Wednesday, December 24, 2008
so this is christmas
After three days of prep and three services my first Christmas Eve on staff at St. Awesome's is done. it was exhausting but extremely rewarding.After the services Sara and I headed to Miyako with Charley and Dirty to get some sushi. It felt like the beginning of a nice tradition. Now Charley and I are watching some mindless TV and drinking wine while Sara finishes wrapping some presents. Everybody is nicely copacetic.
If I haven't had a chance to tell you in person, I hope your Christmas is magical and I hope you get everything you want. I also hope you give some people some stuff too. Apparently that's the better thing to do.
Love you all, happy holidays!
Labels: dear diary
Friday, November 28, 2008
thanksgiving
I'm currently sitting on the couch with Sara feeling about as cozy as humanly possible. We had a long, but nice day yesterday. I got up at 5:30 to put a 20 lb bird in the oven in hopes that it would be ready by 12:30 when my parents, Sam Handwich, and Sara's mom, aunt, and uncle arrived.
This year represented a lot of firsts: Sara's and my first Thanksgiving as a married couple, our first time hosting a dinner party, and the first time our respective families sat down together over a meal. Everything turned out awesome for the most part. I'm my toughest critic when it comes to cooking so naturally I wasn't happy with most of the food, but everyone else seemed to like it.
Also, I really need to learn how to carve a bird. I totally mutilated that thing. I'm the Jeffery Dahmer of poultry.
After lunch Sara and I took a little nap then headed to Lawrenceburg for supper with the larger Drury family. By the time we got home later that night we were both exhausted.
Today, Friday, represented something rare - a day when Sara and I, neither one, had anything to do. With her working in a hair salon and me working at St. Awesome's we only share one day off - and due to the nature of our work (me having three days to prep for two days worth of services and her still building a clientele) that day off almost always sees one of us going into work for an hour or finishing up a project from the couch. Today, though, neither one of us had anything to do and. It. Was. Glorious.
We slept in, we watched stupid marathons, we ate leftovers, and we generally acted like the lazy slobs we rarely have the opportunity to be. When we did leave the house it was for two reasons - to buy a new TV (early Christmas present to each other) and to get a Christmas tree. There are picture-posts below this one of each of those items.
After we put up the tree we sat on the couch and watched It's A Wonderful Life. Maybe one of us cried, maybe both of us did. It was all pretty touch and go there for a bit, so I'm not sure.
We had a very generous offer to hang out with the Colonels and our new friends Dan and Jen tonight. We hated to miss the togetherness, but can't deny that we needed today - a real day off where we could focus on just being together and taking care of each other.
So a day after Thanksgiving I'm still feeling really thankful. Thankful for my marriage to the most beautiful woman on the planet. Thankful that we both have jobs we love. Thankful that in spite of the shape a lot of the country is in, we're still able to do nice things for each other. And thankful for a chance to sit and take a few deep breaths before the sprint into Christmas.
We both go back to work tomorrow morning, so I'm gonna sign off and go soak in the last few hours of this day.
Happy holidays!
This year represented a lot of firsts: Sara's and my first Thanksgiving as a married couple, our first time hosting a dinner party, and the first time our respective families sat down together over a meal. Everything turned out awesome for the most part. I'm my toughest critic when it comes to cooking so naturally I wasn't happy with most of the food, but everyone else seemed to like it.
Also, I really need to learn how to carve a bird. I totally mutilated that thing. I'm the Jeffery Dahmer of poultry.
After lunch Sara and I took a little nap then headed to Lawrenceburg for supper with the larger Drury family. By the time we got home later that night we were both exhausted.
Today, Friday, represented something rare - a day when Sara and I, neither one, had anything to do. With her working in a hair salon and me working at St. Awesome's we only share one day off - and due to the nature of our work (me having three days to prep for two days worth of services and her still building a clientele) that day off almost always sees one of us going into work for an hour or finishing up a project from the couch. Today, though, neither one of us had anything to do and. It. Was. Glorious.
We slept in, we watched stupid marathons, we ate leftovers, and we generally acted like the lazy slobs we rarely have the opportunity to be. When we did leave the house it was for two reasons - to buy a new TV (early Christmas present to each other) and to get a Christmas tree. There are picture-posts below this one of each of those items.
After we put up the tree we sat on the couch and watched It's A Wonderful Life. Maybe one of us cried, maybe both of us did. It was all pretty touch and go there for a bit, so I'm not sure.
We had a very generous offer to hang out with the Colonels and our new friends Dan and Jen tonight. We hated to miss the togetherness, but can't deny that we needed today - a real day off where we could focus on just being together and taking care of each other.
So a day after Thanksgiving I'm still feeling really thankful. Thankful for my marriage to the most beautiful woman on the planet. Thankful that we both have jobs we love. Thankful that in spite of the shape a lot of the country is in, we're still able to do nice things for each other. And thankful for a chance to sit and take a few deep breaths before the sprint into Christmas.
We both go back to work tomorrow morning, so I'm gonna sign off and go soak in the last few hours of this day.
Happy holidays!
Labels: dear diary
Wednesday, September 17, 2008
what i do at work - part: four
Wow! Four whole installments! I almost never stick with something this long!
Today I finished focusing the new lighting setup I mentioned yesterday.
I also spent some time writing a new setting for the video switcher we use in our weekly services and making sure a hard disc recorder was hooked up properly. We just recently started a new campus in Georgetown and it's requiring us to change the way we record our services. Here's a picture:
The rest of the day was spent on emails and some video editing. No good pictures there. Sorry.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! I also watched my co-worker Mike, AKA "Wildcat," do some pull-ups. And by "some" I mean "half of one."
Check out that form!
Today I finished focusing the new lighting setup I mentioned yesterday.
I also spent some time writing a new setting for the video switcher we use in our weekly services and making sure a hard disc recorder was hooked up properly. We just recently started a new campus in Georgetown and it's requiring us to change the way we record our services. Here's a picture:
The rest of the day was spent on emails and some video editing. No good pictures there. Sorry.
Oh, yeah, I almost forgot! I also watched my co-worker Mike, AKA "Wildcat," do some pull-ups. And by "some" I mean "half of one."
Check out that form!
Labels: dear diary
Tuesday, September 16, 2008
what i do at work - part: three
Soooo, I guess you're all wondering what I did at work today. ME TOO!! Ha ha ha, but seriously folks, work is no laughing matter. Today was a really busy day for me at St. Awesome's and it took my combined skills as creative content dude and building and grounds dude to get me through it! Sit back and let daddy tell you all about it.
The first thing I did when I got to work was download the new Okkervil River album. That wasn't work related, but it did provide me with a rockin' soundtrack for the rest of the day.
The next thing I did was take a look at the audit of the building's doors that I took yesterday to determine which of the doors I could fix myself and which ones needed to be handed over to a professional. Turns out I was able to fix three of the doors and only need to hand two of them off to the experts.
Here's a shot of the moment that I realized doors are a lot more complicated than you might think:
After fixing the doors I spent the biggest part of the day focusing stage lights. We have a completely volunteer lighting team at St. Awesome's and there's a lot of work involved with getting lights set for our weekend services. A few weeks ago I came up with a plan to take a large percentage of the focusing out of the equation - leaving time for our volunteers to do the fun stuff like creating lighting schemes. I got a little over half of the total job done today and will finish the rest tomorrow. Once I'm through I'll be able to test my plan this weekend. Here's the view from the catwalk:
After setting the lights I spent the rest of the day preparing a clip from The Office to show in our weekend service and creating a mileage report.
Everybody still with me? Nobody pass out from excitement? Good. Tune in tomorrow for more non-stop action packed blah blah blah...
The first thing I did when I got to work was download the new Okkervil River album. That wasn't work related, but it did provide me with a rockin' soundtrack for the rest of the day.
The next thing I did was take a look at the audit of the building's doors that I took yesterday to determine which of the doors I could fix myself and which ones needed to be handed over to a professional. Turns out I was able to fix three of the doors and only need to hand two of them off to the experts.
Here's a shot of the moment that I realized doors are a lot more complicated than you might think:
After fixing the doors I spent the biggest part of the day focusing stage lights. We have a completely volunteer lighting team at St. Awesome's and there's a lot of work involved with getting lights set for our weekend services. A few weeks ago I came up with a plan to take a large percentage of the focusing out of the equation - leaving time for our volunteers to do the fun stuff like creating lighting schemes. I got a little over half of the total job done today and will finish the rest tomorrow. Once I'm through I'll be able to test my plan this weekend. Here's the view from the catwalk:
After setting the lights I spent the rest of the day preparing a clip from The Office to show in our weekend service and creating a mileage report.
Everybody still with me? Nobody pass out from excitement? Good. Tune in tomorrow for more non-stop action packed blah blah blah...
Labels: dear diary
glutton for punishment
I know a lot of you hate when I put political stuff up here - and I know whenever I do I just end up convincing some of you that I'm a flaming liberal who wants to take all your money and give it to poor people, hand out coupons for abortions, and burn your flags - but the following is just too funny not to put up. Kudos to the Burnside Writer's blog for pointing it out to me:
And just so you all know, yes, I realize there's all kinds of hypocrisy on the left too. There's just nobody pointing it out as funnily as Jon Stewart!
And just so you all know, yes, I realize there's all kinds of hypocrisy on the left too. There's just nobody pointing it out as funnily as Jon Stewart!
Labels: dear diary
Monday, September 15, 2008
what i do at work - part: two
The second installment of my riveting look into what I do at my new job begins now!!
I began my day by taking a broken tensioner off of a door in the church lobby. The door was flung open by Hurricane Ike on Sunday, snapping a part of the tensioner, so it was up to me to fix it.
Witness the carnage:
After ten minutes it became obvious the problem would require a professional or more time than I had to devote to fixing it. A good buildings and grounds manager knows when to call in an expert. And so do we sub-par buildings and grounds managers.
So an audit was done on the doors in the building to see if anything else needed fixing and a call was put into a local repair shop. Easy peasy.
From there the biggest part of the remainder of my day was spent in two meetings, both concerned with dissecting the past weekend's service and planning for upcoming services. I was going to take a picture in one of the meetings but nobody had combed their hair today.
I ended my day by reconciling my credit card statement. I don't remember spending so much of the church's money on porcelain figures and Cool Ranch Doritos but I must have had a good reason for doing so...
That was pretty much it for today kids! Tomorrow I have to aim stage lights and copy and edit a scene from an episode of The Office. Renaissance man, you say? Oh, stop...
Labels: dear diary
Sunday, September 14, 2008
what i do at work - part: one
I'm getting a lot of crap about how little I'm posting these days. I always blame it on having a new job and being newly married. While these are, in my estimation, valid excuses I know you, my readers, are harsh and fickle mistresses. So this is my attempt to get back on the horse.
I haven't really gone into a lot of detail about my new job here on the ol' blog, so I've decided to do a multi-part series detailing exactly what it is that I do every week. Scintillating!
I work at St. Awesomes, otherwise known as Crossroads Christian Church in Lexington, Ky. I don't have a job title yet. We're still working on that one. I suggested Associate Pastor in charge of Awesomeness. Nobody really said much so I assume they're thinking about it. My other idea is Minister of Sex Appeal. I think they both sum me up pretty well.
My actual responsibilities are two-fold. I am responsible for creating... um... creative content for our weekend services and I'm in charge of the building and grounds. That second bit is a temporary responsibility that will eventually be passed off to someone else, leaving me to work full time in the creative realm.
Both aspects of my job manifest themselves in a multitude of ways. My goal this week is to spend some time just documenting the various things I do on a given day at work. I wish I started this last week because I had to fix a water fountain and that's pretty random.
Today, after church (where I video directed for the service) I stayed around to tear down our stage and re-set it for our upcoming new series. Our stage design for the new series was inspired by Radiohead's stage from their latest tour.
They hung LED bars vertically across their stage. Obviously we don't have the kind of money required to buy LED bars, so we bought some PVC pipe (It's practically the same thing...) and we're going to light it with our existing stage lights.
Here's what it looked like about half way through:
I think it'll be a neat effect. I don't have a background in stage design, but I've enjoyed what little I've done so far. I'm sure a real professional could point out all kinds of problems with my ideas, but I'd just push them down and maybe kick them if they did, so who looks stupid then?
So there you go, that's one thing I do at my job; hang pvc pipe from ceilings. Wheeee! Stick that in your cubicle and smoke it! Then tune in tomorrow for MONDAY AT ST. AWESOMES!!!
I haven't really gone into a lot of detail about my new job here on the ol' blog, so I've decided to do a multi-part series detailing exactly what it is that I do every week. Scintillating!
I work at St. Awesomes, otherwise known as Crossroads Christian Church in Lexington, Ky. I don't have a job title yet. We're still working on that one. I suggested Associate Pastor in charge of Awesomeness. Nobody really said much so I assume they're thinking about it. My other idea is Minister of Sex Appeal. I think they both sum me up pretty well.
My actual responsibilities are two-fold. I am responsible for creating... um... creative content for our weekend services and I'm in charge of the building and grounds. That second bit is a temporary responsibility that will eventually be passed off to someone else, leaving me to work full time in the creative realm.
Both aspects of my job manifest themselves in a multitude of ways. My goal this week is to spend some time just documenting the various things I do on a given day at work. I wish I started this last week because I had to fix a water fountain and that's pretty random.
Today, after church (where I video directed for the service) I stayed around to tear down our stage and re-set it for our upcoming new series. Our stage design for the new series was inspired by Radiohead's stage from their latest tour.
They hung LED bars vertically across their stage. Obviously we don't have the kind of money required to buy LED bars, so we bought some PVC pipe (It's practically the same thing...) and we're going to light it with our existing stage lights.
Here's what it looked like about half way through:
I think it'll be a neat effect. I don't have a background in stage design, but I've enjoyed what little I've done so far. I'm sure a real professional could point out all kinds of problems with my ideas, but I'd just push them down and maybe kick them if they did, so who looks stupid then?
So there you go, that's one thing I do at my job; hang pvc pipe from ceilings. Wheeee! Stick that in your cubicle and smoke it! Then tune in tomorrow for MONDAY AT ST. AWESOMES!!!
Labels: dear diary
Saturday, July 05, 2008
first week at st. awesome's
Chris, of the siutated giblets, commented on Twitter recently that he wasn't sure he liked how my new job was affecting my blogging and Twittering activity. To ease his fears let me just say that this first week was a lot of orientation - plus a somewhat unexpected project for this weekend. Eventually I'll find my rhythms and get back into regular updating.
That being said, I love my new job. There's a lot to it and a lot to learn, but it's exactly the kind of thing I want to be doing. In future post I'll go a little more into detail about what I'm doing. For now, though, I just wanted to check in and confirm that I am, indeed, still alive and kicking. And really, really happy. I only wish I could have started earlier so that I could have been on staff with No Nickname Fred, Mateo, and Jason for a while...
That being said, I love my new job. There's a lot to it and a lot to learn, but it's exactly the kind of thing I want to be doing. In future post I'll go a little more into detail about what I'm doing. For now, though, I just wanted to check in and confirm that I am, indeed, still alive and kicking. And really, really happy. I only wish I could have started earlier so that I could have been on staff with No Nickname Fred, Mateo, and Jason for a while...
Labels: dear diary
Sunday, June 22, 2008
on leaving
Nearly eleven years ago I left Florida and my first job under a cloud of failure and hurt. I (and my now ex-wife) moved to Lexington to be close to my family. After a week of looking for a new job (and a one day stint at a well known Lexington car dealership) I was offered a job by my dad at his auto body shop. I would come in, learn to write estimates, deal with customers, and manage the computers. I would do it until I found something else or as long as I wanted.
Like I said, that was eleven years ago.
This friday, come four o'clock, I'll be leaving Connie's Auto Body for the last time.
I've accepted a position at St. Awesome's. My job with the church will find me splitting my time between managing the building and grounds and contributing creative content to the weekend services.
I'm really excited about the new job and could talk quite a bit about the three year plus process of getting there.
For now, though, I'm just gonna talk about Connie's Auto Body and my dad.
Whenever I told people that I worked with my dad their usual response was, "Oh, I could never worth with my father." I can honestly say, though, that it was a pleasure for me. No, I wasn't cut out for working in a body shop. Yes, there are people who could have brought a lot more to the job. Yes, there were times when we didn't get along. But having the opportunity to work with my dad, to spend time with him every day, to see him in a light that I wouldn't have otherwise has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. It will take me years to process everything I learned from watching him at work. Every day was a lesson in integrity, hard work, and professionalism.
For the past ten years my dad has shown me patience and generosity. When I needed time off, I got time off. When I needed help, I got help. I know, no matter how great my bosses at St. Awesome's will be (and I know for a fact that they're pretty friggin' awesome) I will never work for a better man than my father.
I know I'm going to be emotional about leaving. I won't cry at the body shop, though. There's no crying allowed in body shops. A few miles down, the road, though? No promises.
Like I said, that was eleven years ago.
This friday, come four o'clock, I'll be leaving Connie's Auto Body for the last time.
I've accepted a position at St. Awesome's. My job with the church will find me splitting my time between managing the building and grounds and contributing creative content to the weekend services.
I'm really excited about the new job and could talk quite a bit about the three year plus process of getting there.
For now, though, I'm just gonna talk about Connie's Auto Body and my dad.
Whenever I told people that I worked with my dad their usual response was, "Oh, I could never worth with my father." I can honestly say, though, that it was a pleasure for me. No, I wasn't cut out for working in a body shop. Yes, there are people who could have brought a lot more to the job. Yes, there were times when we didn't get along. But having the opportunity to work with my dad, to spend time with him every day, to see him in a light that I wouldn't have otherwise has been one of the greatest privileges of my life. It will take me years to process everything I learned from watching him at work. Every day was a lesson in integrity, hard work, and professionalism.
For the past ten years my dad has shown me patience and generosity. When I needed time off, I got time off. When I needed help, I got help. I know, no matter how great my bosses at St. Awesome's will be (and I know for a fact that they're pretty friggin' awesome) I will never work for a better man than my father.
I know I'm going to be emotional about leaving. I won't cry at the body shop, though. There's no crying allowed in body shops. A few miles down, the road, though? No promises.
Labels: dear diary
Thursday, May 29, 2008
catch-up
Today is the first Thursday in almost four years that I haven't had a column due. It's nice, but of course life has found a way to fill that void with other fires that need attending.
For some reason the Harlan Daily hasn't uploaded my final column to their website. Might be because it consisted of several curse words repeated 1000 times. Who knows. The newspaper industry is a strange and fickle mistress. But sexy. Oh so sexy.
In place of my column here's some pictures from my nephew Zach's birthday party and the totally awesome couples wedding shower that BC and Erika threw for us. Both of these events were a blast. One featured Sara wearing a coconut bra. The other featured her wearing a fake mustache. You can figure out which is which.
For some reason the Harlan Daily hasn't uploaded my final column to their website. Might be because it consisted of several curse words repeated 1000 times. Who knows. The newspaper industry is a strange and fickle mistress. But sexy. Oh so sexy.
In place of my column here's some pictures from my nephew Zach's birthday party and the totally awesome couples wedding shower that BC and Erika threw for us. Both of these events were a blast. One featured Sara wearing a coconut bra. The other featured her wearing a fake mustache. You can figure out which is which.
Labels: dear diary, weekend
Monday, May 19, 2008
discovering my love language
As part of our pre-marital counseling, Sara started reading the book, The Five Love Languages. The book is all about how each one of us interprets certain actions as a sign of love. These actions are referred to in the book as "love languages." There's physical affection, words of affirmation, quality times, giving gifts, and acts of service.
I read the book several years ago but need to do so again because I'm having trouble deciding what my language is. The book helps you narrow down the languages and figure out which one is yours. Obviously everybody loves affection, affirmation, spending time together, gifts, and being served - but everybody also has a language that resonates with them more than the others according to the book's author, Gary Chapman.
Chapman suggests that sometimes the easiest way to figure out what your love language is, is to watch how you try and show others that you love them. A lot of times people (unknowingly) try and show love by doing the things that they would like to have done to them.
Of course every guy thinks his love language is physical affection because they like sex.
Today I was on the phone with Sara telling her how physically exhausted I feel. We both have been on a non-stop runaway train of busy-ness for the last year. We've been planning a wedding, fixing up a house, selling a house, looking for a house, going to school, graduating from school, working multiple jobs, volunteering at church, traveling, and so on. For me, it all culminated this weekend with a three day trip to Virginia for a wedding, barely sleeping, and spending the whole weekend on my feet.
Lord knows Sara is tired herself and the last thing she needed was to listen to me whine about how tired I am. Her immediate reaction, though, was to go into hyper-protective mode. She informed me that for the next few nights I wouldn't be doing anything other than relaxing, that I wasn't showing up for my volunteer time at church until the absolute last minute, and I wasn't allowed to cook for a while. She also went on to tell me how much she loved me and how worried she was that burning my candle at both ends was going to catch up with me eventually.
I don't know what love language that is but once I got off the phone with her I was beaming. Just that little bit of protectiveness and a simple acknowledgment that I've been working hard was all it took for me to feel completely validated and taken care of.
I don't mind working. I don't mind things moving at a break-neck speed and I don't mind having a lot of stuff on my plate most of the time - especially if someone I love occasionally tells me that she notices, loves me, and wants me to take care of myself. I'm sure that's pretty mundane and universal as far as revelations go, but just now as it crystallized in my head, it felt huge.
I read the book several years ago but need to do so again because I'm having trouble deciding what my language is. The book helps you narrow down the languages and figure out which one is yours. Obviously everybody loves affection, affirmation, spending time together, gifts, and being served - but everybody also has a language that resonates with them more than the others according to the book's author, Gary Chapman.
Chapman suggests that sometimes the easiest way to figure out what your love language is, is to watch how you try and show others that you love them. A lot of times people (unknowingly) try and show love by doing the things that they would like to have done to them.
Of course every guy thinks his love language is physical affection because they like sex.
Today I was on the phone with Sara telling her how physically exhausted I feel. We both have been on a non-stop runaway train of busy-ness for the last year. We've been planning a wedding, fixing up a house, selling a house, looking for a house, going to school, graduating from school, working multiple jobs, volunteering at church, traveling, and so on. For me, it all culminated this weekend with a three day trip to Virginia for a wedding, barely sleeping, and spending the whole weekend on my feet.
Lord knows Sara is tired herself and the last thing she needed was to listen to me whine about how tired I am. Her immediate reaction, though, was to go into hyper-protective mode. She informed me that for the next few nights I wouldn't be doing anything other than relaxing, that I wasn't showing up for my volunteer time at church until the absolute last minute, and I wasn't allowed to cook for a while. She also went on to tell me how much she loved me and how worried she was that burning my candle at both ends was going to catch up with me eventually.
I don't know what love language that is but once I got off the phone with her I was beaming. Just that little bit of protectiveness and a simple acknowledgment that I've been working hard was all it took for me to feel completely validated and taken care of.
I don't mind working. I don't mind things moving at a break-neck speed and I don't mind having a lot of stuff on my plate most of the time - especially if someone I love occasionally tells me that she notices, loves me, and wants me to take care of myself. I'm sure that's pretty mundane and universal as far as revelations go, but just now as it crystallized in my head, it felt huge.
Labels: dear diary
tired but happy
Back home in Kentucky after a long but awesome weekend in Virginia.
This weekend was blog regular BP's wedding to the beautiful and classy MRock. I had the honor of officiating their ceremony.
Jumped in the car early Friday morning for the eight hour drive (it was speeding ticket free this time, thank you very much). I armed myself with an iPod full of music, podcasts, and the audio version of Steve Martin's new book, Born Standing Up. The trip went by really fast.
Once in Virginia I met up with another blog regular, JC Samsonite, and headed over to the rehearsal. Everything went smooth as silk because when Patrick Drury is officiating your wedding nothing is left to chance. Also, because BP and MRock are really easy-going and totally gave off a calming vibe that made the whole thing breeze by.
The next day JC, BP, BP's sister's boyfriend Bruce, and I got up at 6:00 AM to play some golf. This was my first time on a golf course ever. When my buddy BC found out I was playing he insisted on letting me borrow his golf cleats and a golf shirt - which I'm grateful for because it kept me from looking like a total idiot.
Much to my surprise I totally loved golf and wasn't too bad at it. I can definitely see myself playing again. Now, for everyone's enjoyment, here's me in golf clothes:
Later that night was the ceremony. Everything went really well. BP looked great and Mrock was beautiful. MRock's beautiful daughter CRock was the flower girl and I was reunited with the first dog I ever loeved, Farley, who coincidentally was the ring bearer:
After the wedding there was a great reception where JC gave the greatest Best Man's speech known to creation. There was much rejoicing, much dancing, and a good time was had by all.
The next morning I hopped in my car at 4:30 AM!!!! and headed back to Kentucky; specifically to Lawrenceburg for my dad's 60th birthday. About two hours into my trip I had to pull over at a gas station and sleep for 15 minutes. Once I woke up, I drank a red Bull, cranked my music and vibrated back to life as I crossed over into West Virginia
My dad's birthday was great. All of his friends and family were there. We grilled out, ate cake, and played Hillbilly Golf. Happy birthday dad!
This weekend was blog regular BP's wedding to the beautiful and classy MRock. I had the honor of officiating their ceremony.
Jumped in the car early Friday morning for the eight hour drive (it was speeding ticket free this time, thank you very much). I armed myself with an iPod full of music, podcasts, and the audio version of Steve Martin's new book, Born Standing Up. The trip went by really fast.
Once in Virginia I met up with another blog regular, JC Samsonite, and headed over to the rehearsal. Everything went smooth as silk because when Patrick Drury is officiating your wedding nothing is left to chance. Also, because BP and MRock are really easy-going and totally gave off a calming vibe that made the whole thing breeze by.
The next day JC, BP, BP's sister's boyfriend Bruce, and I got up at 6:00 AM to play some golf. This was my first time on a golf course ever. When my buddy BC found out I was playing he insisted on letting me borrow his golf cleats and a golf shirt - which I'm grateful for because it kept me from looking like a total idiot.
Much to my surprise I totally loved golf and wasn't too bad at it. I can definitely see myself playing again. Now, for everyone's enjoyment, here's me in golf clothes:
Later that night was the ceremony. Everything went really well. BP looked great and Mrock was beautiful. MRock's beautiful daughter CRock was the flower girl and I was reunited with the first dog I ever loeved, Farley, who coincidentally was the ring bearer:
After the wedding there was a great reception where JC gave the greatest Best Man's speech known to creation. There was much rejoicing, much dancing, and a good time was had by all.
The next morning I hopped in my car at 4:30 AM!!!! and headed back to Kentucky; specifically to Lawrenceburg for my dad's 60th birthday. About two hours into my trip I had to pull over at a gas station and sleep for 15 minutes. Once I woke up, I drank a red Bull, cranked my music and vibrated back to life as I crossed over into West Virginia
My dad's birthday was great. All of his friends and family were there. We grilled out, ate cake, and played Hillbilly Golf. Happy birthday dad!
Labels: dear diary, weekend
Friday, April 18, 2008
catch-up
I'm finally starting to feel like I'm back home after spending the first half of the week in Vegas. So here's a catch-up of some stuff I hadn't had a chance to post about.
First up, Friday night, The Colonel, GG, Greg Chandler, vide-genius Dave Cottingham, and I filmed the last of St. Awesome's Mac Vs PC parody pieces. These pieces taught me an important lesson about content and creativity. Some time when you want to be bored by me being all introspective you can ask me about it.
The next day I had lunch with my family to celebrate my brother Jeff's birthday. Lately every birthday party I've been a part of has taken place at Miyako - which is awesome because I love Miyako. We had a really good time, especially the nephews.
Later that night a bunch of us headed over to Shamrock's to see Charley The Intern play. Charley was joined on stage by our friend Jonothan - and, making his sober and musical debut at Shamrock's, Dirty.
The next morning Matt McKay and I flew out to Vegas for the National Association of Broadcasters' show and the Guru's conference. We spent most of our time there on the floor of the NAB show looking at video gear and trying to solve some of St. Awesome's tech problems. Well, Matt did anyway. I was mostly just overwhelmed by it all.
When we weren't on the convention floor we got to do some sightseeing. We saw Love by Cirque Du Soleil. It's the Cirque show done to Beatles music. It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. I would totally recommend it to anyone. Apparently we sat in the same row as American Idol loser Daughtry. Or at least some of his band. There was one guy in a saucy little hat acting like a total D-bag. I tried not to notice.
On our last day in town we headed out to Red Rock Canyon and walked around. It was beautiful.
So, yeah, things have been busy lately, but fun. If everything goes well I should have some big news coming up later today, too.
First up, Friday night, The Colonel, GG, Greg Chandler, vide-genius Dave Cottingham, and I filmed the last of St. Awesome's Mac Vs PC parody pieces. These pieces taught me an important lesson about content and creativity. Some time when you want to be bored by me being all introspective you can ask me about it.
The next day I had lunch with my family to celebrate my brother Jeff's birthday. Lately every birthday party I've been a part of has taken place at Miyako - which is awesome because I love Miyako. We had a really good time, especially the nephews.
Later that night a bunch of us headed over to Shamrock's to see Charley The Intern play. Charley was joined on stage by our friend Jonothan - and, making his sober and musical debut at Shamrock's, Dirty.
The next morning Matt McKay and I flew out to Vegas for the National Association of Broadcasters' show and the Guru's conference. We spent most of our time there on the floor of the NAB show looking at video gear and trying to solve some of St. Awesome's tech problems. Well, Matt did anyway. I was mostly just overwhelmed by it all.
When we weren't on the convention floor we got to do some sightseeing. We saw Love by Cirque Du Soleil. It's the Cirque show done to Beatles music. It was the most incredible thing I've ever seen. I would totally recommend it to anyone. Apparently we sat in the same row as American Idol loser Daughtry. Or at least some of his band. There was one guy in a saucy little hat acting like a total D-bag. I tried not to notice.
On our last day in town we headed out to Red Rock Canyon and walked around. It was beautiful.
So, yeah, things have been busy lately, but fun. If everything goes well I should have some big news coming up later today, too.
Labels: dear diary
Thursday, March 27, 2008
i've never had anything this hip in my lap
Welcome to my first blog post written on my brand new MacBook Pro.
The old Compaq was wheezing and clicking it's way into an early grave, so the decision was made to upgrade. And upgrade I did.
More about my take on the " Mac experience" in my next column. For now, I'll just say I'm enjoying myself.
The old Compaq was wheezing and clicking it's way into an early grave, so the decision was made to upgrade. And upgrade I did.
More about my take on the " Mac experience" in my next column. For now, I'll just say I'm enjoying myself.
Labels: dear diary, meta
Tuesday, March 18, 2008
a really good day
So yesterday was awesome.
Sara took her state boards yesterday. She was really nervous going into them; more nervous than I've ever seen her. And that's saying a lot because I tend to do things that can make the people around me nervous - like spending my mortgage payment on scratch offs (But I won $30, so who's laughing now?).
The boards took seven hours and involved a written test and some actual hands on stuff. Sara obviously passed with flying colors because she's awesome, smart, and stubborn as hell when she wants something.
So, if you see her or talk to her, congratulate her. Or do it here on the comment section.
The other big thing that happened yesterday was that I got not one, but TWO offers on my house. I don't want to say too much because I'm extremely superstitious after this one time a black cat walked by my uncle after years of smoking and now he has lung cancer.
More later as things progress. Right now, thing's are primed to move pretty fast, so expect news soon.
Sara took her state boards yesterday. She was really nervous going into them; more nervous than I've ever seen her. And that's saying a lot because I tend to do things that can make the people around me nervous - like spending my mortgage payment on scratch offs (But I won $30, so who's laughing now?).
The boards took seven hours and involved a written test and some actual hands on stuff. Sara obviously passed with flying colors because she's awesome, smart, and stubborn as hell when she wants something.
So, if you see her or talk to her, congratulate her. Or do it here on the comment section.
The other big thing that happened yesterday was that I got not one, but TWO offers on my house. I don't want to say too much because I'm extremely superstitious after this one time a black cat walked by my uncle after years of smoking and now he has lung cancer.
More later as things progress. Right now, thing's are primed to move pretty fast, so expect news soon.
Labels: dear diary
Sunday, March 16, 2008
birthday report - updated
Saturday was my 35th birthday. Thanks to all of you that wished me happy birthday via Facebook, the phone, or in person.
I had a really good day. It started with a non-birthday related tech training meeting at St. Awesome's. The meeting was made infinitely better than it would have been by Mary Jenkins making me a dish of sopapila and hand delivering it (in spite of the fact it was also her daughter Isabel's birthday). Thanks Mary. It was delicious. I can't believe I left you out the first time. I am the worst person alive. From there Sara and I met my family for lunch. Zach and Nicholas gave me the Family Guy Star Wars movie. Mom and Dad gave me cold hard cash. Both were greatly appreciated - as was lunch.
After lunch Sara and I ran some errands then she gave me my gifts: A kick-ass pair of boots, some kitchen tools, a totally awesome set of Bose over-the-ear headphones, and the newest Mountain Goats album, Heretic Pride. I'm listening to it now, as I write this. It's really good.
Later that night we headed out to the back room at Miyako for a joint-birthday dinner with the Colonel (who's birthday was yesterday). I had a really good time and really appreciated the presence of my friends, their well-wishes, and the gifts. I also really appreciated Amy Gilmore and Mike Turner trying sushi for the first time. There was only a 50% enjoyment rate, I'm sorry to announce.
I had a really good day. It started with a non-birthday related tech training meeting at St. Awesome's. The meeting was made infinitely better than it would have been by Mary Jenkins making me a dish of sopapila and hand delivering it (in spite of the fact it was also her daughter Isabel's birthday). Thanks Mary. It was delicious. I can't believe I left you out the first time. I am the worst person alive. From there Sara and I met my family for lunch. Zach and Nicholas gave me the Family Guy Star Wars movie. Mom and Dad gave me cold hard cash. Both were greatly appreciated - as was lunch.
After lunch Sara and I ran some errands then she gave me my gifts: A kick-ass pair of boots, some kitchen tools, a totally awesome set of Bose over-the-ear headphones, and the newest Mountain Goats album, Heretic Pride. I'm listening to it now, as I write this. It's really good.
Later that night we headed out to the back room at Miyako for a joint-birthday dinner with the Colonel (who's birthday was yesterday). I had a really good time and really appreciated the presence of my friends, their well-wishes, and the gifts. I also really appreciated Amy Gilmore and Mike Turner trying sushi for the first time. There was only a 50% enjoyment rate, I'm sorry to announce.
Labels: dear diary
Friday, February 22, 2008
sickness update
Back at work today after being out for two days in a row. Feeling much better but not great. Not sure what I had. I was running a fever, was coughing a lot, and my body ached. Is that the flu?
Used the down time to catch up on sleep and the Wire Season Five. A couple of episodes in I was enjoying it but couldn't figure out why people said it was the best thing on TV. Now, after eight episodes, I get it. Soooo good.
Thanks to everybody who checked on me via Facebook and email.
Used the down time to catch up on sleep and the Wire Season Five. A couple of episodes in I was enjoying it but couldn't figure out why people said it was the best thing on TV. Now, after eight episodes, I get it. Soooo good.
Thanks to everybody who checked on me via Facebook and email.
Labels: dear diary
Tuesday, February 19, 2008
heard at work
Lady: You sound like you're sick too.
Me: Yeah, I've got a little something.
Lady: You look terrible.
Me: ...
Me: Yeah, I've got a little something.
Lady: You look terrible.
Me: ...
Labels: dear diary
Tuesday, February 05, 2008
heard at work
I was driving an older lady home today so we could work on her car and she said the following to me: "I'm sorry if you're in a gang, I don't mean to offend you."
Labels: dear diary
Friday, January 18, 2008
time marches on... my heart
While Sara and I were in Florida we went into a CVS pharmacy to get some allergy medicine (our hosts had cats). While we waited on the Presidential level background check required to buy antihistamines these days I decided to pass some time by taking my blood pressure in one of those free stations you see in drug stores. I wasn't concerned about my blood pressure. I was barely curious about it. Mostly I was bored.
My blood pressure was 155 over 98.
That's pretty bad, apparently.
Sara freaked out. I was a little concerned myself.
Fast forward to today. I had a doctor's appointment this morning. After a quick check-up and a look at my family medical history, my doctor told me that I'm entering into what's commonly known as pre-hypertension. Basically that just means I'm a likely (as in it's gonna happen) candidate for high blood pressure. The doctor said the extremely high reading at CVS was likely due to a day spent in airports catching planes. My reading today was much lower, but still slightly higher than average.
The doctor said the fact that I'm not overweight and don't smoke are in my favor. She also said my drinking habits don't put me in any greater risk (even though Sara and my mom both accused me of lying to the doctor about how much I drink...).
The best things the doctor said I can do are exercise regularly and watch what I eat. Obvious enough, I guess.
Nothing shakes you out of your feelings of invulnerability quite like finding out your body is genetically predisposed towards running hot.
So here's to more fish and setups. I've got stuff to do.
My blood pressure was 155 over 98.
That's pretty bad, apparently.
Sara freaked out. I was a little concerned myself.
Fast forward to today. I had a doctor's appointment this morning. After a quick check-up and a look at my family medical history, my doctor told me that I'm entering into what's commonly known as pre-hypertension. Basically that just means I'm a likely (as in it's gonna happen) candidate for high blood pressure. The doctor said the extremely high reading at CVS was likely due to a day spent in airports catching planes. My reading today was much lower, but still slightly higher than average.
The doctor said the fact that I'm not overweight and don't smoke are in my favor. She also said my drinking habits don't put me in any greater risk (even though Sara and my mom both accused me of lying to the doctor about how much I drink...).
The best things the doctor said I can do are exercise regularly and watch what I eat. Obvious enough, I guess.
Nothing shakes you out of your feelings of invulnerability quite like finding out your body is genetically predisposed towards running hot.
So here's to more fish and setups. I've got stuff to do.
Labels: dear diary
Tuesday, January 01, 2008
new years eve!
Many months ago a small group of my friends and I were discussing our high school proms. There was a large consensus among the group that proms were very often disappointing and wasted on high school kids. So the decision was made that we were going to re-stage our high school proms as adults. We decided that New Year's Eve was the perfect time to do this since everybody always stresses out over what they're going to do to ring in the new year anyway.
Bryan and Erika hosted the shindig at their new loft downtown overlooking Main Street. Since it was a prom the ladies wore dresses and the guys rolled out in tuxes (thanks to an extremely affordable $20 rental deal at Geno's).
There was a catered meal that was awesome. Honestly, some of the best food I've had in a long time. Since seating was limited, we ate in shifts. The folks not eating at any particular time served the others. It was nice and all very egalitarian.
After dinner there was lots of dancing, mingling, and celebrating. Some people celebrated with horns and noisemakers and some people celebrated by throwing oranges off the balcony. There was also a very minor explosion.
The party raged on until about 4:00 am, and by "raged on" I mean "petered out slowly as everyone got sleepy-eyed and tired."
This was, without a doubt, the greatest New Year's ever. Thanks to Bryan And Erika for putting on the whole thing and making it so awesome. Here's to next year!
(Editor's note: Just in case you're wondering, much like my high school proms, I did not get lucky at this one either. Some things never change.)
Bryan and Erika hosted the shindig at their new loft downtown overlooking Main Street. Since it was a prom the ladies wore dresses and the guys rolled out in tuxes (thanks to an extremely affordable $20 rental deal at Geno's).
There was a catered meal that was awesome. Honestly, some of the best food I've had in a long time. Since seating was limited, we ate in shifts. The folks not eating at any particular time served the others. It was nice and all very egalitarian.
After dinner there was lots of dancing, mingling, and celebrating. Some people celebrated with horns and noisemakers and some people celebrated by throwing oranges off the balcony. There was also a very minor explosion.
The party raged on until about 4:00 am, and by "raged on" I mean "petered out slowly as everyone got sleepy-eyed and tired."
This was, without a doubt, the greatest New Year's ever. Thanks to Bryan And Erika for putting on the whole thing and making it so awesome. Here's to next year!
(Editor's note: Just in case you're wondering, much like my high school proms, I did not get lucky at this one either. Some things never change.)
Labels: dear diary
Thursday, December 27, 2007
christmas recap
Okay, here's what Christmas looked like.
First there was the Christmas Eve services at St. Awesome's. There were 5 of them. Just like there were 5 wisemen. I think. Two died.
Then there was the Colonel family's Christmas open house. Dance Colonel! Dance!!!
Charley The Intern spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Sara, her mom, and me. We pretended like we adopted him. I kept telling him that his real parents didn't want him and now we were stuck with him. He cried a little, but I think deep down he thought it was funny.
I made my first ham. Mmmmmm. Hammy.
On Christmas night Sara and I went to Lawrenceburg to spend time with my family. There was rock music and guns! Just like the old days!
It was a great time and everyone learned a lesson about the true meaning of Christmas.
The End.
First there was the Christmas Eve services at St. Awesome's. There were 5 of them. Just like there were 5 wisemen. I think. Two died.
Then there was the Colonel family's Christmas open house. Dance Colonel! Dance!!!
Charley The Intern spent Christmas Eve and Christmas day with Sara, her mom, and me. We pretended like we adopted him. I kept telling him that his real parents didn't want him and now we were stuck with him. He cried a little, but I think deep down he thought it was funny.
I made my first ham. Mmmmmm. Hammy.
On Christmas night Sara and I went to Lawrenceburg to spend time with my family. There was rock music and guns! Just like the old days!
It was a great time and everyone learned a lesson about the true meaning of Christmas.
The End.
Labels: dear diary
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
seller in a buyer's market
Attention all Patrick Drury historians and needers of homes. Ft. Bachelor is on the market as of later this afternoon. Let the bidding war begin!
Labels: dear diary
Monday, December 17, 2007
christmas season has arrived
Up until this weekend it hadn't really felt like Christmas to me yet. Probably has something to do with the fact that I did all my shopping online this year instead of hitting the malls.
This weekend, though, the season finally descended upon me. It began with St. Awesome's Christmas party early on Friday evening. There was mingling, snacks, dim lights, and Christmas music. I love that kind of thing.
After that party, Sara, Jennifer, Mike, and I headed to our friend Brooke's place for an ugly Christmas sweater party. It was fun. And ugly. We played this game where everybody wore a bell around their neck and tried not to say the words "no" or "know" throughout the night. If you said either word people could take your bell from you. It basically turned into me and Mike handing our bells back and forth.
Here's how ugly we all were:
Then, on Sunday night, Sara and I finally got around to putting up a tree at her mom's house. I got a nice one for really cheap. And isn't that what the holidays are all about? Being nice and cheap? Here's the tree:
And here's my awesome Flash ornament. Eat your heart out James:
So now it finally feels like Christmas. This week will be filled with wrapping presents, preparing for St. Awesome's Christmas Eve service, and planning the Christmas menu. Christmas rocks!
This weekend, though, the season finally descended upon me. It began with St. Awesome's Christmas party early on Friday evening. There was mingling, snacks, dim lights, and Christmas music. I love that kind of thing.
After that party, Sara, Jennifer, Mike, and I headed to our friend Brooke's place for an ugly Christmas sweater party. It was fun. And ugly. We played this game where everybody wore a bell around their neck and tried not to say the words "no" or "know" throughout the night. If you said either word people could take your bell from you. It basically turned into me and Mike handing our bells back and forth.
Here's how ugly we all were:
Then, on Sunday night, Sara and I finally got around to putting up a tree at her mom's house. I got a nice one for really cheap. And isn't that what the holidays are all about? Being nice and cheap? Here's the tree:
And here's my awesome Flash ornament. Eat your heart out James:
So now it finally feels like Christmas. This week will be filled with wrapping presents, preparing for St. Awesome's Christmas Eve service, and planning the Christmas menu. Christmas rocks!
Labels: dear diary, weekend
Wednesday, December 12, 2007
sara's birthday
Sara's birthday was on December 2nd. She turned 26. We had a small dinner and party for her at her house with her family on the 2nd. Then a couple of days later I had some of her friends over to the Colonel's house to celebrate with her. ET made Apple Crisp (Which I have mistakenly called Apple Crist for years now because I'm an idiot). And No-Nickname Fred showed up unexpectedly.
Sara had a great time and appreciated all the food and gifts. Thanks for coming everybody. And happy late birthday from the blog, baby. You're the ginchiest!
Sara had a great time and appreciated all the food and gifts. Thanks for coming everybody. And happy late birthday from the blog, baby. You're the ginchiest!
Labels: dear diary
Monday, December 03, 2007
the bird
So I decided I was going to cook Thanksgiving dinner for Sara's family this year. Actually Sara decided we were both gonna do it, but I'm a control freak, so that meant I did it by myself (and Sara needed the sleep).
The first thing I did was put our bird into a brine, two days before it was to be cooked. The brine was made of water, brown sugar, salt, two oranges, two lemons, and rosemary. I didn't have a non-reactive container big enough to hold it all, so I used three trash bags, one inside of the other:
Once the big day arrived, I got up around 7:00 am, and started chopping vegetables for the stuffing. The veggies were roasted then combined with some mushrooms, chicken stock (I was gonna make my own stock, but decided to make it easy on myself when the day came), breadcrumbs and spices. Here's the veggies roasting away, and the bird stuffed full of the eventual mixture:
Besides using the brining process to flavor the bird, I also rubbed some butter under it's skin. I was told by one person that this was probably redundant in the face of a two day brine, but decided to go for it anyway. When has butter ever been redundant?
Once the turkey was stuffed and buttered, I tied it up and shingled it with bacon strips. Because bacon makes everything better:
The turkey cooked under a tin foil tent for about three hours. I put it in at 450 to sear the bird and then immediately turned the oven down to 325 for a long, slow cook. I basted it every 20 minutes or so. For the last half hour I removed the tin foil tent and the bacon and added some butter to give the bird time to brown.
When it was all done I sliced it up (badly - I'm a terrible carver) and served it on a bed consisting of the bacon I'd wrapped it in, and some sautéed mushrooms.
Along with the bird, I made garlic and thyme mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, fresh green beens with shallots, sweet potato casserole, and of course the stuffing from inside the bird. Here's the casseroles:
There was only one casualty. I gave the tip of my thumb for everyone's culinary enjoyment:
Everybody seemed to enjoy the food and I had a blast cooking it. I'm looking forward to next year already.
The first thing I did was put our bird into a brine, two days before it was to be cooked. The brine was made of water, brown sugar, salt, two oranges, two lemons, and rosemary. I didn't have a non-reactive container big enough to hold it all, so I used three trash bags, one inside of the other:
Once the big day arrived, I got up around 7:00 am, and started chopping vegetables for the stuffing. The veggies were roasted then combined with some mushrooms, chicken stock (I was gonna make my own stock, but decided to make it easy on myself when the day came), breadcrumbs and spices. Here's the veggies roasting away, and the bird stuffed full of the eventual mixture:
Besides using the brining process to flavor the bird, I also rubbed some butter under it's skin. I was told by one person that this was probably redundant in the face of a two day brine, but decided to go for it anyway. When has butter ever been redundant?
Once the turkey was stuffed and buttered, I tied it up and shingled it with bacon strips. Because bacon makes everything better:
The turkey cooked under a tin foil tent for about three hours. I put it in at 450 to sear the bird and then immediately turned the oven down to 325 for a long, slow cook. I basted it every 20 minutes or so. For the last half hour I removed the tin foil tent and the bacon and added some butter to give the bird time to brown.
When it was all done I sliced it up (badly - I'm a terrible carver) and served it on a bed consisting of the bacon I'd wrapped it in, and some sautéed mushrooms.
Along with the bird, I made garlic and thyme mashed potatoes, broccoli casserole, fresh green beens with shallots, sweet potato casserole, and of course the stuffing from inside the bird. Here's the casseroles:
There was only one casualty. I gave the tip of my thumb for everyone's culinary enjoyment:
Everybody seemed to enjoy the food and I had a blast cooking it. I'm looking forward to next year already.
Labels: dear diary
vacation is over, work is now, all is lost
My 11 day vacation has come to a close and I'm back at work.
Sigh...
Here's a quick recap of what I did:
-Cooked Thanksgiving dinner
-Saw No Country For Old Men (Great!)
-Saw Beowulf in 3D (Awesome!)
-Saw Hitman (Bleagh!)
-Hung out with my nephews and the family
-Hung out with Sara's family
-Had lunch with Dirty
-Had lunch with Bryan and Danny.
-Had lunch with my mom.
-Did all my Chistmas shopping online
-Read a lot
-Played Guitar Hero 3
-Found a bunch of cheat codes for Grand Theft Auto that let you fly and stuff
-Went to a Robert Pollard concert with The Colonels, Dirty, and Sara
-Celebrated Sara's birthday
-Laid around
-Changed a flat tire
-Got slightly sick by being in a concert hall full of cigarette smoke
Those are the big ticket items. More detail in coming posts. Now I gotta work, though.
Sigh...
Sigh...
Here's a quick recap of what I did:
-Cooked Thanksgiving dinner
-Saw No Country For Old Men (Great!)
-Saw Beowulf in 3D (Awesome!)
-Saw Hitman (Bleagh!)
-Hung out with my nephews and the family
-Hung out with Sara's family
-Had lunch with Dirty
-Had lunch with Bryan and Danny.
-Had lunch with my mom.
-Did all my Chistmas shopping online
-Read a lot
-Played Guitar Hero 3
-Found a bunch of cheat codes for Grand Theft Auto that let you fly and stuff
-Went to a Robert Pollard concert with The Colonels, Dirty, and Sara
-Celebrated Sara's birthday
-Laid around
-Changed a flat tire
-Got slightly sick by being in a concert hall full of cigarette smoke
Those are the big ticket items. More detail in coming posts. Now I gotta work, though.
Sigh...
Labels: dear diary
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
weekend 11/17/07 - 11/18/07
This weekend was St. Awesome's 20th anniversary. It was a big weekend emotionally and production wise. I spent most of Saturday at the church helping with camera and lighting set-up and then ran a stage cam for the actual service. Stage cam is always fun because you get to be right out there in the middle of the band while they play.
Since St. Awesome's came into existence in 1987 the band did a medley of songs from '87 that included True Colors, Walk This Way, Faith, Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Living On A Prayer, and Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. At the end of Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For a choir came out and turned the song into a big spiritual number, like they did in Rattle and Hum. It was incredible. Here's some pictures from the set-up and practice:
And here's a couple of shots I snuck with my iPhone during the service from onstage:
After church on Saturday night I joined Sara's family at Giuseppe's restaurant for a going away dinner for Sam Handwich and Nathan. We had a reservation but still had to wait 45 minutes before being seated. Then the wait for our food was so long that Jan , her sister, and brother-in-law actually ended up leaving before their food came out. For staying I was rewarded with one of the best steaks I've ever had. Here's a picture before the mass exodus:
Apparently someone had just called me a name or something...
The next day, on Sunday morning, it was back to St. Awesome's for two more services. After church Sara and I went to lunch with GG and then grabbed a quick nap.
That night we drove to Louisville with No Nickname Jen to pick up No Nickname Fred at the airport and have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Like an idiot I didn't take any pictures. We had a blast, though, and it was a nice chance to spend some quality time in the car and over food with the No Nicknames before they both head out to Raleigh for good in the coming months.
Awesome, but exhausting weekend.
Since St. Awesome's came into existence in 1987 the band did a medley of songs from '87 that included True Colors, Walk This Way, Faith, Everybody Have Fun Tonight, Living On A Prayer, and Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For. At the end of Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For a choir came out and turned the song into a big spiritual number, like they did in Rattle and Hum. It was incredible. Here's some pictures from the set-up and practice:
And here's a couple of shots I snuck with my iPhone during the service from onstage:
After church on Saturday night I joined Sara's family at Giuseppe's restaurant for a going away dinner for Sam Handwich and Nathan. We had a reservation but still had to wait 45 minutes before being seated. Then the wait for our food was so long that Jan , her sister, and brother-in-law actually ended up leaving before their food came out. For staying I was rewarded with one of the best steaks I've ever had. Here's a picture before the mass exodus:
Apparently someone had just called me a name or something...
The next day, on Sunday morning, it was back to St. Awesome's for two more services. After church Sara and I went to lunch with GG and then grabbed a quick nap.
That night we drove to Louisville with No Nickname Jen to pick up No Nickname Fred at the airport and have dinner at The Cheesecake Factory. Like an idiot I didn't take any pictures. We had a blast, though, and it was a nice chance to spend some quality time in the car and over food with the No Nicknames before they both head out to Raleigh for good in the coming months.
Awesome, but exhausting weekend.
Labels: dear diary, jerks, weekend
weekend - 11/16 /07
Friday night Sara and I were supposed to go over to ET and Vlad's for dinner. When we rolled into their place around 8:00, we found out they had pulled a fast one on us and were actually throwing us an engagement party with a few of our close friends. It was totally awesome.
There was food:
There was a Wii:
There was coloring:
There was a question and answer segment apparently:
There were bubbles:
And there were piercings:
Mule was there:
And Dirty held a baby:
Sara and I were completely surprised and we can't think everybody enough for taking the time to throw us a party. We have the best friends in the world:
More pictures below. click to see them bigger:
There was food:
There was a Wii:
There was coloring:
There was a question and answer segment apparently:
There were bubbles:
And there were piercings:
Mule was there:
And Dirty held a baby:
Sara and I were completely surprised and we can't think everybody enough for taking the time to throw us a party. We have the best friends in the world:
More pictures below. click to see them bigger:
Labels: dear diary, jerks, weekend
Monday, November 12, 2007
engagement screen grabs
So I pulled out the DVD of the proposal last night and did some screen captures. I really like the way these turned out. Here's a few choice samples, but you can go here and see all of them - as well as the pictures the Colonel took.
Labels: dear diary
Friday, November 09, 2007
guess what I did last night
As of about 9:20 last night, Sara and I are...
ENGAGED!!!
Yes, that's right. I asked Sara to marry me and she said yes!
The whole thing went off without a hitch (except for the part at dinner where I was so nervous that I almost threw up).
I started planning everything months ago. I approached my buddy Steve Smith, Charley The Intern, and Jennifer about learning three songs that were instrumental to Sara's and my courtship.
Last night they performed those three songs for us, and at the end of the last one, I proposed. I also had my friends Tim, GG, and The Colonel running St. Awesome's cameras and sound system so that we have the whole thing on DVD and CD.
The Colonel was nice enough to snap a few photos for me while they rehearsed and got set up:
You can tell from this picture how effortless playing is for Steve:
Jennifer, apparently, was a little stressed:
The players were set up on the stage surrounded by candles and Sara and I were in two comfy chairs on a platform about five feet from the stage. I have dubbed this platform, "Engagement Island." For some reason GG apparently hung out on Engagement Island all night before we got there:
We walked in on a path of rose petals:
Charley was invaluable. Besides performing with the group, he also helped me set up on Thursday afternoon:
We watched the DVD when we got home and Tim did some of the best video directing of his life:
Some of our friends and family knew this was going down and arranged to crash the event. They all came pouring in after she said, "yes." Sneaky bastards:
Oh and here's the ring:
Because we're all slightly brain-dead we didn't get a single picture of Sara and I together. Can you believe that? But, like I said, we do have the whole thing on DVD. If you're nice to me and get me a good wedding gift, maybe I'll let you watch it some time.
It was, to date, the greatest night of my life and all my friends made it go off without a hitch. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect night, guys. Thanks!
And I couldn't be any happier to be marrying the most incredible, most beautiful girl in the world. I love you, baby.
ENGAGED!!!
Yes, that's right. I asked Sara to marry me and she said yes!
The whole thing went off without a hitch (except for the part at dinner where I was so nervous that I almost threw up).
I started planning everything months ago. I approached my buddy Steve Smith, Charley The Intern, and Jennifer about learning three songs that were instrumental to Sara's and my courtship.
Last night they performed those three songs for us, and at the end of the last one, I proposed. I also had my friends Tim, GG, and The Colonel running St. Awesome's cameras and sound system so that we have the whole thing on DVD and CD.
The Colonel was nice enough to snap a few photos for me while they rehearsed and got set up:
You can tell from this picture how effortless playing is for Steve:
Jennifer, apparently, was a little stressed:
The players were set up on the stage surrounded by candles and Sara and I were in two comfy chairs on a platform about five feet from the stage. I have dubbed this platform, "Engagement Island." For some reason GG apparently hung out on Engagement Island all night before we got there:
We walked in on a path of rose petals:
Charley was invaluable. Besides performing with the group, he also helped me set up on Thursday afternoon:
We watched the DVD when we got home and Tim did some of the best video directing of his life:
Some of our friends and family knew this was going down and arranged to crash the event. They all came pouring in after she said, "yes." Sneaky bastards:
Oh and here's the ring:
Because we're all slightly brain-dead we didn't get a single picture of Sara and I together. Can you believe that? But, like I said, we do have the whole thing on DVD. If you're nice to me and get me a good wedding gift, maybe I'll let you watch it some time.
It was, to date, the greatest night of my life and all my friends made it go off without a hitch. I couldn't have asked for a more perfect night, guys. Thanks!
And I couldn't be any happier to be marrying the most incredible, most beautiful girl in the world. I love you, baby.
Labels: dear diary
Tuesday, October 23, 2007
the renovation of ft. bachelor continues
Tuesday, October 02, 2007
back in town
Been out of town since Wednesday. First Chicago then to Virginia. Chicago was business, Virginia was pleasure. Not much to say about Chicago except that if you really try hard, you can get there in ten hours even though it's a seven hour drive. Trip was a lot of fun, but a lot of work.
Sara and I went to Virginia for two days to see BP,M-Rock, C-Rock, JC Samsonite and Ian. Had a great time. Got a speeding ticket. Saw the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Viet Nam Memorial, and the WWII Memorial. Heard Okkervil River in concert but would be hard pressed to say we saw them since we were standing behind a row of 7 foot tall guys. Sara said she has a crush on Ian. I've got some pictures from the weekend that I'll get up on Flickr once I catch my breath.
Sara and I went to Virginia for two days to see BP,M-Rock, C-Rock, JC Samsonite and Ian. Had a great time. Got a speeding ticket. Saw the Washington Monument, the Lincoln Memorial, the Viet Nam Memorial, and the WWII Memorial. Heard Okkervil River in concert but would be hard pressed to say we saw them since we were standing behind a row of 7 foot tall guys. Sara said she has a crush on Ian. I've got some pictures from the weekend that I'll get up on Flickr once I catch my breath.
Labels: dear diary, weekend
Tuesday, September 25, 2007
renovations to ft. bachelor continue
I realize, now that the finish line is in sight, that I should have been documenting the renovations to Ft. Bachelor over the past couple of months. I'm trying to get the old girl ready to sell within the coming weeks and it's been a lot of work. You don't realize, living alone as an unmarried male, how easy it is to let your house go overtime. You spend a few years ignoring the little things until eventually you've got months of work on your hands. Here's a little rundown of what I've been working on since late July (I have no doubt most of you won't read this list, but I'm putting it there for me more than for you):
-Hired electricians to fix a couple of wiring problems and install new lighting fixtures.
-Hired a plumber to fix a busted pipe and replace my tub fixtures.
-Replacing a large chunk of water-damaged bedroom ceiling with Sara's step-brother, Nathan.
-Replacing a chunk of drywall where my stair rail pulled away from the wall and caused some damage.
-Replacing the door frame to my outdoor shed.
-Cleaning and re-netting my gutters
-Cleaning out my shed
-Cleaning out my attic
-Throwing away tons and tons of crap that I haven't used in the last year or was hidden out of sight.
-Getting Nathan to re-tape and re-mud some ceiling joints
-Lots and lots of mudding and sanding
-Tearing up the ceramic tile in my kitchen and then scraping away the grout and concrete
-Lots of sweeping and dusting due to all the sanding and tile work
-Weed removal
-Cut down a tree
-Hired a guy to cut down another tree and grind away the stumps of both trees
-Planted several bushes and a tree out front.
-Re-mulched areas in the back yard and front yard
-Hung new shudders on the lower level of my house (I need new shudders for the top too, but I'm gonna hire that out)
-Moved most of my possessions into storage
-Cut and installed new molding work around my fireplace.
Painters are coming in later this week. Then new linoleum and carpet get put in. Then after some minor woodworking and touch-up painting I'll be putting this thing on the market. Woo Hoo!
None of this, and I mean absolutely none of it, could have been done without my friend Bryan Carter. He has been an invaluable source of information, advice, resources, and inspiration to get it all done. I'm gonna owe him big time after this. My hope is that one day he'll need a kidney and I can give him one of mine. Then we'll be even. Or maybe a lung. Can I live with just one lung? Probably.
Big thanks also has to go out to Nathan and Chris - both of whom stepped in and helped me with jobs I couldn't get done on my own. And by "helped me with" I mean "performed by themselves." Thanks guys.
-Hired electricians to fix a couple of wiring problems and install new lighting fixtures.
-Hired a plumber to fix a busted pipe and replace my tub fixtures.
-Replacing a large chunk of water-damaged bedroom ceiling with Sara's step-brother, Nathan.
-Replacing a chunk of drywall where my stair rail pulled away from the wall and caused some damage.
-Replacing the door frame to my outdoor shed.
-Cleaning and re-netting my gutters
-Cleaning out my shed
-Cleaning out my attic
-Throwing away tons and tons of crap that I haven't used in the last year or was hidden out of sight.
-Getting Nathan to re-tape and re-mud some ceiling joints
-Lots and lots of mudding and sanding
-Tearing up the ceramic tile in my kitchen and then scraping away the grout and concrete
-Lots of sweeping and dusting due to all the sanding and tile work
-Weed removal
-Cut down a tree
-Hired a guy to cut down another tree and grind away the stumps of both trees
-Planted several bushes and a tree out front.
-Re-mulched areas in the back yard and front yard
-Hung new shudders on the lower level of my house (I need new shudders for the top too, but I'm gonna hire that out)
-Moved most of my possessions into storage
-Cut and installed new molding work around my fireplace.
Painters are coming in later this week. Then new linoleum and carpet get put in. Then after some minor woodworking and touch-up painting I'll be putting this thing on the market. Woo Hoo!
None of this, and I mean absolutely none of it, could have been done without my friend Bryan Carter. He has been an invaluable source of information, advice, resources, and inspiration to get it all done. I'm gonna owe him big time after this. My hope is that one day he'll need a kidney and I can give him one of mine. Then we'll be even. Or maybe a lung. Can I live with just one lung? Probably.
Big thanks also has to go out to Nathan and Chris - both of whom stepped in and helped me with jobs I couldn't get done on my own. And by "helped me with" I mean "performed by themselves." Thanks guys.
Labels: dear diary, random
Tuesday, September 04, 2007
weekend picture catch up
Here's pictures from the long weekend. First up Dirty's birthday:
We bought appetizers from Shamrock's for the party. We did this because Dirty has eaten there so much that his stomach can no longer digest food from anywhere else properly. He and I went to Wendy's once and he had diarrhea for six days.
There was a slight pirate theme to the party. To this end we bought Dirty a plastic sword, which Nathan then used to keel-haul Sam Handwich. He keel-hauled him good.
Dirty requested Red Stripe for the party. Mike, in a show of craftiness that took everybody buy surprise, created a pirate ship and manned it with little Red Stripe pirates, each complete with their own miniature handkerchief on their head. I'm gonna ask him to make some kind of beer dispensing bear for my birthday.
ET made Dirty a cake (although that's Sara handing it to him). It was awesome. ET (and Vlad) also let us have the party at their place and she bought the pirate decorations. Thank Goodness for those Johnny Depp movies, otherwise I can't imagine ever being able to find pirate party favors.
Entertainment for the night was ET and Vlad's Wii.
Sunday night the Colonel family had a small cookout. It was a nice low key evening. The highlights of which were Dirty getting kissed:
And Vlad learning to ride a skateboard:
On Labor Day I hung out with Sara and her family, the highlight of which was when we drove to Springfield to pick up their new puppy.
It's a seven week old miniature dachshund. Extremely cute.
We bought appetizers from Shamrock's for the party. We did this because Dirty has eaten there so much that his stomach can no longer digest food from anywhere else properly. He and I went to Wendy's once and he had diarrhea for six days.
There was a slight pirate theme to the party. To this end we bought Dirty a plastic sword, which Nathan then used to keel-haul Sam Handwich. He keel-hauled him good.
Dirty requested Red Stripe for the party. Mike, in a show of craftiness that took everybody buy surprise, created a pirate ship and manned it with little Red Stripe pirates, each complete with their own miniature handkerchief on their head. I'm gonna ask him to make some kind of beer dispensing bear for my birthday.
ET made Dirty a cake (although that's Sara handing it to him). It was awesome. ET (and Vlad) also let us have the party at their place and she bought the pirate decorations. Thank Goodness for those Johnny Depp movies, otherwise I can't imagine ever being able to find pirate party favors.
Entertainment for the night was ET and Vlad's Wii.
Sunday night the Colonel family had a small cookout. It was a nice low key evening. The highlights of which were Dirty getting kissed:
And Vlad learning to ride a skateboard:
On Labor Day I hung out with Sara and her family, the highlight of which was when we drove to Springfield to pick up their new puppy.
It's a seven week old miniature dachshund. Extremely cute.
Labels: cheese, dear diary, weekend
Tuesday, July 31, 2007
Stupid squirrels
Renovations to Ft. Bachelor continue apace. Today electricians came and took care of a couple of jobs. One of which was finding out why a light switch in my upstairs bathroom wasn't working.
Turns out the wire that connects the switch to the light runs through my attic where it was chewed upon repeatedly by a squirrel. I can only hope it shocked the crap out of the little bastard.
Labels: dear diary
Friday, July 27, 2007
last night
The Avett Brothers were awesome last night. I've got pictures and video to put up, but my camera battery died during the show and I was too tired last night to mess with it when I got home. I've seen them three times since April and last night was far and away the best of the three shows. Especially the electric part of the encore. Seeing the almost exclusively acoustic guitar/banjo/upright bass trio move into a drum kit, an electric guitar, and an electric bass was unexpected and really cool.
The crowd was pretty rowdy and made things rough for a couple of the folks in our crew. Even obnoxious morons can't completely ruin an Avett Brothers concert, though, so everybody had a good time ultimately.
Prior to the show I had to speak at a children's retreat in Cincinnati. I was a little worried about making it back in time. Turns out my fears were ungrounded, though, because I was actually at the Dame in time to wait in line with everybody else. Coming back from Cincinnati I drove past Riverbend, where the mystifyingly popular Jimmy Buffet was playing a show. So last night I was momentarily caught in the yin-yang of the concert world. Avett Brothers = the bright, happy word of excellent musicianship and energy. Jimmy Buffet = the dark world of 40-something business types wearing khaki shorts, grass skirts, and smoking their yearly bowl. It almost ripped a whole in my personal space-time continuum.
The crowd was pretty rowdy and made things rough for a couple of the folks in our crew. Even obnoxious morons can't completely ruin an Avett Brothers concert, though, so everybody had a good time ultimately.
Prior to the show I had to speak at a children's retreat in Cincinnati. I was a little worried about making it back in time. Turns out my fears were ungrounded, though, because I was actually at the Dame in time to wait in line with everybody else. Coming back from Cincinnati I drove past Riverbend, where the mystifyingly popular Jimmy Buffet was playing a show. So last night I was momentarily caught in the yin-yang of the concert world. Avett Brothers = the bright, happy word of excellent musicianship and energy. Jimmy Buffet = the dark world of 40-something business types wearing khaki shorts, grass skirts, and smoking their yearly bowl. It almost ripped a whole in my personal space-time continuum.
Labels: dear diary, playlist
Thursday, July 26, 2007
it's a tribute to her lack of standards
Yesterday marked the two year anniversary of me dating the most beautiful girl in the world. Offer her your condolences if you get a chance. And then give me a big high five for somehow managing to pull one over on the very framework of the universe.
Labels: dear diary, jerks
Monday, July 23, 2007
this old heap - continued
The renovations of Ft. Bachelor continue.
I had a leak in my roof last fall that caused water to collect in my attic above my bedroom. I had my roof replaced back in November but my bedroom ceiling has a very ugly bow in it (and a pretty big water stain). This weekend Sara's step-brother Nathan came over and helped me cut out the offending drywall and replace it with some fresh.
We started cutting on the ceiling before I realized I should document the process. So here's my ceiling with half of the water damage cut out:
Here we are moments later with the entire area cut out - plus a little extra so we knew we'd have multiple studs to attach to"
Here's the new, freshly cut piece of drywall screwed into place:
And here it is taped and with the first coat of mud on it. Ta daaa:
I had read all about replacing ceiling drywall on the internerd but had never done anything like that myself - so having Nathan there to share his expertise was a Godsend. I now owe him a very big dinner. Which I will pretend to forget about for several months until I can't dodge him any longer. That's just how I do.
I had a leak in my roof last fall that caused water to collect in my attic above my bedroom. I had my roof replaced back in November but my bedroom ceiling has a very ugly bow in it (and a pretty big water stain). This weekend Sara's step-brother Nathan came over and helped me cut out the offending drywall and replace it with some fresh.
We started cutting on the ceiling before I realized I should document the process. So here's my ceiling with half of the water damage cut out:
Here we are moments later with the entire area cut out - plus a little extra so we knew we'd have multiple studs to attach to"
Here's the new, freshly cut piece of drywall screwed into place:
And here it is taped and with the first coat of mud on it. Ta daaa:
I had read all about replacing ceiling drywall on the internerd but had never done anything like that myself - so having Nathan there to share his expertise was a Godsend. I now owe him a very big dinner. Which I will pretend to forget about for several months until I can't dodge him any longer. That's just how I do.
Labels: dear diary
Friday, July 20, 2007
this old heap
Sorry posting has been erratic this week. I've been spending my nights doing some renovations on Ft. Bachelor. Four or five years ago I got the bright idea to tile to kitchen and the entrance to my house. I didn't know anything about tiling so it pretty much sucked. There were gaps. There was unevenness. There were small animals trapped in the mortar under the tiles. Just a bad job all around. So this week I started the arduous task of taking up the tile and preparing the floor to have linoleum put back down.
It hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be, but it has been hard labor. And messy. I should have laid plastic down because there's a thin layer of ceramic dust on everything I own now. Here's a picture of the progress from two nights ago:
All the tile is up now, so all that's left to do is scrape up any mortar that didn't come up with the tiles. Oh, and carting off all the broken tiles.
This weekend sara's step-brother Nathan is gonna help me replace a bit of my ceiling that suffered some water-damage a while back. Look at me being all Bob Villa...
It hasn't been as difficult as I thought it would be, but it has been hard labor. And messy. I should have laid plastic down because there's a thin layer of ceramic dust on everything I own now. Here's a picture of the progress from two nights ago:
All the tile is up now, so all that's left to do is scrape up any mortar that didn't come up with the tiles. Oh, and carting off all the broken tiles.
This weekend sara's step-brother Nathan is gonna help me replace a bit of my ceiling that suffered some water-damage a while back. Look at me being all Bob Villa...
Labels: dear diary
Sunday, July 08, 2007
back to reality
Sorry for the lack of posting over the last week. The shop was closed from Wednesday on, so I've been on vacation and as a result spending less time at the computer. The last few days have been great, though.
July 4th was spent with Sara's family and a handful of strays. I slow cooked some spare ribs and made a homemade barbecue sauce (recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence). We also grilled some chicken and corn on the cob. After we ate everybody sat around and played music for a while. I can be seen holding a harmonica in some of the pictures, but my playing amounted to two notes over and over again.
We eventually headed to Nicholasville to watch some fireworks but due to a mishap we spent the night facing the wrong direction.
Seriously.
I spent the next two days bumming around town. I went to CD Central, the comic book store, and one of the greatest restaurants in Lexington:
Time off is the ginchiest.
July 4th was spent with Sara's family and a handful of strays. I slow cooked some spare ribs and made a homemade barbecue sauce (recipe courtesy of Tyler Florence). We also grilled some chicken and corn on the cob. After we ate everybody sat around and played music for a while. I can be seen holding a harmonica in some of the pictures, but my playing amounted to two notes over and over again.
We eventually headed to Nicholasville to watch some fireworks but due to a mishap we spent the night facing the wrong direction.
Seriously.
I spent the next two days bumming around town. I went to CD Central, the comic book store, and one of the greatest restaurants in Lexington:
Time off is the ginchiest.
Labels: dear diary
Monday, May 28, 2007
memorial day weekend
It started on Friday night at Shamrock's with Sara, ET, Vlad, Dirty, and Charley The Intern. I had pictures of ET and Sara too but they didn't approve any of them for posting...
The next day I headed to Maysville to watch Zach and Nicholas play baseball and then celebrate Nicholas' birthday:
Later that night ET, Dirty, Charley The Intern and I went to the Dame to see Sunday Valley play. It was the first time I'd seen them in their new three-piece incarnation. They were awesome. One of their best shows ever.
Finally, the next day, the Colonel family and I hosted a little Day-Before-Memorial-Day cookout at Fort Colonel. There were close to 30 folks there. It was a blast. There were burgers, brats, karaoke, and scaring small children with my beard:
Today, I just sat around, read comic books, and slept. I also watched about five hours of the Food Network. Good weekend. As a parting gift, here's a couple of videos of Sunday Valley from Saturday:
More pictures on my Flickr page.
The next day I headed to Maysville to watch Zach and Nicholas play baseball and then celebrate Nicholas' birthday:
Later that night ET, Dirty, Charley The Intern and I went to the Dame to see Sunday Valley play. It was the first time I'd seen them in their new three-piece incarnation. They were awesome. One of their best shows ever.
Finally, the next day, the Colonel family and I hosted a little Day-Before-Memorial-Day cookout at Fort Colonel. There were close to 30 folks there. It was a blast. There were burgers, brats, karaoke, and scaring small children with my beard:
Today, I just sat around, read comic books, and slept. I also watched about five hours of the Food Network. Good weekend. As a parting gift, here's a couple of videos of Sunday Valley from Saturday:
More pictures on my Flickr page.
Labels: dear diary
Monday, May 21, 2007
pictures from a weekend
This weekend was my dad's birthday. I spent Friday night and Saturday night in Lawrenceburg with my family helping him celebrate. Here's what it looked like. Click the pictures to make them bigger.
This weekend was also Sara's mom and Sam Handwhich's birthday (on the same day). Sam got a banjo. So last night we sat around and listened to him play music with Nathan. Sam was playing songs AFTER ONLY HAVING THE BANJO FOR ONE DAY. Sam is to musical instruments what I am to women. We both possess a level of understanding not available to most mortals.
This weekend was also Sara's mom and Sam Handwhich's birthday (on the same day). Sam got a banjo. So last night we sat around and listened to him play music with Nathan. Sam was playing songs AFTER ONLY HAVING THE BANJO FOR ONE DAY. Sam is to musical instruments what I am to women. We both possess a level of understanding not available to most mortals.
Labels: dear diary
Tuesday, May 15, 2007
why may rocks
For one thing, the new Avett Brothers album, Emotionalism, comes out today!
In addition to that, the Avett Brothers are playing the Southgate House in Newport on the 31st.
For another, the oversized, hardcover collection of Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba's Casanova comes out next Wednesday.
And finally on the 26th, Sunday Valley plays at the Dame!
The 26th is also my nephew Zach's birthday party, but the vast majority of you aren't invited, so don't get too excited.
In addition to that, the Avett Brothers are playing the Southgate House in Newport on the 31st.
For another, the oversized, hardcover collection of Matt Fraction and Gabriel Ba's Casanova comes out next Wednesday.
And finally on the 26th, Sunday Valley plays at the Dame!
The 26th is also my nephew Zach's birthday party, but the vast majority of you aren't invited, so don't get too excited.
Labels: dear diary, nerd, playlist
Friday, May 04, 2007
royal pain
The Queen of England is in Versailles today. If I see her I'm gonna explain to her the difference between a biscuit and a cookie. And I'm gonna point out that they don't need all those extra U's in their words. Idiots.
I'll tell her you said, "Hi."
I'll tell her you said, "Hi."
Labels: dear diary
perfect storm
There's a lot going on tomorrow.
First of all it's Cinco de Mayo, meaning every Mexican restaurant in town will be full of white people drinking Coronas and ordering Chimichangas with faux Mexican accents. Damn white people.
But if that weren't enough, tomorrow is also the Kentucky Derby, meaning preppy types all over the state will be celebrating the "three most exciting moments in sports history" by drinking mint juleps and spilling cocktail sauce on their khakis. Damn preppy types.
Aaand finally tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day. FCBD is usually scheduled to coincide with the release of big comic book movies (Spider-Man 3 opens tonight) and anticipates throngs of non-comic book readers, inspired by seeing super heroes on the big screen, flooding into comic book stores where they'll be greeted by a handful of free books offered by various publishers. In most cases it's just an opportunity for nerds to pick up some free books and stand around and sniff at the occasional "civilian-types" that walks into the shop. Damn nerds.
Have a nice weekend everybody!
First of all it's Cinco de Mayo, meaning every Mexican restaurant in town will be full of white people drinking Coronas and ordering Chimichangas with faux Mexican accents. Damn white people.
But if that weren't enough, tomorrow is also the Kentucky Derby, meaning preppy types all over the state will be celebrating the "three most exciting moments in sports history" by drinking mint juleps and spilling cocktail sauce on their khakis. Damn preppy types.
Aaand finally tomorrow is Free Comic Book Day. FCBD is usually scheduled to coincide with the release of big comic book movies (Spider-Man 3 opens tonight) and anticipates throngs of non-comic book readers, inspired by seeing super heroes on the big screen, flooding into comic book stores where they'll be greeted by a handful of free books offered by various publishers. In most cases it's just an opportunity for nerds to pick up some free books and stand around and sniff at the occasional "civilian-types" that walks into the shop. Damn nerds.
Have a nice weekend everybody!
Labels: dear diary, local
