Two of my Heroes

This is one of favorite pictures of Jasper. Donna Davis took these last year and this one makes me smile every time. 

Also this one of baby Emory. 

Things to Say

There comes a time in everyone's life when they have to think about their own mortality. This is never a fun thing to think about but it does cause you to sit and reflect on your life. This Friday I will have surgery. They will remove a part of ascending and descending colon. While I don't anticipate anything happening to me while on that operating table, I do want to take the time to say some things that I may have never put into words to several different people. So feel free to read each of them if you like some may be personal but I would rather have these things said than not at all.

To my beautiful Lezlie,

I get to wake up next to you everyday. This makes me smile just thinking about it. You make me laugh, you make me cuss, and you make me babies. LOL. Thank you for being such a big part of my life. You are my very best friend and there is no one else I would want to go through this world with. I love you baby.

To my precious boys,

Daddy loves you so very much. I will always be there for you no matter what. Thanks for giving my life such purpose and direction.

To my sweet darling mommy,

You were my very first love, my biggest cheerleader and my biggest confidant. You have taught me how to love and how to love so deeply. You mean the world to me and my family. You are their darling. Thank you for all the times you let me call and complain and yell and fight. You are always there for me no matter what. I love you my mommy.

To my Diddy,

You are the man I strive to be. You are the one I want my kids to model themselves after (with their daddy's good looks of course). You are the rock that our family is built on. I respect you, I love you, and I thank you for being such a good daddy.

To my baby sister,

My best friend. We fought with each other and for each other. I will always have your back as will all my friends. Even though you are younger than me I still look up to you. You are beautiful, intelligent and fun. Thanks for being there for me when I need you and when I don't.

To my best friends,

Thanks for putting up with my dumb ass and letting me play along with you guys. I respect each and everyone of you guys. You were the boys I played basketball with, the boys I went swimming with, the boys I smoked cigarettes with, the boys who I went to the bars with, the boys I hung out with and the men that I am proud to stand by each day. Thanks for taking care of me and my family. (Chip, Jarrod, Jeremy, Richard, Dennis, Brian, Jason, Bill, Rod, Dylan, Smithers, Will, Lain, Gary, Kip, Brad and Josh [Britt and Lynzie fall in here too])

To my friends,

Each one of you have made me the person I am today. Thank you for walking a part of this road we call life with me. I hope at some point I made you smile. I love you all.

I know this isn't the end, but I am glad to have written these things and I will forever mean them.

Two Bouncing Baby Boys

It has been a while since I last blogged. In July we had our second baby. Emory Abel Poole. Needless to say daddy hasn't had much time. Its so strange to think that I have so much responsibility. I still see myself as the "cool" college kid that loved throwing parties and talking to girls. Now I have two little flirts of my own. They come out with so much personality. Jasper was a born flirt. He cooed at the women that would walk by, just to get them to look at him at two weeks old. Emory is just now getting to the smiling parts which is really fun. Emory is going to be my little old man. He is unlike me, where he does not require constant attention. He will sit quietly and just watch. Neither Jasper nor I are that way. Two boys. I'm still having difficulty articulating what this means. I'm thinking I will be paying more for doctor visits and less for weddings. I think that best sums it up. There is so much that I want for these boys. So much that I can give. I have talents right??? I mean I can communicate with people. That's what I can do. I want my boys to have the ability to put people at ease when they talk to them. This is I think my one talent, besides making boys. If I could pass on one of my talents to them it would be that. Pray for my boys and pray for their daddy and mommy.

sorry not many easter eggs in this one.

Thirty One Years of Music: Part 1

My mama tells the story of a little Nigel standing on the counter at the Dairy Queen singing the song Elvira. I was probably two or three years old and loved the attention. That has not changed. I guess I was destined to love music. My parents chose to name me Nigel from the drummer in Elton John's band, Nigel Olsen.

My story today will hopefully take you through my thirty one year old love affair with music. Another story I have is one of a sick little Nigel who was in the hospital as a baby. Mama tells me that she slept in the bed next to mine and I would reach out my little hands and ask her to sing Jesus Loves Me over and over again I guess those are two of my earliest song choices. Now mind you I dont remember either of these events I have just been told about them.

The first music event I remember was the song Man-eater by Hall & Oates. I remember this song playing over and over when we would go to the city pool in Ideal. The water was so cold there and Hall & Oates played, what else could you need. I also remember Daddy getting the new Toto album and having Rosanna play on repeat. I think we may have lived in a mobile home during this part of my life.

Those were just two songs that stick out to me from childhood and two songs that immediately bring back memories. Growing up I remember singing and dancing with my sister. She and her bff Molly would make up dance routines to songs like Motown Philly and Leader of the Pack and Wild Thing and Baby Baby. Those songs remind me of my little sister and playing in our old house on Baker Street. I remember in that house also one Christmas getting the Faith Cassette Tape one year by George Michael. I remember my neighbor bringing over the new Motley Crue tape and listening to it all night. I remember all these Elementary school songs and Junior High songs. Then I remember going to High School. My life took two very different musical directions at the same time.

One of the paths that my life took during this time was the path of show choir. I loved our show choir. Made great life long friends and learned about music. At this point I realized that I could sing. I could sing very well. We sang very little contemporary songs. Most were classics and some strange stuff. We sang Aura Lee, Danny Boy, Pie Jesu, and TV Theme Song Medleys. At the same time my personal music life changed too. I was driving and every 16 year old boy needs music to drive to. My favorite songs at this point were Everclear's Santa Monica and Local God. I also took to rap at this age. I did go to Macon County. I still enjoy rap. I loved Timbaland & Magoo's Love to Love Ya and OutKast's Elevators.

I know this has been a very rambling blog but I have had a blast writing it. This gets us through High School Sophmore year. 1980-1996. I will update soon with more. Make sure to click the songs and some bands to hear the songs and take the trip down memory lane with me

Things I Hate (The Christmas Edition)

1. "Happy Holidays"- I don't care if you are a Christian, Jewish, or whatever. Say what you mean dangit. Grow some balls and tell me Happy Hanukkah, Or Merry Christmas, Or Happy Festivus. Just tell me what you mean and skip the Happy Holidays Bull S#!T.

2. Christmas Music- I loathe Christmas Music. Of any kind. I tolerate Run DMC Christmas In Hollis. Any song that starts off "Its Christmas Time in Hollis Queens; Moms cooking Chicken and Collard Greens" is all right by me. You can keep the grandma getting run over and I don,t care how red Rudolph's nose gets nor does it matter that you want a damn hippopotamus. Oh and if you have children singing Christmas Carols. I WILL throw something.

3. Mannheim Steamroller- GARBAGE. For some reason, my dad's generation thinks that it is cool to have electronically enhanced synth music. I think that this is the sound that a headache would make if it actually had a voice.

4. X-Mas- If you are gonna take out something from the word Christmas take out the damn 'mas'. Leave Christ in there. I mean he really is the reason for the season. Do you think some other deity would allow us to have the whole world calendar based on something else. I mean think about it. If Buddha was really God then he wouldn't allow us to have a calendar that counts the years that some other guy (Jesus) has been alive. Leave CHRISTmas how it is. I will accept ChristX as the new abbreviation for Christmas.

5. Salvation Army- You know some of those "BellRingers' wont even tell you Merry Christmas unless you donate to them. A$$#@!es.

6. Nice People- This may seem weird but don't be nice to me just cause its Christmas time. Be nice year round. I mean don't get me wrong, I enjoy you being nice and all but don't just set aside a week to do it.

Okay thats about it. Merry Christmas to all of you out there. I hope you have a wonderful time with friends and family. Now on to the feats of strength.

Its a Long Story

Last Monday I went to my regular Doctor because my ankle was hurting and I had an infected ingrown toe nail (I know... gross). Anyway, I walked back to my room and had the regular physical. You know, checking temperature, pulse and blood pressure. Well the lady had the sphygmomanometer and checked my blood pressure. She looked at me and asked if I was feeling funny I said no and she checked it again. She told me that she was getting 160/120 and that it had to be the inferior cuff. I thought nothing of it. She left the room for a second and when she returned she said the Doctor wanted me to go to the machine to take my blood pressure. So we walked up front. At this point she asked if I needed a wheel chair. Mind you at this point my ankle and toe are hurting. Nothing else. Any way I walked up front and the machine (T-1000) took my blood pressure getting just about the same results. So once again I walked back to my room. They told me to lie down and she let the little doctor bed/chair hybrid back. She left the room and I changed chairs. Figuring that it was only a suggestion. At this point I notice that they are acting funny so I call my wife to come and sit with me. She drops off Jasper with the grand parents and came up to the Doctor with my daddy in tow. Well back to my story. By this time the nurse lady comes back and fusses at me for not laying down. She gives me a pill to take. So now the doctor comes in and talks to me and tells me she wants me to go the hospital for the night for observation. This means to go to the hospital for the night so that we can prevent you from getting a good night sleep. Well I decided to go by and see my little boy first so we drove home and I also packed a bag.

I get to the hospital and get all poked and prodded all night. I see my doctor and he orders labs and x rays and such. So we do that. The next morning I get brought my breakfast. It was bland. I ate some of it. Well the doctor tells me he wants me to go that day to do a stress test. So Lezlie comes and picks me up. We stop by the house again for me to see my little man and head north to Macon. On the way we stop by and get some lunch from Chic-fil-a. It was great since I had a shitty breakfast and no lunch. I get to the Medical Center in Macon and go for my stress test. Well they ask me when I last ate. I politely informed them that I had a delicious chic-fil-a on the way up here. They were not happy. I came straight out and told them that I was pissed that they were sending me home. They sympathized but I still had to come the next morning. So we go back home. Get up early the next morning and drive back to Macon. I get there and we begin my stress test. Step one sit and wait. Step two IV. Step three inject Nigel with Nuclear medicine. That just sounded cool. Step four go and lay on this machine and let it take pictures of me while I listen to the 'effin black eyed peas and some other lame bands. Step five. Walk (with a still hurting ankle and toe) on a tread mill while some skinny bitch tries to kill me. Step six go back and get more pictures of my heart and listen to crappy music. Step seven remove IV. Well we drove home after that and were told to await results. On the way home I get a call telling me that there is an abnormality on my results. Well no shit remember my ankle and toe hurts. So they want to do a heart cath the next morning.

We wake up at 4:30 to head to Macon the next morning and I go on back. They remove all of my unnecessary body hair, this is a time consuming event. Next some nurse comes and starts talking and being all sweet and junk. Whatever. Well they put in an IV again. They go through all the talking and stuff while I watch TV. There was a really interesting thing on about Jack the Ripper but nurse lady wouldn't shut up so I could watch it. Then they take me back. I talk to the doctor who is about three feet six inches tall (Seriously she had to stand on a stool to do the procedure). Then they give me drugs. WOW. I was awake during the procedure but I felt great. It was fun. I was telling jokes but neither the nurses nor the doctor had any sense of humor. I mean this stuff was good. Anyway. They do the cath and then wheel me back to my room. Then Dr. Shortlady comes in and tells me my heart is great and I have good strong arteries. So go home and just follow up with your regular doctor. That was that. I am now on some blood pressure medicine to keep my BP in check and I'm doing fine. My leg at the site of the incision is still tender and sore but otherwise fine. I would say that I'm alive and kickin' if my damn ankle and toe didn't hurt so damn bad.

Things I Hate

Hate is such a strong word but there is a list I keep of things that I hate. In no particular order they are as follows.

• Tyler Perry: His movies are just plain horrible. I understand how comedy works. You tell one joke and then if its not that good you reference it later. That is how he has made his movies. He made one okay play then made a lot more of them telling the exact same joke. He sucks.
• Gospel Music: I hate it. It just sounds like people yelling. Typically out of key.
• Nickel Back: Oh my God that music is horrible. I have a problem with music that does not solicit emotion. This music is just cookie cutter music put out to make money. All of the songs generally sound the same. Use the same guitar chords and the same gravely Canadian Voice. This is just arena rock music. This is what Poison and Whitesnake would be if they were popular now. Its just music meant to make money. No artistic effort at all.
• 2% Milk Velveeta Shells & Cheese: This is bull shit. Buy the real thing.
• Sheets that come off the bed: My wife calls me a sheet Nazi. I literaly will not sleep if the sheets come off of the bed. I will toss and turn and finally get up and pull the sheets to where they need to be.
• Onions: Dont get me wrong they have a great flavor. I just cant tolerate the texture.
• Cheap Toilet Paper: That extra dollar you spend really is worth it. Just like aluminum foil.
• Men that give us all a bad name: Ass holes.
• Ford Mustangs: The problem with Ford Mustangs are that the people who drive them think that they are driving a Ferrari. Your car cost a fraction of what a sports car cost. You have the honda accord of sports cars. Idiots.

Thats about it. Tell me what you hate.