andrew dodson

Since returning from Crossings a few weeks back, I’ve experienced on three occasions something I can’t explain. Maybe it’s exhaustion, I’m not sure. All I know is I get to a point where I absolutely have to go to sleep. I’m normally good at fighting through being tired if I have to get some things done. Not with this. It’s an overwhelming tired that shuts my body down. I have no choice in the matter.

It happened the Sunday after Crossings, last Saturday and again tonight. The first time it happened, I was at home trying to do laundry and each time I got up to throw in a new load, or try to fold a finished load, all I wanted to do was lay back down. I’d say I got in a couple of hours sleep that afternoon. Last Saturday was the worst case. I probably slept for four or five hours. Each time I’d wake up and try to start doing things, with no luck. I’d have to lay back down and go to sleep. Tonight’s case resulted in a three hour nap.

I know it’s not mono - if it was, the “naps” would be more frequent and for much longer periods. Overall, I’m not any more busy than usual. In fact, my schedule has been fairly open the last few weeks. Maybe it’s just a case of getting older and needing more sleep. Not sure. If anyone out there has any input, feel free to post a comment.

If one were to look at my music collection, they might notice a strange trend - practically nothing involving females. No CDs by bands led by a female vocalist, no female soloists. It’s quite strange for a music-lover.

There is an exception though - Norah Jones. Aside from being considerably attractive, she can flat out sing. The strong jazz influence helps, as well. Strangely though, she’s about the only female artist I care enough about to actually purchase her music.

Starting to listen to Christian music has helped this trend, though. A lot of my praise & worship collection CDs have songs by female artists - Rebecca St. James and so on. When it comes to choice, though, just Norah, please.

I have a new business venture in mind. It hit me this past Monday at a 4th of July cookout. I can’t remember the conversation I was having now, but it was originally an off-the-wall, funny idea. But… the more I’ve thought about it, the more lucrative I think it could be. A couple of people have laughed at me, and a couple of people have given me positive feedback. Before I reveal the idea, I need to have a serious conversation with one other person to see if the idea can grow wings and fly.

I will say… a quick search on Google tonight revealed a lack of business saturation in this area. There were a few sites that popped up, but nothing significant enough for me to say, “oh well, it’s already being done by someone else.”

Other hints:
- it has something to do with phones & the internet
- this would be a national-level business venture, not just local
- enough interest on a local level would become a well-paying full time job
- enough interest on a national level would mean Hello Corporate America

I’m growing quite serious about pursuing this, and more excited the more I think about the possibilities. More details to come!

From time to time, I get into a musical funk. I’ve been in one of these funks for the past week or so. I’m just not in the mood to listen to anything. Fortunately, I’ve learned how to get over this. Usually, it means going out and buying an album by a new artist or a “new to me” artist (someone I’ve never listened to before). Considering I’m a bit strapped for cash right now, I couldn’t afford to do this. The next option is to head to my music collection and pull out something I haven’t listened to in a long while.

I was talking to Jeremy earlier today, and he was talking about Ben Folds. Tonight, I pulled out my Ben Folds CDs and ripped them to iTunes. Ahh… what a great musician *trying to ignore his blunt use of profanity from time to time*. I think when I get paid on Thursday, I’ll look into getting his latest album, Songs for Silverman. Anyone heard it? Is it good?

It’s been a fairly good (long) weekend. Here’s the rundown:

Friday - Vertex was great. We had a lot of new faces, which was really good to see. We did things a little different by grilling out and watching a movie - outside. Russ and Alex did a great job of hanging the screen on the side of the church, and Julia prepared all the computer-related things. We thought we were going to experience some DVD issues shortly before we started, but Justin stepped in and saved the day. All-in-all, it was probably one of the best nights of Vertex so far.

Saturday - the praise band had a long rehearsal from 8-12. I had big plans for the rest of the day, but they disappeared as soon as I got home from rehearsal. I still don’t really know what happened, but I didn’t feel very good at all. I think part of it may’ve been exhaustion. All I did was lay around and sleep. Everytime I got up to do something, I started to feel tired again. Added to this was a headache. Later in the evening, I made my mind up to get up and do something with the hopes that I’d start to feel better. I took some headache pills, ate dinner and took a shower. Went to Justin’s and hung out for a bit, and then we headed to the movies where we met up with Lori. By this time, I was feeling much, much better.

Sunday - after church, some of us met up at Cliffside’s for lunch. It’s a little hole-in-the-wall restaurant here in Frankfort. Everyone seems to love it, but it’s only the second time I’ve been. My review? The place is run-down, it’s a little smelly, and our waitress (if you can call her that) was rude. I won’t hold it against them that it took a long time to place our order and get our food, considering every seat in the place was occupied. The food was good, though.

I stopped at home for a bit and got to visit with my aunt and uncle while they were in town. After this, I headed to Leesburg for a Josh Martin Band show. I gotta admit… I was really dreading this gig. It turned out to be a nice event, and we played well. I split as soon as it was over because I knew friends from church would be hanging out back in Frankfort. I headed over to Chuck & Becky’s for a movie.

Monday (4th of July) - I “slept in” this morning. I can tell I’m getting older because I only slept 90 minutes longer than I normally would, and I was still up by 8:30a.m. I can remember the days when “sleeping in” meant waking up after most of the world had already eaten lunch. Now, I can sleep in and still make it to McDonald’s before they stop serving breakfast.

I’m going home this afternoon to do laundry and to start working on the Josh Martin Band website. I already have a design in mind (inspired by a commercial I saw the other night). I also have lots of pictures to choose from, thanks to Carrie What’s-Her-Name who took pictures of the band at our live recording and a photo shoot a few weeks back. So, it should be quick work.

I’ll be heading to some form of a cookout later tonight, although I’m not sure where just yet. Happy 4th of July!