Flashback Friday: 1999

Thanks Natalie for digging this relic up.

It's hard to look at this picture. Mostly because I look at it and it's hard to believe. It's hard to believe this picture was taken 13 years ago. What the hell? Where did the time go?

It's hard to believe that I was that different looking. Fine, I'll be honest. It's hard to believe that I was that fat. The sad (or happy?) thing was that I got even fatter before I turned it around.

It's also hard to believe that at my height I thought I could pull of a floor length skirt for work wear.

But I digress. To give you some context, this picture was taken in Evansville (I'm guessing you deduced that but just in case) in 1999 in my second year of interning for the local paper, The Evansville Courier & Press. It was my first real look into having a real job (well, technically my second look since I had had the internship the year before and loved it). I realized at that point whether it was working for a newspaper or just working that I needed to be in the communications field. I wanted to write, talk to people, and tell stories. Also I realized that despite it being the second round of people that I was exposed to, I liked them just as much as the first. That was the first time it dawned on me that most people drawn to the communications or media field have fairly similar and congenial personalities. There are some exceptions, but all in all it seems to be true.

You know how people are always looking at themselves younger and say "If I knew then what I know now. . . " or "I wish I could tell my younger self. . .". I'm not sure I feel either way. I mean, I've seen enough time travel movies in my day (and I believe them to be almost like documentaries in their depiction of how time travel would work) to know that telling my younger self things about the future could derail me from the track I went on. And honestly, I like my life. Plus if I told myself that I was going to live in Nashville for almost a decade and then move to LA, I would've thought that future me was severe drug addict. Because I'd only been to Nashville twice in my life at that point--once to go to Opryland and once to go to a basketball tournament-both as a child--and I had never been to LA.

The one thing I would say to me in 1999 is this: Things are going to get really shitty for while and it's going to be really sudden, but it'll be okay. You'll be okay. Just do what you do because you're instincts aren't too shabby.

Hopefully me in 13 years will look back and say the same thing to 2012 me. Minus the shitty part.

It was More than a Hotel and some Guitars

It was a little bizarre and only slightly baffling that Nashville's flooding hasn't gotten a lot of media attention from the national media. The Opryland Hotel has gotten some good coverage, as well as it should because it's a huge hub for tourism. The other thing I've seen in numerous places, including abc.com, is the loss of Keith Urban's guitars. I realize he's a lyrical poet and musical genius and married to Nicole Kidman, but I think the loss of human and animal lives, as well as one of the costliest natural disasters in US history might trump the loss of a few Gibsons.

It's being dubbed as a "1000 year flood" some places and "500 year flood" in others and both would probably be an accurate description. There are some places of massive destruction--including the area of my first apartment complex in town--but there's also a lot of goodwill, as well. Without the nation watching our every move or a lot of support, the governor and mayor and countless other government and emergency workers have worked countless hours to keep things in order. Our infrastructure mostly kicked in to place and is getting help to the areas that need it.

Aside from that, it's heartwarming to watch the community band together to help out. About three days after the images from the disaster were getting out, people already got together to have a radiothon and telethon. More than $2 million raised in about 24 hours from the citizens of the area. Helping hands going to neighborhoods and helping clean out ravaged homes.

Everywhere I go people know how lucky they got. Chef and I were no exception. We found out today that we were one of two apartments in our building with no real damage. Two of 16. People are moving from one apartment with a collapsed roof to another in the complex.

Feelings of goodwill and immediate rebuilding abound. It's nice to see but we also know that it's a long road ahead and we'll keep going. Even if no one outside the area is watching. . .

Downtown Nashville underwater

LP Field--The Cheap Seats are Still Dry

Inside the Opryland Hotel

Two Blocks From Our Apartment--I learned that it only takes a foot of water to float a car.