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Recap
Wow, it’s been a while since I’ve posted a blog entry. We had a crazy month, that’s for sure. Where to begin! Well, I’ll start off with the good news.
About a month ago, I finally bought one of those toys I had been wanting for a long time, but the timing had just not been right. That’s right folks, I’m the proud owner of a 2006 Honda Shadow motorcycle. My friend at work was selling it because he’s a tall mofo and grew out of it too quick. I kept saying no because it just wasn’t the right time, considering we’re aiming to move into a new house sometime in the next year or so.
One day I was daydreaming about riding, and I threw him a really low number via email on a whim, half expecting him to laugh me to death. He came back with a reasonable number for both of us, and I pulled the trigger. It’s a beautiful bike with lots of goodies. I’ve been waiting long for the day when I could ride with my old man, and now that dream can come true. Now if it would ever warm up, cripes! Having something to do outside in Wisconsin has given me a new hatred for its weather. I don’t have a newer picture yet, but here’s a photo minus some of the goodies taken last year.
My Bike (minus new bags, new windshield)
Now for the bad news…it was a normal day, Cindy had just gotten home from work, she got into her comfy clothes, and sat down to relax and talk about our day. As we were talking, I had heard a loud bang next door, and that is odd considering we never hear our neighbor. I got up to check it out, and I saw some sulfur smelling smoke lingering on my neighbor’s patio. As we looked up in horror, we saw a cloud of black smoke billowing from the top floor window of his condo. Quickly, I called 911, and within minutes, the scene was utter chaos. Firefighters were busting out his windows as more and more smoke poured from every opening it could find. It was later determined that a lamp had fallen over onto a mattress in his basement, causing the blaze.
What’s more, smoke poured from an opening in a shared wall from his place into ours, filling our place with black smoke. After the fire was contained and extinguished, the fire chief told us it was o.k. to get into our place and grab some of our stuff. Everything smelled like smoke. Just to walk through the place, I had to wet a rag and hold it over my mouth. After we gathered our stuff, we got checked out by the paramedics and were sent to the hospital for Carbon Monoxide testing. We tested out fine and were on our way to stay at my mother-in-law’s house. She graciously let us take over her place for the next week while the cleaners did their thing at our place. The worst part? Our clothes were (and still are at the time of this piece) out at the cleaners getting professionally cleaned and freshened. So, we’ve been living off a very limited supply of clothing the past few weeks. After all is said and done, we’re glad that no one got hurt, and cannot wait until everything is back to normal.
American Idol 6 - Early Thoughts
Cindy and I are huge Idol fans, and each season I try to blog a few times throughout the competition discussing my thoughts on the show, contestants, etc. Riley, since I know you hate this show, let’s try to keep those comments constructive, eh? 
The Boys
As of right now, in no particular order, here are my top 3:
Blake Lewis - The guy is totally cool (save for the fact that he looks like uber-moron Johnny Lechner). He’s an extremely talented beat-boxer, can sing really well, and has made all-around great choices in the competition. He chose not to beat-box in his first song, and added a perfect amount in his second. He also chose great songs, and is very entertaining to watch. He’s not got the absolute greatest voice, but he’s talented and will make for an entertaining season.
Chris Richardson - He’s very Justin Timberlake-ish, which in my humble opinion is a good thing because like JT or not, he’s one talented mofo. Chris has got a great voice and has all the makings of being a pop star. He’s proven he can do the rock thing by doing Gavin Degraw’s “I Don’t Wanna Be,” would probably be perfect for the radio, and I think will be fun as hell to watch during the rest of the competition.
Chris Sligh
Man, this guy looks like Sideshow-Bob after a few dozen ho-hos. Regardless, I feel a certain kinship towards him as he is of the portly comedic type. Aside from that, he’s a great singer with a cool voice that doesn’t exactly match his goofy exterior.
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Runners up: Sundance Head - Aside from having a bitchin’ name, the boy can sing. He blew us away in the auditions, and then stunk up the place worse than one of my onion farts, and finally in week 2 he came out singin’! If he continues to sing like he did in week 2, then I’ll keep supporting him from my couch. Also, when Phil Stacey is on, he’s got the best voice out of all of them.
Lakisha Jones
Although I probably wouldn’t buy her CD if she won, I think she’s got one of the better voices I’ve heard in a few seasons, she’s got a good portion of the girl vote right now, and her connection with her daughter and over-all likeability has been a focal point for her promotion throughout the competition. Plus, she’s very humble, which is nice to see.
Melinda Doolittle
She’s got great stage presence, and can really friggin’ sing. And, like Lakisha, she’s humble. Her biggest downfall for me is that she looks like a cartoon character. You can’t see it from the picture to the left but it’s there. I know, I’m messed up, but that’s the only way I can think of to describe her. Either way, she’s one talented cartoon character.
From a dude’s perspective, there are a few cute chicks in the competition which is always nice, and I think there’s talent on both sides. One thing I’d like to mention is that Ryan Seacrest really is underrated. That guy is a necessity to the show, and some of his comedy in the earlier auditions was priceless. Anyways, thanks for reading, more to come when the pool of contestants dwindles even more.
Dave Matthews, Love, & A Broken Ankle
Sometimes when I have nothing specific to blog about, I’ll throw together a hodge-podge of things in one blog entry. This is one of those entries.
Last week, while we were going through a cold spell that I can only equate to the real life version of the snow scenes in “The Day After Tomorrow,” my parents were basking in the warm sun of Hawaii. They were visiting my sister, who is currently living/working over there performing some sort of “do-gooder” work. While they were there, my dad surprised my mom by asking him to marry her again, and they renewed their vows. How cool is that? It’s so awesome that my parents are still that much in love after all these years. Good times, bad times, all that, and they are stronger than ever. I always say that I aspire to be as much like my dad as possible, and this is just another reason why I admire him (and my mom) so much. I’d say I’ve been blessed with some awesome ‘rents. Oh, and while they were there, my mom slipped on some hardened lava (I think?) and broke her ankle. She didn’t know it at the time, and walked around the island for 5 days with a messed up foot.
Ok, ingredient #2 for this hodge-podge ‘o blogness. Cindy and I are dedicated viewers of the show House. Well, imagine my surprise last night when the previews for the next episode indicated that my musical hero Dave Matthews (of Dave Matthews Band fame) is going to be a guest on the show. I just think that is so friggin’ cool. For starters, Dave is an aspiring actor, having been in many plays and such before his music career took off, as well as the recent film “Because of Winn-Dixie” and the upcoming “Lake City.” Although I’ve not seen him in anything non-musical besides interviews, I have heard from several sources that he’s quite the actor. I’m totally looking forward to seeing how well he pulls this off. It should be interesting.
Lastly, this past week we took our nephews out to Stonefire Pizza for their Christmas present. It’s sort of an upscale Shakeys, for you northern folk who remember it. It wasn’t half bad (if you can deal with all the goofy-ass kids running around like they lost they mind). For about $100, Cindy, Myself, and my three nephews got to play all day long on rides, games, bumper cars, and a rock climbing wall. Included in that price was a pretty nice buffet that you get to hit as many times as you want. And, the food was actually pretty good! The whole thing was a bit pricey as you can expect, but the kids had fun, there was plenty to do for the parents, and the day went by quick.
P.S. I’m a huge fan of the tv show Scrubs, and for some reason I’ve had Scrubs quotes running through my head all day. So, I’ll leave you with the last one I just thought of:
Turk and JD are discussing the times in Turk’s childhood that he was singled out for being black
Turk: Remember our college brochures?
JD: so what they put you on the cover
Turk: Twice!
(he points to the book and thier are 2 of him on the cover, in exactly the same pose, wearing the same clothes!!)
Haha! That’s hilarious. Anyways, thanks for reading. I’m just a fat guy with a vision (that one’s for you dad).
Goodbye, Old Friend
I write this blog post in sadness as a few days ago we had to let go of a dog that was part of our family for so long. Savannah, an honorary Jansen since my freshman year of high school was suffering from medical problems that compelled us to put her to rest. Her health had been deteriorating for some time now, and our family felt it was time. She suffered from a brain tumor that was causing her fits of panic, causing her to shake and hide, pant, and run around in a state of near delirium. It also was making her become more aggressive, both with people as well as my brother’s dog, Abby. The worst part about the whole situation was that other than her fits and moments of slight aggression, she was an otherwise normal dog. She would run and play, was completely mobile, and generally was a fun and loving animal.
I didn’t know how the news would hit me when it happened, but when my brother told me today, I got my answer. I didn’t expect it, but my eyes welled up and I needed to step in to my room for a bit of private time to get a good cry out. It was both therapeutic and strange at the same time, considering it’s the first time I’ve cried in a long time. I will miss Savannah forever, and truly considered her a part of the Jansen family.
Savannah was known as “Wirebrush” by my friends due to the non-softness of her hair. Some people say she was kind of ugly, but I will always maintain that she was cute as hell (in a non-obvious sort of way). My greatest memories of Savannah include her original “Psycho Dog” routines where she would get a fit of energy and bolt around the house, tearing cords out of the wall, catapulting off the back of the couch, and swiftly running in circles. Hilarious! I also remember when my dad and I dyed the white areas of her fur green and gold for the Packer’s Superbowl appearance in ‘96. Also, if you ever showed her any attention, sometimes even simple eye-contact, she would run over to you and roll over so you could scratch her belly. Her entire goal no matter what your position on the couch was to somehow find a way to lay on her back so you could rub her belly. When my brother brought Abby the Labby home for the first time, it changed Savannah forever. She had a friend to play with now, and some hilarity ensued. From that point on, you couldn’t give Abby any attention without Savannah trying to edge her way in out of Jealousy. They became known as “Abby Larue & Savannah, Too.” Now that she’s gone, my brother says that Abby doesn’t seem the same. She waits by the door to see if Savannah is coming home, and won’t eat her food or come out of her room. I’m sure as time passes this behavior will subside, but one thing that remains is that she will be missed by our family, that’s for sure.
Thanks for reading. I know this probably doesn’t mean as much to some of you as it does me, but I needed a place to talk about it so I felt a little better. Peace out…
Line Rider
So, I was at my in-law’s this weekend and they were playing this game called Line Rider. It’s this incredibly addicting simple game where you draw lines with a pencil and then send a sledder barreling down your track. Sounds boring? It’s really not. After watching them play, I decided to try it, and was instantly addicted. So, I did a little research on the ‘net, and found that they were playing an old, hacked version, as well as some spin-offs (Wheel-chair Flyer, Line Flyer). Turns out, the original version was updated to offer an eraser tool, some different types of track, and a few other things while maintaining its simplicity.
What’s more? On the official site, there are some videos of tracks that people have made that are really amazing. If you’re in need of a little time-wasting at your computer, check it out! Just don’t yell at me if you get fired from your job because of it.
- Official Site - Play the game, view some other user’s movies
- Background Info - Wikipedia
Dinner By Design
Cindy & I tried something new last night called Dinner by Design. Basically, it’s a stocked kitchen that you use to create freezable meals to cook at the snap of a finger. You basically pay about $120 and choose six different meal selections. Each meal selection yields enough food for about 4-5 people depending on your eating habits. Basically, you stop at each station and put the ingredients together, seal it up and load it into freezable containers. Then, when you’re ready, you just pop it out and bake, grill, or fry it.
The selections are pretty appetizing too. Off the top of my head, we got Lemon Dill Tilapia, Rainbow Chili, Chicken ala Orange, Garlic Chili Flank Steak, Spaghetti Pie, and one other I can’t remember. We were probably there for about an hour or so and it was something fun we could do as a couple. We have a hard time getting motivated to cook dinner at night due to our schedules, so this was a great way to setup delicious meals that aren’t terribly bad for you. Plus, if you calculate cost per meal per person, it’s not too expensive, and the amount of food you get from a meal is plentiful. Last night we had the Spaghetti Pie, and we’re hoping that the rest of the meals were as good as that one was!
- Dinner By Design (official website)
Merry Christmas!
Hey everyone, just want to wish everyone a very merry Christmas on this 25th of December, 2006. This year’s Christmas brought one of the coolest gifts I have ever received. See, my sister is in Hawaii for the year working with Habitat for Humanity, and it was looking like we were gonna be without her for the holidays this year. I had been on a campaign to get her here, but it was short-lived as the cost was just too high from Hawaii to here during the holiday season. So, she had made plans to spend Christmas with her friend Josh down in Florida. I was extremely bummed, as I missed my sister dearly.
So, when Cindy & I arrived at my parent’s house this morning, my dad said he had something he wanted to do as a family real quick before we opened presents. In the middle of the living room was a large gift-wrapped box, and I was instructed to lift the top off of it. As I did, I stood there in shock as none other than my sister herself had popped out of the box!! It was a great, albeit emotional moment for me, and kicked off a great Christmas. I got some other really cool gifts from “Santa,” but none of them are worth listing next to having my sister home for Christmas.
Big News, MoBlog
First off, I need to send out a huge congratulations to my brother, Troy, who just today asked his girlfriend Jess to marry him. We got the family together for brunch at a family friend’s restaurant and put a message on the big screen. As the message was displayed, he proposed, she said yes, and all was good. After that we pounded down some most excellent brunch! Congratulations to Troy & Jess!
Second, I recently switched over from Sprint to Verizon for my cell-phone needs. So far, it’s awesome. The network really covers a large area, and the phone is pretty damn cool. I got the LG Chocolate phone in black, and am very happy with it. Along with some pretty cool features, I also have a text/pics plan that allows me to do some text messaging and whatnot. With that, I have the ability to send the pictures from my phone right to a website, and thus I’ve started a MoBlog. A MoBlog is basically a mobile photo blog for people to peruse. Click the “MoBlog” link on the right sidebar on this page to check out the pictures. I’m always adding new ones, so check back often. Also, in the future I want to add the ability for people to be able to comment on them, but for now, they are just there to browse. Anyways, enjoy, and have a happy holidays…
A Better Myspace Experience
Ok, I admit it, I have a MySpace page. Part curiosity, part “just because,” I peruse it occasionally to waste a little time. Mostly I use it to direct people to my real blog (the one you’re reading currently!)
For starters, coming from a web developer, I must say that it’s one of the most horribly written sites to ever get so popular. I understand the idea, it basically provides easy blogging functionality to anyone with an Internet connection and a set of working fingers. It connects millions of people in a gigantic social network. Plus, there’s lots of good music and other time-wasting stuff on there.
Unfortunately, it’s got some annoying ads that detract from the experience when viewing people’s profiles/blogs. Well, if you’re a MySpace user, here’s another argument for using Firefox for all your web browsing needs. Using Stylish and Greasemonkey, you can remove the crap-tastic ads on MySpace. And, it can be done in about 10 clicks of your mouse.
Update: 05/21/2007
I’ve since found a better way to do this, so read below:
- Install the Ad-Block Plus add-on
- Install the FilterSet G Updater add-on
Once you do this, restart Firefox (and FilterSet G will ask which ad-set to subscribe to. Most readers of this blog will just use the United States option). MySpace Ads be gone!!