Rusty is officially 30

I missed wishing Rusty a public happy birthday on the GLORY!blog since we were partying at his parents' house in Pearl, MS on Saturday. But we had lots o' fun with party hats, hanging birthday signs, meatballs, pizza rolls, pigs in blankets, Smarties, Midnight Milky Way, homemade cake, and everybody's favorite Rotel and Velveeta dip.

Here is the cover from Rusty's card this year:



Here's the Funfetti cake I made Rusty -- sprinkles explode inside the cake batter so the cake looks like it has confetti in it.



And here's the handsome 30-year-old:



Rusty's in the sky on his way back to Dinkytown now. I feel a little like my lungs have been ripped out, but at least I have my internet. What a comfort. This Friday I get on a plane so I can spend Mardi Gras with Rusty. Thanks USM!

thirtysomething

Leaving tomorrow for Mizzippi for to get celebrated for turning 30. Everyone should know about the early birthday present boo-boo got for me:

carrieandrusty.com

In case you ever need to find us, that's where we'll be.

Since Boo-Boo Just Wants to See His Bun-Bun

Here is an early post: the annotated Daily Boo

The Daily Boo

- or -

What Happens When You Have Nothing To Say and Just Want To See Your Bun-Bun

Have You Ever Seen a Bookworm Cartoon Close-up?

The Bookworm


Closer

The Glory of Pia

This gal right here, Pia Z., interviewed The Strawberry Explosion (that's me and Carrie, for those losers out there who don't know) a little before Christmas, and the interview itself is finally up at the Love and Letters Music site. Specifically, it is right here. Pia was a Mnemonic Devicette, you know. She sung "Music Box" prettily.

Good News for Rusty

His story "Pops" is being published in next fall's issue of Mid-American Review. For those of you who aren't in the know, this is a fancy print journal with a good reputation. And now, even better. Go Rusty go!

Also, I am editing an issue of Mississippi Review Web so if you have any holiday fiction, send it my way.

And now, for your amusement, here are some of the recent Google searches that have brought readers to the GLORY!blog

rudi bakhtiar photos
auto+photographs+of+alyson+stoner
my sexy vacation photos
cari hoffman memphis
"carrie hoffman" memphis
carrie hoffman memphis
[note: these last three were all different people, within 15 minutes of each other. weird.]
celebrities paparazzi caught ugly
glory hole blog
essentialism "song of solomon"
"history of disney world"
glory holes blog
"lori berkemeyer"
"carrie spring"
alyson stoner feet
scary snowman
facts about tinsel
carrie hoffman "micah stack"

Our big regular Googlers are looking for Alyson Stoner or Rudi Bakhtiar.

First Birthday

This was the first birthday "card" I got from Carrie. It was an envelope that held a copy of The Royal Tennenbaums soundtrack, so that explains the aliens' signs.



By the way, I just want all of you out there to ponder the fact that Carrie draws nothing, nothing but aliens. It holds the secret to why I love her, and also shows that she's weird as shit.

Okay, I'm going to Staples now... my home away from home.

Rusty's turning the big 3-0

So Rusty's birthday is coming up. It will be a week from this Saturday, to be exact, and he's flying in from Texas to spend it with me since it's a big one and I want to make him a cake. The last two birthdays, Rusty was in that great shit-state of Texas and all I could do was send him packages of goodies, including handmade cards. These were the covers of Rusty's last two birthday cards --

From last year:


From 2003:


There was a card before these two, from the first year I met Rusty, but I hand-drew it and didn't scan it onto my computer like I did with these. (For those who don't know, I hand-draw my aliens and then scan them, then color them using Adobe Photoshop Elements.)

Don't nobody forget to wish Rusty a Happy Birthday on the 29th!

"Carrie" Comic 13

She's back.

Click for more...

Mom and Dad, circa 1972 or so

Look at them acting all glory-bloggy.



Hope everyone is having a Happy Martin Luther the King Day!

Quick Boring News

I wanna get out some glory before midnight, so here's some quick stuff:

1. Christmas at Wartime (Slow Version). This is the one true remix done for the single. Carrie hasn't heard it yet.

2. I'm currently putting my thesis and dissertation from grad school together as two books that I'll sell online so you guys can have it and sell it for a million dollars on Ebay in 30 years. I'll probably finish it up soon, since it looks relatively easy to do.

3. Carrie is throwing me a party in Jackson Mississippi for my thirtieth (30th) birthday. Everyone who can't come is welcome to mail me presents.

This post has been brought to you by

"Non-drowsy my ass!"

Explosions!

Finally, the new Christmas single... almost a month after Christmas. Hooray! Anyway, the song is about not being together at Christmas, so it sort of makes sense. The general and ordering info is up (cause we know you'll order one), and here's the album cover and the MP3 of the song.



"Christmas at Wartime" MP3. No, it has nothing to do with the current war. And it references Immanuel Kant, so it gets English nerd points.

Oh, and to encourage you to be good, here's the Chipmunk Version.

Bubby.

Back in 2005! Only 13 days Late!

To recap what you missed: several trips to Stuckey's gas just prior to a road trip...stopped in Madison, MS and saw the world's fanciest Shell station and ate Backyard Burgers....then to Memphis, a place we've talked about going together before we were even anything but friends. We take our time getting things done sometimes.



So what we did was ride the trolley and eat at the Isaac Hayes restaurant and see a guy named Scooter play the sax and ask the audience for Tylenol. Also a Strawberry Explosion Custom Session Recording the next day at Sun Studios, the place where Johnny Cash and Elvis and Carl Perkins and Topher Grace have all made their beautiful music. Listen to us singing Johnny Cash's "I Walk the Line." The recording-boy loved us!



Then the next day we took a delightful jaunt around Graceland with a bunch of foreigners where we saw the Jungle Room, the carpeted kitchen, the three TVs with knobs, jeweled capes, gravy, Asians with Elvis hair, Christmas trees, the Lisa Marie plane, the Pink Cadillac, and lots of souvenirs. We bought the white ball Christmas ornament with a picture of Elvis on it and a little description about how he liked to decorate the house.




Then back in the Jetta and back to the Burg for a little bit of robe-wearing and hunting for the Jim Jarmusch movie Mystery Train. And one last day spent recording the brand new, not-yet-finished Strawberry Explosion song.

We're apart now, back to the daily grind again, so we've got time for computer things. Like updating the Carrie Hoffman Webpage which has been overdue for a while.

Here's the update you care about: all the good Christmas break photos, beyond the selections above, are now available for your admiration.

Also, did I mention that Rusty got me sick and then left?

Happy 2005!

Happy new year from the GLORY!blog. We watched a few hours of The History of Sex (aka "porn for academics") on The History Channel, watched a ball or two drop, and the Central Time Zone celebration on Conan. Hope you have a glory-filled year.