1 comments Friday, December 21, 2007

Holiday decor around my house doesn't consist of much. There is only one small portion of my home you will find decorated in Christmas cheer. None of this wouldn't be possible if it wasn't for my mother.



The year I moved to Denver my mom went all out for my first December away. She went out and bought 12 days worth of gifts and sent one package each day starting on December 14th. Each of the days corresponded with the famous "12 Days of Christmas" song (the John Denver and the Muppet's version was the best). I remember opening a package containing a Turtle chocolate bar and a Dove soap bar (i.e. Turtle Doves). Every present was sent with great thought.

So as I think about this holiday season, and how I've been working 12 hour days. I think back on that year and am not just reminded of the gifts my mom sent, but of my mom herself. Then I think about how excited I am every year to see my family and realize as always, that my family is the true gift of Christmas.

Merry Christmas

1 comments Tuesday, December 4, 2007

Just a hobby I've picked up as of late. The video is to a new Thrice song called Open Water that I really love. I put this together with what little footage I had from the last time Peri and I were in Utah. Sorry for the poor video quality, it really does look much better on a TV screen.

1 comments Saturday, December 1, 2007

I know… I know… Three blogs in four days, that’s a little much. But this story is worth telling. My last post was about the excitement of arriving home to my Sports Illustrated. This story is about how my favorite Thursday activity would not come to fruition. I caution you with hilarity and just a bit of grossness, or maybe it’s the opposite.

Upon hearing my alarm go off, I did what most people do. Put the clothes I would be wearing that day into the dryer, so upon exiting the shower they would burn the flesh on my bones (I like!). After, I got a fresh new towel from my closet and entered the bathroom. I noticed that the toilet had drained and was empty of all water. So I flushed. To my dismay it did not drain. I apparently had a clog of some sort. I then attempted to plunge, and plunge I did. I plunged long enough to reward myself with blisters on my hands. At this point I noticed the water I was plunging out of the toilet and filling into the bath tub. Then the tub would empty, and would return to the toilet. Not fun. After repeating this awhile I realized that a plunger was not the right mechanical device to return my plumbing to its natural state. I then drove on to the Home Depot to find a solution. There, a very kind plumber helper dude suggested and auger and maybe some drain cleaner. Now let me explain this auger; there is a crank shaft connected to a metal type rope, with a claw type end. The point is to put the auger in though the toilet, send it down the pipes all while turning the crank, they are know also as snakes. After attempting to remove the blockage in this fashion for about 30 minutes, I gave up. I decided a plumber would be my only solution. I decided to take my chance on the shower as it seemed clean and the water was draining properly now. I was in and out in a flash with no incident. I dressed for work then entered the bathroom again.

*I will now define a term. The term I will define will be “stuff”. Stuff = filthy, sewage, and sludge. If you are still wondering what “stuff” is, please ask your mom. Now back to my story.*

Again, I was now entering the bathroom. To my astonishment and discontent, the tub had filled about half full with “stuff”. I panicked, I screamed, I even felt the spirit leave. I ran out of the bathroom and called my landlord instantly. I was told to call a plumber and he would fit the bill.

Upon arriving at work I talked to my superior to get approval to leave early as that is when the plumber would be available. He said yes. Later that day the plumber arrived and I told him the story. As he inspected my sewage system he noticed that the unit above mine was connected to my sewer main. Which meant the “stuff” in my tub was a result of the unit above flushing or bathtub draining. Yuck. It’s not as bad when it’s your own “stuff”. But when it’s the crazy, loud talking, Lion King Soundtrack blasting, narcoleptic neighbor it’s a whole new world (just ask Brev). After about an hour or so of the plumber plumbing, he hit the clog. He slowly pulled up the item that had officially ruined my Thursday ritual and to my astonishment it was non other than a pair of 35-36 waist bikini brief underwear that appeared to by of a leopard print design (I wasn’t about to inspect them closer). The man cleaned up his stuff disinfected my bathroom which took about thirty minutes. I then walked out to the plumbers van to pay the bill.

Just when I thought my night was as abnormal as could be my upstairs neighbor comes to the rescue. As he was also outside taking his trash out, he stops to ask me if the “stuff” had been resolved. Before a word was said, the plumber pulls out his trash bag and flashes the “stuff” soaked unmentionables out of the bag. I cannot explain nor make up what happens next. My neighbor, embarrassedly states and I quote “UUUMMMMM, I think those are mine… yeah those are mine”.

4 comments Thursday, November 29, 2007

The greatness of Thursdays is enormous. Beside the 3 days included in the weekend, Thursday is my most favorite day of the week and in one special Thursday in February it trumps all months. There are a various reasons I enjoy this day. A few of them are: The Office is on, an occasional NFL game is on, NBA on ESPN, and reruns of Intervention.


None of those reasons will even come close to what my Thursday is all about. My enjoyment of Thursdays comes from one reason... a piece of mail. If that piece of mail were to come on Monday, then yes, Mondays would be my favorite day of the week. There is more than just one reason I enjoy this piece of mail. It allows me to do so much more than just open it. I get to do things I normally wouldn’t do, things that would normally make me uncomfortable, or even vulnerable. I’m sure you are thinking its Maxim Magazine, or the Victoria Secret catalog. It could be National Geographic or those coupon adds for $.99 pastries from Safeway. Nope to all of those possibilities. This item is the one, the only, most greatest magazine of all time….. Sports Illustrated.


At 4:30 on ever Thursday night my plans are already made. I gently remove the magazine from the mail box. I then set it down neatly on my dining room table. Next, I turn on Spike TV with the hope that there will be machine gun fire for manly ambient noise. (Now this is the part I would not normally do, but given the manly surroundings I have made myself it is null and void.) I then pour a small amount of bubble bath into the tub and then yes, I turn on the faucet. Then I gently wrap my SI into a bath towel to protect its delicate surface, set it on the floor next to the tub as it fills. Once to the capacity of the tub is to my liking, I slowly guide myself into the tub as to not splash droplets of water onto my precious.


I generally read the whole entire thing with exceptions to the junk about girl sports. I finish up with Rick Reilly as his insight into the sporting spirit is astounding, plus it’s the last article of the magazine. When I feel I have successfully achieved my sports high, I gently return the delicate magazine back into its bath towel. Then with one final thing I would never do on any other day of the week, I give myself a very manly manicure.

5 comments Tuesday, November 27, 2007

I am currently in the process of maybe, possibly, could happen to be, in just a little while longer, be engaged to the most beautiful woman of all time. What I’m trying to figure out is how I got to this point. I’m going to list the reasons why I was going to be the second or third to last person to get married out of my group of friends. Ironically I can do no better than second. Please see my nerd proclamation below:

  • I once had an AMD 350 MHz, 512g Ram, 500mb hard drive computer with a VooDoo 3 video card and it was the fastest computer on the block.
  • I worked at Ultimate Electronics.
  • I played G.I. Joes with John and was jealous of his sweet collection.
  • I didn’t need up, up, down, down, left, right, left, right, B, A, B, A, start to beat Contra.
  • Belle from Disney’s Beauty and the Beast was/is a babe.
  • I was scared of Velociraptors till I was 16.
  • I’ve ran the Patriot Act on friends just for fun.
  • I do my own taxes
  • I’ve read all the Harry Potters.
  • I’ve read 90% of Isaac Asimov and Orson Scott Card.
  • I can quote Top Gun as if it were a primary song.
  • I cried in Armageddon.
  • Surround sound is a necessity not a want.
  • Any monitor under 19’ is unacceptable
  • Anything less than dual monitors is unacceptable
  • I’ve achieved level 31 in BrickBreaker
  • I played the clarinet
  • I’ve seen every episode of Star Trek TNG
  • I use a BlackBerry
  • I have 4 calculators and they all have names, so far Kyle gets the most use
  • Numbers make more sense than words
  • I work for a major finance company with over $98 billion in assets
  • Legal terms excite me
  • Zombies are the shizzle
  • I use the word shizzle
  • I love the old Transformers and new
  • I know the tax laws in New York
  • Halo is awesome, Quake at xMission is even better
  • I’ve read Stephan Hawking books
  • I know how to fly airplanes
  • I wear argyle sweaters
  • I’ve seen all the Aliens, Predator and Terminator movies
  • Widescreen makes me happy
  • My PC has the following programs on it:
      • Cubase SX3
      • Reason 4.0
      • Sony Vegas Pro 8
      • Adobe CS3
      • Azureus
      • Nero 8
      • Office 2007
      • iTunes
      • Call of Duty 4: Modern Warefare
      • Star Trek TNG screen saver (thanks Brev)
  • My Mac has the following programs on it:
      • Cubase SX3
      • Reason 4.0
      • Final Cut Pro 6
      • Adobe CS3
      • Azureus
      • Toast 8
      • Keynote
      • Adium
I’m sure most of you know that this is not even a scratch on the surface. I’m not questioning my nerdness; I’m questioning my future wife’s sanity.


Live long and prosper.