Lumpy Lambert is an embarrassment to Knoxvillians and ALL Tennesseans alike. I cannot believe that people continue to consider him a “viable” politician. Like I said, ugh.
Posted by: ckmarler | July 14, 2009
Ugh
Posted by: ckmarler | July 14, 2009
Ahh home.
Posted by: ckmarler | July 13, 2009
When uncool is cool
My friend Maggie is the coolest person I know. She’s in a band. She’s a bartender. She’s an artist. She’s incredibly 
smart. She dresses in a style that looks effortless, cute skirts, unassuming pigtails and a broken-in pair of chucks, but that also exudes attitude. A tattoo referencing her band, represented in the form of a scuff on the knee. She’s also intuitive and kind. Once, after hearing bad news and tearing up at the bar, she drew me an incredible sweet cartoon (did I mention she creates hilarious cartoons) with a 4-leaf clover attached to make me feel better. It was above and beyond kind.
In general, I see Maggie when my husband and I stop in for a couple of beers at happy hour. This usually means I’m in a business suit or other work attire. I often make some comment about not being comfortable; I’d prefer to be in a blue-jean skirt, t-shirt and flip flops. She always mentions something like, “If I had to dress up, that’s what I’d wear.” I take that as a compliment!
A few weeks ago, a few of Maggie’s friends came in while we were there. She had gotten off from work and decided to have a beer with us before she left and they joined her (and us). It was immediately obvious that her friends didn’t realize we were friends with Maggie, just thought we were normal customers. As I tried to talk to Maggie or join their conversation, one of her friends, took one look at me, rolled her eyes, and turned her back on me. I think that she was judging me based on what I LOOKED like I would be like. It wasn’t a necessarily good experience except that Maggie eased her friend aside to make room for my inclusion in the conversation. I don’t think she realized it. I feel sure she would have said something to make it known we are friends, but I didn’t really want or need that kind of validation.
It was more of an eye-opening experience for me. I tend to have a wide variety when it comes to types of friends but some of my friends do not. It immediately made me aware that the same situation could happen if some of my coworkers had joined me after work.
How often do we take one look at someone and sum them up? How often are we wrong? I may not have looked the part, but indeed, someone as cool as Maggie is my friend. 
Posted by: ckmarler | July 8, 2009
For something a little lighter
Posted by: ckmarler | July 6, 2009
Hitting too close to home
Last night I got an email from my mother in law. As I read the first paragraph, I assumed it was just a nice “Happy 4th of July” email and read on with a light heart. As I read on, I realized it wasn’t as jovial as I’d hoped. As it turns out, the South Carolina serial killer had killed my niece’s teacher and the teacher’s mother.
As you can imagine my niece is pretty upset about it. The teacher was well loved and in articles about her a student or parent is quick to rave about her. My mother-in-law and sister-in-law had spent a lot of time with her as volunteers in the classroom and loved her dearly.
I can’t imagine having to learn about death in this way. A nine year old having to go through the grieving process is sad enough but the senselessness of this makes it that much harder to comprehend. Please keep the victims families in your prayers today and your own family close to you. Life is so short and you never know when someone can be taken from you.
UPDATE-
There has been a robbery/shooting in North Carolina and the suspet has been shot. Police are seeing if they are connected and if the shooting victim is the serial killer suspect.
Posted in Family, Life | Tags: crime, Family, south carolina
Posted by: ckmarler | July 1, 2009
Real time ads?
Posted by: ckmarler | June 30, 2009
Congrats!
My former place of employment has been rewarded by their peers! Metro Pulse won four awards at the recent Association of Alternative Newsweeklies conference in Arizona. Yay!
Posted in Life
Posted by: ckmarler | June 28, 2009
Equal opportunity exposure
Since KnoxNews.com has a new article focusing on the women who are being arrested for prostitution (complete with photo gallery) in Knoxville, I thought I’d draw attention to the seemingly, little noticed PDF attached to the article with a list of all people arrested for SOLICITING a prostitute since 1999.
I think if there are pictures of one, there should be pictures of both! (In their defense, it is a three-part series, so maybe the focus will be on the johns later.)
See article here. PDF here.
Posted by: ckmarler | June 25, 2009
I want to start running…
…but I’m, umm, not built for it. You know, when I see people running, I think to myself how enjoyable it looks. Just checking out the scenery while getting some exercise. It’s like a pleasant afternoon drive but with bonus health benefits! I really would like to figure out a way to begin a small running program. Any running advice is welcome as well as any boob-wrangling advice. 
Posted in Life
Posted by: ckmarler | June 19, 2009
Weight a minute
My friend Katie is having an interesting discussion on her Babble blog about how and when to talk to your children about food. For her, and me, and a lot of women I’ve known in my life, there’s always been a struggle with food, weight, and body image. It’s really a delicate subject (and not really limited to women, either).
My mom said she spent most of my childhood worrying about whether I was too thin (oh, the thought of that) or if I was going to gain weight and struggle like she does. Obviously, I struggle. And for me, I know it wasn’t anything she did or didn’t do. My reasons are my own, as I guess everyone is different. It is an interesting conversation about what might cause negative food relationships.
Posted in Life
Posted by: ckmarler | June 19, 2009
Happy Friday
This made me laugh out loud.
Posted in Life
Posted by: ckmarler | June 18, 2009
Scott Miller – Appalachain Refugee
Posted by: ckmarler | June 17, 2009
Week of Bonnaroo and more
We made it to another Bonnaroo last weekend. I’d bet I’m still recovering! A coworker asked me what artists I saw and I had a hard time remembering them all. This is not due to any extreme alcohol consumption, more because of the sheer number of acts we saw in such a short time. I’ve spent the last two days trying to explain to people that it’s not what most think it is and that everyone, EVERYONE, should go at least once.
We weren’t able to go until Saturday early afternoon and that was a bummer but it was for a very special reason (one that I’ll share later when I have better pictures). As soon as we walked up, Jenny Lewis was playing and we both love her so we stopped in and started to get the feeling that, “Wow, we’re really here!”. No sooner had we looked at each other grinning and high fiving at the thought of finally making to the ‘Roo, did she say, “I’d like to welcome my friend Elvis Costello to the stage”. Golly geez, what a welcome. Thanks Jenny and Elvis.
The highlight would definitely be The Boss. DT is a HUGE fan so we already knew it was going to be something special. Despite my usual reluctance to front row, we decided this was our chance to work our way to the front since many young folks were leaving. They didn’t leave for long! Bruce Springsteen showed everyone why he is one of the most famous and beloved rock and roll entertainers. He rocked the crowd for over 3 hours. DT’s comment was “For me to smile any bigger, I’d have to eat my ears!”
Not at all a complete list, but we saw/heard:
Jenny Lewis, Elvis Costello, Wilco, Bruce Springsteen and the E Street Band, Nine Inch Nails, AA Bondy, Mike Farris, Todd Snider, Erykah Badu, Robert Earl Keen, Merle Haggard, Snoop Dogg, Neko, Case, and Phish.
Oh! And Triumph the Insult Comic Dog!
Posted in Entertainment, Life, Love, Music | Tags: bonnaroo, bruce springsteen, festival, Music, phish
Posted by: ckmarler | June 10, 2009
To tweet or not to tweet
I have been twittering, er, um, tweeting more regularly and not just forwarding my facebook updates as I had been. I’ve heard a lot of people saying that they just don’t get it and I completely understand. I have to be quite honest, I didn’t really “get” twitter until I started using it. I think that’s going to be the case for most people. One friend said it seemed like instant messenger and I can now see what she meant, but yet, it’s still different from that.
I like that it’s quick and easy. I like that it’s a variety of information from people, products, associations, media outlets, even celebrities that I, and I alone, like. It’s tailored to show me brief info (more if I want) when want to look at it.
During my sales workday, I tend to spend a lot of time waiting. Not waiting for half hour at a time (although that does happen sometimes) but waiting for 5 minutes here, 3 minutes there, and so on and so on. It’s been nice for me to be able to add something pleasant, and even educational to my waiting times by checking in on Twitter via my blackberry. I follow some people that are related to my career, some things that are just recreational, and some things that I am just curious about. Quick updates throughout the day bite sized for my time available. Sure, it’s probab;y horrible for my attention span, but it works for me.
Follow me on Twitter at http://twitter.com/ckmarler.
Posted in Life
Posted by: ckmarler | June 4, 2009
