still a little bit of your ghost your weakness
there’s still a little bit of your face i haven’t kissed
you step a little closer each day
that I can´t say what´s going on

stones taught me to fly
love, it taught me to lie
life, it taught me to die
so it’s not hard to fall
when you float like a cannonball

there’s still a little bit of your song in my ear
there’s still a little bit of your words i long to hear
you step a little closer to me
so close that I can´t see what´s going on

stones taught me to fly
love taught me to lie
life taught me to die
so its not hard to fall
when you float like a cannon..

stones taught me to fly
love taught me to cry
so come on courage, teach me to be shy
‘cos its not hard to fall,

and I don’t want to scare her
its not hard to fall
and i don’t want to lose
its not hard to grow
when you know that you just don’t know

Have you ever acted a certain way for no other reason than the fact that it just seemed right to you? Specifically related to love and relationships, have you ever had feelings for someone or done something out of love (or what you thought was love) that just made no sense at all?

To me, that’s what this song says at parts. “Stones taught me to fly…”. Stones are heavy and don’t fly. It doesn’t make sense for something to teach you about flying that would not fly well at all. “Love taught me to lie” and “life taught me to die” are the same thing. It’s almost like one extreme taught him to do the other extreme.

So maybe in this song, he has done things in a relationship that maybe he shouldn’t have done. Things that seemed right at the time, but might not have made sense, and it has caused a rift in that relationship. And maybe by the end, he wants the courage that led him to do whatever, to make him shy. Only then will he not do it again.

I dunno, what do you think?

Ever had this drink?  I just purchased one from the cafe downstairs at my office to try and help wake up, and I have to say that this is hands down the most disgusting drink I have ever had.  I have had Red Bull, Rockstar, and a few others, all of which are not great by any means.  But good grief, this drink seriously tastes horrible.

What are some decent tasting energy drinks you have had?

When someone says “Thank you” to you, how do you respond?

The 3 biggies are:

• You’re Welcome
• No Problem
• My Pleasure

For me, I tend to lean toward “My pleasure”, only because my grandfather instilled that in me at an early age.  He said that “no problem”, although implying that there is no problem, also has a bit of a negative connotation to it.  Since it has the word “problem” in it, the underlying meaning is there.  “You’re welcome” is always the standard, but “my pleasure” has such a nice, positive sound to it.  I am sure we don’t always mean it, but it is implying that you are taking pleasure in whatever you are doing for the other person.

Plus, they say “My pleasure” at every Chick Fil A you go to.  Look for it next time you say thanks to one of the employees there.

So, what do YOU say?

In high school, I read a book called “Cold Sassy Tree“.  Maybe you have heard of it.  The story takes place in a small suthun‘ town in Georgia at the turn of the 20th century.  If any story gives you a good picture of southern life 100 years ago, this is it.  It really is a great book, and it is one of the few required books I read in school that I would actually want to read again.

A few weeks ago, I went with my mother to the Opera version of that story.  That’s right, Cold Sassy Tree - the opera.  It was interesting to say the least.  You know how in the opera, everything is sung, well, opera-like?  That’s how this was, only with a southern accent thrown in.

The best way I can describe it is this.  Imagine doing your impression of a British accent.   Then, with that British accent, do your impression of a Russian accent.  It’s sort of a double accent.

That is how it is to hear an opera singer sing an opera, but in a southern accent.  Hard to explain, hard to comprehend.

The opera itself was pretty good.  They only did part of the book, and in all honesty, it got boring very quickly.  We ended up leaving halfway through it.  It was getting late, and we were both getting bored with the slow pace of the storytelling.

But still, if you get a chance to see an opera version of a southern story, give it a try.  It’s just an odd thing to hear.

I am working on a fun idea for a website that could be potentially interactive and thought provoking.  Or, it could be the dumbest idea ever.  But regardless, it will relate to all of us in one way or another.  I hope to roll it out in the next few days, but hopefully you all (my loyal and faithful readers) will give me some feedback.

Anyone out there ever have really weird dreams that are totally random?  If so, let me know.  I might need your help…

I posted this a while back, but since there are a lot of new readers around these here parts, I thought I would repost it. It is one of my favorites!

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Maybe you have been here before.

Whenever I go to a restaurant that offers different sizes of drinks, I always opt for the largest drink they have. And like clockwork, someone in my party will make the comment “You get free refills, so why do you need to get the large?”. I can’t stress enough how this comment sends me to a place I don’t want to be, simply because I feel like I am being judged for my plastic cup size preference.

There are many reasons to go for the large. First of all, it is usually only $.20 more then the small or medium, and the increase in available fluid space is well worth it.

But my number-one reason that I always fire back with when interrogated of my motives is quite simple. It is something I have given the term “THF”. “THF”, you say? Yes, THF. It stands for “Take Home Factor. Let me explain.

Take two people who both get fountain drinks during an evening dining at Chick Fil-A. Person A gets the small drink, person B gets the lovely large drink. Dinner goes great, both discuss the superiority of Chick Fil-A to any other fast food establishment despite the slightly higher prices. All is well. At the end of the meal, both parties fill up on their drink before leaving.

Assuming both people drink at approximately the same speed, person A will run out of beverage long before person B. Imagine if you go home afterwards to watch a movie. Person A will most likely have to get up during your movie for some water (or another beverage of their choice). Person A will be fully hydrated during the entire picutre. So, for around $.20 more, person B will have quenched thirst far longer than person A. Because the large drink was purchased, you have a longer period of time before you have to tap into your own supply. In effect, you are saving money by spending money.

So, next time someone accosts you for ordering the large drink, make sure you inform them of the THF.

When I sleep, I mostly breathe through my mouth and/or snore. This is not a good thing because I normally wake up through the night with a dry mouth. in fact, sometimes my tongue is also dry. It is a VERY uncomfortable thing to wake up to at 3am.

Well, what if there was some kind of “lubricant” (that sounds so gross) that you could ingest. Maybe a lotion kind of thing that would essentially coat the inside of your mouth and maybe your throat as well. It would be like hand lotion for hands, only for the mouth. Is that even possible?

I think I am on to something here.

A quick rant…

Something that bothers me is when you are 2nd in line at a red light, waiting to turn right.  “If only”, you think to yourself, “I could have been first in line, I could have already turned by now”.   So you wait.  And wait.  And then finally, the light turns green.  What does the person in front of you do (remember, they are first inline at the light)?  They turn right!  Why couldn’t they have turned right when the light was red?  There was no one coming and they could see that.  Why did they have to delay my trip?  Why, I ask.  WHY?

I just saw these over at The Plow.

My first reaction was “Wow, that is pretty extreme”.  But then I thought about it.  Jesus, who knew he was about to be crucified for his revolutionary beliefs, was telling this to a group of people who had lived under a great deal of persecution.  What a revolutionary message back then, but perhaps even more so now.  This means that we are to love Hitler, Osama, and everyone else who thrives on hatred.  That is a tough pill to swallow, but if you are a Christian, it is something you are called to do.

Just imagine for a second if everyone actually did this.  The world would be changed forever in an amazing way!

What are your thoughts?