Steven Curtis Chapman: Dove Artist of the Year

"It's a hope that makes us bold...so if we could say anything as a family, a broken family, having lost our little girl...it's just, let this hope make us so bold. Jesus is coming; he can't come soon enough for me."--Steven Curtis Chapman

Steven Curtis Chapman was named Artist of the Year at the Gospel Music Association Dove Awards in Nashville last night, and in my opinion, there's no one more deserving.

It's been a tragic year for Chapman and his family, with the loss of their 5-year-old daughter Maria last May. Steven and Mary Beth have shone as examples of grace in the midst of tragedy.

They never minimized their loss or failed to acknowledge their pain and bewilderment. But they clung, visibly and openly, to the hope that Steven mentions in that quote above.

From an article on the Doves:

He (Chapman) acknowledged he likely was a sentimental favorite following the tragic death of his 5-year-old daughter, Maria, last May.

"I realize there are some unique reasons this year that I'm standing here," Chapman said during an emotional acceptance speech with his wife, Mary Beth, by his side, acknowledging the flood of support from colleagues and fans.

"We've been given an opportunity we never would have signed up for to tell about our hope . . . it's a hope that makes us bold," he said.

Chapman had performed his ballad "Cinderella," which tells the story of a father-daughter relationship through the years, a song he had written before Maria's death.

However, I don't believe Chapman won the award solely as the sentimental favorite. His talent as a musician and lyricist have never been in doubt, and the words to his songs negate the perception that all modern Christian music lyrics are shallow. In his song, "Yours," Chapman wrote from the depth of his pain:

I’ve walked the valley of death’s shadow
So deep and dark that I could barely breathe
I’ve had to let go of more than I could bear
And questioned everything that I believe
But still even here
in this great darkness
A comfort and hope come breaking through
As I can say in life or death
God, we belong to you.

And it’s all Yours God, Yours God
Everything is Yours
From the stars in the sky to the depths of the ocean floor
And it’s all Yours God, Yours God
Everything is Yours
All the greatness and power, the glory and splendor and majesty
Everything is Yours
It’s all Yours

May God bless Steven Curtis Chapman and his family.

13 of the best cities to walk in

San Francisco’s city government devotes 12 agencies to walking issues. Boston’s patterned intersections encourage more people to walk. New York residents log the fewest vehicle miles, and Washington, D.C.’s extensive public transport system makes exploring on foot a breeze. These are among the Top 25 Walking Cities in America, according to Prevention’s annual survey with the American Podiatric Medical Association and Sperling’s Best Places. The complete findings are available at www.prevention.com/cities.

1. San Francisco, CA
2. Boston, MA
3. New York, NY
4. Philadelphia, PA
5. Chicago, IL
6. Washington, D.C.
7. Seattle, WA
8. Honolulu, HI
9. Portland, OR
10. Pittsburgh, PA
11. Oakland, CA 24.
12. Minneapolis, MN
13. San Diego, CA

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Breathing life back into Notes in the Key of Life?

Wow! I think this is the longest vacation I've ever taken from my blog. It all started with an actual vacation to Texas, and then I just neglected it.

However, after giving it some thought, I realize that I don't want to let this blog languish and die. I've put some time and care into it, and I don't think I'm ready for its demise. So I hereby breathe new life into "Notes in the Key of Life."

The picture you see above is my little grandson, Payton, hunting Easter eggs. It was such a joy to spend Easter with him, and all the other people I love in Texas!



Both my sons live in Texas(my oldest son, Jonathan, is the one who is married to the lovely Daylyn, and the dad of my grandson Payton). Below is a pic of me with my boys, Justin and Jonathan, at a wonderful Mexican restaurant in Georgetown, Texas, called "Dos Salsas." I'm craving their salsa even as we speak.



After enjoying that meal, we were off to the Palace Theater in Georgetown where my wonderfully talented niece, Katie Walther, was starring as Sandy in "Grease." What a fun night!



It was a wonderful visit and a great Easter holiday.

Heading to Texas!

I've shamefully neglected my blog lately anyway, but just in case there are any of you that are still checking it: it's going an another short hiatus.

I'm headed to Texas today for a few days for the Easter holiday. If you're the praying kind, send up a prayer for safe travel!

I promise I'll be a better blogger after this short break. (Say that five times fast!)

Have a blessed Easter, everyone!

13 60s and 70s TV actresses I wished I looked like

OK, so this is a repeat, but I originally posted it almost a year ago! Here we go:

I was not a beautiful junior high school student. Let's just say I went through a severe awkward stage. I can vividly remember watching TV shows in the 60's and 70's and wishing I looked like some of those actresses. Here are 13 of them:

Marlo Thomas--"That Girl"

Barbara Eden--"I Dream of Jeannie"

Tina Cole--My Three Sons

Peggy Lipton--The Mod Squad



Maureen McCormick--The Brady Bunch

Barbara Feldon--Get Smart

Sally Field--Gidget and The Flying Nun

Mary Tyler Moore--The Dick Van Dyke Show and The Mary Tyler Moore Show

Elizabeth Montgomery--Bewitched

Meredith McRae--Petticoat Junction

Linda Kaye Henning--Petticoat Junction

Lori Saunders--Petticoat Junction



Donna Douglas--The Beverly Hillbillies

So what's all this about a Conficker worm?

and other stuff to tell you...

Apparently it's no April Fool's joke--and it's not one of those pesky e-mail hoaxes.

A nasty computer worm called Conficker is supposed to be unleashed on unprotected PC's everywhere tomorrow, April 1st.

If you use a Mac, no worries for you. Otherwise, experts are saying it's better to be safe than sorry.

Here's a CBS story about Conficker and how to protect your computer from it.

Other stuff to tell you...



--It's been a tough year for my favorite American Idol contestant, Danny Gokey. Of course there was the death of Danny's wife earlier this year (and subject of an internet backlash by Danny-haters who accused him of using it to get sympathy votes). Well, this blogger from Danny's church says Danny's grandfather passed away and he attended the funeral in Milwaukee over the weekend.

Meantime, for whatever reason, Danny has been slipping in some internet power rankings. But not with Chuck Harvey of One21music.com, which has been following the Christian contestants on AI:

Danny Gokey has been consistently, consistently, consistently good. Michael Jackson, Motown, Grand Ole’ Opry, Danny has delivered every week with every genre. There continues to be a DannyGokey backlash on the Internet but that will not derail his American Idol train. The biggest challenge he has is the success that keeps him at number one in the power rankings. American Idol winners tend to have improvements throughout the season usually have a breakthrough moment (Jordan Sparks with “I (Who Have Nothing)” and David Cook with “Music of the Night”). Danny needs to find a performance to shock people, in a good way.

Read more of Chuck's thoughts here and here.

By the way,those who DVR take note: American Idol will be 20 minutes longer than usual tonight, ending at 9:20 EDT/8:30 CDT.

Happy birthday, Jonathan!

Without a doubt, one of the happiest days of my life was 29 years ago today, when I gave birth to my oldest child, Jonathan.

I can't tell you how proud I am of Jonathan. He has truly grown and matured into a fine man...a wonderful husband, father, and servant of Christ.

Jonathan has brought me a lot of joy and laughter down through the years with his wit and intelligence. Also, he's the one who got me started on "Lost"!

I love you so much, Jonathan! I'm glad you were born...happy birthday!

It's the Ultimate Blog Party 2009! Welcome to My Blog

It's that time again--the Ultimate Blog Party, hosted by 5 Minutes for Mom!

This is a great chance to spread the word about your own blog, attract new readers, and check out other blogs yourself.



If this is your first visit to Notes in the Key of Life, welcome! I'm Cindy Swanson, and I blog about faith, family, fiction, entertainment, and whatever else piques my interest.

Here's what you need to know:

Cindy Swanson is a radio personality at 101QFL and Radio 91 in Rockford, IL, and a free-lance voice-over artist. Married for 30 years to the love of her life, Doug, she has three grown children and is the proud grandma of a 2-year-old boy named Payton (pictures here!).



The child of missionary parents, Cindy spent part of her early life in Beirut, Lebanon, and still dreams of traveling to places like Ireland and Scotland.

An avid reader (especially of Christian fiction), Cindy sometimes amazes friends and family with her vast knowledge of current events, pop culture and what she calls "useless trivia." She often shares her book reviews and author interviews here on her blog.



After being diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in 2007, Cindy has lost 30 pounds, for a total of over 50 pounds lost since she was at her heaviest. Her fitness journey continues, and has become an integral part of daily part of her life. (See a before-and-after here.)

A one-woman crusader against e-mail spam and internet hoaxes, Cindy battles rumors and urban legends on the radio in her "Cindy Swanson, CyberSnoop" mode, and she shares that on her blog--here's an example.



Cindy says her Christian faith defines her, and she can't imagine living life without a personal relationship with the Creator of the universe.

She brings all these aspects into her blog, Notes in the Key of Life, which has been described as "positive, personal and uplifting."

Please stick around and check out some of my older posts...and do come back! The welcome mat is always here.

And if you're interested here is a video post I did last fall as part of a video-blogging event.

Stuff to Tell You

Good-bye, Natasha Richardson...what's up with "Lost"?...and good news for Christian fiction

--For me, Natasha Richardson will forever be the lovely mom in Disney's "The Parent Trap." I've noticed on Facebook that the most heartfelt condolences are coming from people who know what it's like to lose a loved one.

Christian singer Tammy Trent's husband died in a drowning accident shortly before 9/11. Her Facebook status this morning: "...woke up continuing to pray for Liam Neeson and his family. The road ahead is very long and painful....there is healing...there is hope. Peace like a river!"

Another person responded: "I thought about Liam Neeson all day yesterday, having lost my husband to a tragic accident, I know only too well the sadness that envelopes us, but I also know that God is good and is redeeming. I pray for the Neeson family that they will find peace in our God and in the hope of eternity."

--So, I didn't know quite what to think of "Lost" last night. I'm not really liking our Losties being stuck in Dharmaville. Or in 1977. I did like just about everything Hurley (Jorge Garcia) said...his comments and personality always just bring everything back down to earth.

But right now, I'm kind of getting the same feeling I had when Jack, Kate and Sawyer were stuck on that other island in Season 3...claustrophobic and a little frustrated.

Big questions: Why didn't Sun land in 1977 too? When will she and Jin be re-united? And when will the ones stuck in the 70s get back to the future (where's a flux capacitor when you need it!?!)

Even on a not-so-stellar night, "Lost" is better than most anything else on TV...but I hope next week's episode will be better. Any comments?

--A bit of bright economic news: Christian fiction continues to thrive during this recession (hat tip to Brandilyn Collins)

--If you're a Danny Gokey fan, here is the consummate website.

I talk with Mandisa!

She's rooting for Danny!

I had the privilege today of interviewing one of the loveliest, most talented and most gracious ladies ever to come out of American Idol...Mandisa!

Mandisa was the ninth-place finalist in the fifth season of American Idol, the one that was eventually won by Taylor Hicks.

But being ninth-place hasn't hampered Mandisa's success in the Christian music field. Her first album, "True Beauty," debuted at #1 on the Top Christian Albums charts, making it the first time a new female artist has debuted at #1 in the charts 27 year history. It also debuted at #43 on the Billboard 200, an unusually high debut on that chart for a Christian artist.(from Wikipedia)

Her sophomore album, "Freedom," is the follow-up to "True Beauty."

She likes Danny!

Mandisa confirmed to me that she is following this season's American Idol, and that Danny Gokey is her favorite. Listen here.

She's lost 75 pounds...

When Mandisa first entered the American Idol competition, she endured snide comments--from Simon Cowell in particular--about her weight. She has since lost some 75 pounds, and hopes to lose a total of 100. Mandisa tells me she has accomplished this by changing her attitude about food with the help of the Lord.

I asked Mandisa about her weight loss here.

Although Mandisa hasn't been asked to sing on Idol this season, she tells me she'll be in the audience in a couple of weeks, and then she plans to be back for the finale.

You can listen to the entire interview here.

Happy Saint Patrick's Day!

...these are a few of my favorite Irish-related things...

"Ireland is a land of poets, story-weavers and dreamers -- all of which I can relate to. The tiny island has gifted us with writers like Jonathan Swift, W.B. Yeats and Maeve Binchy; musicians like U2, Van Morrison and the Chieftains; actors like Daniel Day-Lewis, Pierce Brosnan and Richard Harris; and a host of noted Americans of Irish descent, from John F. Kennedy to Ronald Reagan. Thanks to my husband, I have a Swedish surname, but the green in my eyes reflects the green in my soul. I'm proud of whatever Irish flows in my blood."--Cindy Swanson (my quote that was included in a 2004 St. Patrick's Day feature in the Rockford Register Star)

Maeve Binchy...B.J. Hoff...Frank Delaney's "Ireland"

It took me years to realize that a lot of people use St. Paddy's Day as an excuse to party and get drunk. The day still has happy connotations for me of being a kid in school and making sure I was wearing my green so I wouldn't get pinched. Just in case you forgot to wear green, though, you could also pin on a green construction-paper shamrock!

Now, I use it as an excuse to reflect on my Irish heritage, dream about visiting Ireland someday, and think about some of my favorite Irish-related things.

Scroll down for my review of a wonderful book about Ireland...


Maeve Binchy
Favorite Irish author: Maeve Binchy
I believe I've read all of Binchy's books to date, and there's not one I haven't enjoyed. Her breezy, humorous and casual style gives the reader the feeling that you're chatting with a good friend, but don't be fooled--her storytelling ability is impeccable. Among my favorites: Circle of Friends, Tara Road, and Light a Penny Candle.


B.J. Hoff
Favorite author who writes about the Irish: B.J. Hoff
It's no secret to anyone who reads this blog that I'm a major B. J. Hoff fan. Her Emerald Ballad series hooked me, and I've continued to be impressed by her absorbing tales which often feature Irish immigrants. When asked why, B. J. replied, "Well, who’s more interesting than the Irish, after all? There’s no danger of ever running out of stories about them!

"Seriously, I love writing about the people who built our nation—our ancestors—and there’s really no way to do that without writing about immigrants. And since the Irish immigrants played such a hugely important role in settling America—and since my own family tree is exceedingly 'green—' I chose years ago to focus on Irish characters."

You can now by all of BJ's American Anthem series in one beautiful volume.

(Click on the titles to read my reviews of B. J.'s Prelude and Cadence.)



Also, check out B.J.'s All Things Irish page on her website for some interesting facts.

Book that started my fascination with the Irish:

The Red Knights from Hy Brasil, by Christine Savery. I blogged about finding this beloved childhood book recently. I fell in love with mysterious and charismatic Shane O'Coghlin, one of the book's main characters, and in fact the book began my lifelong love affair with all things Irish.




My review of Ireland, by Frank Delaney

I've been saying most of my life that I love Ireland, but the truth is, I've had only a rudimentary knowledge of that nation's history. Now, after having read Frank Delaney's Ireland, A Novel, I can say that I learned a great deal about Ireland's history while enjoying an absorbing fictional tale at the same time.

The story begins when a traveling Storyteller--perhaps the last of a long Irish tradition of "seanchais"-- comes to the home of 9-year-old Ronan O'Mara in 1951. As he weaves his tales of ancient Ireland, Ronan feels convinced that he and the Storyteller are somehow connected. When the Storyteller is evicted by Ronan's cold and distant mother, Ronan devotes the next several years of his life to trying to find him.

As we follow Ronan's life during the next few years--his successes and heartaches and the startling revelations he eventually faces--we are treated to more stories, as one reviewer says, "seamlesssly interwoven" into the novel. The stories reach Ronan in various ways--through radio, television, even letters from the Storyteller himself, never signed or with a return address.

I found myself thoroughly enjoying the stories even as Ronan's own story propelled me forward. Tales of St. Patrick, of Brendan the Navigator, Conor of Ulster, the legendary Finn MacCool,the Battle of the Boyne, all the way up to 1916 when the Easter Rising led by men like James Connolly and Michael Collins set the stage for the eventual formation of the Irish Republic.

If you have a yen for all things Irish, I definitely recommend this book. It's a rich, fanciful, imaginative retelling of Irish stories, as charming and appealing as the Irish themselves.

By the way, I kept thinking all along that this would make a wonderful movie. It would have to be sized down, of course, and all of the stories probably wouldn't be included. But I picture it along the lines of The Big Fish...a series of fanciful tales linked together by an ongoing contemporary story.


Gabriel Byrne

I can really picture Irish actor Gabriel Byrne, with a bit of age make-up, as the Storyteller. (They would have to get a younger actor to play the Storyteller as a young man.) And there would be choice roles for actors to play Ronan, his father, his aunt and his mother, and many characters in the tales. Hey, I have it all planned. Is anybody listening?


Have a happy St. Paddy's Day, everyone!

Keeping up with The Worthington Wire

I told you yesterday about The Mother of All Conservatives political blog, of which she is a "Founding Mothah."

Well, I have to give more props to uber-blogger and lovely conservative Christian mom Allison Worthington (aka Mrs Fussypants). Apparently she is a powerhouse of dynamic energy and entrepreneurship as well.

I first happened on Alli in her Mrs Fussypants role. Her crazily fun re-caps of "Lost" (I'm not sure she's doing those anymore--bummer!) and her "Fight the Frump Fridays" had me at hello.

Then she goes and expands. Suddenly she has this online magazine called Blissfully Domestic. And then I notice one of her latest ventures, The Worthington Wire--kind of a distaff version of The Drudge Report.

As a radio personality, I'm constantly on the look-out for things that will keep my finger on the pulse of relevance and newsworthiness, and it looks like I might have hit the mother-lode with The Worthington Wire.

Alli herself explains on her site:

How did I think of this? I love the Drudge Report. I check it many times a day. It's simple: a few pictures and links. You can stay on his page or click over for more info. I needed a "Drudge for Chicks" for all that I found noteworthy. So Worthy Wire was born.

The Worthington Wire has categories for everything from politics, pop culture and healthy living, to recipes, family and inspiration...and a lot of stuff in between.

Basically, it's links. Organized links to information that Alli calls "everything you need to stay in the know."

One caveat: follow "Pop Culture" categories at your own risk--some of them can be a bit non-family-friendly.

But for the most part, The Worthington Wire gets a big thumbs-up from me.

Just who is this amazing woman? She sums herself up this way: "I am a goofball. I have 5 sons. I love chocolate."

This from her bio:

She is nicknamed the “Trifecta of Evil” because she is a proud Southern Christian Conservative. She loves talk radio, Charles Krauthammer and the National Review. Allison is powered by lots of coffee and unmerited grace.

Well, she definitely has my attention and my admiration. Allison Worthington, you're amazing!

Stuff to Tell You!

--A new conservative blog that's sure to be unique has launched: The Mother of All Conservatives.

--During this bicentennial of President Lincoln's birthday, all Illinoisans are being encouraged to read a book about him.

--Here's a cool story: an atheist who donated a kidney ended up finding God.

--The radio station where I work, 101QFL, now has a Facebook page. Be our friend! Just search for Positive Hits Wqfl.

--As I've mentioned, I have a very definite favorite in American Idol this year: Danny Gokey. The best pro-Danny website I've found is I Heart Danny Gokey.com. It's a virtual plethora of all things Danny.

I haven't been posting AI updates, but there are several people who do a great job of it.

One21music is particularly following the Christian contestants on AI this year. There are several, including Danny. Chuck live blogs most of the shows, and posts re-caps.

Chuck also tells me that One21 will be covering the South By Southwest Festival in Austin, TX, this coming week. He posts: "At One21music we cover the full spectrum of Christian music, including the vibrant Underground Chrsitian music scene. We will be focusing on 20 Christian music artists performing at SXSW." South by Southwest is the largest music industry gathering in the world.

Back to American Idol--I was happy to find out that BooMama hosts a round-up of blogs who post AI re-caps. All of the blogs I looked at in this round-up were family-friendly and lacking in mean-spiritedness, but they were engaging, and some of them were truly hilarious. Check them out for yourself.

Cindy Swanson, CyberSnoop: The Case of the Drug-Soaked Business Card

Are criminals in the United States using businesses cards soaked with a drug called burundanga to incapacitate female victims?

No. My sources tell me that this is another false one.

The e-mail I received just the other day comes with the subject line “Serious incident in Katy Texas…read this and be careful.”

I guess they're banking on the fact that YOU won't check this out?

An interesting note: the e-mail I received actually starts with the sentence, “I checked this out on Snopes” and actually provides a link to Snopes.com…that takes you to the very page that refutes it! Go figure.

It goes on to claim that it’s from a woman named Angelique Cole whose ex-husband is a detective for the Dallas police department. Supposedly he and his cop friends are trying to spread the word about this danger.

The e-mails start in various ways, but they pretty much all tell the story of a man coming over and offering his services as a painter to a woman putting gas in her car. She says no, but accepts his business card…and almost immediately she starts to get dizzy and and can’t catch her breath. She realizes that fumes she’s smelling are coming from the business card.

According to the e-mail, the substance on the card is a drug called burundanga that is used to incapacitate a victim to steal from or take advantage of them.

Yes, there is such a thing as burundanga

What IS true is that there IS such a drug as burundanga…it IS extremely dangerous, but actual cases of it being used seem to be confined to regions in and around Colombia, South America. The U-S government has warned travelers to South America about such drugs for years.

However, our sources say there have been no known cases of the drug showing up in the United States.

By the way, burundanga doesn’t have an odor, so you wouldn’t be noticing strong fumes. Typically the drug is NOT put on a business card, but slipped into a drink or some food.

Clearing up another Internet rumor, this is Cindy Swanson, CyberSnoop...reminding you to check it out BEFORE you hit that "send" button!

NOTE: This feature is now airing as "Cindy Swanson, CyberSleuth" on the radio in Canada! I share my internet sleuthing to de-bunk or confirm e-mail rumors with Beth Warden on ShineFM.com

Thoughts on Sunday's tragic shooting

It's hard to know how to even write about the tragic shooting of Pastor Fred Winters in Maryville, IL on Sunday. Along with many people across the nation, I'm shocked and saddened.

Jeremiah Beck of WIBI radio is a Facebook friend of mine. He responded to my comment that the church and community are in my prayers:

"Thank you Cindy. This is a senseless tragedy. The only meaning that can be found in it will have to come from Jesus. His promise to turn that which was intended for evil to good will be the foundation for building a future. I keep thinking of the last time I had dinner with Fred. He and his wife were so excited about what God was doing in their community and what God was doing at WIBI (they are supporters.) I asked about his new building (it is beautiful) - and he said 'the building isn't who we are. We are a church working to reach people.'"

Jeremiah asks for continued prayers, particularly for the pastor's two daughters.

Losing Our Religion

Fewer Americans are Christians, and more Americans say they have no religion at all.

This news is not really surprising, given the condition of our world and our nation today. But I think those of us who call ourselves Christians have to take a long, hard look at ourselves in the mirror. What's wrong with this picture?

Obviously we are not being the salt and light that God wants us to be, and that saddens and convicts me.

I've been hearing a lot of Keith Green lately. My daughter has recently been introduced to his music, and my son gave her a CD for her birthday.

Keith Green was still in his twenties when he died in a plane crash in 1982, and he had only been a Christian for some six years. His zeal for God was so avid it was sometimes overwhelming, even to fellow Christians. To some, he was a little too tactless and harsh in his indictments of modern Christianity. But Green's heart cry was palpable in lyrics like these, from "Asleep in the Light":

Do you see, do you see
All the people sinking down
Don't you care, don't you care
Are you gonna let them drown

How can you be so numb
Not to care if they come
You close your eyes
And pretend the job's done

"Oh bless me Lord, bless me Lord"
You know it's all I ever hear
No one aches, no one hurts
No one even sheds one tear

But He cries, He weeps, He bleeds
And He cares for your needs
And you just lay back
And keep soaking it in,
Oh, can't you see it's such a sin?

You can hear Keith Green sing "Asleep in the Light" here.

Some thoughts on "Lost"

Since we have to wait TWO weeks for a new episode of "Lost," I thought I would take some time to post some thoughts on the March 4th episode. WARNING: Spoilers if you haven't watched the episode yet!

(Also WARNING! If you think people talking about fictional characters as if they're real is silly, you'll think this post is all kinds of goofy.)

Sawyer-centric

See this picture of Josh Holloway? I posted it for a reason: we got to see a lot more of those dimples in "LaFleur." Sawyer (yes, he will always be SAWYER to me, not James or Jim) seemed happier than ever.

Interestingly, he seems to really have come into his own as part of the Dharma Initiative. And he seems to be genuinely happy in a relationship with Juliet. I think a lot of us saw that coming; they were thrown together a lot as "Lostie left-behinders." But maybe we didn't foresee it being such an evidently solid and domesticated relationship?

I saw a lot of comments on "Lost" discussion boards from people who didn't think they would like Sawyer being with Juliet, but who really liked this pairing.

Ann-Marie of The Left-handed Rabbit wrote on Facebook:

I think Sawyer is just SO much better matched with Juliet than Kate. I mean, Juliet "has his back." (Was that not the cutest scene on the dock EVER? Or what?) Kate is so fickle! I hope Juliet is sincere. Three years is a long time to fake loving someone. However I'd love to see Kate and Juliet square off over Sawyer. Who would win? Methinks, Juliet. Kate would be running off yelling, "Jack! Jack! She's hitting me!" :-) Yeah, obviously not a Kate fan!

Well, I've always wanted Kate and Jack to be together, so if Sawyer has found happiness with Juliet, so be it. And someone pointed out, he's been with Juliet for three years? That's a whole lot longer than the three months he spent with Kate--although it seemed a looooot longer to us as viewers.

But I did have to let Ann-Marie know that a lot of Lost fans still don't trust Juliet. Some of them believe that even if she's not evil, she knows a lot more than she's letting on. After all, she lived with the "Others" for three years--and even though they weren't the Dharma Initiative, they had to know a lot about them.

And when Sawyer saw Kate, all that talk about "three years is plenty of time to get over someone" flew right out the window. The play of emotions on Josh Holloway's face at that moment showed what a really good, under-rated actor he is.

More questions

As always, "Lost" raises more questions than it answers. Yes, we saw at least the backside of the mysterious four-toed statue, but got no more clues on what it really is (lots of commenters are speculating on its Eyptian-ness--maybe the island was the home of an ancient culture at some point?).

And wqw that little red-haired girl really Charlotte as a child? Daniel seemed to think so, but we were told earlier that Charlotte was born in 1979...this was Dharma circa 1974. Continuity error, or was it just wishful thinking on Daniel's part?

Speaking of Daniel...poor guy. Where was he during that episode? And are we ever going to see a sane, rational Daniel again?

Oh...and about the baby that was born. Speculations are flying wildly about the baby's identity, with most people convinced it's someone we know. Miles? Hello...Miles is Asian; these parents decidely weren't. Desmond? Sawyer?!? Now that would be really strange, but this is "Lost," so I guess anything is possible.

And best line of the night, by popular agreement? Sawyer referring to Richard Alpert as "your buddy with the eyeliner." (The guy who plays Alpert, Nestor Carbonell, insists he doesn't wear eyeliner...he just has really, really dark eyelases. Lucky. And yes, I'm jealous, much.)

Missing some favorites

Like a lot of people, I'm wondering where Sun and Sayid ended up when the plane crashed. Can't wait to see a Jin and Sun reunion--but something tells me it may not play out as we might expect, because again, this is "Lost."

And I really miss Hurley (Jorge Garcia.) As I've mentioned, I think he's an integral part of the show. Hopefully next week...I mean, week after next.

You can go here to watch an amusing recap, "Lost Untangled."

If you're a Lost fan, let me know what you think about what's going on. Theories? Comments?

13 things I loved in the 70's

Note: I'm feeling lousy today, so bear with me as I resurrect another Thursday Thirteen that I've run in the past!

My high school and college years took place in the 70's, as did my courtship and marriage. Bear in mind, I led a pretty sheltered life, and the things I enjoyed were pretty much all wholesome and family-friendly. Here are 13 of them, in no particular order.

1. Charlie's Angels--especially Farrah. I don't know of very many women my age who didn't want to look like her in those days! Every other girl did their hair in a Farrah flip-back, including me.

2. Saturday Night Live--Featuring the original Not Ready for Prime Time Players, it was a new style of humor, and it cracked us up! Who didn't toss the phrase "I'm a wild and craaazy guy!" around at least once or twice?

3. Andrae Crouch and the Disciples--I still love many of the songs from his "Best Of" project. Below, "Soon and Very Soon."



4. The Midnight Special--the 70's precursor to music television

5. The Stylistics, the Spinners, the Chi-Lites, and all the other great R and B acts

6. Evie--for those who loved Christian music, she was an icon--and so cute! If this 1976 doesn't take you back, I don't know what will:



7. Victoria Holt novels--I think I read everything she wrote under that pseudonym, as well as all of her novels as Phillipa Carr and some of her Jean Plaidy novels

8. Rocky--I still think the first one was the best

9. Star Wars--we were so blown away by the special effects! :)

10. The Carol Burnett Show--her show--along with the next two on this list--were Saturday night "must see TV" of the 70's

11. The Mary Tyler Moore Show

12. The Bob Newhart Show

13. The Fonz--looking at the very mature Henry Winkler today, it's hard to believe, but I actually had kind of a crush on him!

Julian Smith's "25 Things I Hate About Facebook"

OK, I'm guilty of one of these. I'm one of the Old People on Facebook. Also, I don't hate the birthday greetings--I love them! Other than that, I pretty much agree with these.

Especially people who update their status WAY too frequently. We do not need to know every minute detail of your day. There are a few people that I'm expecting to announce their bathroom details any minute now.

If you're on Facebook, you WILL relate to this on some level. Enjoy:

I talk with Rhonda Rhea

“Rhonda’s a hoot! She’s relevant, relational, and right on!”

Patsy Clairmont
Author/Women of Faith speaker

Rhonda Rhea doesn't think God made a mistake when he included a funny bone in our physical make-up. This lovely, energetic lady uses humor all the time to address all kinds of issues facing women today.

Since Rhonda is going to be speaking in my area this coming week-end, I took the opportunity to do a phone interview with her.

She is a radio personality, speaker, humor columnist and author of several books--including High Heels in High Places: Walking Worthy in Way Cute Shoes and The Purse-uit of Holiness: Learning to Imitate the Master Designer. OK, how can you not love someone who comes up with titles like that? Clearly, she understands women!

Click here to listen to a 3-minute condensation of my interview with Rhonda.

For those of you living in northern Illinois/southern Wisconsin, Rhonda Rhea will be speaking this Saturday, March 7th at the First Baptist Church in Machesney Park, IL. You can call call the church at 815-633-2740 for details.

13 of my Facebook Friends

OK, so I have a lot of friends on Facebook. 744, to be exact...at last count.

It's funny, because I originally wasn't too crazy about Facebook when I first started there. There are still things about it that REALLY annoy me. (I won't go into them right now). But I have found out that it's a neat way to keep in touch with friends and to network with others.

For today's Thursday Thirteen, I thought I would randomly choose 13 of my friends on Facebook.

I'm leaving out some last names to protect privacy, but some of these people have blogs, and I'm going to link to them.

So here we go. 13 Random Facebook Friends of Mine:

Donna-Jean Breckenridge--Donna-Jean is a beautiful lady who blogs at Liberty and Lily. I've actually done a radio interview with her, and my blogging about the needs of Lakeshore Baptist Church's post-Katrina situation prompted her to organize a mission trip to help out.

Matt Brown--Matt blogs at Good Brownie, and he happens to be an alumni of Cedarville University, where my sons went.

DeDe B is a good friend of mine who lives in the same town as I do. We've had a lot of fun times together, including once several years ago when she accompanied me on a radio station trip to Branson, Missouri. That was a blast! DeDe has a great sense of humor, husband is hilarious, and their kids are about the same ages as ours. I love DeDe!


Carla Rolfe is another person that I know only through blogging. Her Reflections of the Times is a thoughtful, intelligent, theologically-savvy blog with a Calvinist bent.


Todd B--Todd is a college friend of my son Jonathan's; in fact, he was a groomsman in Jonathan's wedding.

Darlene Gauthier Schacht is the bright, energetic, lovely woman behind Christian Women Online magazine. I've also had the privilege of interviewing Darlene on my radio show, and you can listen to the interview here if you like.

Lisa Anderson is director of corporate media and public relations at Focus on the Family. She and I actually have one of the same quotes on our "info" page:

"He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep to gain what he cannot lose." --Jim Elliot

Jesse Butterworth is a musician who I met a time or two when I used to attend the Gospel Music Association convention in Nashville; he was the lead singer of the band Daily Planet. I had to laugh when, on Shrove Tuesday--also known as Pancake Day--Jesse posted his surprise that, despite being married to Mrs. Butterworth, he had no idea it was Pancake Day!

--Amanda L S--is "Mandy" to me...she is married to one of my nephews, and is a beautiful and sweet young woman.

--Ray Hashley is a radio friend of mine. He is the station manager of WGNR in Indianapolis. Several years ago, Ray helped out at one or two of our station Sharathons, and endeared himself to everyone with his pleasant, gracious personality.

--Amy Parham would fit into the celebrities-that-I-don't-actually-know-but-are-kind-enough-to-be-my-Facebook-friend category. She was one of my favorite contestants on last season's Biggest Loser--one of my favorite shows, as you know if you read this blog. Amy and her husband Phil truly transformed themselves, and now they help motivate others to do the same with their website, Phil and Amy Fitness.

--Kathy Herman writes suspense novels.

--Allen Asbury is another singer who I don't know personally, but who was nice enough to add me as a "friend." I fell in love with Allen's voice when I heard him as Peter in "The Promise," an incredible musical based on the life of Christ. His performance of "Peter's Song" was powerful and beautiful. We now play his songs on Radio 91, one of the stations where I work.

The purpose of the meme is to get to know everyone who participates a little bit better every Thursday. Visiting fellow Thirteeners is encouraged! If you participate, leave the link to your Thirteen in others’ comments. It’s easy, and fun!

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I'm so annoyed with the producers of Biggest Loser!

Dear Biggest Loser producers:

You have a good show here. Don't keep messing it up by trying to manufacture drama at the expense of the feelings of the people on your show!!!

All right. We get it that there is no Vicious Vicky on this season's Biggest Loser. She was her own one-woman drama factory, so the producers could just sit back and watch her wreak havoc.

This season, we have a group of genuinely nice people. Sure, there's some game play, but it seems to lack mean-spiritedness...the contestants seem to really care about each other, even those on opposing teams.

Well, last night the show shook everything up in an obvious attempt to create drama that Biggest Loser fans really do not need and are NOT asking for.

After weeks of being trained by either Bob or Jillian, most of the contestants were forced to switch trainers. Most of them seemed devastated by this turn of events, including Bob himself, who really seemed heartbroken.

I'm sorry, producers. This is just MEAN. In fact, it could mean a real setback for some of these people. This heartless stunt indicates to me that the show really doesn't give a care about the fact that these are real people with real feelings.

By the way: the sappy musical montage of sentimental memories of Bob and his former team was just silly. The producers created the sadness, so now they're milking it with a those-were-the-days-my-friend montage? Give me a break.

Doubtless, the contestants will bounce back. Some of them, I'm sure, will even realize that their new trainer will challenge them in ways their old trainer couldn't or didn't. But that doesn't change the fact that it was a cruel, unnecessary maneuver on the part of the producers in an effort to gin up drama that we as viewers don't want or need.

Fellow Biggest Loser fan and blogger Sam Barrington says it well: "What is up with this!? It is a great show in-and-of-itself...it doesn't need all these gimmicky shifts!"

Agreed!

So you think you're well-read?

Actually, I consider myself pretty well-read. But occasionally a list comes along that makes me feel a bit inferior.

This is a list that's going around on Facebook. Supposedly the British Broadcasting Corporation thinks the average person will have read only 6 of them. I've done better than the "average" person, having read 31 of them--but someone who responded to this on Facebook had read 60!

Truth to tell, this list doesn't make me feel inferior, because there are books on the list that I frankly have no desire to read, and never will.

I've bold-faced the ones I've read. Take a look at the list, and if there's some titles on there that you really recommend, let me know and tell me why! (Oh--and having seen the movie DOESN'T count! :))

1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee
6 The Bible
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare--although I've read SOME of them!
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk ( )
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot ( )
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meany - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce--(this is what Ben Linus was reading on the plane on "Lost" the other night!)
76 The Inferno - Dante
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton (No--but I've read lots of other Enid Blyton books!)
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo ()--love the musical, though

Quote o' The Day

Gotta hand it to my 101QFL morning show co-host, Darren Marlar.A little backstory here: I had Facebook-messaged Darren, along with my friends Mike Schlote and Joe Buchanan, about the Danny Gokey backlash.

Somehow we started talking about "Lost" in the middle of it all, and the conversation among Joe, Mike and me was going back and forth between American Idol and Lost.

When Darren finally popped up, this is what he said:

Okay, so I'm just now getting to this thread and trying to catch up. I just scanned through it all, but if I understand correctly, Danny Gokey is a real creep because he didn't show emotion when Jack was upset about Sarah, but it all works out in the end because Desmond and Tatiana end up together.
Is that about right?

Guess that about sums it up. :)

The Thirteen Top TV Icons

...according to TV Land and Entertainment Weekly

(And yes, this is a repeat)...

I hereby count them down (and I'm not saying I necessarily agree with these choices or the order they're in!):

13. Jackie Gleason

12. Dick Van Dyke

11. Roseanne

10. Dick Clark

9. Homer Simpson

8. Jerry Seinfeld

7. Mary Tyler Moore

6. Carol Burnett

5. Walter Cronkite

4. Bill Cosby

3. Oprah Winfrey

2. Lucille Ball

1. Johnny Carson

You can see the entire list of 50 Top Icons here.