Thursday, June 29, 2006

couple of really quick things...

ok - couple of things... 1 - today was a pretty good day. Nice weather, a meeting that was very enjoyable (if they were all like this i would have one every day), the driveway and garage were finished, i am supposed to get my new shoes today, tomorrow i am off (probably watch soccer or go MXing - which tomorrow should be a good day too), got some of my office cleaned up (not as much as I would like...it's still a mess), and am leaving for a end of season Tball party. Luke did really well this year playing...and i have to add, i played mon. night and we won the league championship...but enough about me...hahahahaha

now the second thing...

i have heard that ring around the rosies is a song about dead people and the plague. well, it all makes sense...but surely it's not true...

i received an email about this stating "Every child has happily joined hands with friends and recited the familiar nursery rhyme, "Ring around a rosie, a pocket full of posies. Ashes, ashes, we all fall down." Few people realize to what this seemingly happy little nursery rhyme actually refers.

This nursery rhyme began about 1347 and derives from the not-so-delightful Black Plague, which killed over twenty-five million people in the fourteenth century. The "ring around a rosie" refers to the round, red rash that is the first symptom of the disease. The practice of carrying flowers and placing them around the infected person for protection is described in the phrase, "a pocket full of posies." "Ashes" is a corruption or imitation of the sneezing sounds made by the infected person. Finally, "we all fall down" describes the many dead resulting from the disease. "

Now...this is pretty morbid if it's the case...well, thank goodness for snopes.com. they set me straight...because I was worried...we just played/sang that the other day. Well, it ain't so...check it out here - http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/rosie.htm. Totally False...

That brings me to the whole snopes thing. That is an awesome site to go to when you get those crazy emails or hear something a little odd. I just wanted to share. www.snopes.com.

Not much more to write about...almost late for the party. ;)

l8r

Tuesday, June 27, 2006

the 2fer is back!!!!!

OMG! Yes, I am doing a 2fer today...it is tuesday, right? So, I am bringing back (unofficially) the 2fer Tuesday - here goes...

#1 - Never, EVER buy or live in a house without a garage. Especially if you own a Wrangler and don't pay too much attention to the weather forecast. Now understand, my jeep is all waterproofed (rhino-lined, good seats, etc) - so i really don't care if it gets wet, but when you don't have the top on and it's raining and you have to go to work...you have to put the top on in the rain (if you don't have the garage) and get a little wet yourself. [which, btw, was the case yesterday and i took the minivan to work...and i was glad i did. ;) Who knew being in a minivan could be so enjoyable?] If you ever have to put the top on in the rain do it before you are ready for work...hahahahah. I will be so glad when our house is done...I will have 3 garages to pick from with which to apply or tear down tops. Which brings me to...

#2 - Sometimes I still wish I had my SAAB 9-3. Awesome vehicle. I didn't have to worry about rain, etc. And it was fast. Well, there's another vehicle i looked at last night that i really want. A little more horses than the SAAB and it is RWD to boot! I found an infiniti G35 coupe on ebay that is me. I don't think I'll get this exact one, but I have decided that most likely that will be the next vehicle I get. And yes, probably black like this one (and my SAAB, and my Passport, etc.) - and I really think the rims make this bad boy...i like it. Oh well, for now I'll just drool. ;) hehehe

Sunday, June 25, 2006

God Save the Queen

YES! England beat Ecuador 1-0 today so I am ecstatic!!!! Dear ol' David Beckham (#7) came through and scored a free kick and it was beautiful. I was a little surpised Wayne didn't get in there and get a score, but nonetheless...we won!! Spectacular. And since Portugal lost a couple of their best players today vs. the Dutch we have a good chance of winning there too. And to celebrate England's win, I went a bought a new pair of running shoes. Crazy huh? But my old ones are really worn out and I am going to start running again. I'm going to run for ION in the "climb" coming up...so JT, I'll need a Jersey... ;) I've got 2 months to train which shold be plenty of time for me. I got 3rd in it a couple of years ago in my bracket and I think if I start training now I should be able to give a repeat or better performance. So...what else has been going on you ask? Well, I'll tell ya...We're closing on a house tomorrow at 3pm and we have to do a final walk-through before that. I'm a little excited about it...and at the same time not. hahahaha There's going to be quite a bit we have to do to get it looking nice...a really, really nice. ;) So, that's going to be good times, I'm sure. Hopefully the framing of our other house starts this week. That'll be good to get it done.


Oh well...enough for now.

Thursday, June 22, 2006

dad day

ok - i just got my father's day gift yesterday (it took some prep time) but it is very cool. I got a new long board...sweet. So look out people (specifically, john, beth and lisa) i'm on it. Oh and i'll put pics up of it when i get a chance. john...you'll appreciate this...the "you wanna be me." sticker is on the top...hahahahah. i'll definatley join the ion longboard team...not many contests around here though...so maybe i'll run until they have some. ;) anyway...i saw this article this morning...and thought, "huh, that's interesting." I will leave you to form thoughts of your own. It's about a flower having sex with itself...hahahahahah

~l8r~

Sunday, June 18, 2006

new look

ok - you may have noticed the little banner across the top of my blog...if not, look now. Sooner or later, we knew it would come to this. Ads on my blog - however, I have searched tirelessly (high and low) for only something good to put on here that I thought was actually worthwhile. I know almost all of you have an iPod (if not, get out from under that rock...hahahah) and this is the coolest thing you can get for yours to personalize it! Check them out...everyone needs one. hehehe ;)

Friday, June 16, 2006

ATL - :l: - LTA

well...i decided to make my title a palindrome. yes..it's kind cool...although it doesn't mean anything. It was originally going to be ATL - but that looked too boring so i added some crap and made it look like it's in a mirror. hehe.

On to the post...

I just got back from Atlanta and have decided to show some pictures of the trip. And let you know abou tit. hahahhahaha I mean about it. anyway... I left Weds afternoon driving down 26/85 in my rented Ford Five Hundred. (You may recall my last trip to ATL was also in a 500 and included a stop by the Cabbage Patch Kids Hospital) No Buick, you ask? Well, I normally rent from Avis which is where I get my blingbling cars, but settled for enterprise b/c they were closer and had a big gun available. I was supposed to get a Dodge Charger, but they were out. Whatever... It didn't even have a full tank of gas! I had to stop and fill up - that's where I saw this. Count to 20...I think that's for anger management - that gas station was interesting to say the least. So I get to ATL and got to Marriott's Residence Inn down at the GT campus. Very nice place...closest thing i could find to the Westin (which was where I was all day yesterday, but they didn't have any rooms available. Only place closer was the Marriott Marquee - and i didn't want to pay $300 for a room. Ahhh...the marquee...I remember when it was free, all the ballgames were free...the MLB days are over...Ster, why did you retire...hahahahaha.... - back to the story...So I opted for the Residence Inn (a bargain at only $170). I don't know if you've ever been to this one or not, so I took pictures...it's very cool...they are like apartments with everything you need right there. Full size fridges, ovens, and yes, even a doorbell and knocker. ;) Here are pics of the room, the lobby, and outside.

I leave that morning to go to the Westin - a nice hotel, but with a sucky parking garage. There are only about 10 spaces to park on each level. I had to drive up to #9 for the first available and this was at 7:45 in the morning. See pic with moon - very early. I know some of you haven't seen that before, so I thought I'd share. And there are some pics looking down as well. The one with the little ledge and fence. I climbed up there to take some pics and while I was standing on it, the fence came to my thighs and people would look up at me like I was going to jump...i faked it once and the guy looking at me jumped back in the street. I was amused. That's the guy in the pic with the van. He started hurrying off and I took his picture. hahahah

Well, the conference went on all day and I won't bore you with the detail...but I will tell you this. I bought a bluetooth headset for my phone and IT SUCKS! It sucks in more ways than one, too. Very versatile. A it sucks in its overall use. I can't hear through it, I get reports of muffled talk - and honestly, it's a bit uncomfortable. It's the Motorola HS850 - DO NOT WASTE $80 some odd dollars on this. If you are so inclined I have one to sell...otherwise it's going back to Best Buy. The second way the Motorola HS850 Bluetooth Headset Sucks (all named out for search engine's sake) is that is drains my Verizon Palm Treo 700w (which is a GREAT phone) battery like it was candy. I had my bluetooth on with it yesterday and within a few hours the battery was almost dead. Also...why is it that no matter when you go by the CNN sign...someone's always on it?

Oh yeah...one last thing...I have been invited to attend the Senate Leadership Summit for Young Professionals. Very Cool. One of our State Senators (the one I like to call Lamar...I mean Sen. Alexander...) sent me an invitation (only 300 people nationwide go to this) to go in Sept to DC. I'm going to sign up today. I think it could be lots of fun. At least I'll get to meet some other people there that could be beneficial in the future. No, I'm not going to go all Skull & Bones....yet...hahahahah...I'm saving that for my book...which by the way is developing into something very interesting...I have found several ties to certain things on the topic of my book that should make it a very engrossing and intriguing read...only problem is that people have died because of the information i have...so if i die soon, unexpectedly...it may be because some of my stuff got out. Oh well...hahahahahah, just kidding. ;)

I would like to leave you with this...

Get your facts first, and then you can distort them as much as you please.
- Mark Twain

Seacrest, out -

Monday, June 12, 2006

Soccer...

Most of you know I love soccer. Most of you know I'm a Manchester United fan, and an England fan. I hope England wins the World Cup. However, an 18 year old named Kerlon Moura Souza ("Kerlon") from Brazil is amazing - but I don't believe he's on the national team...I'll have to find out. I have included video as to what he does. Not only is he really awesome, but he has invented the "seal dribble". I encourage you to watch him in action. He'll definitely be in the next World Cup...I'm sure.....Anyway...watch the video - what an awesome sport.

Sunday, June 11, 2006

Malibootay....

Malibootay! That word was just spoken and I thought it would make a great title. I am currently watching Malibu's Most Wanted (which is one of the funniest movies ever made) - great, great great. Since this is an election year, i am reviving this movie because it is about a guy (Bill Gluckman) who is running for governor of california and his son brad's (B-Rad G) "lack of chillin' is killin' his father's campaign." You either need to go rent this movie or see me and borrow it! It's that funny!! I've been thinking about it for a few days and had to watch it.

I just started the movie after watching the Netherlands beat Serbia-Montenegro 1-0. Good game. Now I hope my ManU/Eng people can keep going strong as well as the US. The US play Monday at noon - they shold win. Keep up with some of it here - http://blogs.foxsoccer.com/ .

Also, another thing I just started playing with is called IM - no, not instant messaging, but Instant Media - http://www.im.com It's like TV on demand combined with RSS feeds and pod/vidcasting. Very cool.

Yesterday I spent most of the day in SC with my dad. The day started off OK, breakfast at my grandmother's, then dad and I went to SC to look at a door machine. Then the day went downhill a little as we were there a LONG time. Much longer than anticipated. Then the day got MUCH better when i got back into town. Anyway, yesterday was all in all a pretty good day.

"For rizzle, my nizzle...."

~ciao~

Friday, June 09, 2006

testes, testes..1, 2 - check

hehe - some of you may have heard me do the "testes, testes..1,2 - check" on a microphone before to give a sound check...instead of "testing testing, 1-2". Before I forget I want to thank Nate Kiloren for the idea for that...anyhoo...I gave a sound check to myself today for real...hahahah. I decided to take Luke MXing this afternoon on a real track, etc. My dad met us there and wanted to watch us ride. Well, Luke went around in a circle a couple of times and decided to quit. Yes, we were there for only 15 minutes and he was done. Dad told me to go ahead and ride and he would stay with Luke and they would watch me. OK...sounded like a plan to me...so off I went. Never being at this track before, I started on it backwards...after a lap around I realized my mistake and turned around. Boy was it easier going around the right way...hahahah...the jumps were smoother etc. ;) Well, after going around it 2-3x I decided to start doing doubles - when you go off one jump and land on the second one - like a camels back - Let's just say I didn't make it...not enough speed, wrong gear, etc. I landed on the top of the second jump and the bike kicked out from under me...this was my first wreck of the day and the one where I screwed up my left hand (oh yeah..I'm typing this post with one hand...fyi). Ahhh, it's just my clutch hand - I don;t have to use it too badly - my index finger on my left hand is ok, so i could still change gears.
Anyway, I got up and started again. By now I was getting pretty good, hitting solid jumps...i totally blew my dad away (he thought I had been coming out to this track a lot and riding it - nope first time out here, I told him...to which he replied with some choice words...hahahah - i don;t think he believed me). So I next decided to try to get into the corners better and tighter and there was this one corner after a set of whoopty-doos, that was tight, filled with mud and had a huge straightaway with a BIG jump after it - i wanted to get that down...so i pushed hard around the corner and got too close inside. There were these big poles in the ground to keep you on the track...I hit one, with my right leg. I was expecting it to break away or fall down...nooooo...not for me - it stayed straight up and totally racked me and threw me off my bike. I'm sure it was a very comical site to see. Everyone could see it. I layed on the ground for a bit until I realized I was losing my gas...got up, turned off my valve, and layed back down. hahaha - I was in pain....I haven't hurt that bad since i was accidentally nailed in the groin during a sparring match in martial arts years ago...(at least they said it was an accident) - anyhoo...I did the testes, testes.. 1, 2 - check - both intact. Good. Painful, but intact. Meanwhile, I was passed while laying down - so I decided to get up and catch and pass back the guy who passed me - as soon as I did he got off the track. Oh well, win some, lose some...at least I didn't lose one today...hahahah.

Oh yeah...one more thing - one of the guys at work came up with this cool picture that he put on our toilet in the admin office. Here's a pic...It's a takeoff on Intel's new logo...I thought it was hilarious...he's selling them if you want one...let me know. ;)

~ciao~

Thursday, June 08, 2006

da house...

well, we worked hard yesterday...i'll try to get another pic on here. I think the basement is pretty much finished. The floor will be poured next week and the framing should start next week too. So now...it should move along pretty quickly. Yea! My foot hurts from where I dropped rebar on it (while wearing vans)...I started using my hiking boots (nice Salamon's) and ripped the sole in half (although surprisingly they are still waterproof). I got a little sunburnt (hazard of working without your shirt while not having a tan, yet) and had 2 energy drinks to help me through the day. Wild. Also, one of the worker's son came over yesterday too...he's in highschool - actually in my old small group - and i showed him how to ride a MX bike - which he was stoked about, and showed him how to do a few tricks on a skateboard. He used to skate...he didn't realize that i did too...i was pretty happy - everything i showed him i landed first time: kickflips (reg, 180, shuvit, fakie, fakie 180), one-foots, shuv-it manuals, etc. - he has now told me that i shall teach him more and go skating with him some...to which i agreed. Very cool...i told ya..only a little bit to get warmed back up.

Oh yeah...pretty good news, i think...i am now down to 207. nice, huh? so many people have told me they have no idea i weight so much, but oh well, it's still going down. I'm pretty proud of myself. Plus if i start skating again, that will help too. I'm also thinking of running again as well...i've been a couple of times lately around the university and their fitness trail. i think i may enter the "climb" again this year. A couple of years ago (for those of you who don't know) I got 3rd in my age group in that race. It's in NC and is a 5K all uphill. Well, most of it anyway. A very steep grade. I didn't do it last year, but I will this year...kinda like a family tradition. It's in August - plenty of time to get ready. I want to place again.

And to just note on my blog when i look at it in later years...today is the day we got zarqawi. That's big news. Later on when the liberal think tank starts talking about a conspiracy and how he's still alive etc. I will be able to look back at my blog (b/c I'm sure the history books will leave it out) and see that today is the day he died. heheh.

And one last thing...from my absolute favorite author - (Mark Twain, in case you didn't know...) I will leave you with some suggestions on how to improve the english language...

I mai even start posteng xis wai......


"For example, in Year 1 that useless letter "c" would be dropped to be replased either by "k" or "s", and likewise "x" would no longer be part of the alphabet. The only kase in which "c" would be retained would be the "ch" formation, which will be dealt with later. Year 2 might reform "w" spelling, so that "which" and "one" would take the same konsonant, wile Year 3 might well abolish "y" replasing it with "i" and Iear 4 might fiks the "gj" anomali wonse and for all.

Jenerally, then, the improvement would kontinue iear bai iear with Iear 5 doing awai with useless double konsonants, and Iears 6-12 or so modifaiing vowlz and the rimeining voist and unvoist konsonants. Bai Iear 15 or sou, it wud fainali bi posibl tu meik ius ov thi ridandant letez "c", "y" and "x" -- bai now jast a memori in the maindz ov ould doderez -- tu riplais "ch", "sh", and "th" rispektivli.

Fainali, xen, aafte sam 20 iers ov orxogrefkl riform, wi wudhev a lojikl, kohirnt speling in ius xrewawt xe Ingliy-spiking werld. "

Mark Twain (1835 - 1910), "A Plan for the Improvement of English Spelling"

Monday, June 05, 2006

House momentum...

Alright - a new picture of house movement. These are nudura walls and are filled with concrete when finished. They are currently 4.5ft high and will be 9ft high by weds. You can see a garage door to the left and a patio door in the middle with two windows on the side. This is going to be the basement. It will be roughly 1200 sqft of space. Then once it's filled and finished...the framing begins! Then the next 2 stories and the garage etc will begin. Cool. It is going to be 2002 sqft then however much of the 1200 sqft of the basement we decide to finish. Anyhoo...here's a pic of the current progress...

torn... heheh

ok - for those of you who had the privilege of reading and even commenting on the original torn post - Thank you! I decided to take it down (but saved it and your comments). I really appreciate your thoughts and the time taken. For obvious reasons I removed the post but still have it available for the curious...just email me. ;)

thanks

Thursday, June 01, 2006

Is this for real....????


I found out today that Batwoman is going to be re-released. And not only that but she's going to be a lesbian. Where is the comic world heading??? Crazy! http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,197710,00.html