A+

abandoning ship

2010-01-04T10:41:00.000-08:00

So, I haven't even looked at this in FOREVER. With the advent of Facebook use and the upkeep of the blog here at work, I haven't even had time to touch this. I think I'm gonna say adios to this blog for a minute and save it for updates when I have something interesting in life to talk about again. Not that I'm THAT boring, but really, it's a good thing. It means nothing major has come up lately, and boy, do I love that. Until another major issue or turn in life happens, I'm gonna sit back and concentrate on my relationship with my wife, us fixing up our old house, doing well at my job, playing in the mountains, spending time with those I love and trying to take good care of my body. In other words, just enjoying life and making the most of it.

When baby Dut rolls (or plops) into the picture, well then I'm sure I'll be posting stuff on here. God forbid the ugly C-word rears it's ugly head again *knocks wood*, well I'm sure I'll keep you all posted here again then, too.

Until then, my good friends, keep enjoying each day and making the most of it. Life it short, make it count.

Much love!

tebow

2009-09-21T16:11:00.001-07:00

yes, i've been away from this blog forever. work, work trips, facebook. It all keeps me away from here.

Lately I've been loving playing bags, or cornhole, and this is a funny post from my fav sports blog, deadspin.com regarding said 'sport':

tebow gets cornholed.

Jam band fan or Taliban?

2009-07-27T08:23:00.001-07:00

This site is really funny.

Rice paddy art

2009-07-14T21:52:00.001-07:00

Wow, check all this rice paddy art. It's amazing how detailed some of it is. Nice work asian rice paddy planters.

Pingwire

2009-07-14T21:33:00.001-07:00

Check out pingwire. It's a live stream of images posted to twitter. Kinda addictive to watch, actually. Click images for bigger versions of the images.

Faceblog

2009-07-14T21:30:00.000-07:00

Sometimes I wonder if facebook takes away from personal blogging.?

Paranoid Larry

2009-07-14T12:38:00.001-07:00

Sweet. Check out Paranoid Larry. Really good b/c it's really bad.

meat dress

2009-06-21T17:27:00.001-07:00

Jia Jem made a meat dress. Odd, but cool. Here's what she said: "I chose salami because it's thin, keeps in one piece, and is quite cheap, and bacon because it looks very, um, meaty. I considered somehow vacuum-sealing sheets of meat with those sealers they have on the markets now, but the machines were too expensive for a one-time-only disposeable dress. I ended up using the K.I.S.S. method of construction, which involved a basic shift dress out of thick cotton. I layed the meat on top, then put clear vinyl over it and sewed tracks with clear thread. I used a wide stitch length to avoid perforating the meat to the point it might just... uh, slide down the bottom of the dress. I also blotted it all before sewing to get rid of as much grease as possible to avoid clouding the vinyl. Lastly, I made sure to bind the bottom of the dress with a strip of clear vinyl to catch drips. (I love talking about this; it's so disgusting.) The whole project took about 6 hours, and I kept it refrigerated until the party. Good times."

GA

2009-06-02T21:05:00.001-07:00

While I didn't take many pics, except these two w/ my iphone, it was a wonderful Memorial Day weekend back in Atlanta. So fabulous to see the peoples I miss so much. Family, friends... all of ya. And that's corn Fred's holding, if you're wondering. Perverts.

Freshman Obama

2009-06-02T13:36:00.001-07:00

Check out these portraits Lisa Jack took of Obama in his freshman year. Sweet 'fro.

Time to enjoy the yard.

2009-05-18T22:31:00.001-07:00

Finally, we get a weekend with great weather. And, it just so happens to coincide w/ my birthday. Perfect. Maybe we should cook a lot of pork and eat it in the yard with some PBR and sunshine. What do you think? And maybe some folks will stop over and hang out? Heck yeah.

Thanks to Andy Perri for bringing his DJ gear over to set up in the yard and blast tunes whilst we sat the day away and thanks to everyone else for all the nice things people brought over and thanks for just stoppin in to say hi. And thanks to my neighbors for NOT calling the cops on DJ ADaPt for blaring his tunes. Was really fun and I had a blast. The house has officially been broken in, and the yard is a great spot for hangin.

Bring it, summertime.

Awkward Family Photos

2009-05-18T22:25:00.000-07:00

If you haven't checked out Awkward Family Photos yet, you should. It's funny. I swear the one on the home page titled "the Bird" is Tim Tebow. Anyway, quite a few of them are humorous.

Be good for bird banks

2009-05-18T22:14:00.000-07:00

I coulda used this when I lived in 5 points to keep whoever stole my grill from stealing my grill. Check out the security camera birdhouse.

MY YARD

2009-05-18T21:52:00.001-07:00

My back yard has fake grass in it. I actually love laying in/on it. Apparently dogs do, too.

Sugar

2009-05-04T20:54:00.001-07:00

Ever wondered how much sugar, in cubes, was in B&J ice cream? Looks like 22 from the image. If you've got a hankerin' for some other foods' sugar content, measured in cubes, check out sugarstacks.com

swineflu

2009-05-04T20:39:00.001-07:00

not sure why, but i found these portraits of mexicans dodging swineflu interesting....

Thinkin of Grandma

2009-04-29T08:05:00.000-07:00

Today I'm thinking about my Grandma. She had hip replacement surgery yesterday and after having an invasive surgery, I know how much it helps to have people thinking about you. I'm hoping and praying for a smooth and incident free recovery. I can't wait to see you sportin' around on the new hip. I love ya, G-ma.

Some recent work

2009-04-28T07:23:00.001-07:00

I guess I realized I don't put enough of my own work on here. This blog started as a cancer diary and turned into nothing but my espousings on life and design and advertising. So, why not put some of my own work on here occasionally? Anyway, this tv spot is for the Tap Project Denver. It's worldwide, but we got chosen as the Denver mkt agency to do the spots this year. It's pro bono and for a great cause. Every 15 seconds a child dies due to water bourne illness. During world water week (was in march) if you pay $1 for your, usually free, tap water, that dollar gives a kid clean water for 40 days. Yep, 40 days. So, this spot ran locally trying to really show people that we are super lucky to have a choice whether we drink dirty water or not. Millions are not so lucky. The resolution quality here sux on youtube, but it's got lots of funny QVC spoof graphics with funny pricing and shipping and handling and all that sorta stuff. Enjoy it here.

Best commercial ever.

2009-04-28T07:19:00.000-07:00

Ok, I prob pay waaaaayyy more attention to advertising than the average guy, seeing as how it's what I do for my job and all. But, seriously, this is truly one of the funniest ads ever. And the best part: I don't think they meant for it to be funny at all. God, I love southerners. Man, I miss your naivety. I love the end "...and hispanics, too".

Thanks to Ash Kerr for heads up on this one. Good find, sis.

Under the Bridge, literally

2009-04-28T07:16:00.000-07:00

first, i wish i could embed video in this damn blog. so lame to link. anyway, if you are like me and loved the chili peppers back in the day, watch this literal interpretation of the Under the bridge video- it's really hilarious. My fav part is the 'check out my pecs in slo-mo' part. Classic.
Watch it here.

Meatcard. No, really.

2009-04-26T21:59:00.001-07:00

Love this quote from the website: "Business cards made from meat and lasers". I don't think I can do any better than that. Is this real?

new forms of typography.

2009-04-26T21:29:00.000-07:00

Gotta give it to type nerds. Always finding new things that form letterforms. The newest are these Google maps letters. Read bout it here.

Hawaii 5-0

2009-04-24T13:21:00.000-07:00

Well, Hawaii was a blast. The mansion Will and Chris rented was absolutely fantastic, equipped with multiple pools, private tennis courts and a private beach. And even better were the people. I really loved catching up with some of my favorite people in the world who I never see. Some even live up the street and I see them so little that a week in paradise partying down was much needed. The wedding week proved to be a doozy, with most everyone showing up at our palace and hanging every night, and Will and Chris had all kinds of fun things planned. We had our own private luau at the house with a hula ceremony, we all went and saw HUGE surf at pipeline and we ate and drank the finest of foods and drinks. The ceremony was on a rather large catamaran overlooking honalulu. Amazing. Then we had food on a 32nd floor balcony looking down on Waikiki. Another gold star. Then, we had a dance party at a club below. Good times.

My favorite part of the trip, though, was the surfing. I managed to catch a bunch of waves and man-o-man there is nothing that matches the rush of catching a wave. It's such a buzz. Luckily, our friends Jenna and Travis had extra boards and knew some good rook spots and it was on. Already jonesing for next surfing session, whenever that may be.

Me, Mere and Kanye

2009-04-06T10:35:00.000-07:00

My curiosities were piqued as we rolled into the parking lot at Waimea canyon yesterday. There were 4 escalades parked side by side and the dudes sitting on the open backs of them were dressed in a very non-Hawaiian way. Read: neons and Nike hightops from the 80's and odd jackets and such. I then was more interested as we walked to the top lookout and there was a camera set up. Within two minutes the whole crew of stylin' people from the trucks below roll up with Kanye West in tow. Luckily, all other tourists there were a little older and no one had any idea who he was but us. He ended up walking over and looking over the rail RIGHT next to us, so Mere asked for a shot. As you can see, he obliged, but never once cracked a smile or even acted like he was impressed with the scenery or that he was even happy to be in Hawaii. Think he was consumed with how cool he was, and that he had on more denim jacket flair than anyone else in Kuai.

Na Pali coastline

2009-04-06T10:21:00.000-07:00

Yep, you guessed it, we're hiking to some falls. Me being a signage nerd, I thought this sign was rad, placed WAY up in the rainforest on our hike in. Here's a shot of early on in the trail, when you're basically hiking along where mountains meet the beautiful sea:
Believe it or not, I saw some whales way out there spouting and swimming and such, and it was real cool. After we slogged through 2+ hours of muddy (REAL muddy) and beautiful hiking we came upon this:
The falls were amazing and quite large. The rain and mud made the whole event a damp one, but the end result was fabulous. The hike was strenuous enough that our legs were sore the next day, but not long enough that it was a real test. Surprisingly, we saw people in bare feet and very improper foot wear attempting to make the hike. I'm assuming many did not make it to the falls, and the beach halfway was rocky and unswimmable (sign saying 82 had died there), so they may have been a bit dissapointed. We even came upon a guy who slipped and tweaked his knee and had some sort of seizure, which was a little disconcerting. Thankfully, tho, we were prepared w/ good shoes and rain gear, as all Coloradans should be! Was an adventurous day.

And it's on!

2009-04-03T21:13:00.000-07:00

First off, lemme just say "woooo hoooo!". We are officially on vacation. The flight over to Hawaii was pretty flawless, minus the fact that we landed in Honalulu at 1am our time. Needless to say we were flogged. The cool part, tho, was that we flew with the rotation of the globe and the sun set at a liesurely pace. Sort of a slow motion sunset, adorned with an amazing band of color hanging on the horizon for what seemed like forever. Thankfully I had a window seat to witness the magic.

After bunking with Travis last night in Honalulu, we flew to Kuai'i early this morning and made the rounds by car today. Man, truly spectacular. Was sorta rainy all day off and on, but really stoked to go rock the Napoli coast trail tomorrow. Apparently it's 'as close as you can get to heaven'. These words from a local today. We're prepared for more rain, and have stocked up on foodstuffs to take for the 5 hour hike. Stay tuned for pics. Hoping for snorkling w/ the turtles afterwards at Kee beach. Have spotted tons of surf boards and surfers and am chompin' at the bit to get me some wave.

Finally a use for my 1 million old Phish bootlegs

2009-03-31T08:17:00.001-07:00

check out this cool art made from old cassette tapes..

Riding!

2009-03-31T07:46:00.001-07:00

This is a few weeks old, but had a blast skiing on Mere's b-day with Tim and Jennie and also my Auntie Anne was here with her friend skiing. I wish they were in this group shot. We had a sweet day.

Spring rocks the frontrange with snowy goodness

2009-03-30T21:41:00.000-07:00

We got crushed with some spring blizzard-ness this week. It was literally 70 degrees one day, then DUMPING the next. I walked into work w/ maybe a trace on the ground, walked out at lunch to my entire bed of my truck filled in just a half a day. Never seen anything like it. In one day we got about a foot of snow and it blowed so hard that there was crazy big ol' drifts of a few feet deep all over the place. Of course, it being Colorado front range and all, it was gone in a matter of days. The shots above came off the iphone, so they may suck a bit but the one shot is in my back yard, one is looking out the front door of my old apt (was over doing a last grab of final stuff and it hadn't been shoveled and it was really deep getting up to the door). Top ones got my full truck bed.

Store money in meat:

2009-03-30T21:40:00.001-07:00

This is the sweetest piggy bank ever. Wish I had this when I was a kid. Check 'em here.

What happens in the blink of an eye.

2009-03-30T21:33:00.001-07:00

Wow, one minute I'm lounging around, doing my normal old life and then BAM!, it's a whole month later. My life has gone from 0 to 100 and shows no sign of letting up. Not that I'm complaining, I'm real happy to finally be moved outta that tiny apartment and into a big ol' house. Lots to do now, though. Weekends are already choc full o' Home Depot. They love me there. Or should I say, they love my cash there.

Anyway, pics of life on Hooker St to come soon, I promise.

Stay tuned next week, as Mere and I journey to Hawaii for a wedding celebration with a bunch of friends. Hoping to upload some action throughout the trip. We leave thursday and are psyched.

been busy

2009-03-13T09:06:00.001-07:00

Wow, buying a house, family visits, moving....and work! I've been really busy and distracted lately, and therefore have had no time for things like blogs. Anyway, I think this site, scanwiches, is fun. Dedicated to scanned sandwiches. I love sandwiches.

That's it for now. Hope to be on here more once we finish moving and I'm settled....

2009-02-25T20:34:00.000-08:00

Found out last friday it's onto the next homestead in our path. We close on 2227 Hooker St. next Thursday. We're scrambling to make arangements to get everything in order and to start the transition. It's gonna be so nice to spread out and to finally get all our posessions in one place. We'll be slowly movin' stuff over all month as we still have 2322 Ogden until the end of next month.

Ready to do some spring and summer hangin' in the highlands and stay tuned for some parties at the Duts!

sweet stache on stick

2009-02-24T12:15:00.001-08:00

I think this will somehow work into my next halloween costume. Or not. Either way, 'tis cool.

Sweet sleeping/eating bag

2009-02-23T20:49:00.001-08:00

Check out this bear sleeping bag this artist made. I think it's technically considered sculpture, but I think it's just plain funny. There's a slideshow of images here.

This is what I'd like to be eating

2009-02-10T11:34:00.000-08:00

Ok, so post cancer I'm doing all I can to live life as healthy as I can. I take tons of suppliments, I try my darnedest to exercise as much as I can, and my diet has changed dramatically. No longer is a tasty cheesesteak my lunch. More like a salad (booo). Anyway, I love this site, this is why you're fat.com. Man some of these concoctions are the best. If I was still on the pre cancer diet, I'd try a LOT of these. Deep down I love horrible junk food, altho I've made my peace with not eating it anymore. I love sweet and salt combo, too, and I'm wondering what the bacon cheddar burger on the krispy creme donut would taste like (lemme guess: deliciousness?). Anyway, scroll thru this site, as there's not really that many pages, and there's tons of calorie laden inventions like the corndog pizza above. I think there's even a happy meal pizza. Enjoy and be sure to go exercise after consuming.

I like penguins and I like type

2009-02-07T07:23:00.001-08:00

So of course I like this image. Done by talented Marc Fisher.

Clever watermelon carving:

2009-02-07T07:15:00.000-08:00

Ha ha ha ha ha ha, smittens

2009-02-07T07:02:00.000-08:00

Mittens you can hold hands in? check. Get smitten. Lord, what will people think of next? I love how the people in the image are wearing short sleeves. Not even cold out. Classic.

The ripper

2009-02-07T06:53:00.001-08:00

When I was a kid, my mom was utterly embarrassed at the looks I received for wearing a t shirt with the above graphics on it to All Saints Church (our church in ATL). It was 'the ripper' shirt from Powell & Peralta's Ray Rodriguez board of the late 70's, and somewhat of a famous image in the, then fledgling, world of skateboarding. I loved that shirt, man. Anyway, times have changed, skateboarding has gotten HUGE and there are reams and reams of skate graphics. But, this one image is still classic and for me, reminds me so much of childhood. I found this neat art show going on where 58 artists all replicate this art in their style. Check out some art here and the story here.

Def one o the funniest youtube vids I've seen in a while

2009-02-07T06:49:00.001-08:00

Holy crap I laughed out loud watching this. This kid is super looped from Nitrous and man, it's a roit. Please go watch if you haven't yet. See it here/

food tats

2009-02-01T20:26:00.000-08:00

I've found myself loving watching LA Ink lately. Man, what people can do with a tattoo machine these days is amazing. It's like fine art. Anyway, this flickr set of food tattoos is kinda interesting.

Cool Biz cards

2009-02-01T12:35:00.000-08:00

Dig this design. More here.

Now all we do is wait.

2009-02-01T09:02:00.002-08:00

Well, here's the house we're tryin to buy. Like so many homes in this dismal market, it's a short sale. 'Short sale' is very misleading, because it is, in fact, not short. In a nutshell, it means it's selling for less than the orig loan or loan plus additional equity loans. I can't tell you how many homes on the market are short sales (lots). Anyway, we put in an offer (already 15K less than the 2002 purchase price) and then had it inspected and lowered our offer yesterday. The bank has 30 days to accept, deny or attempt to renegotiate our offer. All we can do now is sit back, cross our fingers and hope. Please hope, pray, meditate and send vibes of acceptance to the bank and owners. It's a REALLY old house (built in 1886!) and needs a little TLC, but has so much potential and is in a really sweet part of town (highlands/sloan's lake). We want to live there.

Not that I didnt already know this...

2009-02-01T09:00:00.001-08:00

In a poll asking people where they'd like to live, Denver was named the highest ranked city! 43% of respondents asked said they'd like to live in here, followed by San Diego and Seattle. Read bout it here.

Those crazy Japanese

2009-01-18T15:22:00.001-08:00

Apparently these bikini jeans are getting popular in Japan. Hilarious. They are supposed to be a conglomeration of low rise jeans and a bikini bottom (duh), but I think they look more like some kind of denim wrestler leisure pant. I will admit, though, after visiting Tokyo, those Japanese are VERY stylish, and somehow amidst the populace and everyone's stylish/strange attire there, these jeankinis would actually prob not be the strangest clothing you'd see while strolling the streets of Tokyo. Yes, we are boring, yet sane, dressers here in the ol' U-S of A.

Best Tees of 08

2009-01-18T15:14:00.000-08:00

I know not everyone wears T-shirts to work, but if you do, you may like this post on Coolhunting. One of their guys has picked out his fav shirt places of 08. Might have to stock up on 'work shirts'.

Skate furniture

2009-01-18T15:03:00.000-08:00

Even though once Mere and I get a house we'll be too broke to buy furniture, I still like checking it out. I also love it when people find new ways to build traditional stuff, like this skateboard truck lazy susan. Really clever. If you're in need of a lazy susan, check it here.

Apply for the best job in the world

2009-01-18T14:58:00.000-08:00

The job requirements are to 'stroll the white sand beaches, snorkle and take care of a 'few' taks". And the pay? Try 105K. Yep, not kidding. Read more about it here, the application link is lower down. Am I applying? Darn right I am.

I can't believe this is real

2009-01-18T14:50:00.000-08:00

Ok, I found this on Boingboing today. I cannot believe it's real. It's cheese that, when translated, means "rotten cheese" and is LITERALLY cheese infested with maggots. Yeah, for real.

Here's what boingboing said:

Casu marzu is an illegal Sardinian cheese that is served riddled with writhing maggots that try to jump into your eyeballs as you eat it.

Casu marzu is considered toxic when the maggots in the cheese have died. Because of this, only cheese in which the maggots are still alive is eaten. When the cheese has fermented enough, it is cut into thin strips and spread on moistened Sardinian flatbread (pane carasau), to be served with a strong red wine.[6][7] Casu marzu is believed to be an aphrodisiac by local Sardinians.[1] Because the larvae in the cheese can launch themselves for distances up to 15 centimetres (6 in) when disturbed,[5][8] diners hold their hands above the sandwich to prevent the maggots from leaping into their eyes.[3] Those who do not wish to eat live maggots place the cheese in a sealed paper bag. The maggots, starved for oxygen, writhe and jump in the bag, creating a "pitter-patter" sound. When the sounds subside, the maggots are dead and the cheese can be eaten.[9]

Neat.

2009-01-18T14:42:00.000-08:00

Mere and I do a lot of urban bike riding here in Denver. The bike culture is quite present, comparatively, to living other big cities (ahem, Atlanta, you could learn a thing or two about being bike friendly). There are an adequate amount of bike lanes and paths and ped bridges, but still, occasionally when you're in the heart of downtown, cars get RIGHT up on you. I get it, though, it's hard to always make room for everyone (thank god the sidewalks here are are never full besides rush hour and you can always poach one).

Seeing as how many of us fossil fuel non-users (i.e. bike commuters) are still in danger on the roads, the people at Altitude, Inc have created LightLane. It basically projects a bike lane around you as you ride. Best part: it uses Lasers (say 'lasers' in your best Dr. Evil voice). In theory, this gadget provides drivers with a boundry to stay out of when dealing with bikers. Read about it here on Good magazine's blog (Good mag is very cool, btw).

Other places are colder than Colorado

2009-01-18T14:38:00.000-08:00

First off, I gotta say, it's been amazing here this weekend. 55 degrees and sunny, hard to believe it was cold and snowy a week ago. I found this vid on youtube of someone spraying a bottle of hot water outside in Minnesota when it's -21 degrees. Thank freakin' God I don't live in Minnesota. We have vowed to only go warmer from Colorado! Check out the spray vid here.

House me.

2009-01-15T21:54:00.000-08:00

The time has come for Mere and I to have a house. We've been married for over 3 years and have been living in a VERY small apartment ever since, saving away any extra money we can in anticipation of buying a home. We kicked it around a few years ago, but took a break from looking for a while, then cancer came (and went!), and well, it just never happened. Now that we know we're gonna be in D-town for a while, we figured it's time to take the plunge. So the last three or so weeks our excess time has been spent surfing home sites and driving the streets of hoods we like. Not a lot of fun, really, but also somewhat exciting. We go thru series of ups and downs, finding something we like, only for it to not work out, then to drive all day and not find anything, then to finally look at something we love. Well, we looked at something we love. And we put in an offer. Yay.

The house is an OLD victorian with massive amounts of charm and potential. It's really neat and in a GREAT hood. Pretty much one of the three or so 'hot' ones in Denver, and our offer is 15K less than the current owners bought it for in 02'. Sweet. The big drawback is that it's a short sale, meaning the bank is involved, and lots of people have to accept the offer. And banks move slow. We've already got the approval of the owners, but are still waiting on the bank. The worst part is that the whole time we are waiting another party can put an offer in. And, after the inspections, we'll surely wanna renegotiate due to things they'll find and we'll have to go thru this all over again.

So, buying a house is kinda freaky, right? I mean, we saved all this cash for this, but to finally give it away is scary. Where is that little monetary security blanket I've grown so accustomed to seeing my statement? Bye bye good friend. It's scary, but we know this is the right thing to do. So we're excited. Real excited. We also look forward to whenever it is that you come visit, b/c we'll finally have a guest bedroom for you. See you soon!

Weathermen.

2009-01-11T20:42:00.000-08:00

So, do you ever wonder if weather men/women just make stuff up? Honestly, they are so off. When they say it'll snow a ton, it almost never does. Last night they said the storm would prob not even touch Denver. Guess what I woke up to? Yep, lots of snow. Hey, I love a good snowstorm as much as the next Georgian in Colorado, but man, it's comical how these guys are so errant with their jobs. Thank god surgeons have a much smaller acceptable margin of error.

Farewell good pal

2009-01-02T18:36:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a sad day. It was the day Will moved out of the apartment above us. We moved into this apartment because Will owned the house and he lived upstairs. And there was no lease to sign. It was all supposed to be temporary. The months turned to years and suddenly it's been 3 years of having Will upstairs whenever he was in town or not working. It was perfect: Will worked 10 or so days on, working all night long, then would have around 10 days off where he'd hang around with us some and some up in Steamboat with Chris. So, we essentially had a second apartment upstairs that was mostly empty and functioned as our guest apt. When it wasn't vacant, we had Will around to hang out with. Now, that is over and we have nowhere to go borrow milk or have our visiting friends stay. And the worst part: there's no Will. He's been one of Mere and I's best friends for as long as I remember having good friends, and we're both very sad to say good bye. The best part, tho, is that he's following his dreams and moving to Hawaii in a few days. I know we'll be visiting him there and loving his new location, but we're selfishly sad he won't be hanging around us as much. I'd wish him good luck, but I don't think he needs luck, I just know he'll be sucessful wherever he ends up.

NYE, wooo hooo!

2009-01-02T18:18:00.001-08:00

Man-o-man, what a good time. To me, both shows were really rocking and I just gotta give Eric Pretto some big thanks for hooking Mere and I up. We got to go into the bar with free beers and he had us up on stage to see some of Yonder Mountain String band (opener) the first night and up there for the champagne toast and for the first three or four songs of the second set on New Years. Wow. Sitting up there that close was really super amazing, and Mere and I couldn't believe it. I was so wishing I had a real camera and not just my phone camera. The best part is Mere always wants to ask Pretto for them to play Arlene, and it's almost sort of a joke b/c we never end up seeing it, and she always wants to ask him (he works for the band). While on stage Pretto gave me a glance at a small section of the setlist they were gonna play, where the only song exposed I could see was, in fact, Arlene. We kept it a secret for Mere, but needless to say, when it happened the girl was giddy.

What a good time. I, personally, am so happy to see 2009. Parts of 2007 and 2008 were some of the hardest moments of my life, and I'm happy to see them go and hope I never go back there. Sitting on stage at the last WSP concert for a long time (they are on break after those shows) to ring in the year was about as epic a moment as we coulda had, and I'm convinced it's a harbinger for amazing, epic, unforgettable moments in '09. I am ready for a full year of growth and forward movement, of positive changes and wonderful new experiences. And best of all, owning a house. We can't wait. We are so happy to see what the future brings and more than anything just excited to be alive and happy. Best wishes to everyone for an amazing, fullfilling 2009. I hope it's filled with everything you are hoping for.

free sepia

2009-01-02T18:14:00.000-08:00

My buddy Ryan clued me into this iphone sepia app. So, i took a few shots over xmas up in Steamboat and put 'em up there. They look sorta crappy blown up, but small they are a-ok.

Strawberry Park

2009-01-02T18:01:00.001-08:00

If you are ever in or near Steamboat Springs, CO, you should go check out Strawberry Park Hot Springs. They are amazing. Nestled up in the hills above steamboat, naturally heated water bubbles out of the ground and cascades down into pools, then the pools cascade into other pools, the temps getting cooler as the pools go down. The hottest one is almost unbelievably hot, but some of us seemed to like the hot one better. It's fun in summer to go b/c you can jump into the river and the cool pool, but when we just went it was just about 2 degrees out and the cool pool was REAL hard to get into. The hot pools were magical, though, and we lounged about and drank some prosecco (ps- they say no alcohol, so sneak it in a nalgene or something). The air was so cold our hair froze while we were floating around, it was wild. Once it becomes dark the pools get clothing optional and it's a more adult affair, but if you've never gone, going during the day is nice b/c you can check out the beauty.

turns for xmas.

2009-01-02T17:20:00.000-08:00

We decided to stay in Colorado for the holidays this year. After doing Guatemala and Honduras in October, we thought we'd try to save some cash and we did turkey day and xmas/NYE here. While I must admit, we missed our family on Christmas morning, we still managed to have some fun. We stayed in Will's wonderfully comfy home in Steamboat and made some serious turns at Copper Mountain, Steamboat and Winter Park. It's been dumping up there like mad, and we found all sorts of powder stashes. It was awesome. Even tho we all missed our families a whole lot, we really had some great times hanging with Chris and working up some sore legs.

Merry Xmas to all those we love and miss and wish we were with over the holidays.

I now live in the future. sort of.

2009-01-02T16:45:00.000-08:00

I'll first say that I've been eyeing this iphone thing since they released it a few years ago. And being an apple guy, it's always seemed like something I'd get but could never rationalize getting the thing. I mean, I work on a brand new Mac at work and own a nice Mac laptop that's never too far at home, why do I need another computer to keep in my pocket for those few times I'm away from my other ones?

Well, I finally gave in and gifted myself with this beaut for xmas this year and I gotta say: it's the coolest thing I've ever owned in my entire life. Yes, it cost a decent bit to break my Verizon contract, yes, AT&T works worse inside my studio, yes, my monthly bill is a little more. But, guess what? It's all worth it.

I can't even begin to list all the cool stuff this phone does, because the list is too great. Everyday I figure out some other amazingly intuitive function, and people keep clueing me into all kinds of neat little tricks. I can tell there's tons and tons more stuff I'll keep discovering on it and that makes me giddy. The apps you can download, alone, are constantly entertaining. I highly recommend this to any gadget person, you will be very entertained. Only disapointments so far: have to email pics you take vs picture message to a phone and I can't seem to copy and paste text. Aside from that- this thing is future.

Hi again

2009-01-02T16:36:00.000-08:00

Well, hello again, blogworld. In the midst of the pre-holiday crush I've seemingly forgotten completely about writing on this blog. I think the last I even logged on here it was thanksgiving time. Since then the seasons have finally changed in frontrange Colorado (and thankfully the mtns got crushed with snow), and we've done all kinds of things that rock. I'll do my best to see what I can add here in the next day or two when I get some time and recoup my gray matter from NYE. Happy holidays to all and a fantastic '09 is in store for us all, I just KNOW it.

Neato

2008-12-01T18:52:00.001-08:00

The music on this vid might get a little maddening, but it's sorta fitting for the trucks. It's got some kind of filter on it that makes it look like it's miniature and some kind of claymation animation. Super cool during the lights out/strobe section and the demolition derby part.

The love of 4 day weekends grows

2008-11-30T18:50:00.000-08:00

Well, it was a success. A fat, happy, overfull success of a weekend. Poultry was consumed, belts were loosened, thankfulness was exuded. In a year where I've really learned what it means to be thankful for things, I was very pleased to enjoy such a great day of thanking with some real good people. Unquestionably, family were missed. This was a universal agreement. But, we managed to be with some friends who we also consider 'family', so all was not lost.

The weekend began swimmingly with the annual reenactment of "The Last Waltz" at Cervantes (a scant 6 block walk from our place). All the crew that wasn't back east were out in droves and fired up about a long weekend. It was quite fun. Great tunes. That evening led quickly to the morn 'o turkey and I woke and embarked on my first mission of turk roasting. We actually all went out to eat to a nice buffet for dinner, but I just wanted a turk for leftovers all weekend. No such thing as too much turkey.

And so we descend of a buffet. Strategic stomach stretching exercises were utilized throughout the day, in order to ingest as much feast as possible. Boy, we hit that bad boy running. I ate and ate and ate...so much so that I barely could finish one beer with the whole meal. The food was REALLY good and I felt pretty horrible for the next 3 or 4 hours after the feasting. I think we all did. Damn buffet of deliciousness. You are too tasty to resist.

As expected, such high levels of turk in the bloodstream induced much post ingestion sleepyness. We all were flogged and basked in uberfullness before we retreated to our couches and passed out in sweatpants. All the while thinking "now THAT was a great thanksgiving".

In retrospect, was a fantastic weekend (minus this damn cold going around Denver. It has found me and made a home, apparently). This year, I am thankful, mostly, to just be alive. But also for all of the people in my life. That's what counts.

Turkey Jell-O mold competition

2008-11-30T17:26:00.001-08:00

Man, this is fun. Check out this turkey mold competition. I have pictured here the "smoreky", but there is all sorts of interesting turkeys. Egg turk, gum turk, sushi turk....lots of food represented here. Apparently, all you have to do is get the turkey Jell-O mold and then create away, winners getting posted on this site. Old winners at the bottom. The vid at the end is pretty funny, too. Dung turkey.

Make a turkey. Literally.

2008-11-25T20:31:00.001-08:00

This is great. Make a turkey out of paper.

Ahh, thanksgiving.

2008-11-24T19:58:00.001-08:00

First off, I gotta ask: is Thanksgiving the best holiday? To me, it's totally underappreciated. The whole point of Thanksgiving is to get together with others you care about and to consume fantastic food (arguably the best meal of the year) and booze and spend a great day together. There's no obligations concerning gifts, no crazy 'season' attributed to it. You don't see people buying 'thanksgiving sweaters'. Decorations are kept to a delicious turkey and the side dishes. It's all about people being with people, what holidays are SUPPOSED to be about. It's about giving thanks for all the amazing benefits we are awarded by being citizens of the US, and celebrating our families and friends. It's about taking a four day weekend. THAT's what I'm talking about. Man I can't wait for weds at 6pm.

Incidentally, Mere and I are in CO for 'giving this year. We'll eat with some friends and are looking much forward to it. We really will miss our family, tho. Hard to be away from them on the holidays. REALLY wish there were here with us.

There's all kinds of fun activities slated for the weekend, but I gotta say- I'm bummed we have no snow. First day of snowboarding woulda been sweet this weekend. Oh where hath thou gone, great snowmaker in the sky?

I really have no idea what this is:

2008-11-24T19:52:00.001-08:00

Freaky, right?

Xmas gifts

2008-11-24T19:48:00.000-08:00

This website that Zeus Jones did is really cool. I know everyone hates xmas shopping. It's nuts. I've come to try to make all my gifts or buy them online. Malls are the bain of my existence, and malls at xmas time make me even more anxious.

Anyway, the guys and gals at Zeus took some time and found some cool stuff online they like and recommended some of their favs. If nothing else, they are interesting choices.

Tres funny

2008-11-10T22:01:00.000-08:00

It's tiled "The Morning After". Classic. It's done by Zina Saunders and you can get her book called "The Party's Over" here.

Never knew monks could fight

2008-11-10T21:47:00.000-08:00

Watch this vid of Armenian and Greek monks duking it out at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre in Jerusalem. Apparently monks are allowed to throw sucker punches.

Sara didn't know Africa was a continent.

2008-11-07T09:58:00.001-08:00

no, really. She really didn't. Good work, America. Way to avoid this ignorance in office. Watch info on this here.

Boom

2008-11-06T21:38:00.001-08:00

Everyone loves seeing things blow up, right? Lord knows I do. Anyway, this guy did a whole photoshoot where he blows up teddy bears. Cool. So, there's a trippy video on this site, too, and I think you will like watching the bears get all explosion-y. check it out.

November

2008-11-06T20:32:00.000-08:00

Ahh, life in Colorado in November. What leaves are left are golden, and the winter is just around the corner. Walking the dogs is still tolerable.

Today, I walked the pooches around a few blocks and noticed just how many Obama posters there were in my neighborhood. It's funny, but I found myself realizing I don't think I saw a single McCain sign around Denver during the whole recent part of the campaign. I liked that.

But, I realized there are, in fact, quite a lot of McCain supporters out there. My facebook status updates showed me that. Facebook is crazy, by the way, but that's a whole 'nother story. Anyway, I feel for those McCain people because I know what it's like to have the guy you want to win get beaten. I was never a Bush voter.

I have to say that I am very proud of this country, and my faith in our populace is renewed. On tuesday we showed the world that we do not want this war anymore. We showed the world that we are finally trying our hardest to overcome racism and to see people for who they really are and what they bring, from the inside, to the table. Immediately the US is more liked around the globe. I felt the most proud to be a part of this country I've ever felt on Tuesday night.

It's time for us all to get behind this guy. I can't wait to see what he can do.

woooooohoooooooo!!!!

2008-11-06T08:02:00.001-08:00

COSTUME

2008-11-02T20:30:00.001-08:00

This is the coolest costume I've seen yet. Watch it in motion here.

More political propaganda

2008-10-28T14:26:00.001-07:00

Not only is it nicely designed, but it's funny, too. Bonus.

rally today

2008-10-26T19:08:00.000-07:00

Went to the Obama rally at Civic park today. It was a short bike ride away, so we figured we'd check it. Couldn't see the stage there was so many people there. People were really fired up, tho.

Thought this was fitting.

2008-10-26T18:55:00.001-07:00

After we busted LSU's chops this weekend, I thought this image was a good one. Now, we just gotta keep it together this weekend....HUGE game in Jacksonville.

NFL makes british ladies hot.

2008-10-26T18:52:00.000-07:00

This captured from today's game in Wembley stadium in London. Was the Saints playing the Chargers. Guess American football gets Brit ladies excited.

Full facial hair chart:

2008-10-23T22:18:00.000-07:00

This pic looks small. see if it gets bigger when you click it. if not, you can see it here.

holy crap this is funny

2008-10-23T21:53:00.000-07:00

If I were drinking milk when I watched this, it woulda shot outta my nostrils and made my keyboard soggy.

Really funny that A) you would spend that much time rehearsing that routine- which was done a lot to memorize all those moves B) that you would then record yourself so you could watch it or share it C) that you own that outfit. Classic.

Watch it here.

Guatemala and Honduras

2008-10-21T21:59:00.000-07:00

So, I put up some of my fav pics from the last half of our trip on flickr. check 'em out here.

I gave in.

2008-10-20T19:39:00.001-07:00

I have resisted joining Facebook for a while. But Mere joined and for some reason that made me give in and do it.

I like the thought:

2008-10-20T19:16:00.000-07:00

a cool site my friend Jamie sent me for providing young adults with cancer some tools to live.

back to reality.

2008-10-20T19:14:00.000-07:00

Air travel is surreal. One morning you're sipping a coffee in Guatemala, that night a sparking water on your couch watching Saturday Night Live. It's fantastic.

it harder to sleep in guatemala

2008-10-17T09:19:00.000-07:00

between the tuk-tuks, the f´ing roosters (one crowed ALL night long last night right by our place), the bird squakings, the hard beds and the early rising travelers speaking some loud consonant-ridden language like dutch or swedish, it´s hard to sleep in. we´ve tried, but not been very successful in these last two weeks. oh, i´m not complaining, i´m just rationalizing to myself something good about going home (my bed). i always to that when a trip is coming to an end and i wish it wasn´t.

we have figured out to keep the tv, if there is one, or music on low all night and that sorta drowns stuff out. The dreams get strange with all night reggae or spanish tv stations, tho.

guatemalan food

2008-10-16T13:29:00.000-07:00

so, guatemalans don´t like spicy food. ¿strange, right? it took a while to figure out, as i´m a total puss with spicy stuff, so i was ordering blander stuff, being careful. eventually we realized they dont like hot stuff. if it´s hot, it´s "mexican". and, there´s not a whole lot of traditional food, either. we found a few traditional curries, and that was mostly it. oh, and they mash black beans into paste. not much else. and, they seem to love fried chicken (convenient, i do too. not been on the cancer diet, but screw it, i´m on vacation). the closest thing we found to local specialties was pollo campero. basically kfc for central america. oh, yes, we tried it. super good.

we´ve been up in some cool traiditonal towns around lake atitlan the last four days and it´s been cool seeing all the locals dressed in traditional garb. we took some pics. basically really patterny stuff, and patterns one everything the ladies wear. some men, too. the scenery is super amazing (mtns surrounding blue water), and the weather nice and cool come the afternoon rains. it´s rainy season, so it pretty much rains every afternoon. sunny in the mornings, tho, and amazing to wake up to.

we kayaked over to san marcos la leguna yesterday and had lunch. was really fun, but i can barely lift my shoulders today. so sore. today we woke up and had a nice breafast on the shore, then hit a boat across to panajachel, the larger of the towns around the lake. we´ll hang here tonight, then shuttle it thru the mtns to antigua tomorrow for one last night there then to the port. bout to go set up our shuttles then have some tacos and a brew.

while i´m always bummed to have a trip wind ùp, i´m feeling like we really had a long time away. strangely, i´m not so sad to go home. kinda looking forward to my bed, my dogs, my other clothes. we got to see a lot here- beaches, mountains, rivers, lakes, oceans, jungles, locals, ruins, animals and plants galore. it was truly a blast and super refreshing. i will now enter into my life again with a new found appreciation for the lovely things i have and sometimes take for granted.

oh, and before i ever come to a spanish speaking country again i´m taking an espanol class. i have managed over the years to pick some up, but screw not being able to talk to people. it´s for the birds. next time i will learn before i come.

san pedro la laguna

2008-10-14T15:34:00.000-07:00

after a kidney jiggling 2hour shuttle over bumpy mountain roads and a 40 minute organ jostling ferry ride across a choppy lake we finally arrived in san pedro. Its one of 6 or 7 small villages around Lake Atitlan in the highlands of Guatemala. We arrived in Panajachel and saw a little of it on the ride in, then immediately jumped a boat and headed to San Pedro. We plan on also checking out Santa Cruz la laguna as well.

the lake atitlan area is amazing, huge mountains surrounding a turquoise blue lake. it was quite rainy and cold on the way in yesterday, and pretty much rained off and on all night. but, we awoke to an amazing day, and the views from our window are just stunning -a great hotel to which the backpackers here say is expensive. it only costs 25$. its got amazing views of the lake and mountains and has the best little restaurant next door. you literally walk down a path and sit at tables right on the edge of the lake. have´nt had breakfast with such a view in as long as i can remember. and the weather was abolutely pefect. not too hot in the sun, crisp in the shade.

we´´ve had great food here, too, and have finally found some authentic guatemalan food. man, took a while. there is a lot of not-that-great stuff we´ve eaten, but not here. i had a great guatemalan red curry last night that was outstanding. and our other two meals today have been great, and prob about 10$ each for both of us. Beers last night were about 1.25 each. cheap!

the ecosystem is interesting here. still tropical, but pine trees are around, too, and it gets pretty cool at night. we were in pants, shoes and sweatshirt last night. Great sleeping weather. oh, and it´s sunny in the am, cloudy in the afternoon.

all in all, liking this town a good bit. we´ll head off to maybe climb one of the volcanoes around the town or to hike to another town to explore tomorrow. should be fun. we plan to hang here another night or two, then check out santa cruz, then we´re either doing our last night in panajachel or, if there´s no aiport shuttle, heading to antigua for one more night (its only 45 mins from the airport with no traffic). we had planned on going down to a surf camp for the last couple nights, but we´re totally beat from all the traveling around. it´d be another 5 hour trek and then back to the airport from there in a few days. so far we´ve spent about 3 or 4 days on the road on this trip, and we´re gonna just chill and make the most of the rest of our time.

whew

2008-10-13T08:08:00.000-07:00

well, let me say, watching the dawgs in roatan was a blast. glad they won, and ended up meeting a local from uga who we watched with. so darn fun. the bar our mutual friends had was quite the locals hang and we met tons of expats our age from the US. was real cool to see their community down there. and that night was the grand opening and the honduras v canada soccer game so a lot of peeps turned out. if anyone is ever going to roatan, ask me and i´ll direct you to this place. they rent rooms and have a great pool and bar and food and its a great place.

so, yestrday was so long. we woke up and started our travels at 6am. it went ride to ferry into ferry into cab into bus into bus into bus into cab and we finally got to our room in antigua at 11.30 pm. holy crap that was a long day. the upside is that we´re back near guatemala city where we fly out of next saturday and we head up to lake atitlan today for some exploring up there. the ride thru all the countryside was nice. it´s so beautiful here. think mountains only they are covered in tropical lushness. so amazing. the temps in roatan were very hot and humid and it´s nice and crisp and cool up here in the mountains. and, we get to retake some photos we took here last week. win-win, we think. so, we´´re off in a few hours, onto more adventures. more to come..

take the good with the bad

2008-10-11T11:13:00.000-07:00

well, we're still in roatan. we thought we were leaving today but sometimes stuff just doesnt work out. thus far everything has just gone our way (knocks wood),but yesterday was just not our day. mere and i rented a scooter to cruise the island and to go to the airport to pay for our plane tix outta here. our very nice hotel operator had an employee call and reserve us tix, as we thought since we're only down here a few weeks (most people you meet are on VERY extended travels) we should avoid the ol' 13 hour bus ride back over to guatemala and treat ourselves to plane tickets. strangely, as we tried to pay for them at the Taca air desk, they had no reservations for us, and were totally booked. o, we've spent the last 24hrs scrambling to figure alternate plans. we could have left today, but we'd have missed our bus, and would have been stuck in La Cieba overnight. so, we're still here and catching the 7am ferry tomorrow, then bussing all day back to Antigua in Gautemala. Then, we'll wake up and finish the journey to panajachel, which is one of the cool little towns around lake Atitlan. whew, gonna be another long day on the road, but better to be one instead of two. another sad note was yesterday we accidentally erased all our photos, so today we've been trying to recreate as many as we can. like i said, yesterday was not our day.

so, all in all, this island has been great. done lots of stuff and met lots of good people, but we're ready to move on and to see some different things. it's real hot and sticky here, and we're looking forward to some cooler temps up in the mtns. yes, we're spoiled coloradans. thankfully, tho, we've managed to escape the hurricane season down here with sunny weather. it's been real nice.

also, our friend emily emailed us and let us know she has some friends running a kitchen up the road from the west end here in roatan. unfortunately we didn't check email until a few days ago, but we went by yesterday and said hello. they've got a real cool little spot, with the grand opening tonight. we didnt think we'd be back, but since we're here still, they told me they'd have the uga/tenn game on their 47inch samsung flatscreen. so, we're on our way after this. we're bummed we're not flying today, but at least I get to watch the game! see, there's a silver lining in every cloud.

we be in roatan

2008-10-09T16:51:00.000-07:00

first off, it's been a few days. internet is not super avail here on the island, so we've come into to town for food and computers.

well, since i last posted, we've made some serious tracks. we got up the next am really early and bussed over to the carribean and ferried to roatan. we left at 5am and got to our (very sweet) bungalow at 6.30pm. wiped-13hour day. as you can imagine, we were very much looking forward to staying put after many days on the move.

so, roatan is really great. we have had a blast so far and haven't even really had a chance to explore the island. we got a scooter today, so tomorrow is exploration time. the first day we spent catching up on rest, hanging on the beach and snorkling. the reef is just a few mins swim out from shore. our place is a great little set of 6 bungalows across the street from the beach. it's owned by some expats, and is a nice change from all the resorts up and down the beach. they are bigger and overpriced. the beach is really beautiful, and is the best on the island. white sands, turquiose water, lots of coral and fish. love it. anyway, we played the day away and walked up to the nearest town (west end is 40 mins up the beach) for dinner and a few evening drinks at the local watering hole with all the haggared expats. met some interesting, yet strange people. mere and i are remebering that we love this about traveling. the act iteself is fun, the scenery and adventure amazing, but the people you meet along the way are the icing on the cake. we've made new friends from all over europe, cuba, south america and central am already. they all have very interesting stories to tell and make us wish we had more time, more money and no job. we could do this forever. time to start buying lottos again i suppose.

so, our second day here we started the diving. we did two dives with two instructors! one was the dive master, the other a divemaster in training and then just us two. talk about one on one. our one guide was from argentina, been traveling for 4 yrs before settling here and living for 4 yrs and was so great to us. the other in training was from cali and here getting divemasters cert before doing an around the world trip with his wife. they talked us thru everything and by the middle of the first dive i realized i had this. equalizing my right ear has been a bit of a trick, but i've got it finally figured out. so, we did two dives and by the second one, since it was just me and mere and they knew i was already very comfy down there, they had us swimming up thru channels in the coral. super duper cool. saw some big puffers and a huge eel on top of your many corals, fishes and the like. oh, and a ray, too. was great. we finished my last two certification dives today and there was actually another couple with us as well. we did another two great dives, and we saw some sweet turtles, which is waht i most wanted to see. i love it. i can see mere and i exploring lots of oceansides in our lifetime together.

so, we're not even half way and i can't believe the adventures we've had so far. i look around and thank my lucky stars i'm doing this every day. altho everyone we meet is living here, traveling for a year, on one of their 6 weeks of paid vacay (euros) or just traveling with no end ever in sight...i realize i'm a lucky guy(but jealous of them). I was laying on the beach today and looking up at the sky. I had the edges of palm leaves in my view and lots of sky. It suddenly hit me: this is what i saw every day i went to chemotherapy. The chemo people put a transparency of this exact view over the flourescent lights in the chemo ward, and so while you look up you see palm trees and blue skies instead of horrid flourescent lights. not sure if this helped or was a cruel joke, but it got mere and i talking. we used the thoughts of sitting on a beach REALLY seeing that view as our motivation to make it thru all those times when i was just really pissed off at everything. well, today was the day. I made it. i finally freaking made it. can't say enuf about how gracious i am about this.

so, i'm remebering that life is an amazing gift whether you're living it day to day in the US, or whether you're loving the days down in central america. that being said, vacation is good.

one last thing: as i type this, i see about 4 geckos outside the window catching bugs. so cool. we dont have lizards in the high west, and i'm loving being back in the jungle. it reminds me of living back in GA and the birds, bugs, plants and animals are amazing, much less the marine life. all i need is to see a monkey and i've seen it all.

ok, that was a lot of typing. off to hit some seafood and salve vida's (the beer i'm liking here). time to celebrate this kid being certified to scuba. everythime i say this word i think of that scene in "along came polly" when hank azaria asks stiller "are you for scuba". sorry, cant stop it. the only decent part of that whole movie.

so far so good...

2008-10-05T14:40:00.000-07:00

Well, we made it. mostly, at least. our flight out of denver at 1am was a toughie, but we managed to get a few hours rest on it before landing at 5ish atlanta time (3 colorado!). we had an hour or so to nap and eat before some family arrived to visit for a few hours (was great to see ém) and then we were off again to guatemala city. we were too excited to sleep any more, which was prob not the smartest move ever. so, we landed and were expecting a cab to take us to another shuttle that we pre arranged to take us to copan. well, of course the guy wasnt there. one thing my last year of my life has taught me: roll with the punches. so, we went with plan b and got a cab to the town of antigua. by the way, this spanish keyboard is not allowing capitals most of the time. sorry. ç

anyway, we got a cab an hour or so to antigua and it was a great little town. really cool architecture and up in the jungle covered mountains. really nice. we immediately found a room, droppèd the bags and started exploring. we searched and searched for a guatemalan food place, and found nothing of the sort. thought maybe it was because it was so touristy, but have come to learn that they pretty much don´t have much of a ´specialty´. I´m told pollo campero is the closest thing they have to guatemalan. it´s basically their version of kfc. havent had it yet (but will), and am not givin up on finding something authentic.

so, we found a shuttle to get us to copan today to see the ruins. only problem is it picked us up at 3:45 am. needless to say, that´s where the needing rest comes into play. we were already exhausted, but getting up at that hour was rough. we managed to hit the sack early last night, but it still was a tough morning. to top it off, the shuttle was totally packed and i got the last seat which was in the back row (uber bouncy) and was very very tight. six hours of my knees in the seat in front of me. mere had the middle front row which was next to the driver and really small. neither of us loved that ride. but, we made here by 10am and have explored copan and the mayan ruins all day. the ruins were built in teh 8th century by hand, basically, and are really neat. was a great day, and feels like we´ve been gone forever already.

we met all kinds of cool peeps so far(met the girl who writes the lonely planet book for guatemala and hawaii), and are excited about all the adventures to come. needless to say we´re whipped. we get another bus (this time splurged for the ëxecutive bus with tv and air and bathrooms and reclining seats<) for an 8 hour ride at 5.15 am tomorrow. yes, it´s early, but if we get on that one, we can catch the ferry in la cieba and not have to stay there tomorrow night. that means we can be on roatan by tomorrow afternoon, and we´re fired up to see the ocean. ok, gotta go meet mere down the block for a gallo (kind of beer. good stuff.) and a bite. Miss and love everyone. will be back here soon to update as we have more adventures!

Getting there..

2008-10-02T21:32:00.001-07:00

almost done packing. one last music session after work with the guys tomorrow, then home to grab the gear and off to the port. FUN!

Sometimes negative is positive

2008-10-02T08:52:00.001-07:00

Loving the good news! Results of the CT scan are NEGATIVE! woo woo!

Time to go on vacation (tomorrow night) and have a good time.

On the road

2008-10-01T22:32:00.000-07:00

Just a few days until Mere and I go on vacation! Needless to say we're excited about it. Def a lot of jamming things out all week at work and at home to be ready (we fly out Friday night LATE) to go. As of Friday we're gone for two weeks in Guatemala and Honduras, so I'll be signing off here for a minute.

Lots of pics to follow our return.

Veep

2008-10-01T22:18:00.000-07:00

Kinda interested to see some of the VP debates tomorrow. The first presidential one seemed pretty average, not much happening, no one seeming really dominant or saying much in specific detail. Kinda expected, I guess.

But, after watching some of the Palin/Couric interview, I'm hoping they let Palin loose tomorrow. I have the feeling she could say something interesting. Some of the stuff on the Couric interview was both humorous and a little scary at the same time.

Scan it up, scanny

2008-09-30T21:20:00.001-07:00

Went to get the PET scan the other day and the insurance turned it down. D'oh. Wasn't super stoked to hear that, but I'm getting a CT scan in the AM instead now. Guess the insurance people thought the PET was excessive. Oh, well, guess the oncologists did, too, in the end- as they seemed fine with the CT scan. I'll interpret that as good news.

Get to find out the results Thursday. Will keep you posted. Here's to good news always.

Funniest Monk-e mail

2008-09-26T19:17:00.001-07:00

I know I've posted about GA football a lot lately, but just one more: this is the funniest monk-email I've seen yet. Sounds like some clip from a radio show that allows cursing. Real funny stuff.

1 yr ago

2008-09-25T08:30:00.001-07:00

To comment on Mere's post below: last night was our 3rd anniversary. While 3 years has flown by, the passing of the last year is what we were really celebrating last night. One year ago, last night, I was in the ER getting a CT scan in a whole lot of pain. To me, that was the beginning of the life long battle with cancer that I have been forced to enlist in. That was when they realized something was obstructing my intestines. Being the naive boy that I am, when they said they didn't think it was cancer, or even anything that serious, I believed them. Silly Andy.

Anyway, here we are one year later. A little more scarred, a little wiser, and a lot more gracious to be alive and married to each other. Life throws things at you and you either duck and weave or you get hit with them and they take you out. Because I have such a wonderfully supportive and loving teammate in Mere, I'm able to escape the perils of tragedy. I am a lucky guy. Here's to making it this last year, beating the odds and making it many many more and to being healthy and happy the whole damn time.

HAPPY 3RD ANNIVERSARY ANDY!

2008-09-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

A+