Tag: Starbucks

Six or Seven, Pick a Number, Any Number!

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I’m about to head out from Starbucks here but figured I better write a couple words. Must confess…my primary reason for doing so is that I’ve noticed that I’ve actually posted every single day this week thus far. So I just could not pass up the chance to finish out the week right!! (…er…by posting on livejournal? Yeah. Sure) This has been a most busy day so far…but it’s been lovely nevertheless. My last weekend in Houston for a bit, so doing all my final Christmas preparatory activities! Had a most fantastic breakfast at Joshua and Sarah’s house…of course it was nice to eat breakfast and drink coffee with them…but the true joy was just talking with them and catching up on oh so many things! They are pretty awesome, I have to say. Then it’s been a mad dash through various Houston locations…and I’m still not done. Time to go to HEB now, then to pick up my dry-cleaning. Then…home?! Going to attempt to get a walk in…as this wintry weather is still just wonderful. Alright, I have been in Starbucks long enough…but I decided I am way far behind in posting my music playlists, so going to record one here this afternoon. (I’ll still be a few behind, but alas – one is enough for now!) I really enjoyed making this mix – it’s such a beautiful…chill indie mix, I guess?? Honestly, I got in an Owl City mood a few months back and felt sad I didn’t really have a good mix with Owl City songs. So attempted to remedy that with this mix. I know Laura’s not a huge fan of it, since she needs to be in a particular mood to enjoy Owl City! What can I say, my heart is weird enough…that something about Owl City / Postal Service / Snow Patrol just resonates with my emotions so beautifully. That middle stretch – bliss. This is a bit of an old-school mix as well. Besides Owl City, I got an Anberlin and a Panic! song squeezed in. Early college nostalgia right there. Right, enough talk. Mixed back in summer of this year…Clarissa:

1. Plimsoll Punks – Alvvays
2. Light of Loving – Faith Healer
3. My Only – The Pains of Being Pure at Heart
4. Paperthin Hymn – Anberlin
5. Laid Low – The Naked and Famous
6. Derniere danse – Indila
7. I Constantly Thank God for Esteban – Panic at the Disco
8. I Summon You – Spoon
9. Air Traffic – Owl City
10. Recycled Air – The Postal Service
11. Sky Diver – Owl City
12. The Finish Line – Snow Patrol
13. I’ll Meet You There – Owl City
14. Take Care – Beach House
15. Blue Velvet – Lana Del Rey
16. Exit Night / Juliet’s Theme – Emmy the Great
17. My Least Favorite Life – Lera Lynn
18. Writer in the Dark – Lorde
19. Fuzzy Blue Lights – Owl City

Have a gorgeous day, dear friends.

Reading Between the Lines of Autumnal Tendencies

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Hello friends! Been a bit too long since I’ve written…and I honestly don’t even feel much like writing now, but I suppose I should at least attempt to write something. I’m sitting here at Starbucks – not for long though as it is sunny and delightfully cool outside and I shall not waste that – and sipping on my coffee…and yeah, guess I can write a few words! I’m listening to a preliminary mix of a CD I hope to be completed sometime in the next few weeks. It’s not there yet, alas. Alas. Speaking of mixes though – why don’t I share one I made earlier this year? This must have been sometime in…July? August? I actually knocked out 3 mixes in short succession and I don’t exactly remember which I made when – and I’m not going to share all three today! But going alphabetically because why not? This one came about shortly after my Colorado trip with Robbie in which fantastic and memorable times were had. On Sunday of that trip, we had a hiking day in which we drove outside of Denver some ways, found a cool path and hiked up and back. It was beautiful and so different than the Houston I’m usually in. But as we drove there and back, we listened to the music on Robbie’s Spotify – and I realised he had some most excellent dance tunes! By dance tunes (this time), I mean more modern dance/pop music…music that’s fun to listen to, even if the content is a bit lightweight! But hey – great road trip music. And so when I returned from Colorado, decided I needed to memorialize the trip by making a mix using Robbie’s music. I messed with the flow a bit…but the content is pretty much straight Robbie. Thanks man. So now – for a fun, frothy mix…I humbly present Denver 2AM:

1. The Ocean – Mike Perry feat. Shy Martin
2. Summer Air – ItaloBrothers
3. Don’t Let Me Down – The Chainsmokers feat. Daya
4. Paper Planes – M.I.A.
5. Heroes (we could be) – Alesso feat. Tove Lo
6. Alone – Marshmello
7. False Alarm – Matoma & Becky Hill
8. Havana – Camila Cabello feat. Young Thug
9. Closer – The Chainsmokers feat. Halsey
10. Faded – Alan Walker
11. Habits (Stay High) (Hippie Sabotage Remix) – Tove Lo
12. Baba Yetu (Deep Radio Edit) – Supanova
13. Tilbake (Saevik Remix) – David André Østby feat. Marie Hognestad
14. S.O.S. – Indila
15. Sugar – Robin Schulz feat. Francesco Yates
16. So Good – LZ7
17. Runaway (U & I) – Galantis
18. Reload (Vocal Version/Radio Edit) – Sebastian Ingrosso & Tommy Trash & John Martin
19. Don’t Wanna Wake Up – Capital Kings
20. Tidal Wave – Sub Focus feat. Alpines
21. Headlines – Robin Schulz feat. Ilsey

So there you go! A bit more words shall I put to page? John (Dixon! From Scotland!!) was here this past week and it was glorious. I shan’t write about all we did(honestly, we didn’t do that much! But definitely enjoyed taking him to a Dynamo game – my first too! Good times were had wandering around Houston in the grey and the rain and the cold…he picked the wrong week to come to Houston for sun and warmth that’s for sure!)…for truly the best part was just being with him again and having quiet moments talking and being together. Sitting on the couch one evening, watching the baseball(World Series – Dodgers v. Red Sox – ugh) and talking about random life thoughts. Or down the street at Christian’s, enjoying a burger, half-watching the Rockets game (but not really) and again just chatting about our past, our future, our hopes, our dreams. You know. All that good stuff. I think one night, I was texting Julie about something and once she found out I was with John – she asked, “Why are you chatting with me when your friend is there!?!” And I thought about it and see that we’re chilling in the living room, half on our phones, half paying attention to whatever was on TV and then making random comments to each other now and again and realised…this just feels like being flatmates in Aberdeen again. A normal evening together. And so having that experience this past week was…quite nice. I treasure the friendship I have with John dearly and I thank my God for that. And I pray that God continues to bless John in all things!! To Him be the glory throughout, now and forever.

Now, before I spiral off into further flights of emotion, I shall take my leave. It really is a good time to get out of this dim coffeeshop and into the glorious light.

Snooze

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This is definitely one of those sleepy mornings, I have decided. Firstly I’m behind schedule – definitely slept a bit longer than I would have liked! – then I roll up to Starbucks and see Jake there…who is also very much behind his own schedule…then I talk to Emily & Deniz at the counter and they tell me they barely opened on time since one of them(who shall remain nameless…but his name starts with D) slept in and didn’t get to Starbucks until 15 min before open. So yeah, it’s one of those days apparently!! I am about to take my first sip of coffee all morning and it shall be glorious. Since I didn’t have much time this morning, decided not to even heat up my coffee so no – I am currently decaffeinated. I am grateful that I was granted a bare few minutes to read though – Psalm 101 & 102. Encouraging to read the Word of the Lord this morning, that I cannot deny. Now…figured I’d post a poem I’ve been working on. It’s a bit rare for me to post one that I’ve worked on for multiple days – a slow burn of a creative process on this one, to be sure. Honestly, I’m still not really happy with it, but…I may very well never be? So going to post it now, maybe I’ll tweak it later, who knows. Also posting because I did get someone else’s somewhat positive feedback. Meagan read it and enjoyed…but she also freely confessed that she doesn’t know poetry well…still though, I much appreciated her even reading it!! I asked what emotional response it provoked and her response was, “numbness and then longing that comes from a pensive evening walk.” You know what? I’ll take that. But let me stop my rambling discourse…and post this mess of a poem. Thanks for reading, friends.

What to do and what to say
Hear now grim creation’s lay
Dripping of doom and triumph both
The sneering triumph too hollow
to make up for the sure doom to follow.

And as the whirring gears
and humming motors
and all the churning, teeming
waves of faceless voices
create a most delightful dissonance,

a break in time and space does rupture
and in that moment
for a moment
the screens go black,
and red blinking lights go dim
and all the glories
of half told stories
tumble to the dust.

for I soft gasp in sorrow
as I stand atop the silent cliff,
starkly still,
and cold I shiver
but outward and upward and onward I look
and shaking I see
the singing sea
and the
star strewn skies
shock my shattered soul.

Flesh and blood and skin and bones,
now creation waits and groans
and with in-drawn breath and
widened, frightened eyes
softly, oh so softly
cries.

The Reading Goes Ever On and On

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29. They Were Found Wanting by Miklós Bánffy. Book number 2 of the Transylvanian Trilogy (or the Hungarian trilogy – as I call it to my friends!) has been conquered. This one took me a little while to complete, but I did truly want to enjoy it…so not attempting to rush through it. I wrote a pretty decent summary of this trilogy when I talked about book 1, so shan’t repeat that. But this book(as I guess middle books of trilogies are wont to do?) got even more depressing…and the characters are not exactly in the best of places. Will things get better? I’m slightly worried that they may not, especially as the Great War looms even closer now. There was definitely a lot more focus on the European political atmosphere in this book…oh so tragic with hindsight. Oh so blind were oh so many. I am hoping that the characters somehow get to a better place in the third book though. We shall see? Balint, Adrienne, Laszlo…surely things can’t get much worse. But I could most definitely be wrong. After I closed this book on a wonderfully emotional note, I wrote in my little notebook (for I knew I wouldn’t log this for a few days, so wanted to jot my thoughts down while they were hot) the following: “What a wistful, melancholy end. Beautiful. Yet oh so sad.” And there you go. Book 3 awaits. I may not read it for a bit though – want to savour this trilogy. I can only read a book for the first time once.

30. Ender’s Game by Orson Scott Card. Ok so yes. This is definitely a re-read. I first Ender’s Game…freshman year of high school, I believe? I had to pick a book for a English I reading project and I grabbed this off the shelf in the media center. It was a most fortuitous choice, for it began my love affair with OSC’s work. All through high school and beyond, I named him as one of my all-time favourite authors. I don’t know if he would rank quite as highly now (simply because I’ve read many more authors since that time!). But I still own multiple of his books (10 or so?) and after reading this, I remembered why I loved him so much. His characters are just amazingly well realized. Almost no author does better in writing full, breathing characters than Card. And it gets even better with the next book in this series – “Speaker for the Dead”. But anyway – I’m talking about Ender’s Game! I’ve read this a few times before, so the plot is a known quantity. But I did forget how imaginative it is. It’s good solid sci-fi…with fun innovations and incredibly cool concepts. And the drama flows hot and heavy. I first read this in high school, so I guess this escaped me then, but I did forget how crude and crass some of the dialog is. I guess kids talk that way sometimes? So I didn’t enjoy those parts quite as much, but once I got past that…I really just fell in love with the book and with Card all over again. This book is quite philosophically sophisticated as well…it’s not just a “good humans defeat evil aliens!” sci-fi novel. Oh no, there’s so much more to it than that…I don’t really want to write out the whole plot here, but I will say that as I finished the book last night – sitting in EQ – I was incredibly satisfied. The whole sequence at the end…with Ender visiting the land of his dreams on a far-away planet…and his subsequent communion with the queen of the race that he destroyed…beautiful and tragic. As the queen communicated to Ender, “They didn’t forgive us – we shall surely die,” my heart nearly broke. And on that note, I’ll end this overly long review. But any book that summons forth such emotions surely deserves my praise.

Now…back to sipping on my coffee here at Starbucks. This Saturday rolls ever on.

A Postal Service

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Hello friends and happy Saturday!! I did intend to write a nice, long entry today, but I fear it is not to be. I’ve dawdled here in Starbucks long enough and I really must go grab something for lunch soon as well. But must log my latest read(about 4 days late, shocker!):

28. The Mote in God’s Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle. Now this is proper sci-fi. Apparently I just need to read older classic sci-fi, because I greatly loved this book published in 1974. Written in “humanity’s future”, it had a great sweeping history (which I love) and also fun characters (despite the somewhat caricatured Scottish chief engineer!), great hulking battleships, fantastic technological wonders, copious amounts of coffee drinking, actual references to Christianity (which is somewhat rare in science fiction these days…)…and truly alien aliens. It even ended with a wedding (which is also somewhat rare in modern sci-fi!). And of course, the hallmark of all great sci-fi…the exploration of the unknown expanse…while at the same time, the examination of humanity’s psyche. What will man do to preserve his place in the universe? I don’t think I can properly do the plot of this book justice – but just know that I enjoyed it (I think that’s already obvious, no?). It was a fun adventurous romp while at the same time being at least mildly intellectual in nature. The descriptions of space were a wonder to behold and almost gave me the urge to go off gallivanting in space myself. Almost.

Tales from 2AM

James HoganLeave a comment

Chilling at Starbucks.  Yup.  Not going to write long, but figured may as well since I’m here!!  My day has been relatively(slightly) productive thus far…had a deacons meeting at 730 this morning, then I made my way over here where I’ve been working like a madman…trying to get music playlists in order.  Yes, very important business.  I admit, it is somewhat hilarious how much I enjoy this.  Right now, though I’m struggling mightily as I have four different playlists I’m working on nigh simultaneously.  A bit over-ambitious that.  A dance mix(sourced from Robbie on our trip last weekend), *another* dance mix(more chill/trance really), a musical mix(Les Mis, Wicked, Rent &…Hamilton!?) and then a more “normal” mix that is a mess and I’ve sort of abandoned for the moment.  Anyways – the struggle.  And then one of the hardest parts is to come up with a properly epic and just-pretentious-enough album title.  OH the joys.

Enough of that though!  Planning on seeing Peter pretty soon – going to meet for lunch…somewhere?  And then going to hang out with Earnie tonight.  It shall be fantastic, that I declare.  Last night was beautifully quiet…didn’t really get reading done(well – did read a bit of Owen at EQ – less than 80 pages to go!) but I enjoyed watching Rocky II with my dinner.  Forgot how awesome that movie is.  Stayed up a bit too late.  Alas. 

Now though…time to roll.  And continue my weird music playlist obsession.  I just realised I actually have FIVE playlists I’m working on.  Forgot my Anberlin/Owl City/Panic! one I’ve just started.  Again – yes, I’m a mess.

Peace, y’all.  Peace and love.

Perseverance of the Saints

James HoganLeave a comment

Morning, friends!!  I shan’t stay long on the computer now…but I sit here at Starbucks after having enjoyed my espresso and I realised that I’m a bit behind in sharing my music mixes!  So figured I’d catch up (a little bit – still 2 more after this to record!) and share one I made back before Christmas last year.  This morning though…it was simply fantastic to sleep in!  Then enjoyed my breakfast of coffee and sausages as I watched the French Open final…Simona Halep of Romania won…very deservedly so and I was quite happy to see her win her first Slam!!  Tomorrow won’t be able to watch the men’s final since I’ll be at church….but go Rafa!  King of Clay.  Shooting for French Open title..11 I think?  Ridiculous.  My fav men’s tennis player of all time, simply for his determination and craft and fiery passion for the game!!

Now…I did mean to share this music mix did I not??  This mix is a bit weird…reflective of me, of course.  I’ve long been wanting to do another dance CD – and I’ve been extremely happy with how this one turned out.  It’s actually been in my car music rotation ever since I burned it, which is very much indicative of my love for this music.  Is it weird crazy discotheque-esqe music?  Absolutely yes.  And sometimes…it’s fun to just enjoy the beat of some quality dance tunes, despite the quality(or lack thereof!) of the lyrics!!  So don’t take this mix as a thing of pure light and purer beauty….but just for the silly fun club music it is.  With these many disclaimers aside….let me present…Club West:

1.  A+ Superstar – Basslovers United
2.  Gonna Paint the Town – Camera X
3.  I’m All Yours – Cruise Controllerz
4.  I Wanna Dance with Somebody – The Cube Guys, Barbara Tucker
5.  No Cover Song – Deep Spirit feat. Kathy
6.  The Promiseland – DJ Gollum feat. DJ Cap
7.  We Like to Party – Dj Roxx
8.  Lost in the Discotheque – Empyre One
9.  21st Century Digital Girl – Groove Coverage
10.  Let Me Be Your Girl – Kompulsor
11.  Masterpiece – Manuel Lauren
12.  Touch the Stars – RaveBass
13.  We Got the Beat – Sonictunez
14.  Keys in Tokyo – Stepa K
15.  Tonight – Tomtrax & Orca
16.  Takin’ Me High – Withard & Juve Presents Sonera
17.  Gonna Be So Happy – Megastylez
18.  Shooting Stars – Tribune
19.  You – Special D.
20.  Forever – Sunray & Phillerz

Classic.  Let’s dance it up, y’all.  Such a fun mix, already have two more playlists similar to it that I’m currently building!!

Now…time to step out into the sunshine and further enjoy the lovingkindnesses of the Lord this day that He has made.

Peace and love, dear friends.

Hard Love

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Good morning, friends!! And…happy Friday!!! For indeed, it is finally Friday here, and although I am quite tired(it’s been a long week!), I’m psyched for a glorious day ahead. Sipping on my (still slightly warm) peppermint mocha now and enjoying that – was fun seeing and chatting briefly with Tony & Chi at Starbucks today! I still miss Katie, but I suppose I may(at some point possibly?) see her again – she is now finishing up her first semester of nursing school yay! Anyways – enough Starbucks people updates! Today shall be a good day, that I declare. I’ve been thinking lately about how easily I get distracted and fret over either things I don’t control or things that don’t really matter. And really how…at the end of the day, I need to rest in the sovereignty and love of Christ Jesus my Lord and rejoice and enjoy the beauty all around me, courtesy of my God. True? May I remember that much more than I usually do. Peace, my friends. Peace and love.

Gleeman

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So today I am…once again…but for the first time in a while…sitting at Starbucks here in Houston.  And as I let my mocha americano slightly cool so I can drink it without burning myself, I’m pondering on what to write here and as I think, I believe this will be a bit of a musical entry.  I realize I haven’t posted any of my most recent mixes(the horror!), and so I shall at least chronicle one of them this day(will save others for later on).  This is one of the mixes I did pre-Christmas, both for myself and to give a copy to Laura and Caisson!  I quite enjoy this one even though it’s quite an odd mix of alt and folk and…pop?  It makes me happy, even though it is maybe one of my most melancholy mixes yet.  If you listen to it, you’ll notice the “turn” or the “upward, boundless gaze of the heart” doesn’t come until…the last minute of the last song?  That is a rather late turn by my standards, but oh is it beautiful.  In my mind, this is a beautiful mix to play when it is grey and wet and dreary outside…bare branches waving in the wind and heart swooping to follow.  I should stop trying to describe it but merely post the tracklist.  Do be aware – it is named after one of the Ainur from the Silmarillion – the angelic being who weeps for grief and cries for mercy, even for the very foulest evildoers.  Enough dawdling pretense.  Allow me to present…The Tears of Nienna:

1. Kitchen Door – Wolf Larsen
2. Hunnie Pie – Zella Day
3. Forget About Life – Alvvays
4. Grazed Knees – Snow Patrol
5. Soon – Big Little Lions
6. Where Did You Come From – Andrew & Veda
7. Top of the Stairs – Scott Mulvahill
8. Modern Nature – Sondre Lerche
9. I Don’t Know – Benjamin Gibbard
10. Vito’s Ordination Song – Sufjan Stevens
11. Promise – Ben Howard
12. If I Go, I’m Goin’ – Gregory Alan Isakov
13. Upward Over the Mountain – Iron & Wine
14. This is What Makes Us Girls – Lana Del Rey
15. New Year’s Day – Taylor Swift
16. Day Breaks – Norah Jones
17. Liability – Lorde
18. Go Home – Julien Baker

And there you go.  Random eh?  I’m actually quite happy with it.

Now you may think I’m done with my musical talk for today but it is not to be.  I’ve spent the last hour(!!) or so updating my music metrics spreadsheet(by the way, this is my engineering side coming out…yes, I’ve made a spreadsheet to compile my music taste.  Delightfully nerdy, I know!!).  It took me a lot longer to update the artist/album counts…mostly because I didn’t realize how many mixes I’d made in 2017.  Seven!  Shockingly high count by my standards but it makes me happy too since I do like doing it.  At some point when I have more time, I may detail out some interesting(maybe) facts about my music listening…but for now, I’ll give the top nine artists on my list(for period 2015-2017, inclusive).  We have:

1. Green Day (12 tracks!)
2. Lorde (10)
3. Oh Hello’s (9)
4. The Postal Service (8)
5. Needtobreathe (7)
6. Seryn (7)
7. Switchfoot (7)
8. The Dø (7)
9. Zella Day (7)

I feel that Green Day is cheating just a bit, since I had one playlist last year(Lost and Not Yet Found) that had nine of their songs, which is practically a best-of and thus shouldn’t count…but hey, I’ll count them anyway. I do (somewhat guiltily!) love Green Day, so it’s not misleading.  The rest of the list makes sense…no big surprises.  I still have somewhat random taste, per usual.

My newest mix, which is still in my car – Never Again Sighs the Dawn – I’m still not totally sure if it’s going to be the final mix or not.  I like it…but wow, the flow is quite quirky.  (Even by my standards!!)  And it breaks some new ground in regards to country music…which may surprise a few people here and there.  Anyways, once I do finalize it I’ll eventually post tracklist here.  Eventually.  Next one I post here will be my dance CD from Christmas last year – one which Laura at least said she much enjoyed – yay!!

Ok – now I have sat here at Starbucks far too long and I really should probably get moving.  I have only talked about music today…shocking!!!  Ah well – ’tis fun to write about.  Now must get on to the rest of my day…be well my friends – go in the grace of our Lord!!!

Contradictory Wildcats

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 Happy Thursday friends!!  It’s very sadly not cold outside anymore(not close to cold, even.  It’s approximately 75.  Ugh)…but I still can’t complain.  I have my peppermint mocha here, which is…not traditional for Thursdays, but that’s just because tomorrow I won’t be going to work – no, tomorrow at this time I’ll be in airport awaiting my flight to Charlotte to see Maryanne.  Hurrah!!  Can’t wait for that.  We shall have a glorious weekend of being together and doing adventerous things…mostly I just am looking forward to good chats.  Anything else going on here in Texas…?  Not terribly much…last night was a relaxing evening hanging out with John.  Had sushi and watched Rogue One, which is a very good Star Wars movie indeed.  Even if everyone does die(oh – spoilers much?  My apologies.  Not really, it came out over a year ago – no excuses!)  It was more emotional than I remember it being…and it has one of the best combined space/land battles in all of Star Wars.  Much explosive, laser-filled fun!  This morning had a nice breakfast at home while I continued my read through Acts.  Sadly I’m over closer to the end than the beginning of the book….am much enjoying reading about Paul and his missionary journies presently.  Today read about his trials and travails in Corinth, Ephesus and a few other places.  Was encouraged by seeing the works of the Lord in saving so many…also convicted by how the people of Ephesus responded.  They burned over 50,000 pieces of silver’s worth of “magic books”, etc. If only we all were so serious about our sin and what distracts us from loving and honouring God with all our might.  Truly – as I read last night in Edwards biography, “…the love and the pursuit of true holiness is the enduring mark of the true Christian.”  Lovely.  I definitely am most enjoying reading this biography lately – I now remember why it is one of my all-time favorites.  Oh that I might live with even a tenth of Edward’s passion and desire to know Christ more.  And…as I continue to ramble, I think ’tis too late to start a new paragraph now, so shall just leave this all messy and of one piece.  Honestly, it is probably time I end this and sip my peppermint mocha in peace as I meditate on the goodness of God and look forward to what He shall do this day.  Oh!  And speaking of mochas, while at Starbucks today, got a surprise Katie sighting…she is only working one day a week lately due to nursing school, etc – and apparently got switched to Thursdays.  So we enjoyed chatting for a couple minutes – this past Sunday she was at Bethel on a panel talking to middle-schoolers about dating and all that…they definitely need it!!!  (I probably could have used something similar back in the day, honestly…)  Anyways, we had solid people on all these panels(at least on the girls’ side – know it was Megan, Emily, Erica & Katie…can’t go wrong!).  Now I continue to type and yet there is no point.  So I shall rest my fingers and think and ponder for real.  Peace, my friends.