Can you believe it's been one year?

So I'm in the process of making an archive for all of The Lowe Down entries. As I was working on it last Friday, I realized that The Lowe Down was coming up on a birthday. That's right, today The Lowe Down turns 1.

I kept trying to think of a fitting way to celebrate it, but all I could do was think about how much my life has changed over the past year. The more I thought about that, the more I realized ... I've already covered that stuff. You know I've moved. I work for Northern Illinois. I'm still single. Argus is over. I've set a goal for my career. I miss my family and friends back home. I'm making new and great friends here in Illinois.

You know all of that. So what do I do to acknowledge this feat? And believe me, it is a feat. Granted I don't post every day, but it is quite an accomplishment for me to stick with ANYTHING for a year.

So in honor of this one year, I will make this post short and sweet:

Thank you to everyone who has remained in my life and come into my life in the past year. I am apart of all I've seen.

More importantly, I am apart of all I meet.

Thanks for reading. Maybe I'll get sentimental for year two.

Must have deleted this one.

Been a crazy past couple of weeks. I've since moved into my apartment. Like i've stated before, it isn't the greatest place in the world, but it works for me. I've finally gotten everything in its place, and it is starting to feel like my apartment now. At least there is food in the fridge. That's always a good start.

So this past weekend I was able to relive some of my younger days. One of my top five favorite bands performed in Chicago Saturday night. JACKOPIERCE took the stage at the House of Blues, playing together in Chicago for the first time in five years. For those of you who don't know, JP is easily one of the biggest influences on my short-lived musical career. Both Jack (O'Neill) and Cary (Pierce) are beyond talented. It was compelling seeing two people whom I admire, retake the stage and play to the crowd.

The show was great. They played so many great songs. Despite both having solo albums out right now, they concentrated only on JP material. The place was sold out and both Cary and Jack were lovin' it. I was fortunate enough to see Jack do a solo show back in the early summer of 2001. At that show, he smiled constantly. His smile returned Saturday night. It was refreshing to see two people who made such great music, so excited about playing together again. There was a time were JP was struggling as a band. Their major label records weren't hitting like they'd hoped. It wore on them both, and they decided to split. Seeing their reactions to the crowd Saturday made me believe there might be a few albums left in the JP discography. At least, I hope so.

So after the extended holiday weekend, I'm back at work trying to get myself motivated for the week, which seems to be increasingly difficult with each holiday break. Although, I don't have much time to mess around ... two hoops games and a wrestling match this week. Of course, there is the Super Bowl on Sunday. Can't the NFL petition the US Government into making the Monday after the Super Bowl a national holiday? Would it be so wrong to have two Mondays off in January? I think not

So my buddy Alan is going into the Air Force in three weeks. He's an old Athens buddy whom I've respected for a long time, and now that respect has turned into admiration. Alan is giving himself to our country at a time when the world is very uneasy. There are three things I never really talk about on "The Lowe Down." The first being women. The minute I mention one, someone else will get pissed off ... not to mention I don't have any to talk about now anyway. Two, religion. There's a time and place for it, and it isn't here. Three, politics. I don't really know as much as I should about the subject. But when I hear about a friend of mine offering up his time and his life for our country, I just hope that our leaders are making the right decisions. I salute everyone that gives their life for this country.

I've removed the soap box from under my feet ... and I fell. Until next time kids.

So tomorrow is moving day. After four months of living in my boss's house, I'm finally getting my own place. I'm pumped. Don't get me wrong, I am very grateful for her allowing me to live there. The move up to DeKalb happened so quickly, I just never found the time to really apartment hunt. It is set now. Tomorrow I'll move into my own apartment. It's two bedrooms, so plenty of space for me and all my junk. So you southerners and other folk now have a place to crash when you come visit.

So the holiday break was fantastic. Three weeks of me doing absolutely nothing. I thought about work maybe twice while I was gone. Granted I'm paying for it now ... I'm so far behind ... but it was totally worth it. I ended up back in Winston December 15, and the relaxin' began.

I was able to spend a lot of time with my family, which was very nice. Granted we can all get on each others' nerves if we are together too much, it was still nice to be around them for Christmas. It only took me three days to hit Burke Street with the Wake Forest crew. Before you knew it, Big Red and I were singing away to whatever early 90's rap tune we could find. I was a little groggy the next morning, but made it up in time to drive down to Atlanta.

The thursday night out in Atlanta was a lot of fun. My good friend Keith and I headed out. His lovely wife Allison allowed me to steal him for a night. We had a kick ass time throwing back beers at a couple of pubs. We even found time to play Galaga and Ms. Pac Man, two arcade classics. Oh, we also got thrown out of a bar. If you want to know the story, just ask.

I hit Athens for the weekend. Friday afternoon I swung by the UGA athletic department, had lunch with "Shaddy," and then went to dinner with my friend Trent. We ended up running into Doug, my friend and old roommate. I had a kick ass time with those clowns. Doug graduated from Georgia Saturday, so of course a party was planned. It rocked. Our friend Jon Williams, Slaw Dawg, came over early Saturday and started cookin' food for the evening. It was a party from about 1 pm until we fell asleep. Lots of old familiar faces. Very comforting to a transplanted southerner who lives in the cornfields of Illinois.

Christmas was spent with the family. The following day, we had an extended family Christmas lunch. I must say, Santa, friends and family were very kind to me this year. New Year's was spent in Sugar Mountain. As always, had a great time. The weather wasn't great, but it was nice being around good friends.

SPent the rest of the break watching football. Saw my dogs play an ugly game, but win the Sugar Bowl. Then watched the great national championship game. I know Miami fans feel like they got screwed ... which they probably did ... but it was a classic game.

So that's the wrap up. I'm heading home to do some packing for the move tomorrow. It is going to be a pain, but it will be so nice to have my own space.

I hope you all have a great weekend. Holla' if ya' hear me.

Aaaaaaaaand I'm back.

Had a great vacation back in the southland over the holidays. I promise to offer up a full recap later this week. But before the week and new year move on any further, I wanted to waste some space by giving out my first ever awards ... the 2002 jaylowe.com Awards. it holds as much merit as the space guy trophy that MTV hands out, except I'm not giving out trophies. I think the acknowledgment is good enough. Don't you?

So without further adieu, I present to the internet world, the 2002 jaylowe.com Awards:

Jackass of the Year: Steve Flippen. Flip has been a constant source of jackassness since my move to DeKalb. I first met this guy down at UGA in grad school. Everyone there knew he was a jackass, and it's good to know everyone here in DeKalb is figuring that out too. Really though, Flip is a great friend and has made my transition here so much easier. But he's still a jackass.

Crush of the year: The Women of Wake Forest. It could've been a coach here, and intern there, and athlete here, another intern there ... seriously, in the past year I had a crush on three interns, a couple of assistant coaches, dance team members and countless athletes. Probably a good thing I'm outta there huh?

Greatest "I Don't Remember Doing This but Have Heard All About it" Drunken Moment of the year: Kiss Fest 2002. Following our big football win over Bowling Green, a large number of us from work bellied up to Fatty's, our bar, for a night of celebrating. On Monday, I find out that I kissed half of the women in the bar, including some of my friends' wives. And yes, they are still my friends.

Best Set of "Eyes" Seen of the Year: Our Old Friend Amy D. at Wake Forest. She's now down in grad school at evil Florida. Amy, Bless you. Despite the fact you go to Florida, I'm just honored to be able to add this category to the awards list.

Best Retaliatory Moment Against a Former Employer: NIU 42, Wake 41. 'Nuff said.

Best Moment of the Year: Being offered my first real job, here at NIU.

Best Road Trip of the Year: Charleston, SC. Aside from me feeling like I was slacking at work, I had a GREAT time with the media relations crew in McCoy's condo in Charleston. Fabulous time.

Most Touching Moment of the Year: The standing ovation we received as ARGUS played its last tune ... "Out of Tears," for those of you keeping score.

Wrestler of the Year: Did you think I was gonna get through a post without mentioning wrestling? fools! so the winner is Chris Jericho. In a year where so many big names were injured or off making movies, Jericho played a consistent role in the WWE and became the first Undisputed Champion.

CD of the Year: Sting, All This Time. If you Don't own it, go buy it. It is Sting with a few classic Police tunes ... but done in a very jazzy style. Worth every penny.

Biggest Ego Boost of the Year: The Women of Spring Street. For those of you who don't know, 619 Spring Street was the old home of Jaylowe and Big Red. When I think about all the women who stopped by to brighten our day ... it reminds me of a song ... "to all the girls, i've loved before ... who've traveled in and out my door ...

Team of the Year: The University of Georgia Football Team. After struggling through 8-4, 7-5 seasons while I was in school, the Dogs are finally back on the college football map. 13-1, an SEC Championship, a Sugar Bowl Championship and a final national ranking of #3 in the country. Not bad.

Game of the Year: 2002 Super Bowl. I should put this game here simply based on the fact that we had a kick-ass Super Bowl party at Spring Street with our very own 65 inch screen ... but the game itself was fantastic.

Dumbest Moment of the Year: Getting lost on 8 Mile Road, in Detroit. Yes, that is the road Eminem's movie is based on.

Best Acquisition of the Year: UGA Football Helmet. God, I love Ebay.

Coolest Moment of the Year: Holding 15-minute year old Jacob Adams. Steve and Chris, you've got a beautiful child in your hands ... Chris, just make sure he takes after you.

Video Game of the Year: Smackdown: Shut Your Mouth. This game has brought countless, COUNTLESS hours of screaming and joy to the lives of some of us here in DeKalb. With that, my greatest Rival has to be Michael Ward ... Ward, I OWN you in ladder matches!

Best Concert I Bought Tickets for in 2002 but Won't See Until 2003: JACKOPIERCE, the reunion. On January, 18, I'll get to see one the bands that had the biggest influence on my musical career. Cary and Jack are so much more talented than I could ever dream of being.

Dream of the Year: Marrying Gwyneth Paltrow. Dear Lord she is BEAUTIFUL.

Best Song to Sing in a British Voice: POD's "Alive." Big Red and I spent most of our time in the apartment mocking so many songs in a british voice. I don't think it was funny to anyone else, but damn I thought it was hilarious.

Over Used Joke of the Year: "Oh, you're Jay Lowe, like JLo? I bet you get that a lot!" Uhhhh, no shit. YES I get that a lot. So don't use the damn joke anymore!

Best Wedding of the Year: Keith and Allison Parkes. I was in two weddings last summer, and this was the one that was more like a party. I got to see old friends and party my ass of with them. I got to meet new people. All in all, just a lot of fun.

I've saved the best for last ...

Lifetime Achievement Award: Granny. Some know here as Mrs. Hinds, others as Ione, some as mother ... I knew her as Granny. She gave so much life and love to our family, and I am forever grateful. Today would have been her 90th birthday. Miss you like crazy Granny.

There you have it, the 2002 jaylowe.com Awards. Holiday wrap-up to come later this week.