“We must use what we have to invent what we desire.”
~~ Adrienne Rich


Hi all,

I hope you've been able to enjoy some Season 5 TBAA!  I know I have! 

God bless,
Jenni

So... this was supposed to have a story in it but yours truly spent so long working on "Miles to Go Before I Sleep" screen captures that I ran out of time and had to stick with short stuff.  John's portrayal of Andrew is so fantastic in that episode.  Andrew was a wonderful nurse.  But it got me wondering... how good would some of John's other characters be as nurses?  So here I count ten of them down from the worst to the best.  Andrew excluded, of course, since anyone who has seen that episode already knows he ranks extremely highly.  :-)

10.  Eric Manion from
Heart of the Beholder- Do I really need to explain this?  He's pervy and he's... wel
l, he's just pervy, okay?  I really don't think I'd want this dude around me when I was sick.  Frankly, I don't think I'd want this dude around me for any reason.  Plus, he'd probably try to steal from his patients to fund his habit.

9.  Bob Holmby from
The Billionaire Boys Club- Because who wants a nurse who spends his days hanging out with murderers???  About the only thing good ol' Bob would be good for was notarizing the insurance paperwork you'll probably need when his bumbling self inflicts damage upon you.  Well, that and he looks awfully good in a suit but I fail to see what that has to do with obtaining solid medical care.

8.  Skip from
Making the Grade- A high school boy as my nurse?  No, thanks!  That sounds like a really horrible Lifetime movie in the offing.  Or maybe just a really bizarre reboot of Doogie Howser, M.D.

7.  Jason Carter from
The Young and the Restless- This punk seems lacking in the basic knowledge of where babies come from.  Don't let him into your room!

6. 
Andy
Broom from "A Little Night Work"- He'd probably neglect you so he could spend time hounding the doctors for research info for his next plagiarized novel.  Still... he does seem sweet.  And that accent...

5.  Dude from the Z.Z. Top "Sleeping Bag" music video- I have no reason to believe he has any medical skills at all.  But he's darn cute and if he can keep his cool while being pursued by chainsaw-wielding madmen... he'll probably do well keeping you calm in the hospital.

4.  Virgil Keller from Best of the Best- He's obviously very strong so could haul you around if he had to... and you might choose to make it so he did have to.  But he's also got that nice Zen quality that would, hopefully, keep you calm while hospitalized.  Also, he's perfectly comfortable in loose fitting, monochromatic clothing.

3.  Ray from "A Nest of Vipers"- Well, he's a veterinarian.  So if he just keeps thinking of you as a mid-size primate, you'll probably be just fine!  But if he should happen to prescribe vitamin-rich hay or some downtime in your cage... it's probably time to look for a new nurse.

2.  Doc Hock from
Tour of Duty- He definitely has medical skills.  And he knows his way around a needle if you need to get inoculated.  ;-)  But maybe you could also get him talking.  And then help him.  And be his friend.  Cause he really, really needs a friend...  Just don't get him upset or else your hospital bed may end up dragged out into the entryway of the hospital. 

1.  Colin from
Sioux City- He's a doctor so he definitely has medical knowledge!  Plus, he looks like Jesus.  So maybe he could entertain your poor, recuperating self with a rousing rendition of "Lord of the Dance."  Or you could just stare at him.  Frankly, you could just stare at any of them.  Sigh... 

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Hi again.  So on the 24th, I turned 30.  When I started with JABB, I was 15 which means I've been at this for half my life.  In that time, I've learned, experienced, and felt a lot.  So I thought, in honor of the occasion, I'd share 30 things I have learned because of JABB, the people who are part of it, the things I've done because of it, and the person who started it all...

1.  It's a laptop.  Not a labtop.


2.  I will never be able to reconcile the timelines of all TBAA episodes. I am not alone in that and that is okay.


3.  When you're setting up a web page for your fan site, have a back-up plan for a web host.  And then another back-up plan.  And then a back-up plan after that.  I seem to have the uncanny ability of causing web host sites to die...


4.  It's not pop.  It's soda.  But it's also pop.  And coke. 

5.  I'm not the only one who will probably never hear "Hallelujah" again without tearing up.


6.  It's okay to hate Andrew's shoes.  Might make for a good top ten, in fact...


7.  It's perfectly normal to feel the need to capture even miniscule differences in John's expression on the Photo Gallery...  And people will look at them all.  :-)


8.  In the film
Modern Girls, there is only one normal character who I might like to spend time with were he real.  He doesn't even have a name but he looks like John and that's good enough for me!

9.  Life will never be the same but that doesn't mean it has to be bad.  Just different.


10.  Larry the Lycra Man will brighten any day!


11.  Don't wear Lycra.  Especially not pink Lycra.  And especially not if you are a boy...


12.  If you go around town wearing a "Save the turkeys!" t-shirt... you will be asked questions.


13.  John Lennon was right.  Life *is* what happens to you when you're busy making other plans.


14.  John Dye was right.  There *are* always possibilities for goodness.


15.  Canada has great taxi service.


16.  Never give up on the TBAA DVDs!


17.  If there is a Quaker on your grits container, it's not *really* grits.


18.  Live your life in such a way that someone in Heaven will make that great blushing smile expression.


19.  If you're crying over the finale of
Tour or Touched, just put the first DVD in again and start all over. 

20.  Todd was right.  Calendars with cute boys on them are nice to have.  Especially if they feature just the same boy over and over and you get to see him (and the date which I guess is also important) every time you look at your computer desktop.  (Find that easter egg, yet? ;-)

21.  Brownies are always better when you first dump a bunch of chocolate candy into the mix.

22.  All that stuff John said as Andrew about God being with us in the difficult times?  It's true.  And He does love us.

23.  It's totally and completely possible to pretty much write about the same guy every two weeks for half your life... although maybe only when that guy is John.

24.  Grief only hurts because we love.  But what an awful life it would be if we didn't love.

25.  You don't always know what you can do until you have to do it.

26.  Really that haircut right before Season 5 wasn't so bad.  In fact, John looked pretty darn adorable then.  And always.  Well, except when he was playing jerks.  ;-)

27.  When things are rocky, a cup of tea or coffee and a pastry may not make everything better but they help.  So does chocolate.

28.  If I have kids and one of them ever asks me about my first real crush... I won't be the least bit embarrassed.  Of course, there's a chance it'll all be so obvious that they won't even have to ask who the fellow was!

29.  Hearing "God loves you" will never, ever get old.  Especially not when His Studly Awesomeness is saying it.

30.  John found his corner of the sky.  Some day, I hope to see it.  But there's a lot to do in the meantime. 



This newsletter is dedicated to John's work in Mother, Mother.  I had thought for some time that I would watch this film... in which John's character celebrates his 30th birthday... on my own 30th birthday.  In the end, I just couldn't as I knew I would cry too much.  But that doesn't mean I didn't think about its lessons: love unconditionally, celebrate fully, and appreciate every sunset.  That's what I'll be trying to do this year and I hope you all will, too.  I thank John for those lessons and all the others he imparted in his nearly 48 years among us.

JABB TOC

JABB 362

(The first photograph on this page is from Touched by an Angel and owned by: CBS Productions, Caroline Productions, and Moon Water Productions; the second is from Sioux City and owned by: Cabin Fever Entertainment and Facet Films Inc.; third is from Tour of Duty and owned by: New World Television; the fourth from "Campus Man" and owned by: RKO Pictures; and the last from Mother, Mother and owned by the film's producers.  They are not being used to seek profit.)