Doug Van Pelt

Beach baby, beach baby...

I don't know why a Beach Boys song would pop into my head just now, but hey. It works as a title. I'm not getting caught back up with work, although my desk looks a mess. We've got a cool new intern named Tim (his Intern Diary is here), and we're madly picking content for the next issue. It's a real tough choice. We've got a lot of bands to choose (and which one deserves the cover the most?), like:
Stretch Arm Strong
Falling Up
Blindside
Mortal Treason
Project 86
Discover America (did you know that this is Chris Staples (238) new band?)
Stryper
John Davis
Waking Ashland
Every New Day
Inked In Blood
The Terminal
Emery
As Cities Burn
Nodes of Ranvier
Switchfoot
Sam Ashworth
Amber Pacific
Billy Corgan
and even more...

Whew! Tough choices. I just got an email this morning from our printer. Our pages are up on a server for proofing. That was quick of our printer. That means the mag should get printed and mailed out soon.

(I just stood up and flipped my calendar over from May to June to see w hen the mag would probably ship. Retired Safety Darren Woodson is on this page. Have I ever mentioned how much of a stud football player that guy is? Man, he could hit. I'm sorry to see him go. Jimmy Johnson sure had an eye for talent when he coached in Dallas. I wonder if he had stayed on if Dallas would've won 4 in a row...or maybe more.)

Okay, spiritual talk... Spiritual talk!
Psalm 145 again is very descriptive of God, which is a perfect praise song. Praising is just complimenting; and if you're going to compliment someone, you should have reasons. We have plenty of reasons to praise God.

"The Lord is gracious and compassionate,
slow to anger and rich in love.
The Lord is good to all;
He has compassion on all He has made..."

Thanks for the shower of comments since the car accident. I am a blessed man. If it was all a stunt to get attention, I was successful. But (sigh), it wasn't a stunt. It was real. I'm doing fine. My left shoulder is sore and tight. I am going to splurge and visit a massage therapist for a half hour and see if he/she can rub, pound, and stretch these muscles into a relaxing state of submission.