LINK.

Tragic. Sad. Unfortunate. Unnecessary.

Same date, same opponent. For the second consecutive year, Vanderbilt will play host to Appalachian State, the day before I go home for Christmas. It should be a Commodore victory, but after the up and down play of our team Monday evening, I'm not sure what to expect. We blew out Central Michigan by 30, but the game was one of the ugliest and strangest games I've ever watched. The Dores weren't especially solid in the first half, but the defense caused CMU to only have 8 points with 3 minutes left in the half. The halftime score had us up by about 30. The second half started with CMU on a tear, cutting the lead down to 10. We finally woke up after a short nap, and ran away with the game. Ugly play on both sides of the ball, but a big win is still a win.

I had a great weekend. I spent probably too much time out on the town, but it was worth it. I took my first stab at Texas Hold'em Friday evening. We had a good crew here from work, with our buddy Mookie walking away as the big winner. I lost $20, but had a good time doing so. I'm not a big gambler, but I did enjoy hanging out with friends and actin' a fool. We ended the night down at Tin Roof, one of my favorite places here in Nashville. The same band is there basically every weekend, so you KNOW what songs they are going to play. We were all singing our lungs out and enjoying the music.

Saturday, after another big win this time over TCU, I ended up at a holiday party. My roommate Scott has introduced me to some great people here in town. They were kind enough to invite me to their party, and I certainly couldn't turn down free drinks and good food. A festive crowd indeed. I met some new folks, all of which were very cool, got some good tips from a photographer on what digital camera to purchase and even ran into an elementary school friend of mine. A small world indeed.

Sunday was our staff holiday party, and I stayed for a good couple of hours. Again, hard to pass up free food and drink. The company was enjoyable as well, as athletics and student-life mingled. I suppose I didn't mingle as much as I should've, considering I remained close to both the bar and the food. Oh well. I know my priorities.

I do head home tomorrow, something I'm very much looking forward to. I'll probably go out with some of the Winston natives tomorrow night, but I am most excited about spending time with my family. As I said last year around this time, I love Christmas. The longer I live away from home, the more it means to me to be there during these holidays. With my dad close to his retirement, I hope we can all spend more time together over the next year. I need to convince them a Nashville trip wouldn't be too far away.

The past two years, I've done a recap of my year. As I sat and thought about what I was going to type for 2004, I realized comparing it to the past two years, it has been fairly boring. The past two years, I've moved to new jobs. This is the first time since 2001 I haven't moved to a different city within a year. I've certainly had a great year, but it is also nice to know I haven't had the small headache of moving somewhere brand new again. Things could always change, so you never know.

As the end of another year comes upon us all, 2004 has been the first steady year for Jay Lowe in some time. After finding his way through his new surroundings, Lowe was able to make a mark on Vanderbilt Athletics. While constantly learning, small adjustments and improvements have been made. With the outside speculation of how Lowe would deal with the sometimes changing world of Vanderbilt Athletics, he was able to continue on with the support of others. However, during the summer months Lowe lost some of his support, as many of the elder statesmen of the office sought jobs elsewhere, or removed themselves from the current environment. It certainly was a blow to the learning curve of Lowe, but work has allowed him many victories, several defeats and even a new way of thinking. After a small spell in November, Lowe realized work is important, however life is too. As he continues to march towards his job dreams, he learned a valuable lesson in taking care of ones self and knowing when to enjoy life outside of the office.

Lowe's love life has always been confusing, and that certainly did not change in 2004. While always a flirt, he found himself in a long distance relationship in the later part of the year. Always fearful of distance in his relationships, Lowe and the lady in question stumbled through the past few months. Not knowing what will become of the relationship, Lowe will walk into 2005 ready to deal with whatever Cupid throws his way.

A steady year for the most part, Lowe has learned even more about himself during 2004. He loves his free time. He can be selfish. He can be a jerk. He can be loving and caring, without even trying. He fondness for his family and friends continues to grow, as they have all touched his life. He still loves his silly band, ARGUS, and loves making the music with them.

There were no major life changes in 2004, which Lowe understandably welcomes. It was a year where from beginning to end, Lowe created for himself and enjoyed it all. From successes to failures, 2004 was a constant.

Thank you all for reading. It really is special for me to share these parts of my life with you. I don't write here to piss people off or stir controversy. I write, because it helps me with my life. It allows me to say, this is who I am and what I think. I could write, and really no one has to read, but you do, and I greatly appreciate it.

Happy Holidays to all! Be sure to check back with me after the new year for the third annual jaylowe.com awards.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night ...

I have to give a shout out to the sister of one of my great friends, Big Red. Jen Vest is a student at Boston University and is a DJ for WTBU, the student radio station for BU. She did ARGUS a tremendous favor today and played one of our tunes, Dive. She was also kind enough (or crazy enough) to interview me over the phone, asking questions about ARGUS and music in general. It was a great time, and I really enjoyed listening to WTBU the rest of the day. Check out the station some time.

If you haven't picked up Star Wars yet, you are missing out. As I type, I am watching Return of the Jedi for probably the millionth time. I never get tired of these movies. Love them.

Big, HUGE shout out to my sister, Marian. In her first semester of grad school, she pulled a 4.0. I mean, come on people she IS taking after her brother ya know. Seriously though, my sis showed a lot of heart this semester. Not only is she pursuing a degree where she will help people in the future, but she overcame a rough start to the semester. Just like any of us who question our desire and passion from time to time, she wasn't sure grad school was meant for her. I'm proud of her for overcoming these obstacles and jumping to the head of her class.

Anyone else notice how Major League Baseball is screwing up this entire Nationals organization in DC? They haven't even thrown a pitch, and it is already in limbo. I think DC would be a great place for a team. I mean come on, players using Balco in the same town as crooked politicians? I LOVE it. Seriously though, it is a shame if the city looses out on a baseball franchise simply because MLB doesn't want to forfeit some of their own profits off of the sale. Oh well, at least I ordered my Nationals t-shirt just in case they fold. For a collector's item, ya know?

Congratulations to Eric and Christina Nichols, on the birth of Grace Nichols this past Monday. All are doing well, and even though I give E-nic a hard time I think both will be wonderful parents. They show a remarkable love for each other you don't see in many couples today. I can see that easily translating into their love for Grace.

Another congratulation to Davis and Nicole Whitefield on the birth of William Davis last week. Yes, I am a bit behind on this one. Sorry old boss! Davis was my boss while I worked at Wake Forest, and he and Nicole have always been so nice to me when I return home. Again, all are doing well. Sadly enough, I won't get to meet William over the holidays. It better be soon though, got that DW?

Speaking of the holidays, I will be heading home a week from today. In between now and next Thursday, we have three men's basketball games. Ugh. Oh well. Hopefully the guys will make a little run here. We are struggling a bit, but there are some great athletes on this team, but I digress. I am very excited to be home, if just for a small bit. I'll spend a lot of time with the family but hopefully will also see GLee, Erich, Katie, Alison and the Adams Family (yes, I said that). There are so many people I'd love to see but will probably not be home. Oh well. Another time my friends!

With that, I am off to finish Jedi. Go kick ass Luke.

DAMN it has been a long time since I last wrote. Surprisingly, enough people actually care so I decided to stop being a slack ass. Actually, part of the delay had to with my web hosting group messing with my password and username. Well I don't know if they did it, but I couldn't access my web site for about 4 weeks.

But I digress. Things have been both good and bad over the past month. It has been a whirlwind time in my life. I suppose bullet point style is the best way to give the official update.

The Brad Paisley show the Friday before homecoming was fun, but poorly organized. I take that back, poorly communicated. If a concert is going to take place on campus, I would hope a full time staff member would be overseeing every aspect. They did a fine job, but students were allowed almost too much responsibility. When you work in facilities and event management, you tend to be a planning snob. At least we all agreed improvements can be made.

The final two home football games, vs. Florida and Tennessee, were exciting and disappointing at the same time. The Dores were very much capable of winning both games, and came within a touchdown of each. The UT game concluded the season for the Dores. Operationally, the season was a success. There are little things here and there which can be improved, but I learned a ton and really enjoyed my job.

Basketball season is well under way. The men's team is struggling a bit and the women had a hiccup the other day. It is good to be back in Memorial. It is a strange venue, but still very cool for hoops.

We've had a series of small facility projects going on. Marketing is moving upstairs to share space with media relations, so new offices had to be constructed. Our development office is going through a series of renovations. We painted the lobby and upstairs of the office building. The tennis facility is pretty much complete. We had to have a series of furniture moves within the office building. With all of these events and projects going on, it led to ...

I may have had a small anxiety attack the week of the UT game. I came to a point where I was just a bit overwhelmed. It was strange and caused me to be sick for a couple of days ... the first time I've been sick in three years. It was a little scary, but I think it taught me a valuable lesson. I know I need to take more time to myself. I've learned that at the age of 27, which if I had kept going at this pace, would have either killed me or would have caused some serious family issues in the future. However, I did learn. I feel 100% better, and I am finding a better balance in my life.

E-nic and his wife had Courtney and me over for Thanksgiving. The food was killer. SO good. It was a fun holiday, although I would have loved to be home. Mom still makes the best Thanksgiving food.

I was fortunate enough to do some volunteer work at the SEC Championship game. Of course I wasn't thrilled I had to see that much orange in the stands, but it was a tremendous atmosphere. It was loud, it was crazy and it was busy. I had a great time in Atlanta with the game, as well as seeing some great friends. Keith, Doug, Erin and Courtney all made my weekend even more enjoyable.

The men's basketball staff was kind enough to allow me to tag along with their trip to Cincinnati this past Wednesday and Thursday. The game was a bit hard to watch, but more importantly I was able to spend some time with my good friends Marc and the ephus. Those guys fucking rock. They both are damn good people and damn good friends. You meet a lot of people in life, and most people aren't just true. Those guys are. It was damn good to hand with them. So that is about it. I'm very much looking forward to going home for Christmas. I miss my family, and I hope to see a few of my good Winston friends.

I'll try to update more often. Jay Lowe, you slack ass!