Sometimes is the debut single of local Fort Smith singer and songwriter JD Clayton that may surprise you by the sound.

I have sadly never heard Clayton live but had heard bits and parts of his acoustic covers a long time ago. That is what I was expecting but was pleasantly surprised by the chill sounds of a bass, slow electric guitar, and maracas, I think. I do not have a single musical bone in my body so my apologies if I miss interpreting some of the instruments. But it is an excellent sound for slowing down at the end of the day or a sunny Saturday drive.

The song sets a nice chill vibe that goes well with his voice as he sings about moving on and the varieties that life will lead you. He sings to a girl that seems to be in a valley of life and encourages her to keep moving on. However, I enjoy that in the chorus while he sings about being strong while moving on he follows it up with "Sometimes you're going to be wrong." This one line is my favorite line in the whole song as while the song encourages the listener, it also points out that they will be wrong, but you got to keep moving on.

In the end, if you have an extra dollar, or wondering who to listen to on Spotify now, you should give this song a go. I look forward to when this single is on his first album.

Thanks for reading!

To set the context, I was already pretty excited for Baby Driver when I saw the first trailer several months ago. I think part of that was because of my love for the Ryan Gosling film, Drive, as both have similar themes, a crime heist set around the getaway driver, and that is where the similarities end. Adding on to this was an A list of actors and the great comedy director and writer, Edger Wright. I hoped it was going to be at least good.

It was and so much more!

The first five minutes set the tone of the film extremely well as it starts with the protagonist, Baby, (yes, his name is Baby) sitting in a car with three robbers moments before the heist. Baby throws in his Apple earbuds and starts the music as the robbers get out and enter the bank in the middle of a sunny day. Baby stays in the car and jams out to his music, dancing and singing along in a way that makes you instantly relate to him as we all have had those moments. His jam session has quick breaks as he and the audience observe the robbery from the car. Baby's face giving us a great look at his discomfort to it and insight into his character. The robbers finally return, and they speed off to the first car chase in the film with the song Bellbottoms by Jon Spencer Blues Explosions blaring to the rhythm of the chase, and we see why Baby is the best.

To not mention the music or the driving in Baby Driver would be similar to watching Singing in the Rain and not talking about the music and dance numbers because Baby Driver takes a lot of hints from musicals films. There is a constant run of music in the background as Baby is almost always listening to music to drown out his chronic tinnitus, a constant buzzing in the ears. Because of the constant music, the movie uses it to help find an almost musical rhythm to the character's movements, the action, and the chase scenes. Baby's character is built well using this condition to portray who he is by his mounds of iPods for the different moods he is in and cassette tapes of his creation. 

The writing is fantastic, and the actors and actresses play their parts perfectly. The pairing up of characters with Baby worked perfectly be it the tension with his crime boss, the chemistry with his love interest, or the family aspect with his deaf foster father. All of it was fleshing out the characters beautifully. I also found myself several times surprised by the characters choices, but it never felt out of character for any of them as the surprises were a reaction to another character's instant action or a build up of actions.

The action scenes are great, and the chase scenes are some of the best I have seen in years. Never was I lost in what is going on or didn't know where the characters were. Action films need to have good continuity editing, and this movie has it.

Baby Driver is, without question, my favorite Edgar Wright film and is definitely a heavy contender for my favorite film of the year. I left the theater physically fighting the urge to speed home while listening to the soundtrack on Spotify. 

So, if you can't tell by now, I loved the movie, and you should see it as soon as you can but please, follow the traffic laws after you see it. Safty first!

Thanks for reading!

Baby Driver is Copyright of TriStar Pictures and associated production companies.

​When I was in college, one of my biggest fears was getting a 8 to 5 desk job, because I thought that was the dream killer. I dreaded it as I perceived it as selling out, as choosing security over passions. This worry lasted well after I graduated and influenced my decisions in looking and selecting jobs with irregular or flexible schedules for it to work around my sporadic writing sessions. This season lasted about a year after I graduated and I quickly learned that jobs with flexible schedules fit into two categories: They don't pay enough for the bills, or you are always on call with little down time. If these jobs are your dream then awesome! But if they aren't and you are only in it for the money and schedule so you can chase your dream, you may want to rethink it.

It was almost a year since I graduated and started working in real estate before I bit the bullet and got a full-time desk job. Was I scared that I was taking the easy way out? That I was selling out by not having three part-time jobs that could work around my writing to having a single job? That in a blink of an eye I would be forty and had left my dream in the closet collecting dust? Yes, I was scared that all that would happen. So, I stayed extremely conscious of my surroundings, and let my friends know so they could help me, as I started my first full-time desk job. Observing, fearfully, what my time would look like and just what would happen. It was about two months in when the realization set in, and I found the dream killer.

Myself.

It was myself and how I allocate not just my time but also my finances and energy. It was, and is, learning to force my writing to bend to my schedule and not just to write "when I feel like it." Learning that though I work Monday to Friday 8 to 5 I still had the evenings to write and the entire weekend. That the time is there no matter the job, you just have to use it. Choosing to discipline myself in writing after work even if I was a tired or drained. Cutting out the YouTube binge and the Facebook scrolling that, if I'm not careful, will take over my entire evening. Putting money where my passion is and saving for the editing, book covers, and marketing even when the Nintendo Switch looks amazing!

Now, keep in mind, I still do some of those things, but they have just been bumped down in priority, and I'm trying to consciously be aware of how much time I spend with them. I still play video games but after I get my writing done. I still watch YouTube, but I try, and fail a lot, to watch stuff that will improve my story telling. I have time for Netflix, but it's after I read, I'm not that good at this one either. And life will send you stuff that will force you to put your dream on the back burner for a bit. But once that stuff has settled or passed, the choice is back to you to bring it forward to a front burner.
​
Basically, in the end, the only thing you can blame for killing your dream is yourself. But here is the best part about dreams. They can easily come back to life because of Christ. They can change and evolve to the real dream God wants you to chase and glorify Him with, because in the end, that's the point of the passions and dreams we have, to glorify Him with them. And if your dreams aren't doing that, we need to ask Him to change them, so they do or kill it and replace with the one He has given you. Trust me; God is much better at choosing your dream than you are.

Thanks for reading!

​So, I have a secret project in the works, and I need seven passionate artists for it! It doesn't matter if you draw, take pictures, paint, or sculpt, I need you!

Artists will be compensated for a single piece of art. It won't be a lot, but it will be something and hopefully, help inspire you to explore your artistic talent and keep chasing your passions!

If you are in any way interested or have questions, please contact me through the website or on Facebook! 

Can't wait to hear from you!

​Though I was twenty-three when I had my first girlfriend, I still had no idea what I was doing. I had asked some great girls out, want on some truly fun dates, and had two DTR talks(Define The Relationship) before I found a girl who was actually interested in moving forward too, and I was on cloud nine when that happened. It's a great feeling when someone is like, "yeah, let's see if this leads to marriage," however after that comes the work which, with the right person, will be worth it.

Many people gave me great advice before, during, and after my first relationship and I wished I listened to more of what they said during it all.

Remember, I am not an expert, these are just some of the wise words people told me and personal lessons. A story from an expert, in my opinion, will be at the end of this by my fantastic father, Drew Ellenwood!

​Be it in a home alone or a parked car alone, when two people of the opposite sex are alone together and are 'interested,' only bad things can happen. That doesn't limit it to physical either; topics can be dangerous too as they can venture into subjects too deep at the moment or just unhealthy and inappropriate discussions. A good counter is being in public places together, coffee shops, restaurants, or with friends. Leading to the next one. (Segue)

​Community is essential. It is healthy to see the other person in different environments as it helps both of you get to know each other in a safe place. That being hanging out with their friends, your friends, or mutual friends, very rarely is community wrong. Seeing how they get along with your friends and you with their friends helps you get to know them better, from them personally or from their friends. A healthy relationship won't force you to abandon your friends for it. Good friends will want to support both of you as you two should support them back like friends should, just like family. (Better Segue)

​Though, if everything goes well, you will get married and leave your family to start your own with your spouse. This doesn't block them out forever as they will still be involved in both of your lives. Getting to know the family and seeing how their relationship is with other members and you is important because they won't be going anywhere.
Side note about parents: they are a great glimpse of what the person you are dating will be in the future, just like you. It is not the norm for someone to not be like one of their parents. Trust me; I am a lot like my dad. (No Segue Here)

​During all this, stuff will come to mind. Conversations will come to light that will need to be discussed. They aren't the typical "how many kids?" or "where to live?" questions which are important and should be talked about but are harder to state broadly for everyone ones. I'm talking about the topics that are unique to each couple that would be easier to avoid, and you will want to avoid them. You will think of excuses for not bring it up, the timing isn't right, it will just make them uncomfortable, or they don't want to talk about it. These conversations will vary and be unique to each couple but must be discussed sooner rather than later as it is better to talk about them now instead of five years into marriage.
Side note: both parties must want to have these talks and must both agree on the topics to be discussed now and the topics to wait to talk about for engagement for protecting both parties. (Segue by contradicting myself)

Now, to help make it clear, with these tough talks, and just spending time with them, you will get close to past pains, deep fears, and long struggles you have. All of these things your future spouse will need to know to help you carry those burdens as you help carry their burdens. At the moment though, they aren't your spouse, and if they do know these things, it can end up hurting both of you even more if you all don't end up as husband and wife. Now, if you find yourself confused on what you must talk about or stuff to wait for until engagement, that is where community and older, wiser people come into play to help both of you know how to traverse the topics and the journey itself. When in doubt, ask someone who has been there before.

Now, you could listen to all the points I gave and even the wiser words of my father below, but if you don't have Jesus at the center of the relationship, it will all be in vain. Because in the end, it is all about Him.

Now to the good stuff!

Below is the manuscript my father used when he gave his marriage testimony at his church last Sunday and after reading it, I knew I needed to add it! Thanks for the permission dad!

​When Jeff asked me for a testimony on marriage, I reminded him that I’m single.  But a testimony is a description of a scene or the relating of a story.  I will tell you a story of a marriage.  Its characters are Dona and I.  And as any story, this marriage has a beginning, a middle, and an end.
    I was a senior at OU, and Sandy and I were pre-Christmas history.  Alone again… naturally.  It was just past Spring Break and I wanted a date for the coming weekend.  Who to call?  Dona or Marty?  I picked up the phone and called…  Marty.  But she was busy that weekend and I didn’t want to wait until the next, so I proceeded to the second on my short list.  Sure enough, Dona could go.  Just as well.  Months later I saw Marty with her feet up in her chair at a nice restaurant.  Yikes.
The date with Dona was a disaster, or so I thought.  We couldn’t seem to keep a conversation going.  We ate at Sweet Peas in Oklahoma City then stopped on the way back to Norman at an arcade where I watched her play Ms. Pacman.  And as I watched, I knew she’d never go out with me again; I had proven too boring.
    But she did.  We dated a couple of months before she went on a summer mission trip to Spain.  I entertained the idea of asking Amy out while she was gone.  I mean, there were no rings on anyone’s finger yet.  But I couldn’t get Dona out of my mind.  I had to eat crow and ask Charlie Ann for Dona’s address in Spain.
    “Didn’t get her address, huh?”
    “Uh… no.”
    “Did you say ‘goodbye’?”
    “Uh… no.”
    “Hmm.  Well, here’s her address, though she’s probably found a cute Spaniard.”
Now, international mail is frustratingly slow.  This was before cell phones and emails.  On the day I had been sailing – my first and last time as I capsized the boat and lost the mast – and with Christopher Cross’s “Sailing” in my head, I got home to an airmail letter.  Mast lost or not, it was a good day.  No mention of a Spanish hunk.  And I started understanding what falling in love is about.
    She came back.  And soon I thought I might propose.  I asked my parents, my mentor, my best friend, Dona’s disciplemaker, and my grandparents if this was a wise choice.  You know, real love is deeper than romance; it is wisdom.  My advisors were unanimous, though my grandmother warned that with marriage comes enough exposure of the heart for it to be broken.  Let’s not skip to the end yet.
One date before Dona and I were married we learned a lesson that stayed with us.  I took her to My Pi Pizza.  Neither of us wanted to tread on the other, so we hemmed and hawed over the menu.
    “What do you want?”
    “O I don’t care, you choose.”
    “No, let me know.  Which do you like?”
    And on it went.  We ended up with a pizza neither of us liked because neither of us had opened up about what we really wanted.  The lesson:  Marriage is not compromise.  You want compromise:  try Congress, though they don’t even get there now.  Marriage is consensus.  Compromise and you end up with what everyone can tolerate.  Consensus is talking and listening and coming to a decision better than what either had thought before.
    During We Bought a Zoo, Scarlett Johanssen tells Matt Damon, whose character is recently widowed,  that the word ‘cage’ is not used in zoos anymore.  They’re called ‘enclosures.’  Then she says, “My brief marriage:  that was a cage.”
    He replies, “Not mine.”
    I agree.
    So we come to the middle part of our story:  Wedding, honeymoon, finishing school, starting a career, raising kids, buying a house, riding the ups and downs of finances and health and family.  The humdrum.  With Dona, it was nice.
    In marriage Dona and I let our guards down and showed all the fear, desires, and ick of our hearts.  But to do that, you must trust each other and you must be trustworthy.  There are to be no weapons pointed against each other.  It’s like what Dennis Quaid says in the movie In Good Company that you choose who you’re going to be in the foxhole with, and when you’re out of the foxhole, you keep your pants on.  Marriage is not everyday a fight.  Marriage is everyday a united front.
    This person is your companion.  Not some dude sitting with you in a deer stand, not some chick you share coffee with.  They are friends and have their place.  But your spouse is your intimate companion.
Dona knew my moods, and I have many.  My poor kids are left with me, the weakest one.  Dona was the level-headed of us.  She could calm me down by simply saying, “Drew.”  She never sprung stuff on me when I had just walked though the door.  She encouraged my silliest dreams, even sent me one weekend to merely write.  She didn’t get angry because I can only think on one thing at a time.  She would simply say, “Drew, look at my face.”  Then she had my attention.
And me?  I studied her.  Men, don’t throw up your hands and tell me you don’t know what to buy your wife for her birthday.  Go in her closet and see what she wears, what is her size, what has she pushed to the back wall.  We can memorize football scores and baseball statistics; we can figure out our wives’ desires.
Dona and I were watching While You Were Sleeping and the dad says to Jack, “Why didn’t you tell me you didn’t want my business?  I could have sold it to Uncle Eddie for twice its worth.  I could have taken your mother on a cruise with Kathy Lee Gifford.”
    I looked over at Dona and said, “Would you like to go on a cruise with Kathy Lee Gifford?”
    “If I went on a cruise,” said she, “I’d rather go with Mickey Mouse.”
    Hmm.  So for her 50th birthday I sprung a surprise on her and told her to pack her bags because the next day we were leaving on a Disney cruise.
    This was after she had fought cancer for a few years.  Things were going well.  I even wondered if I should waste the money on something as trivial as a cruise.  But was it the Spirit or no?  I was reminded of Jesus saying, “The poor you always have with you, but you do not always have me.”
    And I didn’t always have her.  I had really wanted to have a Golden Anniversary.  But life rarely takes your desires into account.
    There came a day the oncologist said there was nothing more to be done, and Dona stated matter-of-factly, “Let’s go home and live until we die.”
    We took one last little trip up to Mount Magazine, bringing along her medical equipment.  A month early for her birthday, but this was good.  She died four days after her 52nd birthday.  I was sitting by her bed in the room she loved in our house, reading her verses from Isaiah, as she passed.  But this is not a bad thing, my friends.  What better way to pass to God than to hear your love read those beautiful promises from Isaiah and next hear Jesus speak your name.
    The center of the family is not a person.  It is not the husband; that is tyranny.  It is not the wife; that is bitterness.  It is not the children; that is delinquency.  The center of the family is a relationship, an unshakable one, the marriage relationship between the husband and his wife.  This is security for man, woman, and children.  And at the core of that relationship, if it is to hold at all, is Jesus.  Even cancer cannot rattle this.
    Yes, my grandmother was correct.  A heart can be broken.  Yet I would never trade those years married to Dona.  So, give yourself to Jesus, have a daily Quiet Time, and cherish one another as long as it is called today.
    And make your own story a happy one.

Before I get into this review, you must know I love Lewis and Tolkien and their works. So, when I received this book as a Christmas gift from two dear friends of mine, I was ecstatic to read it and wasn't disappointed one bit.

This book does an incredible job of setting the stage of the world and the ideas that were starting to rise in the few years before the war. How quickly the nations and young men jumped into the war because of the social demand by both friends, family, and the Church. It paints a sobering reality of what the soldiers faced and how hugely different this war was from wars of the past. It dives into both Tolkien and Lewis's experiences during the war and what they drew from it for both their writings and their lives.

This book was an amazing and sobering ride for me as the author uses many quotes from soldiers that lived through it to help paint a picture of the great trial the soldiers and civilians caught up in this Great War went through. It helped portray the feeling of dread that the world dived quickly into as the war drew on year after year, causing some to think it would never end.

The last half of the book helps lift your spirit as it turns to the years after the war and how Tolkien and Lewis didn't go with the culture to see the war and the world as a hopeless and useless place but to point it all back to the one true hope. Using their experience to help craft stories that don't focus on political moments or cultural waves but on the eternal struggle of evil within everyone and many other excellent points I don't want to ruin for you.

A Hobbit, a Wardrobe, and a Great War is an insightful book that I would recommend to any reader! Pick this book up and add it to their library. You can thank me later.

Thanks for reading!

​The way I was going into this movie was with high hopes but also a tiny bit of worry that it wouldn't hold up to the hype. 

That quickly faded with the first scene of the film, a scene that set a much different tone than any other X-Men movie. A tone that similar to a noir western that happens to have superheroes in it, but you will find no capes or costumes here. This is an R-rated superhero movie that uses its rating to help set the tone and build its characters instead of being R just to be R.

The rest of the film is a journey no other superhero film. From the writing to the editing, everything either hits the mark spot on or gets super close.

Hugh Jackman and Patrick Stewart give their best performances of these characters with Dafne Keen who gives one of the best performances by a child actress or actor I have ever seen. The rest of the cast does an exceptional job in their roles.

The cinematography is excellent, and the score is unique and creative! One scene did a great job of making you feel like you were enduring something that Logan was enduring as well, and once it was over, you felt a small bit of relief before jumping back in it.

The action scenes are great, and the edits never get confusing as to what is happening. Though I personally would have liked to see some wider shots of the fight scenes, I believe the director was smart with keeping the camera close in on the fights as that is how the Wolverine fights.

The writing is geniuses as it focuses more on the main characters than big set piece moments or how this movie fits into the messed up X-Men timeline.

Speaking of the timeline, you may wonder how this movie fits with all the time travel and reboots the series has faced. The movie doesn't spend any time in trying to explain any of it and just stays on the characters and where they are. However, the best explanation for the timeline I've heard is from the smart guys on The Weekly Planet Podcast. They believe that the real X-Men cannon is Logan and the first X-Men film. The rest of the movies are just made up stories. This is stated by Logan as he finds a stash of X-Men comics and makes a comment how it didn't happen like that.

That is another beauty of this film, you can go with this theory or another one of your own, and it still stands as a great movie. Because of its focus on a small cast of deep characters instead of a shallow sea of characters and a large plot that is becoming more popular than ever.

If you can't tell by now, I loved Logan and would dare say it is my favorite comic book movie ever. That doesn't make it perfect as I am sure the next few times I see it I will see some mistakes.  But it is definitely worth a watch at the theater and is a perfect send off for Professor X and the Wolverine!

Logan and all rights are Copyrights of Marvel Comics and Fox Studios 

The Oscars are this Sunday or a better title "How many Oscars will La La Land win?"

I was thinking about writing a blog about how La La Land has a great chance to win a majority of their nominations and has a possibility of setting a record for most wins. All they need is twelve. But instead of talking about how La La Land will win most of them or the dark horse movies that could surprise everyone with a win like everyone else is talking about, I want to talk about something else that I hope will help you enjoy movies more.

Cinematography.

The cinematographer in the movie department is the person in charge of the scene. They will help the director decided every single shot of the movie and then make that happen as they direct the camera and light crews. When you're watching a movie and notice how pretty or cool it looks, a lot of that is because of the cinematographer. Now, you can have the best sets and best customs, but if you have an awful shot of what is happening or poor lighting, it's all worthless because the bad cinematography will draw you out of the movie.

Good cinematography has the opposite effect as it only helps you draw into the film, into the story. 

Great films have great cinematographers and they sadly don't get the recognition they deserve. That is why I want to highlight one of the greats.

Roger Deakins.

He has been nominated for Best Cinematography thirteen times. Five of those have been during the past six years and twice in 2008. He did the cinematography for great films like Unbroken, True Grit(2012), O Brother, Where Art Thou?, The Shawshank Redemption, and a host of other great films. He is, in my opinion, the greatest cinematographer of our time and one of the greats of all time! And he has yet to win a single Oscar. (Dumb)

It was actually a film he did the cinematography for, Skyfall, that was the first time I started to really notice the beauty of the scenes he was crafting and the importance of the cinematographer. Many blockbuster films have shaky cameras close in on their actors during action scenes or just boring shots Deakins is setting up paintings. Now, he isn't perfect as I am sure he has done over the shoulder shots for conversations and shaky cams, but I don't remember those. I remember the scenes where he crafted a painting. The wide scenes where you could pause it and set it up as a picture in your home. Though you may not want to do that when it's the silhouettes of a sniper against a blue sign with a jellyfish(Skyfall), but it's still gorgeous. 

This year the nominations for Best Cinematography has a great line up that I think Linus Sandgren for La La Land will win but Rodrigo Prieto will give La La Land a run for their money for his work on Silence. Though we are missing Deakins this year I believe we will see him nominated again next year for Blade Runner 2049 (I'm calling it now.) And let's hope the 14th time is the charm!

​Thanks for reading, I hope this helps you enjoy movies a little more, maybe help you to notice good cinematography, or just makes you curious in seeing some of Rodger Deakins films, which I highly encourage! 

Thanks for reading and have a great weekend!!

A few weeks ago, I went with my boss and co-worker to lunch. We usually don't know where to go when we get in the car and spend at least five minutes trying to figure it out. This one day, we all were in the mood for a food truck. Earlier we had tried but it was on Monday that all the food trucks in Fort Smith decided to take a day off. We quickly decided on Truckin Delicious because of the rave reviews and praise it had received. It was parked next to Valet Cleaners behind Central Mall on that cold day. The wind blew quickly past us as we walked up and looked at the chalkboard menu. My colleagues both got a burrito that sounded good, but something else caught my eye. "The Cuban." The slow roasted pulled pork was the main meat of the sandwich but it wasn't alone as it was topped with melted Swiss cheese and a slice of grilled ham above that. The ham acted as the wall between the pork and the coleslaw. I'm personally never impressed by coleslaw but this was the exception. It was fresh and was lightly coated in a jalapeño lime honey dressing. Homemade pickles laid on the bottom while the mustard was on top. This was all contained in a jalapeño cheddar bun that, to me, was the star of the meal. The bun was fresh and soft but never got soggy or broke apart on me. The meat was top notch and the mustard wasn't overpowering. The coleslaw did a great job in balancing the flavors while the pickles were always a surprise. The home made chips were light which balanced the sandwich and the weight it brought. The Cuban wasn't the only thing that caught my eye, as they had some side dishes but also desserts. Simply put, I followed my Cuban with an Oreo Cheesecake Egg roll. No, you didn't miss read that. It looks just like an egg roll with chocolate sauce on it and inside is a delight. It was a dessert that ended my meal perfectly as it wasn't too rich since it was following a somewhat heavy sandwich. This was the only time I've been there so far, but it won't be my last. Definitely a place you should check out!

If you haven't seen the teaser watch it​!!


I know! You got really excited and then saw we still have eight months till the release and disappointment washed over you. Instead of thinking how long we have to wait just think about how awesome the gang looked in their ghost busters outfits and how genius they were for not showing us Eleven, which raises the question what Chapter will they bring her back? Chapter 11 or the last chapter? I doubt that since they showed with the first season to wrap major things up but to leave a lot of little questions for us.

I'M SO PUMPED!!!!

Oh yeah, update. 

Well, first, sorry about the enormous absence of blogs for the past several months. I have been occupied with a lot of work, school, work, and work. I am now a licensed real estate agent after several months of studying and I am enjoying it so far. I will go into further detail about all that in a later blog. Besides that, I have made progress in The Dragon and the Lumberjack I'm in the final edit BEFORE sending it to the beta readers. After that, I will fix the grammatical mistakes, character inconcinnities, and plot holes they pointed out and then, the editor! While it goes through those edits away from me I will be working on my next book that won't be the conclusion to the Thornhill trilogy but the start of a whole new series not of this world. ;)

Also, if you are interested in becoming a beta reader for The Dragon and the Lumberjack please contact me through my website or any social media.

Thanks for reading!