Vote

Its the day before election day. If you haven't voted yet, maybe this will make you get to that voting booth:

Peace Asheville

Peace Asheville. JJ Big Paws.

Awareness

This is close to my heart.

Awareness.

How many people do you know that are on that "track" and can't stop just for a few minutes to take the time to make informed decisions? Society is fast moving. People don't have time to read the newspaper, read a book, enjoy a home cooked meal, talk with friends. We're too busy putting in extra hours at work to make more money, completing all those home projects, trying to get enough sleep. So that lifestyle makes it real easy to go along with everyone else, believe what we're told instead of thinking for ourselves. Not being aware of what is happening around us, to us and because of us. To make our own decisions requires time to study and look into our own beliefs.

There is a pretty big election coming up. You'll hear colorful sound bites from both parties. Some true, some not so true. But repeated enough and it seems to become truth even if it isn't.   Although I could give you my informed opinion on who I think should be the next president, more importantly, YOU should take the time to understand the issues, how do they align with your beliefs, research the canidates, find objective information. 

Because on the night of November 4th, wouldn't you rather know that the next president was elected because we took the time to objectively look at the facts and based our vote on our own beliefs other than basing our vote on sound bites?

Its That Time Again

So we used to live in Florida. Yes I know, we are "those" people who moved up here to torment you long standing citizens of Asheville. Trust me, we're not all bad. Actually we have several people here in Asheville that really like us. We sure like Asheville. Anyways, I still work for the same company I did when I lived in Florida. A friend of mine at work, who we call the company meteorologist, sends out hurricane updates. She's a hoot. So for the past week I have been getting updates on Gustav and Hanna. Oh the memories...
The year before we moved we were hit with Hurricane Wilma. Category 3 when it hit us. Not fun and quite scary. We didn't have power for 12 days. We actually came up here to Asheville a week into it just to get away and remember how nice it is to turn on a switch and have light. I don't miss hurricane season in Florida. It used to be kinda neat when hurricane season came around and you watched the tracks of hurricanes and hoped that the company would shut down for a day or two just on the threat of one coming close. But then Florida had 5 in one season, and it wasn't neat anymore.
So now I sit up here in these beautiful mountains of North Carolina and read the emails with the latest hurricane and its latest track. "T" (as I will call her) has a way of presenting the information on these storms in an entertaining manner and I really look forward to her updates. (She should blog, she'd be really good at it.) So now instead of wondering when I should start bringing in everything from the outside and pull close those shutters, I send my greetings and actually hope we get a little piece of the storm to relieve us from this drought. Oh the joys of Asheville!

Asheville Paws

JJ Big Paws wants to take a look at all his neighbors.
We have a group set up on Flickr for anyone who lives in Asheville and wants to post a picture or pictures of their buddys. Although its titled "Asheville Paws", we loved to see paws, wings, slithering types, etc.
Check it out at Asheville Paws.

Asheville Music

We had a very close friend in town last week. On Saturday, we headed over to the Biltmore Art Festival. Between our indecision on which painting to buy and the heat, we decided the best decision was to head over to the French Broad Brewery to cool off. We were lucky enough to catch Nikki Talley. Another in a long list of great musicians in the Asheville area.
My first introduction to the Asheville music scene was Christine Kane. I actually found her before moving here through her website. She is still my favorite. But since arriving, I have been fortunate to see alot of great bands and singers. Chuck Beattie has introduced me to the Blues. Rafe Hollister jams with an eclectic mix of bluegrass, country and rock and Nikki's lyrics and voice just mesmerize. What is great about the music scene here is all the original music. Cover songs are ok for background music but give me someone that has the guts to get up on stage and open themselves and their thoughts up to strangers.  I'll listen every time.
I can't wait for another Saturday night out in Asheville. So much music, so many venues.

Our Most Popular Design...

The winner for the last 3 months. "It Is What It Is" is part of the Inspire Me line of design.
Check out all the great designs at JJ Big Paws.