Sorry it has been so long since I have uploaded pics or anything at all. It will happen soon :)
Please accept with no obligation, implied or implicit, my best wishes for an environmentally conscious, socially responsible, low-stress, non-addictive, gender-neutral celebration of the winter solstice holiday, practiced within the most enjoyable traditions of the religious persuasion of your choice, or secular practices of your choice, with respect for the religious/secular persuasion and/or traditions of others, or their choice not to practice religious or secular traditions at all. I also wish you a fiscally successful, personally fulfilling and medically uncomplicated recognition of the onset of the generally accepted calendar year 2010 , but not without due respect for the calendars of choice of other cultures whose contributions to society have helped make America great. Not to imply that America is necessarily greater than any other country nor the only America in the Western Hemisphere . Also, this wish is made without regard to the race, creed, color, age, physical ability, religious faith or sexual preference of the wish.
But to be non-politically correct: Merry Christmas!
Wednesday, December 23, 2009
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Thanksgiving
A note to all of my family, friends and acquaintances:
This may be a dark time for businesses and families across our blessed country as political and economic storms combine to dampen our spirits and steal our success and vitality. Decisions are made every day that make it more and more difficult for the people of our country to progress and even succeed. I feel deeply that we are coming to a crossroads as a country, and that the decisions we make as a people will have consequences beyond our ability to understand at this time.
Nonetheless, we stand firm in our faith, our principles, and our friendships; strong against the tempest, and we continue to press forward. We are so blessed! The last few weeks since Ashton was born have been a time for less sleep and more thought - and I cannot help but to be humbled before the wonder that is my life. I have an amazing wife, 3 beautiful boys, gainful employment, and you, my friends.
Today, I give thanks to you for the support, inspiration, and motivation that you provide me when I need it the most. My love goes out to you, and I thank God for the chance I have to associate with you all on a daily basis! May we all make memories of joy this week with those we come in contact with. May we all be grateful for the blessings that are bestowed on us. Thank you again for all that you do for me!
Happy Thanksgiving!
~Ben
This may be a dark time for businesses and families across our blessed country as political and economic storms combine to dampen our spirits and steal our success and vitality. Decisions are made every day that make it more and more difficult for the people of our country to progress and even succeed. I feel deeply that we are coming to a crossroads as a country, and that the decisions we make as a people will have consequences beyond our ability to understand at this time.
Nonetheless, we stand firm in our faith, our principles, and our friendships; strong against the tempest, and we continue to press forward. We are so blessed! The last few weeks since Ashton was born have been a time for less sleep and more thought - and I cannot help but to be humbled before the wonder that is my life. I have an amazing wife, 3 beautiful boys, gainful employment, and you, my friends.
Today, I give thanks to you for the support, inspiration, and motivation that you provide me when I need it the most. My love goes out to you, and I thank God for the chance I have to associate with you all on a daily basis! May we all make memories of joy this week with those we come in contact with. May we all be grateful for the blessings that are bestowed on us. Thank you again for all that you do for me!
Happy Thanksgiving!
~Ben
Friday, April 17, 2009
Freeline 2
Time for the freeline update.
Bought my freelines a month or so ago, and I've been out on em half a dozen times since. Can't say I'm an expert yet - worse I'm thinking I have a long ways to go.
Let's get to it.
We talked about the 4 foot excursion on that first ride... oh yeah, and the giggling.
The 2nd ride went much better. The first attempt was, you guessed it, a 4 footer. I was actually on the phone at the time, trying to escape a 3 year old. There wasn't much I could do to evade his clutches but to try again.
So I pushed off again... and... magic. It was everything I have heard describing snowboarding on new snow. Floating, gliding, and acceleration. I had to grit my teeth and hold tight, tears streaming down my face from the blast of the 4 mph wind. The glide lasted a block and a half, a little shaky and more than a bit scary. Its amazing how fast 4 mph feels when you're standing on dinner plates the size of your shoes with wheels attached to them.
The exhilaration of the first ride was not diminished by repetition, nor by the difficulty in mastering the technique.
from night 2 through each successive ride, I was able to glide as far as the slope would take me. One of the hardest lessons? These legs of mine aren't nearly as strong as I would like to believe. The first thing you realize is that each foot takes effort to keep under you. If you were to let things take their natural course, you would be doing the splits in about 0.3 seconds, so the first responsibility you delegate to your legs is to oppose such action. After 3-4 rides, the muscles lining your inner thighs are just starting to burn. after a couple weeks, they don't burn as badly, but you definitely realize that that burn isn't going to be all that short lived either.
Now that I have some ride time under my belt, It is easier to see how the learning will progress a little at a time. Still haven't figured out the whole creating forward momentum thing. Watching the vids and comparing the action to my experience I think it will be easy to figure the action as the strength in my legs increases.
Reading on the internet I heard that changing out the bearings would be a good idea. Lowers the friction and makes it easier to push forward AND glide. I read a few articles and ended up buying a hybrid bearing from Rush. 1 ceramic bearing and the rest super high tech metal. Just a hand test, rolling the wheel before and after, the difference was night and day. Rolling a wheel with moderate force would spin it for 5-8 seconds originally. After the upgrade the roll time with the same force of spin was 17-20 seconds. Trying the difference out on the street gave me more than 30% less drag. Less drag = more speed, and as anyone that knows me can attest, I have a serious need in that area!
So far my progress has all been made on what I would consider a bunny hill. I have less than a 1% grade that stretches for a couple of hundred feet. Even so each ride is exhilarating.
The giggling hasn't stopped. The only thing that I am looking forward to more than my next ride, is the option NOT to have to WALK back up the hill.
I'm sure to post a vid when I finally figure it out. I will keep you posted.
Ben
Bought my freelines a month or so ago, and I've been out on em half a dozen times since. Can't say I'm an expert yet - worse I'm thinking I have a long ways to go.
Let's get to it.
We talked about the 4 foot excursion on that first ride... oh yeah, and the giggling.
The 2nd ride went much better. The first attempt was, you guessed it, a 4 footer. I was actually on the phone at the time, trying to escape a 3 year old. There wasn't much I could do to evade his clutches but to try again.
So I pushed off again... and... magic. It was everything I have heard describing snowboarding on new snow. Floating, gliding, and acceleration. I had to grit my teeth and hold tight, tears streaming down my face from the blast of the 4 mph wind. The glide lasted a block and a half, a little shaky and more than a bit scary. Its amazing how fast 4 mph feels when you're standing on dinner plates the size of your shoes with wheels attached to them.
The exhilaration of the first ride was not diminished by repetition, nor by the difficulty in mastering the technique.
from night 2 through each successive ride, I was able to glide as far as the slope would take me. One of the hardest lessons? These legs of mine aren't nearly as strong as I would like to believe. The first thing you realize is that each foot takes effort to keep under you. If you were to let things take their natural course, you would be doing the splits in about 0.3 seconds, so the first responsibility you delegate to your legs is to oppose such action. After 3-4 rides, the muscles lining your inner thighs are just starting to burn. after a couple weeks, they don't burn as badly, but you definitely realize that that burn isn't going to be all that short lived either.
Now that I have some ride time under my belt, It is easier to see how the learning will progress a little at a time. Still haven't figured out the whole creating forward momentum thing. Watching the vids and comparing the action to my experience I think it will be easy to figure the action as the strength in my legs increases.
Reading on the internet I heard that changing out the bearings would be a good idea. Lowers the friction and makes it easier to push forward AND glide. I read a few articles and ended up buying a hybrid bearing from Rush. 1 ceramic bearing and the rest super high tech metal. Just a hand test, rolling the wheel before and after, the difference was night and day. Rolling a wheel with moderate force would spin it for 5-8 seconds originally. After the upgrade the roll time with the same force of spin was 17-20 seconds. Trying the difference out on the street gave me more than 30% less drag. Less drag = more speed, and as anyone that knows me can attest, I have a serious need in that area!
So far my progress has all been made on what I would consider a bunny hill. I have less than a 1% grade that stretches for a couple of hundred feet. Even so each ride is exhilarating.
The giggling hasn't stopped. The only thing that I am looking forward to more than my next ride, is the option NOT to have to WALK back up the hill.
I'm sure to post a vid when I finally figure it out. I will keep you posted.
Ben
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
Freeline Skates - or - I'm not crazy... Really!
So a few weeks ago, bored and surfing the web, I happened across a youtube vid of a guy on some new skates. I can't really do justice to the vid in a simple description, but I was astonished at the freedom of movement displayed by the skater, as well as the incredible design of the skate.
Having been a bit of a skater in my rugrat years (shout out to Little Ben my skate partner in crime) I was immediately intrigued.
To make a long story short, I had some birthday cash hidden under the ol mattress, and I had a decision to make. More woodworking tools (I still need to finish my nightstands...) or dedicate some time on the street with my son Greyson, learning to "skate" while he does tricks on his trike.
The adrenalyne junky / good father in me won out. Enter the skates. They arrived the DAY I came down with the worst strain of the flu I have ever had. I was down a full week. Skating was right out.
Still, pride in ownership right? Greyson calls these my "wheels" and I have to admit they look pretty snazzy. Shown is the box as well, skates side profile, and then top down bottom up shot.
One week later, 12 lbs. less, (yup, nothing like having a throat so sore you can't swallow food to lose big weight!) I was ready to try them out. I had done considerable reading onthe difficulty of learning to ride on these skates, and went out with a realistic thought that it was going to take me a week or two to get proficient on these babies.
So to follow is my experience learning to ride freelines, with more posts to follow as I have progress to report.
I spotted a place right in front of our house to begin. A nice ribbed light post, new asphalt, and a slight slope formed the perfect combination for the push off.
So I lined up the left and right skates in front of the post. One foot up at a time, while keeping a death grip on the light post with my right hand. First discovery, those wheels look big, but they in no way provide a perfectly stable surface. There is a tendancy to tip front or back out of the gate... my first push off I made it about 4 feet before stepping off the skates.
The good part, even after only 4 feet I had this HUGE smile on my face. These skates are going to be FUN.
I was out in the street for a good half an hour, and I had a huge smile pasted on my face the whole time. I even *shhhh* giggled a number of times... actually, probably every time I stepped off the skates.
Towards the end of my 30 min training session I was regularly going 15 feet or so before stepping off, I had a few good 30 foot runs, and one run everything came together and I was 40 feet out and gaining speed. Mind you, I know very little useable technique at this point, I have by no stretch of the imagination gained skill with the skates yet, and yes I was picking up speed... so I stepped off the skates.
Yup, not one fall, not one embarrasing moment (unless you count only going 4 feet embarrasing, I thought it was fun lol).
So verdict day 1. AWESOME.
Tune in later for more updates!
Having been a bit of a skater in my rugrat years (shout out to Little Ben my skate partner in crime) I was immediately intrigued.
To make a long story short, I had some birthday cash hidden under the ol mattress, and I had a decision to make. More woodworking tools (I still need to finish my nightstands...) or dedicate some time on the street with my son Greyson, learning to "skate" while he does tricks on his trike.
The adrenalyne junky / good father in me won out. Enter the skates. They arrived the DAY I came down with the worst strain of the flu I have ever had. I was down a full week. Skating was right out.
Still, pride in ownership right? Greyson calls these my "wheels" and I have to admit they look pretty snazzy. Shown is the box as well, skates side profile, and then top down bottom up shot.
One week later, 12 lbs. less, (yup, nothing like having a throat so sore you can't swallow food to lose big weight!) I was ready to try them out. I had done considerable reading onthe difficulty of learning to ride on these skates, and went out with a realistic thought that it was going to take me a week or two to get proficient on these babies.
So to follow is my experience learning to ride freelines, with more posts to follow as I have progress to report.
I spotted a place right in front of our house to begin. A nice ribbed light post, new asphalt, and a slight slope formed the perfect combination for the push off.
So I lined up the left and right skates in front of the post. One foot up at a time, while keeping a death grip on the light post with my right hand. First discovery, those wheels look big, but they in no way provide a perfectly stable surface. There is a tendancy to tip front or back out of the gate... my first push off I made it about 4 feet before stepping off the skates.
The good part, even after only 4 feet I had this HUGE smile on my face. These skates are going to be FUN.
I was out in the street for a good half an hour, and I had a huge smile pasted on my face the whole time. I even *shhhh* giggled a number of times... actually, probably every time I stepped off the skates.
Towards the end of my 30 min training session I was regularly going 15 feet or so before stepping off, I had a few good 30 foot runs, and one run everything came together and I was 40 feet out and gaining speed. Mind you, I know very little useable technique at this point, I have by no stretch of the imagination gained skill with the skates yet, and yes I was picking up speed... so I stepped off the skates.
Yup, not one fall, not one embarrasing moment (unless you count only going 4 feet embarrasing, I thought it was fun lol).
So verdict day 1. AWESOME.
Tune in later for more updates!
Friday, February 13, 2009
Do you read?
The BBC believes most people will have only read 6 of the 100 books here. How do your reading habits stack up?
Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
4) Tally your total at the bottom.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen X
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X+
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling X+
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee X
6 The Bible X
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller X
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X+
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams X
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh*
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame X
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy*
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens *
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis X
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis X
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell X
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown X+
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding X++++++++ (just kiddding... Hated it - have a good story about it btw)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen X
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez *
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas* X++ (really DID love this one!)
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville X
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens X
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker X
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath *
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray *
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker * X
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle X+
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas * X+
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare X+
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl X
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo X
Funny, not a lot of my favorite books on the list here. In fact some of them I hated / threw things at the people/teachers that made me read them. If you haven't heard my Lord of the flies story, its worth a run through!
Instructions:
1) Look at the list and put an 'x' after those you have read.
2) Add a '+' to the ones you LOVE.
3) Star (*) those you plan on reading.
4) Tally your total at the bottom.
1 Pride and Prejudice - Jane Austen X
2 The Lord of the Rings - JRR Tolkien X+
3 Jane Eyre - Charlotte Bronte X
4 Harry Potter series - JK Rowling X+
5 To Kill a Mockingbird - Harper Lee X
6 The Bible X
7 Wuthering Heights - Emily Bronte
8 Nineteen Eighty Four - George Orwell
9 His Dark Materials - Philip Pullman
10 Great Expectations - Charles Dickens X
11 Little Women - Louisa M Alcott X
12 Tess of the D’Urbervilles - Thomas Hardy
13 Catch 22 - Joseph Heller X
14 Complete Works of Shakespeare
15 Rebecca - Daphne Du Maurier
16 The Hobbit - JRR Tolkien X+
17 Birdsong - Sebastian Faulk
18 Catcher in the Rye - JD Salinger
19 The Time Traveller’s Wife - Audrey Niffenegger
20 Middlemarch - George Eliot
21 Gone With The Wind - Margaret Mitchell
22 The Great Gatsby - F Scott Fitzgerald
23 Bleak House - Charles Dickens
24 War and Peace - Leo Tolstoy
25 The Hitch Hiker’s Guide to the Galaxy - Douglas Adams X
26 Brideshead Revisited - Evelyn Waugh*
27 Crime and Punishment - Fyodor Dostoyevsky
28 Grapes of Wrath - John Steinbeck X
29 Alice in Wonderland - Lewis Carroll X
30 The Wind in the Willows - Kenneth Grahame X
31 Anna Karenina - Leo Tolstoy*
32 David Copperfield - Charles Dickens *
33 Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis X
34 Emma - Jane Austen
35 Persuasion - Jane Austen
36 The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - CS Lewis X
37 The Kite Runner - Khaled Hosseini
38 Captain Corelli’s Mandolin - Louis De Bernieres
39 Memoirs of a Geisha - Arthur Golden
40 Winnie the Pooh - AA Milne X
41 Animal Farm - George Orwell X
42 The Da Vinci Code - Dan Brown X+
43 One Hundred Years of Solitude - Gabriel Garcia Marquez
44 A Prayer for Owen Meaney - John Irving
45 The Woman in White - Wilkie Collins
46 Anne of Green Gables - LM Montgomery
47 Far From The Madding Crowd - Thomas Hardy
48 The Handmaid’s Tale - Margaret Atwood
49 Lord of the Flies - William Golding X++++++++ (just kiddding... Hated it - have a good story about it btw)
50 Atonement - Ian McEwan
51 Life of Pi - Yann Martel
52 Dune - Frank Herbert
53 Cold Comfort Farm - Stella Gibbons
54 Sense and Sensibility - Jane Austen X
55 A Suitable Boy - Vikram Seth
56 The Shadow of the Wind - Carlos Ruiz Zafon
57 A Tale Of Two Cities - Charles Dickens X
58 Brave New World - Aldous Huxley
59 The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-time - Mark Haddon
60 Love In The Time Of Cholera - Gabriel Garcia Marquez *
61 Of Mice and Men - John Steinbeck X
62 Lolita - Vladimir Nabokov
63 The Secret History - Donna Tartt
64 The Lovely Bones - Alice Sebold
65 Count of Monte Cristo - Alexandre Dumas* X++ (really DID love this one!)
66 On The Road - Jack Kerouac
67 Jude the Obscure - Thomas Hardy
68 Bridget Jones’s Diary - Helen Fielding
69 Midnight’s Children - Salman Rushdie
70 Moby Dick - Herman Melville X
71 Oliver Twist - Charles Dickens X
72 Dracula - Bram Stoker X
73 The Secret Garden - Frances Hodgson Burnett X
74 Notes From A Small Island - Bill Bryson
75 Ulysses - James Joyce
76 The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath *
77 Swallows and Amazons - Arthur Ransome
78 Germinal - Emile Zola
79 Vanity Fair - William Makepeace Thackeray *
80 Possession - AS Byatt
81 A Christmas Carol - Charles Dickens X
82 Cloud Atlas - David Mitchell
83 The Color Purple - Alice Walker * X
84 The Remains of the Day - Kazuo Ishiguro
85 Madame Bovary - Gustave Flaubert
86 A Fine Balance - Rohinton Mistry
87 Charlotte’s Web - EB White X
88 The Five People You Meet In Heaven - Mitch Albom
89 Adventures of Sherlock Holmes - Sir Arthur Conan Doyle X+
90 The Faraway Tree Collection - Enid Blyton
91 Heart of Darkness - Joseph Conrad
92 The Little Prince - Antoine De Saint-Exupery X
93 The Wasp Factory - Iain Banks
94 Watership Down - Richard Adams
95 A Confederacy of Dunces - John Kennedy Toole
96 A Town Like Alice - Nevil Shute
97 The Three Musketeers - Alexandre Dumas * X+
98 Hamlet - William Shakespeare X+
99 Charlie and the Chocolate Factory - Roald Dahl X
100 Les Miserables - Victor Hugo X
Funny, not a lot of my favorite books on the list here. In fact some of them I hated / threw things at the people/teachers that made me read them. If you haven't heard my Lord of the flies story, its worth a run through!
Tuesday, February 3, 2009
48 questions. Got tagged enough that I had to post SOMETHING.
48 Questions...
Here are the rules – There aren’t any. Those of you too structured to accept that… learn to cope.
1. WERE YOU NAMED AFTER ANYONE?
Yes. Benjamin after the man who married my parents, Brent after my dad. Griffiths after a long line of distinguished Europeans that have mixed over the ages. I think I relate most to the Welsh / Dutch lines.
2. WHEN WAS THE LAST TIME YOU CRIED?
Had to start out with the tough one huh? I think it was when I felt really moved to tell my little brother Sam something he needed to hear a couple of weeks ago. You know those times when you have been prepared to help someone else, and the knowledge of that preparation catches you by surprise, and it is overwhelming?
3. DO YOU LIKE YOUR HANDWRITING?
It isn’t too bad, my signature is amazing though.
4. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE LUNCH MEAT?
Pepper Chicken, hands down.
5. DO YOU HAVE KIDS?
Yes, 2 boys. Greyson turned 3 yesterday, Lincoln turns 1 in a couple of days. Both chips off the old block – totally adorable!
6. IF YOU WERE ANOTHER PERSON, WOULD YOU BE FRIENDS WITH YOU?
I absolutely love playing board games / card games… at least someone would be able to keep up for a change! (my wife is going to wipe the floor with me this Friday night now… she is WAY too lucky for my own good)
7. DO YOU USE SARCASM?
Who?
8. DO YOU STILL HAVE YOUR TONSILS?
Nope, had those out a decade ago… ish. At least I lost those stateside. My Appendix wasn’t so lucky.
9. WOULD YOU BUNGEE JUMP?
Absolutely. None of that pansy ‘It’s SO high!’ stuff from me! I'm a fear factor wannabe (minus the food, some things just ain't worth it)
10. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE CEREAL?
Frosted Flakes, but my wife won’t buy them (too sugary) so I make do with mini wheats and cheerios!
11. DO YOU UNTIE YOUR SHOES WHEN YOU TAKE THEM OFF?
I am a little TOO lazy for that one. I figure, buy shoes with the stretchy laces that don’t come undone, save yourself the trouble and just slip em off.
13. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE ICE CREAM?
It is a tie. Cookie Dough or Fish Food. (The only eternal dilemma)
14. WHAT IS THE FIRST THING YOU NOTICE ABOUT PEOPLE?
Pretty much anything weird or out of place. Sometimes it sucks being observant – ‘nuff said.
15. WHAT IS YOUR LEAST FAVORITE THING ABOUT YOURSELF?
Those extra 10 lbs are starting to bug me!
16. WHO DO YOU MISS THE MOST?
My family while I’m at work ALL DAY LONG.
17. WHAT DO YOU WISH YOU COULD DO MORE OF?
I think this is a trick question. If they asked what would I do LESS of the obvious answer is WORK. But more of… hmm… that is a LONG list, and not everything on it can be posted here, so I will just leave it at that.
18. WHAT STOPS YOU FROM DOING MORE OF IT?
Another potentially TMI question. But I’m going with the easy out here. WORK.
19. WHAT COLOR PANTS AND SHOES ARE YOU WEARING?
Blue jeans and my non lace up, soft rubber, hiking shoes made by Merrill (I have 3 pair).
20. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE THING TO LISTEN TO?
My kids and wife laughing or telling me that they love me!
21. WHO WAS THE LAST PERSON YOU TALKED TO ON THE PHONE?
My wife.
22. WHAT'S THE BEST THING THAT COULD REALLY HAPPEN TO YOU RIGHT NOW?
Lottery? No more taxes for small businesses? A REAL stimulus package for the middle class?
23. WHAT'S THE BEST THING THAT HAS HAPPENED TO YOU TODAY?
My wife and kids brought me lunch! THEY ROCK!
24. WHAT IS YOUR FAVORITE SONG?
Today? Angels on the moon by Thriving Ivory – BTW that is the sweetest band name ever. Tomorrow it will be different.
25. WHAT PLACE WOULD YOU LIKE TO VISIT THAT YOU HAVE NEVER BEEN?
I’m doing ok on this one as I get to travel quite a bit- but I can’t narrow it down. I’m game for travel anywhere that isn’t Hades or a trash dump lol (Although I have seen some good trash dumps / barrancos; viva Guatemala!)
26. WHAT PLACE HAVE YOU ALREADY BEEN TO, BUT WOULD LIKE TO VISIT AGAIN FIRST?
Istanbul? Barcelona? Guatemala? Let’s just say those are my top 3, I don’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings.
27. HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE YOU WERE WITH YOUR FAVORITE PERSON?
Lunch.
28. IF YOU COULD RID THE WORLD OF ONE EVIL, WHICH WOULD YOU CHOOSE?
If I say the stigma against video games, my wife will shoot me, so I’m going to stick with corn syrup. Sugar is SO much better, especially in soda!
29. DOES YOUR BEST FRIEND KNOW THEY ARE YOUR BEST FRIEND?
Absolutely.
30. HOW MANY CELL MINUTES DO YOU USE?
1002 last month
31. HOW MANY SMS?
unlimited but I don’t text much.
32. WHOM DO YOU ADMIRE?
My wife, family, and friends. All for different reasons.
33. WHAT WAS THE BEST NEWS YOU RECEIVED RECENTLY?
I wasn’t president. That's a bit cryptic though, so lets say, sales in January were up!
34. LAST MOVIE YOU WATCHED?
I’m going to modify the question. Sweetest movie I have seen lately? EAGLE EYE.
35. WHAT COLOR SHIRT ARE YOU WEARING?
Olive Green.
36. SUMMER OR WINTER?
Summer.
37. HUGS OR KISSES?
Both?
38. WHAT BOOK ARE YOU READING NOW?
Right now I'm not reading a book, I'm writing a freaking novel for these 48 questions! Speaking of the whole book thing though, I think I have read 3 books this week, and 3 last week… I did just finish an incredible fantasy series by Jim Butcher called the “Furies of Calderon”. I highly recommend it!
39. WHAT IS YOUR SCREENSAVER?
www.digitalblasphemy.com Yes, worth the lifetime membership in my humble opinion.
40. WHAT IS ON YOUR MOUSE PAD?
We don't need no stinking mouse pad. Real men don't use mouse pads. OK, insert inane cliches here.
41. WHAT DID YOU WATCH ON TV LAST NIGHT?
Leverage.
42. GMAIL OR HOTMAIL?
Hotmail for junk mail and facebook, Gmail to my cell, Work email for the few privileged souls.
43. ROLLING STONES OR BEATLES?
Who cares?
44. WHAT IS THE FARTHEST YOU HAVE BEEN FROM HOME?
Istanbul I think (have to check a globe to make sure I was still going AWAY from home at that point, and not coming back around the other side…)
45. DO YOU HAVE A SPECIAL TALENT?
Singing, Speaking, Writing… mostly communication/imagination/logistics based here.
46. WHERE WERE U BORN?
Canoga Park, Los Angeles, California, USA
47. HOW DID YOU MEET YOUR SPOUSE?
Natalie’s roommate was in my a cappella group in college, and we practiced at her apartment.
48. WHAT ARE YOU MOST THANKFUL FOR RIGHT NOW?
The end of my work day.
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