Thoughts from the end of the Alphabet

Twitter

2010-05-27T15:47:00.004-05:00

Anyone who is following on twitter knows I went on a very minor tweet rant the other day about Twitter and how people use it. It was all sparked by this radio personality that I follow on twitter who used to reply to tweets addressed to them (a phrase I call TweetBacking), but hasn't over the course of the last few weeks, and yet they still are promoting their Twitter feed by saying, "Follow me! Follow me on twitter." For some reason this REALLY aggravates me to no end. I love twitter. I love the fact that there is interaction among you and your "followers." That is what makes this a social medium. If you aren't going to participate in the social aspect of it, then go away. You are not nearly interesting enough for me to just follow you and have no interaction with you. Twitter was/is a way for people to get a chance to interact with people they may never otherwise would have. If you aren't social on Twitter, you are just someone using Twitter as a megaphone. Something that allows you to shout your thoughts/feelings/nonsense to the crowd, without hearing them respond. So if you are one of those Twitter users whose followers are 1,200+ and you follow less than 100 and you never tweetback, then you are an egotistical jack ass and have no idea how to use or reap the real benefits of being involved with a social media.

Weight Loss

2010-05-26T14:25:00.003-05:00

In my attempts to get below the 180 mark, I am now publishing my weight on my twitter feed every day. I came across this article yesterday and a lot of it made sense to me. No eating late, working out, weighing myself and publishing that weight. All very good motivational tools. So hopefully I will hit that goal of 180 and maybe even go further.

Photography Obsession #2

2010-01-18T09:12:00.014-05:00

We took a vacation in December to one of the most beautiful places I have ever visited, Turks and Caicos. It is truly an amazing place and this was our second time going there. During our visit there, I took close to 500 photos (in both RAW and jpg formats) after we got back, I edited those down to about to 225-250. Out of that group I pulled the RAW images of a select few and did some photoshop editing to them, these are what sifted out. I always say, the more shots I take, the better my chances are of coming up with a good one.

This shot (and the next 2) were all taken while we were eating lunch outside one afternoon. It was in a section of the resort called the Italian Village. This image is color adjusted and cropped more horizontal from the original.

I think sometimes when you make a color photo black and white and leave just a touch of color it can look cheesy, I have seen a lot of wedding photos done that way where the flowers are left in color (especially when the color is like peach or something) I don't think this photo is cheesy like that. I love the orange of the glasses AND that they draw you into them to look for details in the photo you might not see otherwise.

This is the 3rd shot taken at the same lunch (how lucky is that, I am glad it took forever for us to get our order). I looked straight up behind me and this is what I saw, the sun back lighting this tower, the top part of the picture is the umbrella we were sitting under waiting for our food. I did very little to this one in photoshop, it is very much like the original. I love all of the lines and angles in this photo and it is AMAZING that the sky has the ability to be so blue.

This one I call "dream life." Sitting on a beach, beer in my hand and not a worry in the world. I photoshopped the "clutter" out of the photo, the buoys, the people, the boats, and just left it with me, the water, the sun and a beer.

Kite flying is hard. This is a shot of Owen doing something we all have done . . . try to get a kite in the air. I think it is such a good shot, cause of the lighting, and motion, you can tell he is trying so hard to get it going.

Conch Shells . . . this guy had "caught" (if that really is the right term) these conch, cleaned them out on his boat, and then set them on shore to sell. I actually took this picture standing in the ocean and looking back onto the beach. In photoshop I enhanced the pinks and purples.

Really didn't do too much to this photo from the original, just cropped it down some. Renea and Owen were hanging out in the ocean when Owen decided to give his mother a kiss. I just think it is a sweet pic.

I have see a lot of beach pictures where the sun is never seen, and I wanted to take one that incorporated the sun as well, I think it adds that feeling of "hotness" even though it really was very pleasant the whole time we were there. The water is really that color, it is gorgeous!

Sunset. It really it is as simple as that.

One of my favorites. Just my son Owen and the water at dusk. I love the pastel -ly feeling of this picture. I did some photoshop clean-up where I took buoys out of the water, but that was about it.

Photography Obsession #1 - Rails to Trails

2009-10-28T10:12:00.014-05:00

Ok, so I am going to kick the logo word marks project to the curb for now (it had been since May after all and there has been little clamoring to continue it, and by little I mean none) so I thought I would post some photos (of my new obsession). I got a new Nikon D90 camera back in the spring and have been having a great time playing with it. I definitely need some more time working with it and learning about it, but here are some of the results.

This was a bike trip that Owen and I took on the Rails to Trails in Parkersburg. It was a beautiful day, the weather was cooler and the trail was amazing and peaceful. There were even some remnants of the Railroad from days gone by.

Here is Owen taking a rest (which he did a lot of):

Train signal. I love the shadowing on this one and how the light hits it.

Same signal but 2 different angles:

I was so proud of myself for finding this. It was a concrete marker for the railway and was slightly askew. I don't think that the "W" means West cause we were riding East, but who knows:

I am happy with the composition of this image, I like that it is black and white, I just wish I had some more contrast, and if I had all day to wait for the lighting to be right I think there would have been . . . eventually

Cool Tree:

Ok, so there is first of a series and I will share more photos in the coming weeks, I promise!!

Creativity-Project 3

2009-05-08T08:27:00.003-05:00

Ok, this was a tough one. Heidelberg just changed their logo and went to something new and they added a new wordmark that contains, what possibly could be, the longest mascot name ever. SO I took some liberties with this one (I can, it is MY project afterall) and just included their nickname (changed back to what they used to be called). If I had more time I would have figured out how to incorporate "Heidelberg" in the logo but that could have taken all day.

Creativity-Project 2

2009-05-05T11:00:00.004-05:00

So here is the Capital University Crusaders. As far as I can tell, they have no "official" wordmark, believe me I did some research trying to find anything that looked like they knew what they were doing. There is some debate over what is there actual logo, either the one displayed above or a version that has the one displayed above but on a shield with swords. Anyway, I present to you the Capital Crusaders.

Creativity-Project 1

2009-05-05T08:42:00.004-05:00

So one of my friends, Christina, decided to do a "project-a-day" to help her be more creative and I thought that was a great idea, so I decided to play off of her project a little with one of my own. What I decided to do is start with the OAC Conference and create wordmarks to go with their athletic logos. I started with Baldwin-Wallace and quickly realized that I have to put a time-limit on these or I could spend days with each one. I don't know if this will be daily, but I will work my way through the conference.

Winding Down and Up

2009-05-01T20:31:00.003-05:00

ahhh take a deep breath and enjoy the end of the semester. Another school year gone by, another set of graduates getting ready to head out into the "real world." Things have been freaky busy these past few weeks, more freelance, finishing up my teaching for the semester, starting golf league . . . you think it would slow down, but something else pops up. For some reason I think that all of these things just 'happen' to me, but I am now starting to think that I seek out busy and must need it, otherwise what would I do?

Draft Status

2009-04-22T22:58:00.002-05:00

Owen asked tonight if it was football season as I had ESPN on the TV and they had some of their draft coverage on. Renea told him no, but this weekend was the NFL Draft. Owen asked, "What is the draft?"

Renea wisely looked at me and said, "You want to take this one?"

So I did my best to explain to Owen that players that were in college, like Pat White, at West Virginia, could be picked by professional sports teams like the Steelers. I told him each team takes their turn in picking players from college.

Owen looked at me and said, "Daddy, you know what? The Steelers could pick you to be on their team."

I said, "Really? Why do you say that?"

"Cause Daddy, you are in college. You could get picked by the Steelers."

He might not know exactly what I do, but he does know that I work at a college.

New workout

2009-04-20T20:12:00.003-05:00

You might have seen the infomercial, if you happen to have cable on at 7 a.m. or any station at 3 a.m., it is a program called P90X. It is supposed to be a program that you do at home, following the DVDs and working along with them. I ordered the DVDs a few weeks ago (off of ebay) and I converted them all to be played on my iPod, so now I can do the videos at the gym rather than home. I have already watched the first DVD to get a feel for what I am getting into and it looks very intense and almost a little scary. I will have to plan a little extra time in the mornings to get through the entire workout as the first one seems like it will take 1:15. I will update on the progress made and we will see how this will all shake out. I am not sure what day I am going to start. This week is busy and I would have rather started on a Monday. Part of me wantes to take a week off and come back on Monday ready to go, but another part of me wants to make sure not to let what I have worked for up to this point waste away by not working out. I imagine that by tomorrow morning I will have made a decision . . . and since my workout bag is already packed . . . that decision seems to have been made.

T-Ballin'

2009-04-19T20:41:00.003-05:00

Owen's first t-ball game was yesterday and it was a lot of fun. Kids enjoying the game of baseball (for the first 2 of 3 innings and maybe for the last time in their lives.) No score is kept, and each time a team is at bat, all the players get to hit, also all players play the field. I coached 1st base and helped guide the kids around the bases, I also helped with the right side of the infield, guiding wayward fielders and showing them where to get the outs. Owen did well hitting. I thought this was all about hitting off a tee, but they actually throw the kids 3 pitches (from a coach) and then if he/she doesn't hit it, then they put the ball on the tee. Out of Owen's three times up he hit the ball from the pitcher (coach) twice and only on the last time did he have to hit off the tee. In the field, it was a different story. He was scared of the ball when hit in his direction, so we have to work a little on the fielding skills, and once he and another player were fighting over a grounder. I enjoyed it. It did last long for me as well as them. I had the first basemen of the opposing team ask me 8 times, in the second inning, if the game was over yet. These kids have a very short attention span and if things aren't moving, they are losing interest. No one got hurt and a good time was had by all, you can't ask for any more than that.

Perfection

2009-04-15T19:36:00.003-05:00

I consider myself a bit of a fan of advertising and marketing. I pay attention to commercials, tag lines and logos and I am extremely interested in how companies position and market themselves. To steal a line from "PTI," how companies "protect the shield" so to speak. Meaning how they present and defend their brand.

I try to keep up-to-date on the latest in advertising and in doing so I ran across this ad. Very rarely do you find a commercial that is effective, humorous, and does a good job of branding. This one does it all.

Thank you Easter Bunny! Bock Bock

2009-04-12T17:05:00.002-05:00

I already linked to this commercial on my twitter, but thought I would do it again here for the twitterless.

Quick story from church today. I was explaining to Owen about communion and I said, "When Pastor gives us the bread and says 'this is the body of Christ,' he is talking about Jesus." Owen said, "Cheese its?"

"No, Jesus."

"Cheese its?"

"Jesus!"

"Oh I get it now, Jesus."

I guess because of the bread he had snacking on his mind.

Bock! Bock!

Simple dinner

2009-04-10T21:50:00.002-05:00

I have been craving something off the grill all week and while I was sitting at work today I was trying to come up with something to make and then it hit me, Shishkabobs. I went to the grocery store after work and picked up beef, onions, green peppers, mushrooms, asparagus, zucchini, and redskin potatoes. All I did was put some olive oil, salt, pepper and Worcester sauce on the beef, and vegetable oil, salt and pepper on the veggies. Placed them all on the grill and cooked away. So simple. We dumped everything in a big bowl when done and then you just scooped out what you wanted. It was delicious. So simple but so, so good.

Love/Hate relationship

2009-04-08T22:21:00.003-05:00

We have a few really big projects that we work on each year, and one of them is our alumni magazine. Full color, 34+ pages, and over 20,000 copies mailed out. When it comes down to the last couple of days it gets a little crazy and I sometimes second guess the decisions I have made as far as color choices and where things are laid out. I have come to realize that most of the time these moments of irrationality come from working on it too long. Staring at the pages for hours on end trying to come up with the right positioning. Then all that changes when I print out one of the last copies for us to review, and suddenly the changes I was fretting over don't seem so large, and I actually like what I see. I have to admit, it is a love/hate/love relationship when I hit these last few days before sending it off to the printer. There are only a few more changes (I hope) and then we can send this to bed and can move onto the next relationship, er, I mean job.

da Weather

2009-04-07T22:05:00.002-05:00

Ok, it is April and there is snow on the ground. This is not good. Where is the spring? Where is the warm weather? I know a lot of people complain about the cold and the snow, but I HATE it, and hate is a soft word, my feelings toward snow and cold weather is 10x harsher than that. I am miserable in the winter. Miserable in the snow. I complain about it all the time and curse Mother Nature via twitter. Can we catch a break? Get a little warm weather and let it gradually get warmer as the spring progresses? I would prefer that over these "teases" we get with a day being 65-70º and then it goes down to 30º and snow flurries. I am tired of it. Please let's just move on. Obviously the cursing hasn't worked, so I am not begging and groveling. Let's get to the spring and warm weather.

Friendship

2009-04-06T20:22:00.004-05:00

I ran into an old friend Saturday night at Curt and Jen's reception. It was the first time I had seen Jeff since his wedding reception about 10 years ago. I was in Jeff's wedding as an usher, and you would have thought that we would have stayed in contact over the years, but that was not the case.

What happened? It actually is pretty simple. Jeff came to me at about 3am and 4 days before he was to be married, in tears and having a sever case of cold feet. He talked about not wanting to get married and that he wasn't sure he was making the right decision. I agreed. He hadn't known his fiance that long, and rushed things. Hell, I had only met her once before and we lived in the same town. I suggested that if he really felt like he was making a mistake that he could call off the wedding. He wouldn't have to break it off completely with his fiance (I can't even remember her name) but they could postpone the wedding, no one would care, they just wanted Jeff to be happy. He left my place still not sure what he was going to do, but it seemed to help him that we talked out his options.

I still hadn't heard from Jeff a day later and I was concerned about him and his state of mind. he had no cell phone, so I emailed him and asked him if he thought more about what we had discussed and where his head was. Well his fiance read the email intended for Jeff and shot one back to me telling me to mind my own business and worry about by own marriage and that if I didn't want them to get married then I shouldn't be in the wedding.

Well last time I checked, Jeff came to me, I didn't seek him out and try to talk him out of marrying her. He asked ME for the advice and I was just following up with him. I didn't write her back and just let it go. I went to the wedding and did the whole "smile and wave" thing. At the end of his wedding reception I told Jeff that all I ever wanted for him was to be happy, and I hoped that he was.

That is the last time I talked to him until Saturday. I ran into him walking into the Brewery, and I was the bigger man, I shook his hand, told him it was good to see him and moved on. I don't hold a grudge with how both Jeff and his wife treated me, nor will I apologize for giving advice that was asked for. Not a word from him in 10+ years. I think it is pretty clear where he stands on all of this, he obviously chose his wife over me, and I am ok with that.

If he would like to fix the friendship, all he has to do is apologize. Apologize for letting me dangle in the wind. Apologize for letting everyone think I was not behind a wedding that he himself was concerned about just 4 days before. Apologize for treating a friend that had been by his side, through the ups and downs for the 7 previous years, like a stranger. Honestly, I have moved on, forgotten about it and moved on. I hold no hard feelings although the last sentence my sound different.

So Jeff, if you ever run across this blog, and you would like to fix our friendship, it is an easy fix. If it is never fixed, that is ok too. I have had plenty of time to live without.

Easy as riding a bike

2009-04-05T21:08:00.002-05:00

So today was the day for Owen. One of those steps you take as a young boy that moves you closer to being a "big" boy. Today we took the training wheels off (literally) and learned to ride a bike. This morning in church Pastor Steve had talked about learning to ride a bike, and how it wasn't easy, there are falls and scrapes and cuts and very rarely do you learn to ride without "suffering" some of the pitfalls of riding a bike. (BTW he was comparing this to hearing the whole Passion story and not just the celebratory parts that come with Palm Sunday and Easter). I was hoping Owen wasn't paying much attention to the children's sermon as he knew we were going out later to ride.

So we got Owen all ready. Knee pads? Check. Elbow pads? Check. Helmet? Check. Backpack full of more medical supplies than a small clinic? Check. We went to a elementary school that had a large flat play area that was paved and we thought this would be a good place to start. We got the bike out of the car and Owen climbed aboard. He was a little wobbly at first, but we had lowered his seat so he was able to get his feet down quickly as he wobbled right or left. I was the one holding Owen and keeping him balancing and Renea was camera girl manning the video camera.

I tried holding onto the back only, and he didn't like that, so I moved one hand on the seat and one on the handle bars. A few wobbles and he was grabbing my arm. I told him not to grab my arm as he would pull us both over. So we did about 3-4 runs where we started out with me holding him up, letting go and him going about 10 feet before putting his feet on the ground. Then we did a run where I let go he peddled and went 20-30 feet (pretty fast, realizing the faster he went, the easier it was to stay up) and he forgot how to use his breaks and pulled a Fred Flintstone and put his feet on the ground to stop. It was that easy. He picked it up so fast and with hardly any major crashes. We spent time on making a turn and learning how to get started, but as far as the actual riding and moving forward on the bike with no training wheels he has it.

Obviously he isn't going out tomorrow and riding in the Tour de France, but it certainly didn't come with the traumatic episodes that I think Renea and I were planning for. The wheels are off!

Congrats to Curt and Jen

2009-04-04T22:50:00.002-05:00

My college buddy Curt and his wife Jen both got married for the second time today. Jen is the nicest person and I am happy for the both of them. We went to their reception tonight and had a good time. They spared us all of the formalities of a first wedding by just having family and friends to the wedding and inviting close friends to the reception. If you are going to get married again that is the way to do it. Small and informal.

Facebook Posts

2009-04-03T21:57:00.001-05:00

"Blanky Blank Blankerson is hanging with my grandparents, cousins, and the rest of the family. Life could not be better. The saying of "Family is everything", truly does ring true. The weekend keeps getting better and better. Love you all."

This is a status post by a "friend" on facebook. I read this post and I had an urge to comment "Screw You!" Why is that? Why the hate? I am not a hateful person. I consider myself a pretty nice guy, but posts like these on facebook aggravate me but I am not certain why. Maybe it was the day, maybe I just pulled a Daniel Powter and had a bad day? I dunno. I love my family. I agree with that statement wholeheartedly, so that isn't it. I guess it is just the proclimation on facebook that grates me. The outloud cyber shouting of this statement I think is what it is. The sharing of this with all of your "friends" on facebook, and the proclimation at the end that "Love you all." Really? Do you really "love" me? I mean we went to high school together and were fringe friends even back then and now you tell me that you "love" me? I think you might be moving a little too fast for me lady I like my status updates light, funny, sometimes serious and informative, but this is just irritating. Maybe that makes me a bad person? But I have a feeling she will forgive me . . . after all she does love me.

Had a great lunch today too!

T-Ball

2009-04-02T21:21:00.003-05:00

So T-ball officially started tonight. Some things I took away from the first practice.

My biggest fear as a parent, especially for this parent, is that your kid will be the worst one. Owen is not the worst player, far from it. Out of 12 he is definitely in the top 6.
I signed up to be an "assistant" and waited for my marching orders from the coach/coaches. There were none, so I stood there doing everything in my power to NOT take control of the entire practice . . . firing coaches, yelling at kids, getting them on the line and running wind sprints . . . then I thought I could suggest taking half of the kids and working with them fielding grounders and the "coaches" could let the other half hit off the tee. So I made the suggestion, worked with half the kids, then rotated with the other coaches and worked with the other half.
Kids love mud. A little mud in the middle of the field . . . every kid walked through it multiple times and all the shoes were caked with it at the end of practice.
I was going to post earlier in the day that the over/under for kids injured and/or crying sometime during the practice would be 3. 3 it was. PUSH.
Owen is like his dad, very into the uniform. Actually, secretly, I was hoping we got hats tonight and they were cool, but we got no hats and I am sure they will suck.

Damn it

2009-04-01T21:55:00.002-05:00

I missed a day. Well there goes the streak. I had a nice little bloggin streak goin on to only have it interrupted by my Tuesday. My Tuesdays suck. They are long, involved, and tiresome. I workout in the morning, work all day, attempt to get my class prep done between work and class at 7, and then class from 7-10. Makes for a long day and does not leave much time to blog.

New show that I am loving is trust me on TNT. It is about an ad agency in Chicago. This is the world I always wished I lived in. It is fascinating to me to get a "behind the scenes" look at the world of an ad agency.
Logo Update: Still no word from the client.
Weight Update: Now down a solid 23 lbs.
Starting a new blogging streak today.

finally!

2009-03-30T22:35:00.004-05:00

I have had this sweatshirt on my mind for a long time. I have been checking and checking NFL.com for what seems like years, waiting for the price to come down. The retail price, $75, and I am not paying $75 for a sweatshirt. So while I was doing my normal "stalking" of the sweatshirt, I came across a 30% off sale on NFL.com. I could now get the sweatshirt for about $20 off. Now it becomes reasonable. I placed the order last week and today my sweatshirt came. It is very comfortable (still not worth $75) and much darker than the picture indicates, but I could see why it was priced so high. Of course now that I have the sweatshirt, it guarantees that the weather will be in the 70s very soon.

Strep Throat

2009-03-29T15:34:00.004-05:00

Owen has strep throat. To find this out we had to spend 2+ hours at the physicians care office. I am not a usual germ-a-phobe (I think Renea has made me that way) but the whole time we were there it gave me the willies thinking about all of the sickness floating around. When we finally got the call to move from one waiting area to the next waiting area I decided that it would be best to pass the time with a little game I like to call Latex Glove Balloon. Owen really enjoyed this, as did I. Renea, not so much.

Renea usually gets a little aggravated with me in Dr. offices. I have a tendency to play with the Dr. things, never hurting anything just to help pass the time and to lighten mood. Renea always thinks we are going to get into trouble. As Owen and I were passing the latex glove balloon Renea gave Owen and I a dirty look, so I had to bounce the balloon off her face. She never saw it coming and it gave all three of us a big laugh.

There are laugh out loud moments when you have kids, and it is true that they will say some of the darndest things. Owen said something today that reminded me of something his uncle Adam would have said about that same age. He found a dollar I had laid on the table yesterday. I was in our bedroom upstairs and he came up and said, "Dad, can I have this dollar I found?" "No." I said. Then in a sad little voice, his acting chops emerged. "But Dad, it will make my throat feel better." What a player.

Streak is alive

2009-03-28T18:09:00.003-05:00

A whole week with posts. Not even in the hayday of blogging did I complete a feat like this. Let's see if I can keep it going. Watch out Cal Ripkin!

Owen had swim lessons today. His teacher has been working with him on his freestyle and he is coming along well. They were working on his breathing and she was asking him to swim to the wall, then all of a sudden he broke out a breaststroke that I hadn't ever seen him swim before. They hadn't even worked on that in class. Needless to say his kick was close to flawless. Which, if you know anything about swimming, the breaststroke kick is the hardest for kids to get (unless he is a natural) cause they want to do a scissors kick. It must be in his genes cause I was a pretty good breaststroker in my day. I was floored.
Before class Owen was sluggish before lessons and his throat was a little red. We asked him if he wanted to go to swimming and he said he did, so we went. Afterward Renea and I were going to Subway to get something to eat when Owen said his stomach hurt. Luckily Renea had the foresight to take home outside . . . where he puked in the parking lot. Crisis semi-diverted.
While sick today, Owen has watched Garfield, Beverly Hills Chihuahua, Bolt and now Star Wars. Thank god for the NCAA tournament.
Took Lucie (black lab) for a walk today (3.5 miles). I swear that dog is nearly impossible to wear out.
While blogging, just witnessed our cat Ziggy attempting to roll around on the bed and threw himself off the side and fell off. Of course he tried to fake like that was what he was trying to do.

Guilty Pleasure

2009-03-26T21:52:00.005-05:00

Love my Sirius radio. Love the fact that I can listen online (at least until my subscription is up in December), and a couple of months ago I ran across Cosmo Radio, sponsored by Cosmo magazine and specifically the morning show Wake Up with Taylor. Taylor is a 26 year old female living in New York and she has 2 co-hosts sitting in with her, Victoria and Kenny. Now typically I like my talk radio more so than music in the mornings so I think this is one of the reasons I started listening. I know, I know, it is Cosmo and it's for girls. See that is where you are wrong. They definitely cater to the female demographic, but it is more of a "relationship" show that also has some pop culture discussions as well. Now there have been plenty of times where I have turned the channel when they discuss getting pedicures or shoe shopping, but for the most part I find them pretty entertaining and the male perspective provided by Kenny mirrors my thoughts most of the time. It is good entertainment and I find myself cracking up at least once a morning. Give them a try, it may not seem like the "manly" thing to do, but it is good radio.

A new low

2009-03-26T08:00:00.003-05:00

Excuse #7,823 why I hadn't kept up with the blog:

Since the end of the summer when I was at my heaviest weight I have been ratcheting up the workouts, trying to eat more healthy and finally lose some weight. Today I was at my lightest down 22.5 pounds. What has helped? The book and program behind Cheat to Lose and also I really think by adding swimming 3 days a week to my workout. I was stuck at one weight for a long time after the first 15. Since then it has been a slow going, but I think the swimming has kick started things. If I use the weight I am right now and set a new goal, 10lbs would be it, although I would prefer 15. HA

Playing Catch-Up

2009-03-25T20:26:00.002-05:00

One of the simple little perks in life is the DVR (covered before as one of the best inventions ever), and one of the things that Renea and I do with the DVR and our favorite show LOST is that we record it, and then start to watch it about half-way through the live broadcast in hopes that we don't catch up to the actual broadcast. It is like watching the show in the same amount of time (9:00 -10:00), but never having to sit through the commercials. I am not sure what makes this fun, the thrill of maybe getting away with something, or just trying to play a mini game of "keeping the triangle behind the green line." Either way it is a fun little game that adds to watching our favorite show.

Now to clear up some confusion of the earlier post:

No, the drawing is not what my student came up with as a logo, it is just an example of what the client thought her logo looked like (it didn't look anything like that)
We haven't given new designs to the client, so there are no updates.

Brutally Honest

2009-03-24T19:49:00.003-05:00

So I have a student designer working on a logo for a summer camp/thing. The camp is for kids in high school so we thought it would be good to create a "fun" looking logo that would appeal to the high school kid. Well the initial draft was sent to the client and was returned with the comments that the logo didn't look classy enough and needed to appeal to 15-16 year-olds (which is tough to do . . . classy but appealing to that age group). So I emailed the client to dig a little deeper, to find out what exactly they didn't like about the initial attempt by my student. This usually helps to get a little closer to exactly what the client wants . . . well, the response was:

"To be blunt ...They didn't look classy. They looked very elementary - like they were drawn by an 8 year old in about 10 minutes."

Well I am glad she didn't sugar coat it. I appreciate her honesty, but again, not much to go on. Did she hate the font? Did she hate the sun with the logo? Did she hate the colors?

This is the problem I have with people critiquing work. Give me specifics. Not just, "I don't like it." or "I don't like that color." Why don't you like it? Why don't you like the color? You have to have reasons to not like it, just as we had reasons to design it that way.

So currently we are in the process of giving her just "classy" and we will see where this leads us.

I will keep all three of you reading this blog updated. I am sure you will be on pins and needles.

Free Stuff

2009-03-23T07:39:00.003-05:00

I love when you stumble upon free things. One of the things I got this morning was music and I didn't even download it illegally (because downloading music illegally is morally WRONG and is something I would never, ever do).

Barenaked Ladies is one of my favorite bands and recently their lead singer Steven Page, got into a little trouble and then quit the band. Well they played a concert at Universal Studios a few weeks ago (a free concert), their first as a foursome and put the whole concert up for download on their site.

Just a little bonus this morning. Gotta love the free stuff.

This is hard work

2009-03-22T08:36:00.004-05:00

Ok, so I am feeling guilty about this dead blog that keeps popping up in the back of my mind. One reason is my Aunt Jan. Apparently the only person who has missed the continuous updates that I used to post. Every time I see her she gives it to me about not having a new post. "Someone hasn't updated their blog since October." I told her to follow me on twitter. She didn't like that suggestion too much. See she likes the old blog days, when I had time to write and something to say. I have a lot to say, but it just doesn't seem to make it here to the blog. I have the podcast, the facebook, the twitter and this blog. The blog, unfortunately is last. I like writing, I like updating, but the activity of actually doing it is keeping me from keeping it updated. I think it might have to be with my standards for the blog. I somehow feel like I need to write long winded stories to justify a blog post, when in actuality it could be a couple of lines. So I need to drop that mentality and just blog already! Lately (and I mean in the past year and past 4 blog posts) it seems like I write more about me NOT posting something that actually posting anything. Ok, so enough. From the magic show we saw last night at Marietta High School.

We took Owen to the magic show last night. It was a good time, although it lasted waaaay too long (2+ hours). Owen seemed to enjoy the 90 minutes, then he kept asking, "Is it over?"
Two of the three magicians were "ok." One was very good. Obviously we aren't talking big Vegas production. But it was entertaining.
Out of the three of them, the host may have been the worst of the three. He had one assistant who had to be in her late 80's (no I am not exaggerating) and the other looked so unenthusiastic you would have thought she was doing community service.
The good magician, I believe his name was David Kaplin (and a quick Google search confirms that), was really talented, funny and worth seeing. I could have watched him all night.
Owen tried to volunteer every time one of the magicians requested a volunteer, but never got picked. The kid is such a ham.
On our way home, Owen called his Me-Maw to tell her about the show. In describing what he liked best, he said he like "When they cut a little boy's head off." Obviously no kids heads were cut off, but it is funny he remembered the illusion that way.

Myself the Poet (circa 1988)

2008-10-18T21:09:00.002-05:00

My dad found this somewhere and brought it over to me a few weeks ago. I really don't want to hold onto the paper version of this so I thought I would post it here. I don't really remember writing it or what it was about, but the date on it 2/12/88, Period Seven.

THE GAME

The shadows of the past raced through his mind
He remembered when he once tossed a ball on this floor
He remembered the noise the ball made as it trickled through the net
He remembered how his career was shipwrecked on this floor
He always was driving to do his best
His spirit was always strong, he would never give in
He always had that winning sparkle in his eyes
His hustle trumpeted every time he walked on the floor
He loved the game like it was a dear friend
But his dear friend scorned him into tireless games
To where he didn't get anymore enjoyment from his friend
This turmoil was ended when he sought a new friend

Trying to get back into the swing of things, but I am making no promises

2008-10-17T21:01:00.002-05:00

Ok, so I may be addicted to a little site you may heard of . . . facebook. Yes I am in my 30's and yes I know that many people (including my bro Adam) think that it is a total waste of time, but regardless it has hooked me.

The thing is, now that I am involved, is that I don't fully understand why this is so popular with college and high school kids. The site is great for reconnecting with old friends, ones from high school and college, but for kids already in high school and college, I am not sure I see what the attraction is. They see most of their friends on a daily basis and with cell phones and text messages they should be able to stay in contact with each other, so there should be no need to "facebook."

For me and my friends, who live hundreds and thousands of miles apart, and in some cases haven't talked in . . . oh lets say about 20 years, it provides a place to reconnect, see photos of our grown-up friends and their families, and get updates and for me in particular schedule our 20th high school reunion.

Yea I spend more time on there than I should . . . I am "Johnny Facebook" according to Adam and I do have some friends that I have never talked to, but all-in-all it has been fun. It has been nice to travel back in time a little and chat with old friends and teammates.

Weird Headline

2008-07-01T14:54:00.004-05:00

Saw this today on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. It made struck me funny.

I know, I know, people were killed and it is overall a sad story. Lives were changed and broken, but still the people at the PP-G have to do better at headline writing. When I saw this I thought of Yosemite Sam and his wife getting into it. And really, didn't the marriage end way before the "shootout?" I doubt that the shooting was the actual end of the marriage. It ended lives, but not the marriage.

Shoveling Snow Theories

2008-03-10T09:34:00.004-05:00

I have a theory when it comes to shoveling snow.

It goes something like this: When you are trying to get a car removed, or create a path to walk (when the snow is over a foot). Shoveling snow is fine. When it comes to a few inches shoveling snow is NOT and I repeat NOT necessary and in fact can be very dangerous. Let me explain.

When you shovel snow that is only a few inches deep, what you have done is remove the "traction" you get when you walk (like down steps or down driveways). This especially happens when you first get freezing rain or if you know you have ice under the snow. Ever slipped in a parking lot where they have removed the snow. This is what has happened. When you remove the snow you actually make it easier to create a nice sheet of ice for someone (mainly me) to fall down on. All traction is lost and people can die.

So anyway I have attempted to explain this theory for years to Renea. "Don't sweep or shovel the snow. It will just make it more slippery." and over the oh, let's say 12 years, she has ignored me, and this past weekend it almost cost me my life.

Renea mentions that the back steps are icy. I don't ask if she has cleared them off, knowing that she doesn't subscribe to my shoveling theory and has probably cleared them off anyway (which is the reason WHY they are icy). I head out the back steps to the car, knowing that they are icy, but not expecting miniature ice rinks on each step. I hit the first step and that is the last step I hit with a full foot. The next 9 steps only pieces of my boot hit and bounce off the steps as my arms are flailing about trying to keep me upright and hanging onto the railings. I look like Bambi on ice as I hit the concrete last step and amazingly I am upright. I am sore today and my back felt like giving out all day, but I survived.

Now I am convinced that Renea is trying to kill me. It is a slow painful way she is attempting to do it, but she is doing it. Trying to slowly drive me crazy by not listening to the shovel theory and also by trying to make me crack open my melon on some large ice steps as I leave the house . . . I forgot to mention that her and Owen came out the front of the house huh. Yea she is trying to kill me.

Swim’min

2008-02-27T13:23:00.004-05:00

So it is March already. You know what that means!!!! Madness in a few weeks.

I started swimming again in an excercise-type manner and now I know why I waited so long in starting up again after almost 15 years of not swimming in any sort of exercise way. I got 1,050 yards in in about 30 minutes last Tuesday. My arms felt like two 30 pound weights were attached to them. I didn't sprint (or even think about it). My whole goal was to get 1,000 in (or 40 laps) and I hoped to do it in 30 minutes, which I did. This is going to take some time to build back some stamina and get back into some sort of swimming shape. Last Thursday was easier and even this Tuesday was a little easier as I got 1,200 (48 laps) done in 30 minutes.

Usually there are at least 2 other people there, none of which I know, so the fact that the pool isn't crowded makes it easier to feel relaxed about the situation. I know it is stupid to worry about what other people think of your tired and flailing freestyle, but for some reason it makes me a little self conscience, but I am slowing getting over that aspect realizing that no one is even paying attention to me. I know I am not paying attention to anyone else, I am too damn tired to be looking around the pool. I am just trying to breathe.

Oscar shoud wear Phone Fingers

2008-02-25T20:28:00.002-05:00

Phone Fingers
My friend Tim keyed me into one of the most bizzare products ever for your iPhone. If you EVER see someone wearing these while using their phone, you have my permission to take a shovel and smack them up-side the head. I am not sure if I am more disturbed by the product or by the photo gallery on their web site. Good news is . . . no more messy fingerprints at the crime site.

Oscars Smoscars
So the Oscars were on last night. Yea hardly even watched them (neither did anyone else). When you haven't seen any of the films and never will (I am talking to you Atonement and There Will Be Blood) and haven't even seen the movies of the people nominated for Best Actor and Actress, you don't have a lot to watch for. So I watched (10 minutes) for John Stewart and even he couldn't do anything to make me interested, so I moved on to . . .

Dexter
Oooooh. Now this is a show that I could watch. It lives on Showtime and has set up duplicate residency on CBS (kinda like Rich Fraudriguez). For those of you who are pay-cableless, you might want to give it a try, although I will warn you . . . it is pretty graphic. It is about a CSI-type lab guy that investigates serial murders in Miami, but the twist is is that Dexter is a serial killer himself. For example, last night there was a guy who killed a kid when he was drunk driving and for some reason he was released on some technicality and Dexter did some research on him and found that he had done this numerous times before, so he took justice in his own hands and murdered him. So as you can see it isn't like he kills people just to do it, he justifies it to himself that he is 'helping' society by getting rid of the people no one will miss that have done bad things. I will keep watching, as long as I can remember it is on Sundays at 10, which reminds me I need do the DVR now.

Sleeping, Tipping and the College Perspective

2008-02-21T10:27:00.007-05:00

Tipping
Adam over at his blog is trying to set some sort of record for comments at the end of his blog and instead of giving in and feeding the ego I thought I would just write my comments here and he can come over here to my blog to read them (although you need to look at his blog as it contains a cute video of my nephew Drew).

Tipping at curbside pick-up? Do you or don't you. First if I have to walk in (a la Bob Evans and pick up my food. Definitely no tipping. They didn't do anything except put my food in a bag. No tip for that. If the person has to come out to my car and they are fast about it, I will tip but usually just a 10%, I mean all they did was walk it to the car. The person getting the tip here should be the dude who cooked it. To save that awkward moment when a server is trying to rob you of more money for a tip I pay with the debit card, almost always. Just to save myself from having to get those $4 in change back only to leave $3 smackers.

Good Description of College
Tony Kornheiser in referring to the students and faculty protesting the Presidential situation at William and Mary.

“Gotta love that. That is what college outta be. That is what they outta do. Totally out-of-touch adults and self-indulgent children.”

This is a great quote and anyone working on a college campus knows that he hit this EXACTLY on the head.

Owen Catching On
Remember when, just a few blog posts ago I talked about Owen and waking up in the middle of the night. Well no one can ever accuse him of being dumb. After I answered his calls of "Mommy!" for a couple of days, only to follow them up with unsympathetic views at 3:00 a.m., apparently the boy needed to clarify who he is really calling. So now when yelling for "Mommy" at 3:00 a.m. he calls out for "Real Mommy." which is his way of saying "not you daddy and your attitude at 3 a.m." Which is fine for me, cause when Renea finally snaps (oh and she will snap) that little guy will suddenly be calling for his "Daddy!"

Clinton Visit and More

2008-02-18T09:27:00.003-05:00

Presidential Visit
Former President Bill Clinton was on campus last night, campaigning for his wife. There are some cool things I have had the opportunity to do in this job and getting to see a former president close up is one of them. Agree or disagree with his politics, under his leadership the country was as good as it ever was and compared to the latest regime it makes it those 8 years even greater than it was. This was my vantage point for the shoot.

Winter Weekend
This weekend we had Winter Weekend, which is basically a homecoming in February for people who played winter sports. We had an alumni basketball game that usually ends up being a good time. Seeing old friends and even people you don't really know, but have that 'basketball' connection with as we are part of a smaller faternity of former players.

I have been working out for the past few months, but NOTHING gets you prepared to run up and down the floor in an actual game. I got tired in a hurry, hit a few 3's was short on a few more, but our team ended up winning.

What was especially fun for me was having Owen there to watch. He really hasn't seen his old man in any 'action' (at least that he remembers) so it was nice to have him there.

Taste the Smoke?
FOX used this promo to advertise for the 50th Daytona 500. The promo is well done, the special FX are awesome, but Taste the Smoke as the tag line? Really? That is what you want to go with? Who came up with that line? Taste the smoke . . . and while you are at it how about Licking the Ashtray. Ewww. There has got to be better taglines that that. Come on FOX you paid all that money for NASCAR rights and all you can come up with is "Taste the Smoke?" BLECK

Snow Day

2008-02-12T16:22:00.001-05:00

So when did we get to be such big babies about snow? Seems like every time there is just a few inches of snow school gets called off. Now it isn't that I am not about being safe. I want kids to be just as safe as the next person, but come on. I remember it was a treat when we had a snow day, and now it seems like every other day there is a 2 hour delay or school is called off. I seriously doubt that the weather has gotten worse in the past 20 years (remember global warming) so it has to be that the people in charge are babies and "don't want the kids to suffer in the cold and snow." Man-up and make these kids go to school. Unless the roads are impassable then send the rug rats to school and quit teaching them that when the weather is bad you get a day off, cause once you hit the real world there are no 2 hour delays cause it is 10º outside.

Fans
I know WVU fans are getting a bad rap nowadays, but I don't mind. Lump us into that catagory with Philly fans. I don't mind, and as bad as WVU fans look a petition by Patriots fans to have the Super Bowl played over actually makes us look good.

Blah Blah Blah

2008-02-07T12:05:00.000-05:00

You call that a hot wing
So I tried the KFC "hot wings" yea there is a problem with these and it is kinda big problem . . . they aren't hot. I am not talking about them being 'mild' or 'medium' or that the hotness of them is just at a low level for me (since I love hot stuff). I mean there is no hint at all that these contain any type of spice. They are PA-THE-TIC. Basically they are the 'wing' version of the KFC extra crispy. DO NOT BUY THESE. Awful. Now I know that in the fast food world that 'hot' has a different meaning than at a sit down restaurant where they can say things like 'death wings' and make you sign a waiver, but come on people. At least make me feel like you made an attempt to make them hot. Geez after eating these I don't even feel like they tried. Chicken LOSERS.

Tiddy Bear
This is real. Seriously. This is a real product. Don't you want to make driving fun again?

LOST
So if you watch LOST keep reading. If you don't, why don't you? Don't give me that crap that you missed too much to catch up. They play recap shows all the time, plus all the seasons are out on DVD. Nuff excuses watch this show. ok. moving on.

Things are really getting good for this show. One of the things that makes the show good is that we now know when it is ending. They have an end game in mind. There are 46 episodes left and for some reason, now more than ever the show has a ending in mind and you know that every show is pushing you towards that ending. I think sometimes with TV shows they walk around aimlessly (with filler shows, we had a few of those with LOST over the years) while having success and never drive you to an ending. Especially when they don't know when/if the show will end. It is sad that LOST only has 46 episodes left, but it also allows the viewer to expect and know when the ending will come. Much like a book or movie rather than a show like Friday Night Lights or Hanna Montana (that is for you Adam).

I have been a bloggin fool lately, thanks for coming back and reading after much time off and inconsistent posts. As the fiber commercials say, I will try to be more regular in my posts.

Super Bowl Ads kinda sucked huh?

2008-02-07T09:43:00.000-05:00

Trent, Adam and I were discussing the super bowl ads last night on the podcast (Episode 124), and we were in agreement that for the most part the ads were average or below average at best. I gave them a B-, C+ and both Trent and Adam believed they were worse than that. (I guess that is why my students must like my grading.) Anyway there is a funny article here that discusses the 10 Lamest Super Bowl ads.

I actually think the best ad surrounding the Super Bowl was the Perfectville ad that ran the next day with the ’72 Dolphins:

But of course in my opinion this is a rip off of one of the best campaigns ever, the Nike Welcome to Bracketville Ads, "Stay as long as you can." (I looked everywhere for a video of these ads and couldn't find one of them) I am always amazed at March Madness time they don't continue to break those ads out. One of the best ad campaigns over the past 10 years.

Sleeping Problems

2008-02-05T09:14:00.000-05:00

I guess when you have a child there are always problems with sleep. Most of the time it involves you not getting any as a parent because you are up with your child, typically feeding them or sitting with them if they are awake. As the child gets to be a teenager you are not sleeping for other reasons. BUT, as a child between the ages of, um let's say 4-16 you should be able to get a few nights of good sleep without being bothered. Not with my son Owen. For some reason in the middle of the night, and the ability to get out of bed. He will shout out, "Mommy!" Thank god it isn't Daddy. The reasons he will call out for his mother are many. Here are just a few:

1. "I am hot." Usually I follow up this one with "Then take your covers off." But that doesn't always satisfy him and usually results in us yelling back and forth through the wall. "I can't take my covers off." "Yes you can." "No. I can't." "OWEN, YES YOU CAN."

2. "I have to pee." This is a little more understandable. He has to go. He recognizes that he has to go, and he is only scared to go to the bathroom by himself. Ok fine. I would rather get out of bed for 60 seconds while he goes then be changing sheets at 3 a.m.

3. "Can you make blue blanket cold?" Yes this is odd to me too, and not something I do for him, this is his mother's thing and even she has finally stopped doing this. Now I know what the next question is. What does he mean by this. Well in our odd little child's mind it is the equivelent of flipping your pillow over, although this entails taking blue blanket and shaking it in the air to get it "cool." Now I know the science and research behind it is a little sketchy but apparently it works. He now shakes his blanket in bed and bangs the bed against our wall which makes his mother turn into some strange sleepless monster. Oooooh the wrath she wields at 3 a.m.

4. "Can you put my pillow on my head?" Yes another strange request. The kid likes to sleep under his pillow and for some reason feels that he needs to wake us up to do it.

These are all I can think of now as I struggle to keep my eyes open due to making blue blanket cold.

HA HA

2008-02-04T15:59:00.000-05:00

I can't stand the Patriots and as predicted by me on the podcast (episode 123), the 18-0 Pats lost to the Giants. I am not sure what exactly it is I despise about them, maybe their arrogant coach (who left the field with :02 left on the clock), their glamor-boy QB, the dirtiest player in the NFL safety Rodney Harrison, or their now obnoxious (once loveable) fan base. The Boston area fans have become some of the most arrogant and dislikable fan bases of all time. I want to look at them as a group and then pull Nelson from the Simpsons and give them a collective "HA HA. You're 18-1."

Worst way to wake up

2008-01-30T09:30:00.000-05:00

I woke up this morning in maybe the worst way possible . . . ok so maybe not the worst way (fire, burglary, tornado, hurricane are a few worse ways) but for anyone who has had a cramp in their calf, they know what I am talking about. Dead asleep at 6:40 a.m. and all of a sudden it feels as if I have been shot in calf. I couldn't stretch it out, I couldn't reach my toes to try and pull it out of the softball-like knot. I couldn't even bring myself to feel the knot in my calf. Renea thought I was having a heart-attack.

"Are you ok? What's wrong?"

"AAARRRGGGGG"

"What is it?"

"CRAMPPPPP!!"

I could bearly get the words out. Lying there for what seemed like forever, in actuality it was closer to 60 seconds my leg and muscle finally relented and I got out of bed and was able to stretch it out.

Now the biggest fear when getting the cramp is that it will return and soon. So all morning I have been on edge thinking that that the next move I make will bring me down. And of course when relaying the story the answer is bananas. "Eat bananas that will make it go away." Little too late for that advice.

YEEEEEOOOOOWWWW!

2008-01-24T12:35:00.000-05:00

Ok, this morning I needed a kick. Specifically a caffeine kick, so I decided to go to Speedway and pick up a coffee. I saw as I was walking through the door a Shockwave Energy Coffee (with more caffeine) so I thought, "Let's try it." So I poured myself a cup and was on my merry way.

I am not a huge coffee drinker, but on occasion I will have a cup and lately, when it is cold, I find myself drinking it more and more. Usually caffeine doesn't bother me. I could drink a Mountain Dew right before bed and be ok. But man, this Shockwave stuff was STRONG. Within the first 5-10 sips it started to hit me, and what it made me do is drink it faster and that might have been the problem. I downed a 20oz cup of coffee in less than an hour and I was flying. It is 2:30 p.m. and I am still buzzing. So take care in drinking some of this. Rarely does something claim that it will do something and actually back it up.

Also as a little tip that was forwarded to me by my buddy Frank. Stephen A. "Cheese Doodle" Smith has a "online blog" (as opposed to an offline blog). Now I am not suggesting that you read the blog. I wouldn't do that to you, BUT skip straight to the comments. Most of them are very funny, some are written by some ignorant fools, but most are in jest. Enjoy!

XBOX back!

2008-01-23T08:56:00.000-05:00

Ok, because of my paa-thetic blog postings as of late I didn't write about my XBOX dying. Partly because I was heart broken and partly because I am lazy (yea I said it).

Any-who, a couple of days before the new year my XBOX got what is known in gamer circles as "THE RED RING OF DEATH" (I am contractually obligated to say it like that) which basically makes your XBOX an Atari circa 1980. Luckily XBOX extended the warranty (out to 3 years from its purchase date) on all 360s this summer so mine was covered. The process to get it fix was relatively easy. But the time the XBOX was gone and how long it took the get just the box for me to mail it back in took forever. I called them to report the RED RING on the Sunday before New Years. I didn't get the box to ship it back in until Jan 9th. I then took it directly to the UPS store to drop it off and I tracked it (or stalked it, whatever you want to call it) until it arrived in Texas. I called last week to check on it, they said, or rather the automated voice said, that it had been repaired and I would see it in 3-5 working days. The gave me no stalking number so I could follow it so I had to just wait.

Well yesterday it came back. FINALLY! And I am not real sure who was more excited. Me, cause well it is my XBOX. Renea, because I am not coming to bed the same time she goes and therefor not pestering the hell out of her until I fall asleep, or Owen who seemed to be the most excited about it because he now gets to play his motorcycle game.

I have to say I was a little surprised about how excited Owen was. I mean he liked playing the games and all, but he certainly isn't addicted to it like me, or so I thought. He couldn't wait for me to get it all plugged back in and to put his game on (and it isn't even a full version of a game, just a demo).

Overall I didn't have to pay for anything, and plus Microsoft gave me a free month of XBOX live to make up for the month I missed.

So now all is right. I can now take the frustrations of the day out on the University of Michigan in NCAA football, the Patriots and Tom Brady in Madden and all of those little kids online in Halo 3.

(I do have to point out this though, when my iPod broke a few years ago, I mailed it back in a box Apple overnighted and 2 days later I had a new iPod, Apple still rocks in my mind).

Water Flavor Packs

2008-01-22T10:27:00.000-05:00

I am not a big water drinker, but I have tried over the past few days to add more water to my day and drink more of it. One thing I started buying about a year ago was the little packs of flavor to add to your water. Some of them are pretty good and some, not so much, but I have found what may be my favorite flavor . . . Grape. Kroger's brand grape to be specific. It doesn't make the water purple, but more of a cloudy color and it really adds a nice flavor to the water. It doesn't make it seem like watered down grape juice. I have had it the last 2 days in the water I take to work out. It is pretty good. I highly recommend it if you have an aversion to water "straight-up" like I do.

Little Perk

2008-01-21T13:56:00.000-05:00

I enjoy listening to music at work. Sometimes it gets boring listening to the songs in my iTunes and also the songs on Pandora (see below) but I have Sirius radio now and I have been listening to it for the past few weeks. It is nice (when it works) and it gives me a ton of variety. My 2 favorite stations for music: Radio Magaritaville and Coffee House Café. Both are good "working" music stations. Helps me relax. What I would prefer is using headphones so I could crank it up, but then I wouldn't be able to answer my phone and people who come into my office with no appointment (actually that wouldn't be so bad about the latter.)

Follow Up

2007-10-16T07:39:00.000-05:00

Ok, the total of Jack Johnson songs played during a 8 hour weekday . . . 5. Today in the first 30 minute . . . 2. Ok, I am done here.

Pandora

2007-10-15T11:14:00.000-05:00

At work, I like listening to music. I like it to fill the background as I try to be creative (with the key word being 'try'). I found this site called Pandora where you type in an artist and then they build a 'station' for you with supposedly 'like' artists and also play that artist that the station is based on sprinkled into the playlist (I know it sounds very confusing, but it really isn't). Anyway I made a Jack Johnson playlist, but the thing is, there is no Jack Johnson. Now I know this is a very petty complain, I am getting music for free and they are providing me a free service, but come on just give me one Jack Johnson song. For example, this morning I have had it on since I got here 8:15 a.m. and I have heard one Jack Johnson song in the past 4 hours. I have heard over 5 Dave Matthews songs. At least play one an hour. Is that too much to ask! Ok, now it just seems like I am whining over exactly how much free stuff I get. Ok, I will relax, but I am going to keep it open all day and will let you know the final talley on the Jack Johnson songs.

(God, I re-read this and I sound like such a baby, and what is with the single quotes, oh well no one is reading anyway.)

Soccer Saturday

2007-09-15T19:18:00.000-05:00

So we signed Owen up for soccer. It is the “pee wee” variety where they practice a little, play a little, warm-up a little and get drinks often.

I find it hard at times to understand the thoughts of a 4 year-old and how they can get bored so easily. If there wasn’t something going on, Owen was headed in another direction. I swear he has the attention span of a hummingbird.

They (meaning the instructors) asked all the kids what their favorite part of soccer was. Owen says having his mommy, me-mah, and daddy watch him . . . he is such a glory hog. Once he finds out that by scoring a goal will not only make his family happy, but the families of everyone else on his team, there will be no stopping him. I can see it now, Terrell Owens type celebrations . . . soaking in the adulation.

We will see how soccer goes, we have shin guards (even thought his shins are only about 6 inches big) and a new soccer ball. At least he seemed more interested in group play this time as compared to basketball last winter. He actually kicked the ball a few times, which is good progress. Now if only he can make it through a practice without 12 water breaks.

Very Late and Kinda Feelin' It

2007-09-01T00:16:00.000-05:00

I spent the last few moments reading Trent's blog (at this point in the evening and with the rum and coke I am not going to attempt to link you there, just check on the right side of the blog) and then read Adam's blog and realized he had a link to mine . . . May 29 . . . my last entry . . . geez, talk about taking the summer off . . . . HA is there even anyone still checking this?? Then Renea just came in to ask me what I am doing and I answer "I don't know, blogging??" Seems like a funny answer at the time. Who knows what prompted me to write this late about absolutely nothing, maybe jealousy that Adam had almost 10,000 visits to his site, or that Trent is on top of things so much to add videos every week, or maybe it is just the rum and coke, who knows. I guess I just felt like the first time in a long time like writing something . . . even something meaningless. Ok, sleepy time now. For all you loyal readers (lke there are any, and I have a feeling even my own mother has dropped out of this list) I will attempt to write more often. Maybe. That's my goal. Who knows . . . Good night!

The Detroit "D"

2007-05-29T23:28:00.000-05:00

First I must admit that I am a bit of a sports uniform/logo junkie. Not that I collect them or anything, but I am just interested in the intricacies and details of uniforms. Well the other night when I was channel surfing and the Detroit Tigers and Cleveland Indians were playing it brought to mind one of the biggest uniform discrepancies in all of sports, the Detroit “D” issue. As you can see from the photo, the “D” on the jersey and on the hat for the Tigers is completely different. After doing some research, the answer to this issue can be found here and here and basically what they are saying is that MLB has standard logos for print and web but no standardization for the product used on the field and that this isn’t just an issue for the Tigers, but a few other clubs as well (Yankees and Cardinals).

Now this may bore you or it might interest you, but I thought I would share with you some of the crazy stuff that goes through my head when I watch a ball game. Some things that I notice completely distract me from the game (like when Oregon broke out these for their bowl game.) It is a curse.

Cheryl, Freddy, Avril and Trent!?!?!

2007-05-27T20:54:00.000-05:00

I watched more Dancing with the Stars than American Idol. Actually I watched the first few weeks of AI and then stopped when they got to Hollywood. I caught Dancing with the Stars in the best way possible . . . on DVR, so I watched only the dancing, and not all of the extras (which made a normal 90 minute show about 7). All I have to say after this season of DwS is that Cheryl Burke, 2-time champ, is HOT! >>>>>>>
(Yea Renea knows about my infatuation with Cheryl) and that if Apollo isn’t dating his partner (Julianne), then he needs slapped up-side the head.

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Watching the Pirates game today, twice I saw Freddy Sanchez hit sac flies to score runs from third, only to have the runner on third hit home plate then walk right into the dugout without even acknowledging Freddy. I mean I know you feel like you did most of the work to get to third in the first place, but this guy just gave himself up to score you, the least you can do is wait for him and give him high-five or a fist bump or even a slap on the ass before you walk to the dugout. He’s just coming back from first, sixty feet away. Just give the guy a little love will yea . . . geez and they wonder why in a Post-Gazette poll 65% of the fans said the Pirates have already given up on the season.

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Also a second thought to the “showin love” to a teammate, I think the fist bump may be on its way out. I am seeing a trend in celebratory hand gestures and I think we are heading back to the high-five. When the fad trickles down to golfers fist bumping caddies the fad is over.

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If you get a chance read Trent’s blog about the lyrics to a Carrie Underwood song. I am not sure what is more funny, his interpretation or Kelly, my sister-in-law, in the comments calling him Grandpa Simpson.

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Another thing to admit to: I like Avril Lavigne’s new album and I like her new song . . . There I said it, so if you see me in the car singing “Hey, Hey, you, you, I don’t like your girlfriend,” you will know why.

LOST

2007-05-25T22:15:00.000-05:00

Renea and I are big LOST fans. We have been from the very beginning. Every episode, every crazy plot, every mysterious character, we are hooked.

Last Wednesday was the season 3 finale of LOST (which I have watched twice already), and just a few weeks ago they announced that they will be doing 3 more seasons with the story being completed in 2010. Also next year lost will move to a “24-esque” format where they will start in February 2008 and go for 16 straight weeks. I was a big fan of that format, but now that I am faced with the 8-month hiatus until it starts again I am not so much a fan.

I am finding with LOST that there are very few people to discuss the show with and to pick each other brains about what is happening. Some friends just watch it for entertainment and don’t really think too much about where the plot is going and what some of the underlying stories are, and other friends watch, but mock the different directions that the stories take and their plausibility.

I find it very fascinating and totally different than anything else on TV. The show Heroes is close, but the mysteries and levels of depth of what is happening to these characters is unmatched.

My recommendation, if you have never seen the show, would be to rent Seasons 1 and 2 and try to watch them back to back, then watch Season 3 when it comes out in the fall. This is an excellent show that actually will make me want to buy the DVD’s of the seasons. I have never seen myself as a TV-DVD guy, but after this episode I want to go back and relive the beginning experiences all over.

Positive Reinforcement

2007-05-13T19:45:00.000-05:00

To my mother and all the mothers that may stumble upon my blog, Happy Mother’s Day.

This is a story that will make my mom and the mother of my son happy so consider this Mother’s Day presents extra-credit.

As a parent, you aren’t always sure how you are doing. How things you are teaching your children are working (It is far easier to tell if they aren’t), but every once in awhile you get a little something out of your child that makes you realize that you are doing ok and that your child might actually turn out to be a pretty good egg.

Today Owen and I went to Parkersburg to return a movie and it happened to be about the same time as lunch so I decided we should stop at McDonald’s to get lunch. We went in, ordered Happy Meals (yea I got one too, the Mighty Kids meal is pretty good and ends up being about the right amount of food for me) and then sat down. We were enjoying lunch and Owen was playing with the Shrek figure that came with the Happy Meal when he said to me, “Daddy, thank you for bringing me to McDonald’s.” I know it’s not much, but it speaks volumes to me about what kind of little guy we are raising. I have been told by both his grandmothers and others that he regularly thanks them and tells them that he loves them and is overall pretty appreciative, and he had done that both with Renea and I.

I just guess that it hit me today that he is “getting it” and that to me that is a huge deal. It is nearly impossible to get that, “Hey dad, you and mom are doing a great job raising me,” from a 3-year-old, but this was about as close as it is gets.

#2

2007-03-07T23:30:00.000-05:00

Who would have ever thought that potty training would be this hard? Especially with a 3-year-old boy who if I don’t say so myself seems to be relatively intelligent.

Owen has been sleeping throughout the night for months without a diaper on and he has been going without a diaper for a looooong time now, except when it comes to doing #2. Every time he wants to go #2 he heads for the drawer where we keep the pull-ups, pulls one out and asks us to put it on him, or sometimes he will put it on himself (like I said, he is too smart to be still doing this).

So in an effort to get him to go on the potty (and as a parent you just fall in the habit of calling it the “potty” which makes it difficult when telling the same story verbally to friends) we decided to go the ole bribary route.

I took Owen to Toys R Us and let him have his pick of toys not really telling him what I was doing until he finally settled on one. We parked (and he knew right away it was Toys R Us) and we walked in. I showed him every toy.

“Look here Owen, look how cool this is.”

I was prepared on spending a bundle. I figured what ever it would take to get this #2 diaper thing over was worth it. We walked around and came to the MatchBox car isle, and there are things on this isle that are very expensive (like tracks that have dinosaurs and breath fire) and obviously some that aren’t (like the actual cars). While I was pointing out everything, I saw a box of metal planes and showed them to Owen. He was hooked.

“Daddy can we get the BoxMatch airplanes?” (yea he calls them BoxMatch, not sure why)

“Yes Owen we can, but you know what you have to do in order to play with them?”

“Do I have to go poopy on the potty?”

“Yes. (and to make sure he understood the deal I explained) “Owen, I will buy these planes for you to play with, but only if you go on the potty. They will stay in the box until you go on the potty, do you understand?”

“Yes, I will get my BoxMatch cars when I go on the potty.”

I even try to tempt him with other toys on the way out, but he clung hard to those planes, I thought to myself, “What a bargain. If this works it will have only cost me $10.”

We head home and Owen is excited and ready to open his planes. I remind him, not until he poops on the potty.
We get home and go inside and explain to Renea the deal. Owen wants to try right now to go on the potty. This is great! He heads into the bathroom with his planes and Renea sets the planes on the sink as “inspiration.”

I head upstairs thinking, “This is good. He will try a few times then get used to it and we will be in the clear. He certainly won’t pull this off tonight.”

I make it to the top of the stairs and Renea yells for me to come back down. I get to the bathroom and there is Owen with pants around his ankles yelling, “I did it! I pooped in the potty.”

I go make sure before I hand over the loot, and two of the smallest, tiniest, pieces were in the toilet. He surely pulled a muscle trying to push those out but alas it was what we wanted, and in return he got his planes.

We were amazed and shocked. We explained how easy that was, and how he didn’t need a diaper anymore, and we also explained that if he reverted back to his old saggy diaper ways we would take the planes away. Agreed on by all parties. A breakthrough.

Nope. Next day back to diapers, planes are in the hanger and put on top of the hutch to collect dust. I have given up. He has worn me down. I am going to let him move at his own pace, but we have decided on one thing, no new toys until he goes. God I hope it is soon.

My Brick

2007-02-13T21:28:00.000-05:00

One of the coolest gifts I have ever gotten was the brick at PNC Park with my name on it for my 30th Birthday from Renea. Every time we go to PNC Park I look for my brick, which if you are ever there it is seven bricks in front of Willie Stargell's left foot. So it was nice to see the picture above on the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette web site of them cleaning the snow off of it. Lot of perks come with owning a brick at the ole ballpark.

Ahhh reminds me of my youth

2007-02-13T08:59:00.000-05:00

Check this video out. Very funny. I love it when Ms. Pac Man puts the "spin move" on Blinky. She's still got it after all these years.

Rite of Passage

2007-02-06T22:04:00.000-05:00

Well it finally happened. One of those things that usually happen to people whom own older homes built in the early 1900’s. We had a pipe burst.

With the cold weather and our lack of basic knowledge of how to open doors and keep the cold spots warm in the house, so something like this won’t happen, last night we had a pipe rupture and cause chaos in the house for at least an hour.

There are a few very important things to be thankful for . . . 1. It broke during waking hours, which means we didn’t have 8 hours of water running in our basement . . . 2. It happened in an area of the house that is “in between” the outside door to our basement and our actual basement, so nothing was damaged . . . and 3. I have a neighbor that can literally fix anything, this guy puts Bob Vila to shame and we are very lucky to be living next to him and family. Seriously, if we ever move and Chris and Christy still live beside us, that will be a major selling point with this house.

“Um yes Mr. and Mrs. Jones, the house is slightly over-priced, but did you realize the man next door can fix your wiring, your plumbing, your cable, and build a garage door opener out of 2 sticks of gum, a hair and a paper clip?

Owen found the leak; actually he heard it in the bathroom and asked, “Daddy, what’s that noise.”

I initially thought it was the water coming back on cause the pipes had been frozen, well I was right in a sense . . . the water was coming.

After trying to get Renea’s attention (she was on the back porch chit-chatting on the cell phone), and turning every valve we had downstairs to the “off” position, I realized that I was going to have to go directly to where the water was coming from. Another good thing, the valve was right next to the leak and once I saw the valve, which was hard to do with the pipe doing it’s best backyard sprinkler imitation, I was able to get the water under control.

Because of Renea’s strong belief that I could control the situation, in about 5 minutes she had called the neighbors, her mom, and two family friends to head over and see if they could help. At one point we had 6 people in out basement looking at a two-inch crack in the copper pipe and they too were turning every valve we had.

Believe me, I was not the least bit ashamed to have these folks over, I have no idea what I am doing, and it was nice to know that I had some back-up.

Chris volunteered to come over and help me fix the pipe (and when I say “help” I mean he does all the work and I watch, although he did let me handle the blow torch). We had the pipe out and fixed in no time (and when I say "We" I mean Chris) and he also brought over some insulation to put over the other exposed pipes in that area.

So needless to say (for the time being, and knock on wood) the crisis has been averted, and Renea and I are taking Chris and Christy to dinner next week. Maybe then he can show me how to make a fork out of a zipper, some lint and a penny.

So I went to a funeral today

2007-02-01T21:19:00.001-05:00

Tim and I drove up to Perry, Ohio (you go to Cleveland and hang a right towards Erie, PA) to attend the funeral service of our friend Andi (see Closing Time below). The best thing in the world to help me get over this sore spot in my heart was to drive these 3+ hours with my friend Tim who was closer to Andi than I. We knew her at the same time, and we shared stories and memories of the Andi we knew. We laughed a whole lot and it really brought her spirit back to me. It brought her sayings and mannerisms to the forefront of my mind. He smile and her laugh, the joking way she would say “Good DAY Sir!” like Willie Wonka (in the original) and how she would pretend quit five times a day.

The funeral was touching and sad, to see her younger twin brothers, her mom and dad and sister and nieces, and people who were strangers to me, but friends to Andi, moved by the service and taking their opportunity to say good bye. I have to admit, a few times I almost broke down, but the thoughts of Andi and memories shared with Tim on the way up there just made me smile instead.

It was a long drive and a long day, but oh so worth it.

Hallway Update

2007-01-31T23:05:00.000-05:00

Passed a student in the hallway today. I got nothin. I was prepared to give my head nod and "what's up," and I got the fake "picking something out of my eye and I don't want to look or acknowledge you" move.

Long Hallway Etiquette

2007-01-29T21:10:00.000-05:00

There is this hallway I walk down every day to go to the locker room at the gym. This hallway is massive, easily 100 yards and most of the time is not occupied with other people, except of course when I decide to walk down it. Inevitability when I go down it, there is someone walking towards me, at the other end. Now my question is, when do you acknowledge that the other person is there? I mean it isn’t like you yell, “Hey what’s up?” from 100 yards away, but you have this awkwardness of walking towards each other. It’s where you both see each other, but are too far away to say anything. So you keep walking and walking, until you finally get close enough to acknowledge the other person. What if you don’t know the other person? I mean you have to at least say “hi.” I mean you have shared this 7 to 9 second walk together (which feels more like 10 minutes) from the opposite ends of this hallway; you have to say something right? Maybe a head bob at the very least to acknowledge the other persons’ existence, or a “what’s up.”

What happens if you know the person? Do you try to start a conversation that neither of you can hear because it is echoing off the walls, that you end up stopping and waiting until you are a few feet apart. Well then that brings up even more awkward silence between friends as you look at each other for 50 feet.

Where do you look? That is my other question? I mean if it was a movie and you hated the other person this hallway would be great for one of those movie-type stare down sequences. But otherwise you have to look everywhere BUT at the person coming at you, you have to, you have no choice. I usually choose about 10 feet in front of me with an occasional quick dart up to see when I need to give the head bob “what’s up.”

Now you can’t give the head bob “what’s up” to everyone. I work on a campus, so that is my student response. If it is a friend I will ask, “How’s is going?” and if it is a neither a student or friend I use the, “good morning.” as my main go-to greeting.

The sad thing is is that this enters my head every time I walk down that hallway. EVERYTIME. I think I have hallway issues.

Closing Time

2007-01-18T18:57:00.000-05:00

Working here you get involved and know the lives of the students that work for you. It is just the way it is. You are involved. Their classes, their friends, and their families at home, their boyfriend/girlfriends are all things that they share with you. They look up to you and they look to you for advice and guidance. You become a mentor, you become family, and you become a big brother.

I can hear her so clearly, in her best 12 year-old boy going through puberty voice, Andi would sing the words to “Closing Time” by the group Semisonic.

Andi Parhamovich worked in my office as a student writer for almost 2 full years and instantly she made an impression. She was an outgoing go-getter and reminded me of a female Alex P. Keaton. She was determined and focused and knew what she wanted to do, but she could also be shy, vulnerable and insecure. She liked to put up a tough façade, but we knew she was a big softy. She was someone who you could kid and joke around with and she would definitely tease back. I am not sure I know of anyone who has worked in this office that loved working here more than Andi, and the funny thing is, is after the first year, she hardly did any work. She just liked being here and hanging out. We actually didn’t have enough money to pay her and had to ‘fire’ her, but she still came in every day to just hang. I remember going out to a bar here in town one night and seeing ‘conservative’ Andi hanging out (that was something we never thought we would see) she was drinking and having a good time. We actually did our best to embarrass her (like good big brothers would do) as we danced around her and made her feel the whole bar was looking at her. Her face turned 5 shades of red, but she took it all in stride. She was not a touchy feely type of person, and it was always fun to give her a hug or put an arm around her to watch her squirm a little.

Andi came back to Marietta a few years ago to go to lunch with myself and another co-worker at Marietta at the time, Tim (who was in charge of the writers). At the time Andi was working in NY with Miramax, and when she came to visit she brought Tim and I Cold Mountain CD’s and press kits. At lunch we peppered her with questions of what movie stars she had met and what they were like. She had matured a great deal between graduation and that winter lunch, as most people do and looked more like a professional woman than the college junior hanging in my office.

Andi died on Wednesday, January 17, 2007 in Baghdad when a three-car caravan she was in was ambushed. She was working with a group in Iraq called the National Democratic Institute (NDI) as a communications specialist advising Iraqi political parties on how to reach out to voters and constituents.

There are so many thoughts that run through your head in a time like this. War and the causalities of it always seemed close and real, but now seem more real than ever. A friend was lost today and I am not sure why. Andi was there because she wanted to be. She felt that she could make a difference and I am positive that in the time she was there, she did.

Andi, I will miss you. I will miss knowing that at some random time an e-mail from you might pop up. You left an impression on me and when I think of you I can’t help but smile. God Bless, my friend.

“I WIN”

2007-01-16T20:35:00.001-05:00

When told we were having a son about 4 years ago, things go through your mind. The main one is: “I hope he’s healthy.”

When you son is here and you realize he is healthy, a whole other lists of thoughts go through your mind:
“I hope he is left handed.”
“I hope he can hit a curve ball.”
“I hope he is 6’6”
“I hope he can shoot a round of 64.”

And with all of those things there is the underlying hope that he is competitive, because without that, a lot of those sports-related hopes go away. Not only for sports, but also for life. I think you want your sons and/or daughters to be competitive so that they strive hard for what they want and try to get it.

Well there seems to be no shortage of competitive juices flowin in Owen.

One of the big problems we have is that he likes to “race” by beating you to a place. Up the stairs or down the stairs. Into the bathroom or into the bedroom. And the thing about racing is that Owen does NOT like to lose.

Now the funny part is, sometimes the big brother in me (not the father) takes over and I pull him back or even hold him back, just to see how he will react in defeat. Not too well most of the time. If you beat him, he hits the floor and starts a fake (or sometimes real) little fit. Now Renea and I have worked on trying to get him to shake hands, win or lose, so that he knows how to win and how to lose, but that still hasn’t stopped the “I WIN!” proclamation at the top of the stairs, or in the bathroom or wherever the finish line happens to be.

I guess you need to be careful what you ‘hope’ for. I have created a competitive monster and now we are trying to instill the proper way to win and to lose, which for a self-proclaimed sore loser most of my life, it is very hard to do.

Web Find

2007-01-11T21:01:00.000-05:00

Just thought this was interesting. If you do it, leave me a comment to let me know which superhero you are. I was the Flash.

Superhero Quiz

I want one!

2007-01-10T21:44:00.000-05:00

Man o’ man I want an Apple iPhone. Have you seen this thing? It is a phone, ipod, a video player, a web browser, an e-mail machine and it makes ham sandwiches. This is like the coolest thing ever. I think you can also use it as a bionoculars, a microscope, and to even check your blood pressure (I think it might even fold out into a beach chair). Yesterday it even managed to jump Apple’s stock 8 points. The thing is amazing. I am a little curious though. Apple is famed for giving you little bites of products before giving you the whole pie, and yesterday we kinda got the whole pie. Now I am not one to question Steve Jobs, but I am kinda surprised that the jump was made to the iPhone from the iPod. Now I know that it is not an iPod, it just balances your checkbook and feeds your pets without you asking it to, but with the video capabilities it seems like this is the end rather than the slow progression towards the end we are used to from Apple. I mean it would have made perfect sense to come out with a similar type device (call it an iPod) that just did movies and music but used the touch screen technology that the phone has, then move to the phone in the next version in ’08. I guess they couldn’t help themselves in putting together a product that can play you whole collection of Neil Diamond while watching the “OC” and shining your shoes, as it calls in your dinner reservations.

Gator Food

2007-01-09T09:45:00.000-05:00

Real quick thoughts about last night’s “national championship”:

1. After watching all the other bowl games I knew it wasn’t going to be an Ohio State blow out, but I never imagined that Florida would explode all over the Buckeyes leaving Tressel looking as confused as I did taking Pre-Calc.

2. This is to FOX. Go get some decent announcers. I know you paid a lot to broadcast the BCS games, but go back to the jar you keep in the kitchen full of quarters and actually pay someone we have heard of to broadcast these games. (And no Chris Rose from “The Best Damn Sports Show that No One has Seen Before” doesn’t count as a real broadcaster.)

3. The Big 10 (11) is not as good as everyone though. Ohio State’s only game was against Michigan and Michigan’s only real competitive game was against Ohio State and maybe Wisconsin. We (I will include myself in this misperception) believed that Ohio State was far above the competition because they beat a Texas team (that we found out wasn’t very good) and a Michigan team (that we also found out wasn’t very good). That’s it, that’s the list and because they play in the Big 10 (11) and the Big 10 (11) has to be good right?? Wrong. Wrong on all accounts.

4. Crisis avoided. Just think if we had a Michigan/Ohio State rematch? We would have all been under the impression that these were the 2 best teams in the country when it is very clear they are not. It would have been the biggest scam in the history of college football. Can you say playoff??

A losing battle

2007-01-05T16:36:00.000-05:00

During the course of almost 12 years of marriage there are battles/decisions that you win and some that you lose. I would have to say that for the most part when it comes to making purchases that Renea and I always discuss the purchases and then come together and agree on a decision. That fact I won’t deny. But then I got to thinking that my wife is the best sales person in the world. She has been able to get me to buy things that I would never decide to buy our whole marriage. It all started with Hoagie our Lab (which we bought in our first month of marriage when we were supposed to be “just looking” at puppies) and continued through to new flooring for the house last year, and now this purchase of a king sized bed which we made last night.

All I have been talking about for weeks was getting a new TV. I wanted a new flat screen plasma TV. That is it, that is all I wanted, and the next thing I know we are shopping for king sized beds. I sometimes feel like I have been in a coma and then awaken 3 days later and decisions have been made. She is smooth; you have to give her credit. She managed to change “getting out of the house for the day” to shopping for a new bed. She also can change her plan of attack; she can just chip away slowly at you. We went bed shopping on Saturday, Sunday she wanted to go back, and Monday she asked if we could go shopping on Tuesday evening. I had managed to fend her off for a few days, and then yesterday I get a call from her at work “Mattress Warehouse is open until 8:30 tonight.” I try to play dumb and ask, “What time is Circuit City open?” She laughs me off. Now mind you I never said I would go, I get home and her and Owen are ready to head out to look at mattresses. We head to Mattress Warehouse that night and get a mattress. She is smooth. Gotta give her that.

>>Photo of Owen with his Pink (Breast Cancer Awareness) Serta Sheep "Mean Joe Green" #75

New Year, New Blog

2007-01-04T16:51:00.000-05:00

Yea I know, at the rate I am posting new blogs I should just resign myself to a new blog post per year. Lots going on, but that isn’t an excuse.

I have been sick over the past few weeks (cough, sore throat, nasal congestion) and yesterday I finally gave in and went to see a doctor. I went to one of these “Quick Care” places and I have say, they got the “quick” part right. It has taken me longer to go through the drive-thru at Mickey D’s. Sat down in the examination room (if you want to call it that) then had the nurse test my pulse, took my BP then asked what was wrong, 2 minutes later the doctor came in, asked me what was wrong (probably just to verify what I had told the nurse) check my ears, looked down my throat, checked my breathing, scribbled some stuff on a paper, handed it to me, told me to get some samples from the nurse and I was on my way. Literally it took longer for me to write this down then the actual examination. I am feeling better today, but I will give it a few days before I give them the “care” part.

ENOUGH!

2006-11-15T11:49:00.000-05:00

Stop talking about the Bobby Knight so-called incident, slap, push, inappropriate touching, whatever you want to call it. Just stop it! I can’t listen to it anymore. The horse you just beat to death is now cremated. It didn’t bother the kid. It didn’t bother the kid’s parents, it didn’t bother Knight’s employer Texas Tech, so stop talking about it! Please for the love of god stop talking about whether or it was right or wrong, whether we would be having this conversation if it was another coach, whether or not YOU as a parent would mind this being done to your child, and if it had been done to your child, how you would go give Bobby Knight the business if he did that to your boy (yea right Erik Kuselias I am sure you would get physical with Knight, you windbag.)

Please stop, talk about the Red Sox’s spending more money than what the Pirates are worth just to start negotiations with a Japanese pitcher. Talk about Webb winning the Cy Young. How about the start of the NBA season? At this point I would almost rather hear more Ohio State vs. Michigan talk . . . on second though go ahead and keep talking about Knight.

CBS, I will tell ya where to shove your 3lbs.

2006-11-13T20:39:00.000-05:00

CBS has been promoting the hell out of this show 3lbs, and I have to tell you, I am not watching. For that matter I am not watching new shows on CBS ever. I have talked about this on our podcast (Brothers in 3-Z: Episode 40). I have twice invested my time into “the best new show” only to have it ripped from the schedule 3 weeks later. Not this time CBS. I won’t be had again . . . you can’t fool me. I am wondering if 3lbs will even last 3 weeks.

Doogie is gay?!?! Yea I read that in the TV Guide at my mom’s house over the weekend. Who knew? Usually you can tell with these things, but to be honest, I had no clue. Maybe because I watch Neil Patrick Harris on “How I Met Your Mother” (yes the show is on CBS . . . I said no NEW shows) and he plays Barney, a “playa” (as my peeps would say) and obviously does a good job of acting. Not that there is anything wrong with being gay, just that he fooled me.

SHUT UP!

2006-11-12T21:15:00.000-05:00

This is the official SHUT UP blog.

First, to the fans and supporters of the Big XII who whined and said, “We deserve a team in the BCS championship game.” Uh . . . no. Texas is nowhere as good as everyone was saying they were and they still are that terrible team that lost to Ohio State in the beginning of the year.

To every person in America that said that Florida is the best one-loss team. I reserved judgment until I saw them play, well I saw the whole game on Saturday and you know what? There is NO WAY that they are the so-called best one-loss team in the country. As far as I am concerned they lost Saturday and in my mind have 2 losses.

Everyone affiliated with Auburn.

Cal. Maybe if you beat USC you can open your mouth again, but until then . . .

Ok I am done. Time for me to zip it.

Band full of Drunks

2006-11-10T22:49:00.000-05:00

Did anyone see the Rutgers band performing the pregame on ESPN last night? They formed the letter "R" and I swear my three-year-old Owen could write a better-looking "R." Then later on they we supposed to be in lines for the team to come out onto the field and it looked more like 2 semi-straight lines and one bulge. I think some of the band was hitting the bottle before this game. Either that or they are just that bad. I will try to look for some pics and post them here.

Also, why does ESPN feel the need to have call-in guests during their Thursday night games? Last week it was Corso and this week Dickie V? Who the hell cares what Dickie V thinks about the Rutgers/Louisville game or the BCS. For that matter who cares what he thinks at all!! The man is a moron and has no business butting into my college football watching. I already have to deal with his annoying commentary during basketball season. Put a sock in it Dickie.

Louisville with a 9.45 dismount

2006-11-09T18:24:00.000-05:00

Tonight Louisville will try to score 100 points against #16 Rutgers to try and prove that they are worthy of being the #3 team in the country. I can't say that I am against that either. In college football we have gotten to the point where "style points" count and you can no longer win a game, but you have to "be impressive." Especially now in the Big East, where no one respects you and no one believes that you are actually the #3 team in the country.

So tonight it should be interesting to see Louisville try to put up 100 and Rutgers to try and hang in there in the biggest game in their history.

In the Tank

2006-09-23T12:12:00.000-05:00

I could see it coming, another loss for the Americans in the Ryder Cup. My brothers and I talked about the Ryder Cup on our last podcast and we wondered if Tiger could lead this team to victory. My brothers felt that he could, I was a little more pessimistic, and I proved to be right.

First to address Tiger. I firmly believe that in order to be a leader you have to at least have some of the basic traits and I am not sure that Tiger does to be an effective leader, especially in this situation, one that he is not accustomed to. Plus I am not sure how much of leader you can be on a golf team. In other team sports you can be a leader because you have others on the field with you to lead. In golf you can lead your twosome and that is about it. I believe the coach or captain has more of a leadership role/influence than any one player. This is all you need to know about Tiger's leading abilities . . . first hole, first day, first shot off the tee, Tiger goes in the water. What that told me, and I knew it at that moment, things weren't going to be different and that the Americans would struggle all weekend.

Now what's the overall problem? I don't know. Here are at least some observations:
1. The Euros were playing out of their minds. I saw at least 4 chip-ins to win holes on Saturday morning and they seemed to get all the breaks and make all of the shots they needed to. So first you have to credit the Euros with great play.

2. Secondly, the Americans made no shots. Every time the Americans had a chance to win a hole they couldn't get the ball to drop, or they opened the door for the Euros to walk through and they did.

3. No strong play from the "All-Stars." Tiger went 3-2, Phil went 0-4-1 and Furyk was 2-3-0, enough said. When guys like Scott Verplank, J.J. Henry and Zach Johnson are playing the best golf. You are in trouble.

4. The Euros have the better players overall that love this format and strive in this type of environment. Sergio is the perfect example put him paired with Tiger on the last round of any major tournament and he folds like a 2-7 hand in Texas Hold Em but place him anywhere near a Ryder Cup match and he is out of his mind going 4-0 over the weekend and overall is 14-3-2 in Ryder Cup.

The US team got thrashed. They all tanked as far as I am concerned. No one showed up and they should be embarrassed as a whole of their performance and their representation of the US. To me I am far more outraged over this loss than I am over the USA basketball team losing in the WBC. At least team USA basketball played hard and showed up. This US Ryder Cup team should be ashamed of their performance and US golf fans should be up in arms over such a lack luster and unmotivated performance from our players.

Take it Back

2006-09-20T22:56:00.000-05:00

I want to weigh in on the Oklahoma/Oregon game briefly.

Now my brother Trent did a very good job of going over this in his “Bar Room Chatter” episode for our Brothers in 3-Z podcast, and this was before the fall out of everyone in Oklahoma from the Governor to the Owner of Haircuts by Bob on Sooner Avenue in Stillwater cried about making the game not count.

Excuse me? Not count? Seriously, people were saying this? I understood and heard the outrage from most broadcasters and commentators, but the silliest thing I have heard was that the game shouldn’t count. Come on! It’s not like in 3rd grade and the kick ball was called foul by your 75 year old farsighted recess teacher and you called “Do-over.” This is major college football and the notion to even float out there that this game somehow shouldn’t count is so ridicules that it is unbelievable to me that anyone would utter those words.

If we started to not count games that we thought there was poor officiating in, I might be the first in line to say that the Steelers shouldn’t have one the Super Bowl, or that the Dallas Mavericks got screwed in the NBA Finals . . . “Those games don’t count! Bad call, I want a do-over or I am going home.” Pout pout.

Everyone in Oklahoma, listen closely . . . . SHUT UP. You aren’t the first team to get screwed (and oh by the way, yea you still should have stopped them from scoring after the bad call), and you won’t be the last. So please quit your whining and go back to playing mediocre football in the 6th best conference in the country.

Owen Shorts

2006-09-15T19:38:00.000-05:00

Owen was sitting on my lap as we were flipping through photos from his 3rd birthday. We get to the one above and I ask Owen, “Why are you not happy in this photo?”

He looks at me and says, “Because I don’t like that hat and I don’t like to wear it.”

Really? I couldn’t tell.

_________________________________________

Owen and I were eating burgers and fries and he had placed his hand in the ketchup and was “finger painting” his tray on his high chair. I gave him a look hoping he would stop.

“Daddy, are you happy or sad?”

“I am sad Owen, you aren’t supposed to play with your food.”

He looked at me, and I could tell he knew I wasn’t happy.

“You not happy Daddy?”

“No Owen I am not happy.”

Then with a smile and a charm he looked at me and said. “Come on Daddy, give me a smile.”

I had to walk into the next room so I could crack up silently.

_________________________________________

Owen is taking tumbling classes (not gymnastics, but tumbling classes). And at the end of the class they were playing Duck, Duck, Goose (which he has never played before).

Now Owen loves a little pretend as he is always pretending to be a cat or a dog or a character from TV, and so he seemed really interested in this game and watched very closely as the instructors tried to teach it.

The third person to be the “goose” was the instructor, and I knew they were going to pick Owen, so Renea and I were curious as to whether or not he would catch on with the game. She went around “duck, duck, duck.” Then she got to Owen . . . “Goose!” She tapped him on the head and started to run around the circle and he looked at her and said in all seriousness, “I am NOT a goose, I am a kitty.” And proceeded to crawl on all fours meowing and chasing after the instructor

Late, Late, Late Update on the All-Star Game

2006-09-13T23:32:00.000-05:00

More Photos

There are many reasons this blog hasn't been updated in awhile, 1. been busy with everything else that life brings and 2. haven't been motivated to write and 3. A few weeks ago a friend of mine (who I work with) reminded me that anyone at my place of employment could read my blog and be offended by some of the things I have said about my job and my employeer, and since then I just haven't had the same desire to write as I once had. So anyway I am writing again and here is the final update from the All-Star game that happened over 2 months ago.

July 9th
I drove up to Morgantown and used my Dad’s place as a base for all my All Star operations. We looked at what would be the best ways into Pittsburgh with all of the traffic. We decided that taking the “T” from South Hills Village, which is about 15 miles north of Washington, into the city would be the best option. With that game plan set, I went to bed early and ready to start my All Star day.

July 10th
I drove to South Hills Village, found the train station, paid $2.25 to ride the train all the way into downtown Pittsburgh and was on my way. The train ride took about 30-40 minutes, but well worth the price. Got to downtown, headed down to the Convention Center. Went over to FanFest to spend the afternoon seeing things and doing things. The place was neat and there would have been a lot of fun stuff to do if I was a kid between the ages of 6-12, but for me there really wasn’t a lot for me to do. I don’t collect autographs so the collectable vendors weren’t for me and I was too old/too big to be jumping into batting cages and either throwing or hitting pitches. It was fun to watch other people, but even that got old after awhile.

After FanFest I went to my assigned work station with MLB Productions. I got to the room at the Hilton on time. My assigned time to work was from 4:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m., so I knew there would be stuff going on since this was during the Home Run Derby so I was ready. I met two people from MLB (Shannon and Andrea) both very nice people. They informed me that they might not need me for that long this evening and I could sit down, grab a Gatorade, and they would let me know what my duties would be in a few.

After watching some Law and Order, they told me that they were going to “freshen up” and then head over to PNC Park and it would be great if I could answer the phones.

Sure, easy enough for me I can answer phones! They gave me a list of all MLB staff and if someone needed to call someone on that list I was to give them the correct number. I was on it . . . Secretary Ryan on duty!

I sat there for the next hour with a couple of MLB corporates who were checking e-mail and we all watched PTI. They soon left and it was just I manning the control center. About 6:00 p.m. the phone rings . . . I am “on.”

“MLB Productions.”

“Is this Ryan?”
“Yes. How can I help you?”

“Ryan, this is Shannon (from MLB) if no one is there by 6:30 p.m. you can you lock up the room and head out if you want.”

“Ok. You sure that is all?”

“Yep. Talk to you later.”

“Bye.”

So I knew this could only mean trouble for me. The Home Run Derby, I am 2 blocks and a bridge away from the stadium. I could get into an expensive night.

I left the office at 6:30 p.m. and walked over to PNC to see if I could scalp a Derby ticket. How bad could they be going for? $65? $75? Face value on these tickets was $125. Amazing for a home run derby, especially when the most fun to be had was outside the ballpark. So I tried to scalp some tickets outside the park, but they were all going for way too much (most were at $125) so I thought, take my $125 and head over to a bar and spend about $10 and be ahead $115. I walked over to SoHo, this neat bar across from PNC Park, met some new friends, and had a good time sitting there and chatting with them. I watched the derby on the flat screens, then headed back to the train and was in Morgantown by 2:00 a.m.

July 11th
All-Star Game Day! I was excited. I headed back up and took the train in again. Spent more time at FanFest (one day was definitely enough) and headed over to my shift again at the Hilton to work with MLB.

I get over there and they are getting things ready for the game and one of the MLB staff is Andrea (from the day before) and we chit-chat for a few. She tells me about life with MLB and how she can get tickets to any game in any city and that she hasn’t had a chance to see her beloved Mets yet this year because she has been too busy. It is a good friendly conversation and one I hope might turn into letting me hang out at the stadium during my volunteer time.

Andrea tells me that we need to take some equipment over to the stadium around 5:30 p.m. and that she (and other MLB employees) have been allotted some tickets to the game and she might have one for me. I try to play it cool and tell her, “Oh that would be nice.” And she tells me she isn’t sure; so don’t necessarily count on it. I nod and say that I understand. Andrea leaves and says she will be back soon and then we will head over to PNC.

At this moment I can’t pull my cell phone out of my pocket fast enough to call Renea to tell her that I have a real possibility of attending the All-Star game. Renea is excited, but she keeps me from getting my hopes up too much. I scramble to get off the phone; I don’t want Andrea to catch me telling someone I think I am going to the game.

So after a few minutes Andrea comes back. Her, a PA (high school student/volunteer) and myself start to carry bags of equipment over to the Park. We stop on the Clemente bridge and I take a picture for them of them standing on the bridge with the park in the background. We make small talk as we head over, Andrea telling me how Ryan Howard, the homerun derby champ was left at PNC park without a ride back to the hotel after the derby, and me telling her about my exciting 2 days at FanFest.

As we pass the Willie Stargell statute (where by-the-way, is where my brick from my 30th birthday resides, 7 bricks down from Willie’s left foot, check it out when you are there) Andrea pulls from her manila envelope a shiny All-Star Game ticket and hands it to me.

“You aren’t going to sell this are you?”

“No way.”

“Good cause MLB can trace this back to me if you sell it.”

“Nope I am going to use it, thank you.”

I am flipping out at this point but trying to maintain calm. I shove the ticket deep into my pocket so not to lose it. I help them all the way around the stadium to where the equipment needs to go, again thanking Andrea for her kindness, then walking away feeling like I have pulled the greatest con ever.

The game was great, if you watched it came down to the ninth inning and a blown save by Trevor Hoffman, and my seats were down the right field line (check the photo gallery). I had a great time and felt a little bad as I walked around the stadium looking at other volunteers that were working parking and taking tickets and knowing I was going to the game for a little more than 2 hours “work” and they weren’t, but I got over it quickly.

This will probably be the last time in my lifetime that the game will be in Pittsburgh and I am glad that I had the chance to participate in an experience I will never forget.

All-Star Update #3

2006-07-07T20:54:00.000-05:00

Ok, so I headed to Pittsburgh yesterday with my acceptance letter in hand, I packed for 3 days figuring with my luck they would have me working Friday and Saturday and I would just stay up there for the 3 days. I made it to Pittsburgh in about 2.5 hours, parked over next to Heinz Field, and walked over to PNC for my meeting.

I have to mention as a side note, that the entire city is decked out and ready to host the All-Star game. Banners are hung; the bridges look great with banners, flags, and artwork. I was walking besides rows of port-a-johns and they were even being prepped with the All-Star vinyl stickers covering the whole john. The place is looking awesome. Anyway . . .

I enter the stadium and we get a packet with our schedules and when we are working. I am working with MLB Productions during the Home Run Derby on Monday night, and again during the game on Tuesday night. It should be fun. I am at the Hilton in downtown, so really my only worry is getting into and out of Pittsburgh. So we meet and they tell us to smile, and be friendly and that we are the “best of the best” (sure, right). They then break us into little groups, but for me there wasn’t a little group that I belonged to, so they had us move behind the dugout so that they could hand us out sheets on what we would be doing.

So they give me a sheet listing my “supervisor” and my duties, which are basically being an assistant, and tell me I can go get my “uniform.” I head back out to behind left field and get my goodie bag (which consisted of a water bottle, 2 free tickets to Fan Fest, a ticket voucher to a Pirates home game in September, a fanny pack, a decal, a button for me to write my name on, my id badge, lanyard, and very nice hat (See above). I then stood in line for a polo shirt, and then I was on my way. All done in 45 minutes.

I then called my friend Annamarie, who now lives in Pittsburgh, for help on how I can get in and out of Pittsburgh on Monday and Tuesday nights. She is currently looking up bus schedules and is supposed to call me this weekend.

I am excited and looking forward to this. I hope that I get to be involved in something exciting, plus the benefits of working with MLB can’t hurt. More updates to come.

All-Star Update #2: I’m In!

2006-06-28T19:30:00.000-05:00

I received my letter yesterday from the Pirates letting me know that I have been accepted as a 2006 All-Star Ambassador Volunteer. I have to report to PNC Park on July 6th to get my assignment and to meet my volunteer supervisor, receive my free FanFest tickets, get my official “uniform” which I get to keep, and find out what the hell I will be doing. I am excited! Now is where the real fun begins . . . once I get my schedule, I could be up there for 4 straight days, or I could be one and done, so who knows, and if I am up there 4 straight days, what the hell do I do for a place to stay? My Dad lives in Morgantown, so I could stay with him and commute up every day, or I could slip an e-mail to a friend of mine who I used to coach basketball with and see if she minded me staying at her place . . . we will just have to wait and see. Whatever the arrangements, I will try my best to take a ton of photos and hopefully have a lot to share with everyone. Stay tuned.

Morons on the Golf Course

2006-06-26T20:13:00.000-05:00

The other day I got a chance to play 18 holes of golf with my friend Tom. We knew they must have been running a special for Morons that afternoon cause they were all over the place.

First there was a two-some that were literally RUNNING to jump on the tee box in front of us so they could get off before we did. These 2 idiots are trying to catch up to the group in front of them, not so they can make a four-some, but so they can make a five-some . . . nothing like sitting behind 5 bad players all afternoon.

Then we were teeing off on #4, which is a long par 5 down a hill that runs parallel with #2 that goes up the same hill. I hit my drive out in the middle of the fairway and it rolls slightly into the rough to the right, between the #4 and #2. Tom hits his to the left so when we get to the fairway, he takes the cart and stays with his ball and I go look for mine. On problem, I can’t find it. Now I hate to lose balls anyway (especially if they are new like this one was) and I especially hate when I lose them in plain sight. Well coming up #2 was a two-some and they kept looking at me while I was looking for my ball and getting more disgusted by the minute. Tom hit (as the five-some cleared the green) and we both looked. Tom says, “I bet one of those guys picked up your ball.” I knew he was right, it had to be. So I jumped in the cart and flagged them down.

“Did you find a ball back there?” I asked the stupid redneck (he was a redneck cause he swiped my ball) with an orange t-shirt on.

“Yea, was it a Calloway?”

“Yes it is, did you pick it up?” Now I am getting disgusted, as I realize they did take it, watched me search for it, and still neglected to say anything.

He calls up to his equally redneckish buddy on the green who has my pilfered ball in his pocket, “Hey, that’s his ball. Throw it down.” So the guy chucks it down to me while his orange t-shirt wearing friend tries to explain.

“We found it back there on top of the hill.” I look at him with no expression just staring through him.

“We didn’t see anyone around.” This is the wrong answer.

“That’s because I was STILL ON THE TEE BOX!” At this point I knew I needed to get in the cart and drive away, cause the next step in this discussion was going to be me playing my 3 iron off his head.

As I drove away I heard . . . faintly, “Sorry.” Yea right, moron.

Next we catch up the five-some in front of us, just before they tee off on #6, do they let us play through? Nope. Morons.

Last thing, we were playing this short par 4 (#8) and we are just off the green and this ball lands not more than 15 yards from me, on the green, as I am lining up a putt. Tom runs to the front of the green in aggravated and throws his arms up in the air. The guy waves sorry then when they reach the green he apologizes to both of us. Now the problem I have is that he is obviously going for the green in one. So why not wait to make sure we are out of the way? Seriously, just wait even if you think the possibility is there of hitting us and go when we are done.

I also saw a guy playing without a shirt, a empty beer can thrown over the side of the hill next to the green, and so many diviots not replaced that you could have thought they were aerating the course.

(you would have thought all of this would have distracted me but I went 42-42 for an 84, I will take 5 strokes off for all I had to deal with and walk away with a 79. Sounds fair right?)

Summer Slow Down

2006-06-21T08:16:00.000-05:00

Since all my shows shut down with the season finales and there haven’t been any new episodes I have gone into the Summer Slow Down with my TV watching. I have limited it to watching the Pirates and the one new show Windfall about a group of friends who win the lottery. I also have taken this time to start watching the 4400 on USA. I heard a few people talk about this show and so I was able to record a synopsis show that kinda brought you up to date as to what is happening (since I am jumping in on season 3) and I have to admit that I do like the show and will continue to watch.

Besides that and some PTI and some Y&R I am not that tied down to the TV and I have to admit that it is a nice feeling. I have only a few shows on the DVR that I need to get through, and when I say a few I mean 2 shows which is a big difference than the norm when there are usually 8-10 shows (way too many).

It is nice to not feel like I am missing something, or not keeping up-to-date on the latest and greatest shows and it is nice in the evenings to catch a baseball game (if you can stand to watch the Pirates blow lead after lead) or play a little PS2 and just let the day go.

I really like the quiet time between 9:00 and midnight, it is a nice time to just let your brain take a break and not worry about anything.

All-Star Update #1

2006-06-13T08:43:00.000-05:00

Well this could be either a short-lived series of updates, or it could last through July and the All-Star game, depending on if I get picked to be an All-Star volunteer.

I attended a mandatory meeting on Friday at PNC park where we got envelopes that had our work schedules in it, then we sat in the stands and watched a video on the jumbotron about the 2005 All-Star game in Detroit and then we had a woman from MLB and a woman from the Pittsburgh Pirates H.R. Department (who by the way was a little too “gung-ho” for me and most of the crowd there.) We were informed that there have been over 3,500 people sign up to be volunteers and they only need about 1,600 and that we may not all be chosen. This worried me a little since I don’t live in Pittsburgh and I could be one of the first ones cut, but I left the work schedule wide-open so I could be available any time so that could be a plus for me.

After our little talk, we were instructed to go back in the same line we were in for our envelopes and give the workers our schedules and they would then ask us 5 short questions and we could then be on our way. Being in the U-Z line is an advantage as I was the second person to have my “interview” and after driving for 3 hours and getting there at 11:30 a.m. and meeting at noon, by 1:15 p.m. I was done. They said they will send us letters in the mail over the next 2 weeks letting us know if we made the cut or not, so I hope that I can continue on in the process or All-Star Update #2 might be the last update.

“Honey Bunny”

2006-06-08T21:18:00.000-05:00

Owen uses this phrase a lot, and Renea nor I can figure out where this came from and what it means. It seems to be a catch-all for Owen and whenever he seems to be at a loss for words or just wants to be clowning around he says “Honey Bunny.” So tonight in the car on our way to get a Roast Beef sandwich from Arby’s for dinner (which I called a “Honey Bunny” sandwich so he would eat it, and it included special Hunny Bunny fries and Hunny Bunny juice) I decided to ask Owen what a Hunny Bunny looks like. Here is the conversation.

“So Owen, what does a Hunny Bunny look like?”

“It has feet . . . legs . . . arms . . . a pee-pee . . . and a bum.”

Renea asks, “Does it have a head?”

“Yes a head too, and ears, and a pee-pee and a bum.”

Well I am glad and now know what one looks like, and now you know too, so if you see one in your neighborhood, call the police, and don’t try to order the Hunny Bunny Combo at Arby’s they have no idea what that means.

_____________________________________

Off to All-Star orientation tomorrow, I will blog about that on Saturday. Will be away from a computer tomorrow.

Bloggin Back where I belong

2006-06-07T20:37:00.000-05:00

Ok, ok I am trying to get back into the blog swing of things. I know it has been awhile but I will try to keep a better vigil with the blog.

About a week ago, Owen and I had a chance to spend 4 days with each other, and those 4 days were fun, but also a tad bit exhausting. I had to take Owen to my office two of the days and the other two days we spent hanging out. Here are some things I learned over those days:

• I am pretty sure Owen will be a lady killer. The boy can pick good-looking women out, and I am surprised about how forward he is, he will grab their hand pull them the way he wants to go and says “Come play with me.” I should have used this approach to pick up women when I was younger.

• Paperclips, and lots of them, are a good way to entertain a 2 year old. He’s old enough to know not to eat them, and young enough to not be bored within 30 seconds.

• Putt-Putt golf is definitely for kids 4 and over. A 2 year old only wants to test the physics of the ball on a lumpy putting surface.

• Owen is attached to all kinds of balls, and would not throw his ball in the hole on the 18th green. After seeing my ball disappear down a tube at the bottom of the hole, Owen declared, “No throw my ball in the tuba!”

• Telling your son to be quiet as you hustle out of the putt-putt area with a pilfered blue putt-putt golf ball may not be a good thing to teach your son.

• Don’t force food. When he/she is hungry they will eat.

• Do take advantage of places that will feed your kid for free. This helps with the last one, cause if your kid doesn’t eat the free stuff then you don’t feel like pushing him to eat it in fear of wasting it.

• The pet store to a 2 year old is just as good as any zoo.

• An umbrella and hose are fun for hours in the back yard on a sunny warm day.

• Owen discovered sweat for the first time, and asked me, “Daddy, why is my hair wet?” and that was the biggest thing I learned over those 4 days . . . that everything can be a new experience for children and some of the basic things we know are sometimes brand new to them.

Out of Context

2006-05-18T21:44:00.000-05:00

I was driving home the other day and I heard someone on ESPNRadio read the comments Pittsburgh Steeler linebacker Joey Porter made about going to see the president. I sat there in my car cringing at every word read from Porter. . .

“Yeah, I got something to say to Bush, I’m going to have a swagger when I walk in there, too," Porter said, laughing loudly. "I’m looking forward to it. I have something to tell him, too. I don’t like the way things are running right now. I feel like he has to give me some of my money back, so I got something to tell Bush."

Ok this is bad I am thinking as the ESPN host is roasting Joey Porter mocking his use of the English language, his lack of respect for the office of the president, and his generally cocky attitude. I am thinking this is what we get. You win a Super Bowl and stuff like this is publicized, man what was he thinking? What a dumbass.

Well I had read today that Porter backed off his comments and said he was kidding, and I thought, “PR move by the Steelers.” Seems like they are catching hell and need to say something so the normal “my comments were taken out of context,” is applied.

Then tonight on Fox Sports I actually hear and see Joey Porter say the comments he made to the press initially and I have to say most of the media in the US owes Joey Porter an apology.

Yea he made those comments, but it wasn’t in the normal locker room trash talk style we are accustomed to hearing from Porter. It was him talking with local reporters, most of them the beat writers for the Steelers and he was JOKING AROUND. It was clear from the video that Porter was in no way being serious. He wasn’t pointing his finger at the camera and doing his best Hulk Hogan. He was laughing and joking like you do with friends. Like I would have done and most of us would have done with our buddies and if we had plans to meet the president.

Somewhere the tone, the feel, the ambiance of the situation was lost and people just pulled the quote and read it. Was he disrespectful to the office of the President? Yea sure, but not nearly as much as he was made out to be by the media and the ESPN personality who didn’t do his homework to find out what Joey was really saying.

I guess that is where the disappointment lies, with the media and how they took something so small and insignificant and turned it into a matter of national security. My questions is how many other times have I been duped into believing what a broadcaster on ESPN is saying when he or she hasn’t done the research themselves to find out what truly was said?

Wrong

2006-04-25T20:38:00.000-05:00

Since when has the word “Stripper” not been allowed on the radio? There is this song out that is called “I’m in love with a stripper” but the version on my iPod (yes that song is on my iPod) and the version on the local radio station is different. What is different is that instead of stripper, they say dancer. What? What happened to stripper? You can’t say stripper anymore? When did this happen? Why wasn’t I notified? Where was my e-mail regarding this matter? Were strippers offended they were being called strippers? It isn’t used in a derogatory tone, he’s “in love” with a stripper. It’s a good thing.
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On my way to work out this morning, I passed 2 women walking and they were dressed like they were on a “working out” type of walk, now the funny thing was that one of the women was smoking. What? You are motivated to get up at 6:30 a.m. and walk, but you can’t put the cigarette down? Well at least her legs will be in shape.
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Jetta ad? Seen it? If you have to think about it you probably haven’t. It is about as realistic as it gets. It shows people getting into violent car wrecks and being able to walk away due to the safety features in the car. Now I don’t know about you, but I like my commercials warm and fuzzy, with dancing pieces of a Whopper and talking lizards and Mexican dogs. Not car wrecks that make me pee myself. Not fun Volkswagon!

Plus/Minus 4/11/06

2006-04-11T23:49:00.000-05:00

+
Beautiful day. The weather was perfect. Completed my resume for a position in Pittsburgh. Hope to get outta here.

–
Lack of respect.

Plus/Minus 4/6/06

2006-04-05T23:46:00.000-05:00

+
Intramural Volleyball team win.
285 pages worth of changes made to the College catalog.
Workout in with sprint work without any knee pain.
Over 30 subscribers to the Brothers in 3-Z podcast!
Owen's smile

–
Dealing with idiots.
Not having time to get a good blog up and being behind in updating it.
General lack of feeling appreciated at my job.
Ordering "Large" basketball shorts and having them come over my knee and look more like knickers than shorts

Plus/Minus

2006-03-23T00:23:00.000-05:00

+ Today I finally started to make a dent into the Visual Identity Guidelines that I am writing for the College. Got a good workout in without a knee or ankle hurting for no reason. New Brothers in 3-Z podcast is up. Great job Trent.

– Reading the WVU message boards I realize how much of a bunch of whiners WVU fans sound sometimes. It is depressing to go there. I mean all the University has done over the past year in the 2 major sports is go to 2 Sweet Sixteens and win a Sugar Bowl, but you go there and people are whining about football recruiting, and where is John Beilein going? I can see how other schools fans hate us, all we do is complain.

Basketball all over the place

2006-03-20T22:41:00.000-05:00

So the first round of the NCAA tournament is over. It was an exciting round, and a ton of good basketball games.

My tournament started at Buffalo Wild Wings (BWW) in Parkersburg, which is different than the past 6 years when we watched the tournament at Damon’s here in Marietta. Now I was wondering how this experience would go, because as long as I have been taking the first 2 days of the tournament off to watch games, no place has gotten the whole routine of getting the maximum amount of games on their TV’s correct. Well this was no exception.

I had reserved the “back room” at BWW for the first 2 days of the tournament, but I also knew that we would have a smaller amount of people join us the first day. Well it was Tom and I the first day and we had 2 other people who we knew were coming out, and we felt that since I hadn’t paid a reservation fee for the 2 days (a bonus move by the GM at BWW) we should take up the room for just 3-4 people.

That move was stupid. We sat in the main dining room and for the first 45-60 minutes we were forced to watch one game on 4 TV’s, and spent the rest of the time trying to get the others changed. At one point Renea called me and I asked her how many games did she get at home, and she had 2 different games on our 2 different CBS stations. I was sitting at a so-called sports bar and was worse off than I would have been at home. Pathetic.

So anyway we finally moved to the “bar area” later in the day, in time for the second round of games and got to have 3 TV’s in front of us with different games, and over our shoulder behind us we got the fourth game, so that wasn’t so bad. I don’t mind having to swivel and turn to catch another game, because most of the time I am just happy that I have access to all of the games.

So needless to say Thursday was not a very good day. This seems to be typical with a rookie bar hosting a lot of people for the first time on a March Madness weekend. Too few servers on duty, the TV’s not properly calibrated, and a general feeling like they had no idea that people would be there to watch basketball.

Friday was the exact opposite. We got and used the “back room” the server (which was a male and understood the TV’s and the fact that we wanted a different game on every TV) was excellent. The back room had 4 TV’s and each was on a different game, and if it wasn’t he made sure it was. When we got there it took about 3 minutes to get our drinks and another 5 for him to take our order. It could have been the best set-up ever to watch games. The only thing that could have been better was the set up of the room. It was a long room and the TV’s were spread through out and were hanging from the ceiling, and the chairs (for a 5 hour afternoon) were a little uncomfortable after 3 hours. But you could stand up, walk around the room, and hold conversations with other people with out yelling. It was a great setup and even if I had had to pay the $20 reservation fee I would have done it in a second. It was worth it.

Duke

2006-03-15T23:19:00.000-05:00

I read my brother Adam’s blog today and it got me thinking why do I like Duke as much as he and most of the college basketball community apparently hates them.

I am slowly realizing that I am in the minority of fans that like Duke. And definitely in the Zundell family and among my friends I am the only one that cares for the Blue Devils.

I met Coach K once and heard him speak at a coaching conference in Cleveland, and I have read his books, (which if you coach a sport you have to read). I like Duke because I realize that that is what college basketball is all about. Playing hard, playing with passion, playing with a terrific understanding of the fundamentals, playing as a team. All of those things, as a former player and coach, I respect and understand how hard they are to come by and put together.

Does ESPN’s love for them annoy you? YES it annoys the hell out of me. Does Dickie V’s apparent man crush on J.J. Redick Coach K, and any Duke player for that matter make you want to puke? YES. Are some of their players annoying? Of course, but you know what? You would LOVE them if they were on your team. Who wouldn’t want a J.J. Redick, or Sheldon Williams, Shane Battier, or Grant Hill on their team? You would LOVE it if your team played with that passion and desire every game, and who wouldn’t give whatever it took to get a Coach K clone (this is why his assistants are always in the running for head coaching jobs)? Who wouldn’t want the crowds, the atmosphere, and the tradition of Duke?

If you have ever been successful, you have been hated, and if you have been lucky enough to be hated (yes I just said that and you know what I am talking about), then you remember that feeling and how much you loved it. They hated you because you were good, you were the best, and you beat them often. That is what it is like to be Duke. They are hated because they are good. It’s that simple.

So hate them. Root against them. Wish for their players to break arms and legs while going in for a layup. Laugh at their Crazies, traditions, coaches, and the tents outside Cameron. They love it.

Truth is, we all wish to be that good and that hated.

Plus/Minus Today

2006-03-15T00:18:00.000-05:00

+ I entered my picks on many web sites in an attempt to win large prizes and enormous amounts of cash. Also I am now happy that Arby’s is serving 100% all natural chicken. (I just want to know what did they serve before?)

– Cold as crap today, how in the hell does it go from being 80º on one day and then 30º the next. I hate the weather here.

Bed-Time Blues

2006-03-13T21:25:00.000-05:00

I know I have wrote before about The Adventure of Owen in Sleeping, so I will continue with an update on the progress.

Well it’s not going well . . . he continues to throw a grade A class hissy fit when we leave him in is room at bedtime. It’s more that he is calling for “MOMMMMMMIE” than anything else. He wants Renea to lay in the room with him until he falls asleep.

Now he’s not dumb, he knows that Renea is not coming back after we say our goodbyes, but he is VERY persistent. He knows (based on the previous 28 months of his life) that if he cries loud enough and long enough Renea will give in and come back up to lay with him.

Now we have been doing this new way of laying him down for about 2-3 weeks, letting him throw a fit and hoping that he realizes that we won’t give into him. You would think that after all of this time he would start to realize that it’s not working, the screaming, the jumping up and down in the crib, and even the crying isn’t resulting in the desired outcome, which is having Renea come in and lay on the floor until he falls asleep.

The thing I keep hoping about this behavior/personality trait is he will be a one-track mind, nose to the grindstone, hard working, persistent, S.O.B. when he gets older. At least that is what I keep telling myself as the screaming and crying continues.

Theory Time

2006-03-09T00:37:00.000-05:00

After writing my blog yesterday about the WVU women’s basketball game against UConn I was reminded of a theory I have about women’s college basketball in general.

I theorize that you can take the NCAA Division III women’s national champions and pit them against a Division I women’s team ranked between number 5 and lower (by lower I mean 6, 7, 8 etc.) and I think it would be a very competitive game, and it might even be a win for the D-III team.

The difference between the great D-I players and the great D-III players is not as big of a gap as you may think, certainly not as wide as on the men’s side. See, the best of the best high school players all go to a handful of D-I programs, like UConn and Tennessee, and the rest of the programs in the country get good players but not the huge difference makers like the elite programs, and the difference between the quality player at a middle of the rankings D-I program and an elite D-III program is not that great.

Now I am not saying that any D-III program can beat a D-I program, far from it, I know how bad some D-III teams can be, but I have also coached against the D-III national champions and I have witnessed the type of well run offenses and accurate shooting that would allow a D-III team to compete with a D-I program.

The biggest problem the D-III school would have would be guarding the post of a D-I team. 6’6” girls don’t go to D-III schools, and the match-ups in the post would be the biggest problem. Guard wise and forward wise it would be pretty close, and the post problem could be solved with the implementation of a zone, rather than leaving the post players one-on-one.

Offensively, a great shooting D-III team would/should be fine on the offensive end of the floor, a motion offense, or something that would pull the post out from the basket would work well and would free up the middle of the floor for cuts to the basket.

All in all the difference is not that great, and on the right night I really feel that it could be a pretty good match-up. Now lately the big talent is starting to go to other schools (like Duke, UNC, Maryland, Ohio State and Rutgers) so more teams are competitive at a high level, and soon I believe that my theory will have no merit as more good players go to more teams, but as of right now I still believe in my theory . . . now if there was any way I could prove it.

Bleeack

2006-03-08T00:09:00.000-05:00

My wife Renea is sick. She has some sort of flu, with body aches, a cough, and a sore throat, and by the looks of her I hope that Owen and I aren’t the next ones to suffer from this sickness. Now the bad thing that never occurred to me until later today, is that I have a real shot at getting this next.

Why did I not think of that until now? Well, it might have been the 10+ previous years where out of all the times she has gotten sick, I maybe have turned around and caught exactly what she had between 8-12 times. Not bad for 10+ years of marriage. (I guess that doesn’t say much about how close we are.) I don’t get sick very often, and when I do it is usually a day or so. I just don’t ever see myself as sick, nor do I do things to prevent me from getting the sickness, I just hope I haven’t screwed myself on this one, cause the way she is acting, it’s a doozie.

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Going along with the sick theme, I watched, what I could bear to look at, the WVU women vs. UConn in the Big East Championship game. If there has been an uglier game played . . . I have seen it, I helped coach the Marietta College women’s team a few years ago, and so with ugly basketball I am an expert. The game had no flow, WVU has this center that when she touched the ball in the paint she didn’t miss, so of course they never gave her the ball on the low post, noooo that would make way too much sense. It was poorly coached, poorly officiated, and poorly played. It was like watching a car wreck in progress, you know what is going to happen, but you can’t look away, but I did manage to watch a taped 24 while the game played in the little corner of the screen with my picture in picture, I felt, as a Mountaineer that I was obligated to watch the game, I just feel it didn’t warrant big screen consideration.

But you have to see it again

2006-03-06T23:59:00.000-05:00

This line has been used on me many times over the past few months about bad movies, or should I say movies I think are bad and that people think I need to view a second time to truly appreciate how they go from a crap film to Oscar nominated in that second viewing.

I am of the opinion that if a movie sucks the first time you see it then it will suck the second time you see it. Believe me, I don’t need to see Napoleon Dynamite again to know how bad it is. What am I going to learn from watching it a second time? Unless under some sort of influence things that weren’t funny the first time are still not going to be funny the second time.

Why would I ever watch a movie that I hated the first time again? Why? No there is no good answer to that. There is no way, just for the fun of it, that I would ever sit and watch Donny Darko, Anchorman, or Cry Baby again. Never. These movies had a shot the first time I wasted 2 hours on them, and to me, they didn’t warrant a second chance. People get second chances, restaurants get second chances, movies . . . no.

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Kirby Puckett passed away today at age 45. One of the best baseball names of all time, Kirby Puckett. Can't get a better baseball name than that.

I wasn’t a big Puckett fan, although he played the game with passion and enthusiasm. All I remember is that 1991 World Series against the Braves and games 6 and 7, bringing the Twins back to beat the Braves. I was a Twins fan that year.

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Did anyone notice that the winners of the Oscars for best male (Philip Seymour Hoffman for portraying Truman Capote) and female (Reese Witherspoon for playing June Carter) were portraying real people. Is this acting or just impersonating? I don’t know for sure. Are we more impressed because they got these people right rather than someone portraying an original character?

Don’t you wish some days . . .

2006-03-01T22:59:00.000-05:00

there was no one around that you have to talk to.

you got paid what you were worth, just for that day.

you didn’t have to deal with morons.

that it was 85 and sunny instead of 35 and rainy.

that everything that is “cluttering your life” was gone.

that you were on vacation at a beach somewhere drinking a tropical, alcohol filled drink, rather than sitting at a desk.

that you could work on one project start to finish, without interruptions.

that the people that really irritate you would not come by the office today.

that you could spend the whole day with your son in the park.

that you could spend a whole evening with your wife, just catching up, eating wings and drinking your favorite beer.

that you were 6’4” instead of a generous 5’9”.

that your metabolism never slowed down and was still working at a 20 year olds’ pace.

that if you had facebook.com and myspace.com when you were in high school and college so that you wouldn’t have lost touch with so many of your old friends.

that you could win the lottery and buy that Slurpee machine you always wanted.

that every Friday was “Play 18 holes of golf” day.

that the lawn mowed its’ self.

that you actually knew what was wrong with your car and you could fix it yourself.

that someone would say “thank you” for a project that you did for them at the last minute.

that instead of telling you what’s wrong with them, once they would ask you how you are doing.

that you and your brothers all lived in the same town again.

that you had your 1978 hairstyle back.

that you knew what the future holds.

that you could stay home all day and play video games.

that your blog was always this easy to write.