AMCD Online O:-)

An apple pie filling worth savoring

2009-03-26T18:03:00.000-05:00

It was a bit of a late evening tonight with the boys, but after a quick dinner of leftovers and a couple of appointments I wanted to do something special for them. So we worked together and chopped up some apples. First I was going to make a pie out of them, then I thought about apple crisp, then I decided to dispense with the bread part altogether and we ate it like fresh applesauce. It was yummy!

Here's how it goes down:

3 cups apples, cored, peeled, and thinly sliced
3 tbsp lemon juice (balsamic vinegar is also amazing)
1/4 c sugar
pinch nutmeg
1/2 tsp cinammon
2 tbsp butter
1/2 c raisins (1 c blueberries if you've got 'em)
1 tsp flour

Heat up a big saucepan over medium heat for 2 minutes. Pour in the apples and cook, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. Add lemon juice and cook another 30 sec. Add sugar and cook until apples are clear and soft. Sprinkle nutmeg and cinammon. Fold on the raisins, then place the butter on top and let it melt slowly. Remove from heat, sprinkle flour on top and continue folding until the apples start to stick together.

Equally good in a pie shell, under a crumb topping, or on a plate by itself.

Now I need more apples.

One WEIRD Monday

2009-01-26T18:31:00.000-06:00

I'm not sure if I want to relive this Monday again or not. It actually was a good day, though it sure did its darnedest to make a mess out of itself.

As is my normal routine, I woke up at 6AM to get the two younger boys up, dressed, fed, and ready for school. With Jordan awake, bed made and in the shower, I normally go downstairs and take a gander at the e-mail. So I come downstairs and shake the mouse to wake up the PC. Except it doesn't wake up. I hit a few keys on the keyboard, still no response. Power off and on the monitor, still nothing.

After sending Jordan out the door and getting Josh in the shower, I go downstairs and resume testing. The monitor's fine, as I plug it into my laptop and it responds. So I figure that it must be a fried video card. I try a couple of older AGP cards I have laying around, but no go. Now frustration is starting to set in. Then it hits me that it doesn't even sound like the PC is going through POST, which makes me immediately think of power supply issues. The family went through a rash of power supply issues recently, so the symptoms looked familiar.

So, I busted into our old PC that died on us last year, and pulled out the power supply. While in there, I also grabbed the 2 256MB memory sticks. I swapped out the power supply, and sure enough the computer booted happily. I then added the memory and it ran a bit happier. Anyway, I managed to get it up and running before 9AM today, which made me feel a lot better.

After all that, I needed to burn out some frustration, so I put on my workout clothes and headed over to the Y. That went well as I lifted weights and such. Then I was sitting on a mat stretching and doing ab exercises with the MP3 player blaring. Now, as some of you may already know, I am pretty well oblivious of the rest of the world when a good song's playing, so I'll happily mouth along or play some air drums or whatever. So I'm having a great time, then "Death" by White Lies comes on. Um, if you haven't heard, I'm totally smitten with this album. Anyway, I'm listening to it from the MP3 player for the first time while stretching, and I'm paying close attention to the lyrics ... and they hit me hard. I don't know why, maybe it's all the uncertainty about my job search or something else, but I actually had to choke back tears so I could continue with the workout. I know, I'm a big softie.

After a good workout, I arrived home, and one of the first things Melissa said to me was, "You can go to Coachella, silly." I had completely forgotten that she is on Facebook and can read my notes. Well, that's out of the way. Now I just have to figure out where the boys will stay, since we'll both be out of town that weekend.

Then tonight, I got to play with my two nephews. Conor, who's only three months, got to hang out on Uncle Dale's lap until he spit up some formula, and I jerked him away a bit too hard, making him cry. Bad Uncle Dale. Then his big brother Brodie climbs up on my lap, which is crazy given that he usually wealks away from me, and gives me high fives and all sorts of loves.

Now, I'm thinking that if I hadn't eaten that last brownie, I would have had a pretty darn good day. :)

Help me ...

2008-12-31T18:21:00.000-06:00

I'm spending the last few minutes of 2008 messing around with virtualizing my laptop, because I have this insane idea for running two copies of my laptop on one, and somehow getting more work done. This will also go on the resume, as I see lots of jobs looking for experience with VMWare. Umm, just nod along, non-techies. ;)

Meanwhile, Melissa is playing Neverwinter Nights on the home PC, and Jordan and Josh each have one friend over, and the four of them are all playing Wii and yelling at each other at ear-splitting volume.

Yes, this is how I'm spending NYE 2008. I think I need more of a life.

The MOG rejected post that must go somewhere

2008-12-24T07:54:00.000-06:00

~K7GobJFxSmO.mp3~

Subtitle: The post where I try for the record for the most YouTube embeds ever, and try to bring both MOG and YouTube to their knees. Muwahahahaha and apologies for some of the lousy sound or dorky fansub vids.

Now, to refresh your memory, here is the list that I made for the first half of 2008:

Portishead - Third
Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now Youngster
The Kills - Midnight Boom
Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours
Foals - Antidotes
Ladytron - Velocifero
These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid
Sons & Daughters - This Gift
M83 - Saturdays = Youth
The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

Now, on to the list for the full year.

40. Crystal Castles

39. Like Honey - Leaves

38. Soundpool - Dichotomies & Dreamland

37. Friendly Fires

36. Darker My Love - 2

35. Correcto

34. Bauhaus - Go Away White

33. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Dig! Lazarus! Dig!

32. The Faint - Fasciination

31. The Helio Sequence - Keep Your Eyes Ahead

30. Neon Neon - Stainless Style

29. Tearwave - Different Shade of Beauty

28. The Courteeners - St. Jude

27. Bloc Party - Intimacy

26. Wire - Object 47

25. The Notwist - The Devil You & Me

24. Mogwai - The Hawk Is Howling

23. The Dandy Warhols - Earth To The Dandy Warhols

22. British Sea Power - Do You Like Rock Music?

21. Sons & Daughters - This Gift

20. Death Cab For Cutie - Narrow Stairs

19. For Against - Shade Side Sunny Side

18. The Daysleepers - Drowning In An Ocean of Sound

17. M83 - Saturdays = Youth

16. Ladytron - Velocifero

15. Nine Inch Nails - The Slip

14. The Raveonettes - Lust Lust Lust

13. Longwave - Secrets Are Sinister

12. The Charlatans - You Cross My Path

11. Los Campesinos! - Hold On Now Youngster

10. Uh Huh Her - Common Reactor

9. Secret Shine - All of the Stars

8. Glasvegas

7. Foals - Antidotes

6. These New Puritans - Beat Pyramid

(MUST. SEE. LIVE. NOW.)

5. Cut Copy - In Ghost Colours

4. Portishead - Third

3. The Kills - Midnight Boom

2. The Presets - Apocalypso

1. Blackstrap - Steal My Horses And Run

(Figures, my #1 band of the year is camera-shy. Ugh.)

Questions? Glaring omissions? "You listen to THAT?!?" moments? Comment away.

So what IS your superpower?

2008-12-23T15:59:00.000-06:00

Inspired by Annie's comment on Henry's fatherhood post.

I think my superpower is my memory for obscure trivia; musical, scientific or otherwise. I'd be a great "Phone A Friend".

So what's yours? And no ladies, you cannot ALL claim "growing a person", even if it's true. Your superpower is as unique as you. Let's hear it.

My wee Wordle

2008-11-11T15:23:00.000-06:00

This is what a month's worth of listening to music has wrought. Good times! Thanks Anne.

Unfortunately, I cannot copy from my Most Played app in Winamp, so I had to save it into a playlist, do lots of manipulation in Excel, then paste into Wordle to get it to work. I'm pretty happy with it.

Yeah, so, Facebook

2008-11-10T18:17:00.000-06:00

I know, another social network; I need one of those like I need a hole in my head.

MySpace ... lies dormant, except for the semi-monthly check for messages and band updates.

MOG ... I still use pretty frequently, still do most of my writing there.

Multiply ... My most frequent place to be on the Interwebs, because the conversations here are so engrossing. I don't know how they figured out updating comments, but it's genius.

Last.fm ... I still scrobble, and that's it.

And now, Facebook. The main reason I joined was to allow me to keep in touch with my friends from church, and to keep tabs on Morgan, who has an account there. Plus, I see using my status messages as a new level of EMCD'ing. Check the current status, muwahahaha.

In fact, the reason I have an account at all is because the doofus decided he wanted an account last May, so he set one up, using MY e-mail address. It was a bit of a shock to find out I was a member of Facebook, then to realize what happened. I couldn't even get mad at him, because it was so stupid.

Anyway, I found Blair and Amber, and Jameson already found me. So hit me up if you're there. I'm not competing with Morgan for the largest group of friends, so whatever.

Please tell me I made the right choice ...

2008-11-04T09:23:00.000-06:00

No, not about the election. I feel as comfortable as I can with my choices there.

If you read my previous blog (and if you haven't, go ahead, this isn't going anywhere), I posted that I had essentially been offered a job with Cognizant Technologies, to move to Omaha, NE and work as a Windows systems administrator. They had couched it in some strange language, but that is essentially when they were doing. They had not given me a definite salary figure, but the money figure being tossed around was far above not only what I'm making now, but way above market value as I have seen it. They also offered to cover relocation, which is something I've been wanting.

Today, I told them no thanks.

The reason I said no is because the position as described would not give me any additional opportunities for growth as a sysadmin. My responsibilities as a sysadmin would have consisted of hardware and OS, which is pretty much what my job is now. In fact, it's even less, as I manage the patching and security audits here and now.

They did inform me that they would consider fast-tracking me into project management, but to be honest (and no offense to the PM's here), that's not where I'd like to go with my career. I'm really looking to diversify my technical skills at this time; you know, get more into open-source, SQL, Exchange.

The HR person with whom I spoke was polite but clearly disappointed. I can't blame him, but I didn't want to drag it out any further if I had no real intention of taking the job.

Stil not completely sure I did the right thing though. ::sigh::

Anyone ever heard of Cognizant?

2008-10-30T17:03:00.000-05:00

Sometime last week, I got a call out of nowhere for a position in Omaha, NE, with a company called Cognizant Technologies. I schedule an interview, and end up having a brief (15 minute) technical interview. I think it goes OK; I don't know the difference between Windows 2000 DNS and Windows 2003 DNS, but I remember all the roles within Active Directory for once.

Fast forward to Tuesday. I get another call out of nowhere, this time from a project manager with the same company, telling me that I've been "accepted" for the position. Accepted?!? I'm stunned, because this is NOT the way I pictured receiving a job offer. There's no specifics about salary or anything, but he wants to send me the background screening form and a drug test. Um, okay.

Later the same day, I get another call, this time from their HR person. He at least gives me a salary range, and goes over some of the benefits. They're willing to fully pay for relocation, which is nice, and the rest of the benefits match up pretty well with where I work now. However, at this point I still have no clue what they're expecting me to do. I've not met the staff, not spoken to my soon-to-be-manager. Way too much up in the air. So I start asking for specifics on the job itself, and he can't tell me anything other than, "You know, it's Windows systems administration."

This morning, I get another call, this time from someone local, but still not the manager at the site. He's at least able to tell me how many machines, whether or not there's an on-call rotation, some of the upcoming projects, and such. It's just maintaining hardware and OS, which I do now and have really been looking to expand. Still no details about the data center and such, so I finally break down and ask for a flight for my wife and I to Omaha, so my wife can check out houses and schools and I can visit the data center and meet my teammates. He says he'll get back to me.

So, is it just me, or is there a lot of "cart before horse" happening here? Am I right to feel kinda queasy about the job?

BTW, I got an e-mail yesterday from the manager for the job in St. Louis, and they have a couple of last-minute candidates, but I'm their top candidate so far. Then again, they wouldn't pay for my on-site interview, which seems kinda chintzy. re they going to be willing to pony up the cash come job offer time, or am I going to have to fight for every little dime?

Ugh, job hunting SUX!

Thank you Microsoft!

2008-10-23T16:15:00.000-05:00

Thank you for strutting around with your big impressive software, thinking you're all big bad stuff, so hackers the world around want to find new and exciting ways to take over your OS's. Way to put a target on your backs, boys!

Thank you for opening two new security holes for every one you plug. Seriously, you guys need better stress testers.

Thank you for creating mass hysteria with your lousy out-of-cycle patch for the Server service, which of course is on EVERY Windows machine in our enterprise!

And finally, THANK YOU for releasing your critical patch on the day before our big Man Vs. Wild campout, so I get to make my two oldest boys sad by telling them that I can't take them to the campout because I have to apply patches ALL STINKIN' WEEKEND!!!

http://www.microsoft.com/technet/security/Bulletin/ms08-067.mspx

Get To Know Me!

2008-10-17T15:48:00.000-05:00

01) Are you currently in a serious relationship? - Seventeen years serious enough for ya?

02) What was your dream growing up? - Surf all day, party all night. Um, that didn't so much work out, did it? ;)

03) What talent do you wish you had? – Songwriting. People who write music that touches the soul amaze me.

04) If I bought you a drink what would it be? – Fruit punch, please! ;)

05) Favorite vegetable? – Yellow onions, sauteed in olive oil. Y. U. M!

06) What was the last book you read? – The Book of Mormon, I read a chapter a day with the kiddies. BTW, have I mentioned that I'm LDS? :D

07) What zodiac sign are you? - Cancer/Leo cusp.

08) Any Tattoos and/or Piercings? - Not a one. Used to wear clip-on earrings when I was feeling wild until a girl ripped it off my ear. OW!

09) Worst Habit? – Overeating and under-exercising; it's still an uphill battle.

10) If you saw me walking down the street would you offer me a ride? – Sure, you seem nice enough.

11) What is your favorite sport? – Football, preferably college football. Long live Saturday!

12) Do you have a Pessimistic or Optimistic attitude? - Pessimistic. Sorry, it's true.

13) What would you do if you were stuck in an elevator with me? – Stare at my shoes unless you initiated conversation.

14) Worst thing to ever happen to you? - Tie: 1) lost sister when she was 8, 2) lost father when I was 21, freshly returned from a mission and all.

15) Tell me one weird fact about you. – I have a brain filled with trivia and a pathologival need to share that trivia whenever possible.

16) Do you have any pets? – Nut the dog, and Jeffrey the betta fish.

17) What if I showed up at your house unexpectedly? – I'd be fine, because I love surprises. Melissa, OTOH, would have a conniption fit.

18) What was your first impression of me? – Dude, you listen to some weird wild music! (Sorry Sam.)

19) Do you think clowns are cute or scary? – Scary!!!

20) If you could change one thing about how you look, what would it be? – Learn how to smile in pictures without looking like a complete tool. Ugh.

21) Would you be my crime partner or my conscience? – Conscience, as the CoaMono crew can attest. :)

22) What color eyes do you have? – Blue

23) Ever been arrested? – Yup, for driving on a suspended license. Yeah, they dragged me into the pokey for that. Crazy, huh?

24) Bottle or can soda? – Bottle

25) If you won $10,000 today, what would you do with it? – Buy a car, something that gets really good gas mileage. Then buy a good bike and let the car sit. :)

26) Favorite band to listen to when you're mad? – Ministry. YOU'VE RUN OUT OF LIES!!!

27) What's your favorite place to hang out at? – Erin's house. :D

28) Do you believe in ghosts? – Yes, I do.

29) Favorite thing to do in your spare time? – Spare time? What's that?!?

30) Do you swear a lot? – Amber thinks I do. ;P

31) Biggest pet peeve? – Knee-jerk people that fail to do research and fail to engage brain before engaging mouth.

32) In one word, how would you describe yourself? - Encumbered.

33) Do you believe/appreciate romance? – I believe in it, but sometimes wouldn't recognize it if it bit me in the tush. Ask Melissa.

34) Favourite and least favourite food? –Favorite: warm French bread; omigosh, I could eat a whole loaf without thinking about it. Least favorite: sauerkraut; BLEECH, even the look of it gives me the willies.

35) Do you believe in God? – Our Father in Heaven, Elohim, the one who created us, then created this planet upon which we try ourselves, and has prepared an eternal reward greater than anything we can imagine? THAT God? Why yes, yes I do. :D

36) Will you repost this so I can fill it out and do the same for you? – Looks like I just did, knock yerself out. :)

So why are you changing jobs?

2008-10-11T07:16:00.000-05:00

Subtitle: Globalization Hits Home

You've probably heard of this poem before; if not, its history can be found here.

"When the Nazis came for the communists,
I remained silent;
I was not a communist.

When they locked up the social democrats,
I remained silent;
I was not a social democrat.

When they came for the trade unionists,
I did not speak out;
I was not a trade unionist.

When they came for the Jews,
I remained silent;
I wasn't a Jew.

When they came for me,
there was no one left to speak out."

For years, IT companies have been sending jobs overseas. In the case of my current employer, they go to India. Now, management has been careful to tell us that they'd never send away our precious jobs, because they could never replace our precious skill set. I've never really bought it, but didn't really complain because it wasn't hitting home.

Well, BAM! It hit home this week. In our team meeting this past Thursday, we were all informed that our biggest customer is moving their equipment out of our data center, and into a data center where they can be supported by systems administrators from India. The team will be onsite next month to cross-train. Now, once again, I have been assured that MY job is safe, but there are others in my own team that will not be safe. One of our most outspoken UNIX admins even went so far as to blurt out, "So, do you want me to quit NOW?!?" Amen sister.

You know, in a way it's funny. I've been job-hunting for about three months now, and I've struggled to answer the question every potential employer asks when they look at my resume: "You've been at your current employer for a long time (16 years), why are you leaving now?" Now, I've got a really good answer.

Severe disappointment alert

2008-10-08T09:39:00.000-05:00

Those of you that know me, or have read this before, know that I've been job hunting for a while now. Recently, I had been working for some time for a position in San Diego. I grew up in Orange County, so San Diego was a VERY enticing destination, even without e-family there. ;)

I had had an initial interview that went fairly well, but then had not heard anything for two weeks. Yesterday, out of the blue, I got a call from the HR person asking to set up a technical interview for this morning. He even went so far as to confess that he had offered the position to another person who had turned them down. Weird, but their loss was my gain, so yay!

Apologies to those non-techies reading this, but I think you'll get the gist without knowing all the gritty details. It's just extra flavor to those that are technical.

First, the technical contact calls two hours late, so I'm already on edge. Then he fires some questions at me related to command-line tools that I don't use, and was therefore unfamiliar. He asked me some Active Directory questions, which I think I was able to answer sufficiently. He asked me if I do some scripting, and then asked me a couple of questions that I couldn't answer, because I haven't managed to remember every possible WMI service provider.

When I write a VBscript, I spend a lot of time on MSDN looking up specific service providers so I get the verbiage right. I don't memorize all that. That would be like asking Amber to figure out possible interactions with two prescriptions without using any reference material.

Anyway, after 20 minutes, he was done, I was gutted, and I just knew that I wasn't getting the job. A call back to the recruiter 30 minutes later confirmed as much.

From now on though, I'm keeping my trap shut about the whats and wheres of my job serch henceforth, until the new job is located. It's too hard dealing with this garbage with just my family, without dragging the e-fam into this as well. :(

And since I had teased Todd about it, the job was supporting the game servers running Windows for Sony Online Entertainment. Argh! How much geek love would that have been?!?

And since I did some quick Google'ing after the interview:

You change an IP address from the command prompt by typing 'netsh interface ip set address [network name] [IP address] [subnet mask] [default gateway] [metric]'.
You stop a service on a remote system by typing 'sc \\[computer] stop [service]'.
The process ID would be found by returning the ProcessId value from WMI provider Win32_Process and searching on the Name value.
And you replace text using Replace([text file],[old text],[new text])
DUH!

:((

San Antonio update

2008-09-25T16:10:00.000-05:00

Short answer: nope.

Longer answer: I got an e-mail today from the recruiter there, thanking me for my patience. They felt I was a low-to-mid Level 2 sysadmin, which I suppose is fair. I have loads of experience is some things, but things most sysadmins work on constantly, like SQL Server or Exchange, I've barely touched. And I'm rusty as all get out on IIS. Anyway, they were looking for a high Level 2, so I didn't really fit what they were looking for, but would keep me in mind for something a bit lower on the food chain.

On the bright side, I did get a trip to San Antonio out of the deal, got some face-to-face interviewing experience, and have a clearer picture of my strengths and weaknesses.

Plus, I had three good interviews for other jobs. One is local, the other two are in San Diego and Pasadena. I would have greatly enjoyed San Antonio, but San Diego ... wow! :)

No more e-life tonight

2008-09-23T16:44:00.000-05:00

Well, our son Morgan was cutting the grass in our backyard and found the exposed "precious cable TV cable" with the blade, nalling it good. Of course, never mind that I told him that he could use the mower only when I was outside to watch him with the riding mower. And never mind that he's so broken up about it that he immediately ran downstairs to play Rock Band. Grrrr

So, no internet at home. I'm over at the in-laws' house on their wireless typing this.

1) I've cooled off enough now that I don't want to kill him, but it was touch and go there for a bit.
2) I get to work from the in-laws' all day tomorrow, which is always such a joy.
3) The cable guy is due between 5 and 7 tomorrow, and who knows how much this will cost.

Can I go back to Monolith NOW? Please?!? :(

See y'all tomorrow.

MOGolith 2008 is in da house!

2008-09-13T08:53:00.000-05:00

Just stopping in for a quick "Hi!" before heading out the door for the Monolith Festival.

The crew is Lizzie, Amber and Dan, Mike and his wife Heather, Mike Zero, Erin, Sam, and myself. We all got together last night with a fantastic barbecue at Erin's house; she was a wonderfully attentive host. Sam joined us with the MOGochellalith guitar (Courtnet Mae) which we all signed. Mixes and hugs were exchanged. There's a rumor that Sam and I danced slowly, but that's all it is, a rumor, with no basis in reality (until the pix come out).

Much love everyone, wish you were all here. :)

San Antonio

2008-09-03T17:43:00.000-05:00

Not that big a secret, but I've been job-hunting for about two months now. It's been a long hard slog, much like having a second job, really. Sometimes, when I'm getting callbacks and interviews, it's very gratifying. Makes you feel worthwhile, ya know? Then there are the times when you get loads of e-mails saying "Thanks but no thanks" or when you bomb an interview. That stinks, no two ways about it.

Why change now? Getting no raise two years running, while getting more and more work, but only in a limited technical scope. So I'm struggling more and more to pay bills, but my skills are eroding. Nice combo. And the trinkets they keep sending me are nice but not enough.

So, here I sit. For the first time in my life, I've been flown to a remote location to interview for a job. To be honest, I hadn't thought that I did well on the initial phone interview. I found myself hitting Google pretty heavily to brush up on questions they had asked. Then last week, they offered to fly me out to their site in San Antonio for a face-to-face interview. Oh joy!

I promise there will be more information as things happen, but right now I'm looking forward to chilling on one of the TWO queen-size beds in my hotel room, taking advantage of their high-speed Internet, and blasting Burial.

PS: I'm still trying to find someplace close to the e-fam, but if this comes through, at a good salary, I'm taking it. Appreciation FTW!

A to Z thingy - yoink'd from Rhonda

2008-08-29T18:16:00.000-05:00

A is for age: 39. Geez Louise, I'm old.
B is for beer choice: IBC root beer, although I've pretty well avoided soda with the diet.
C is for career right now: Ready for a long-overdue change. More details as they become available.
D is for your dog's name: Nut. because she's nut brown and clearly insane.
E is for essential item you use everyday: Laptop baby!
F is for your favorite TV show at the moment: Good Eats, don't watch much else.
G is for favorite game: Neverwinter Nights
H is for hometown: San Juan Capistrano, CA, where the swallows return every spring.
I is for instrument you play: Bass guitar
J is for favorite juice: Cranberry
K is for whose butt you'd like to kick: My current boss, waiting for the change of career mentioned above.
L is for the last place you ate: Village Inn, just got back from having some pie there. Yum.
M is for marriage: Sixteen terrific years. :D
N is for your name: Dale
O is for overnight hospital stays: One, for a sleep study that found that I had sleep apnea. The weight loss made that go away, yay!
P is for people you were with today: Wife, kids. That's it, don't get out much.
Q is for quote: "When an individual is motivated by great and powerful convictions of truth, then he disciplines himself not because of demands made by the Church, but because of the knowledge within his heart" - Gordon B. Hinckley, 1910-2008 RIP
R is for biggest regret: Letting myself get so fat, and not finishing my Bachelor's degree.
S is for status: Blazing, according to MOG.
T is for time you woke up today: Six o'clock. ugh.
U is for underwear you have on now: My temple garments.
V is for vegetable you love: Onion, sauteed in EVOO with kosher salt and pepper.
W is for worst habit: Staying awake far too long when I don't have to work.
X is for x-rays you've had taken: Teeth.
Y is for yummy food you ate today: Carne asada burrito, and the afore-mentioned Village Inn pie.
Z is for zodiac sign: Leo-Cancer cusp.

Just asking ...

2008-08-04T09:23:00.000-05:00

Anyone know anyone that wants a spare ticket to Monolith Festival Saturday, 9/13? I can no longer afford to make the trip.
Ticket and fees came to $75, that's all I want back for it.
Sorry guys, I really really wanted to make it but it just can't happen.
:(((

Gigabeat RIP 02/22/2007 - 07/22/2008

2008-07-23T20:27:00.000-05:00

I posted this as a comment on Lizzie's MOG post, but though you might all want to know. I mean, sheesh! Seventeen months! I've had friendships last monger than that!

Tuesday night, I was getting ready to work out at the local YMCA, and was changing clothes, when I reached for the Gigabeat and its case. Alas, I had failed to zip up the case, because I jerked it out of my bag, and the Gigabeat flew out of the case and crashed to the floor. I ran over to retrieve it, and saw that the shell had flown open, and the LCD had stuck out. I gently put it back together and turned it back on. The LCD failed to start, but the player worked enough that it would play my current playlist.

I took it home, put it under some lights, and tried to do as much surgery as I could, but nothing worked. It boots, all the data remains thereon, but no screen so I can't change what's playing.

I've been looking around on eBay all night, but the Gigabeat model I had is fairly old now, and not readily available. I'm even considering the leap to a same-size (gulp) iPod.

There IS some good music out there!

2008-07-02T14:09:00.000-05:00

It's fun to note the people make the "what the heck?" music out on MOG, but it's refreshing to note that there are a few good people making great music and posting it on MOG.

Note: I'm not counting Ben Gibbard or ?uestLove or the like, that haven't posted in ages.

Check these out!

Our boy Henry, of course: Indio.

Erik of Denver shoegaze band A Shoreline Dream: neverChanger

Marcel of LA atmospherics Black Kites: Paper Heart

Colin Sheridan and Kaitlyn Ni Donovan of Portland dreamers The High Violets: Love Is Blinding
(Yes, it's my post, they don't post much. Yes, I'm cheating :P)

Look, I'm not gonna BS you and tell you that I've listened to every song every MOGger posts, but just wanted to show that there is something good still out there. So go on, click a red button, that song might be your life, to paraphrase. :)

Got a joke for you ...

2008-06-28T19:26:00.000-05:00

What's the difference between a good Latter-Day Saint* and a bad one?

Give up?

The temperature of the caffeine they drink!

Har de har har.

(Feel free to insert "Mormon" here)

Drama on the high seas - Girls Camp Day 4

2008-06-26T20:08:00.000-05:00

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More about this song

I wonder if I've driven everyone away by these, because I can't imagine these posts being interesting for anyone but me. If you have read all four of these the whole way through, you deserve a big gold star.

It's a natural fact that when you put 100 women in a cramped location, that drama will happen. Us men are normally (aside from Gale our fearless leader) just not privy to all of it. This day, I got a faceful, and lived to tell the tale.

I arose at 7AM to the sound of a woman in tears. Usually, our quarters are off-limits to the womenfolk, but since we had the sweet digs, including a nice little kitchen table (and did I mention the AC?), our cabin had become home to a few meetings, and sometimes just a nice hideout for the camp leaders to get out of the way and get things done. No worries, but crying meant something bad. I dressed quickly and came out to see what was going on, and found the camp leader telling Gale how another woman had usurped her authority and changed things out from under her. With only one full day of camp left, we offered the best advice we had: continue to serve the girls, and try your best to not let them notice what's going on.

After she left, Gale and I talked it out for a bit, and we figured out that the two leaders had been butting heads for weeks, and it had carried over to camp. The meetings every evening where we correlate the enxt day's activities were not happening, so people weren't on the same page. Thankfully, I don't think most of the girls noticed, but we realized that the contention between the two leaders was most likely the source of the "dark vision" that Gale had before camp. Alas, there was nothing more to do but get back to work, so after a quick shower and breakfast, it was off to the races.

Today's big feature was a canoe trip across the lake for the fifth-year and older girls, something we've never let them do before. To pepare, we set out all 11 canoes, and cleaned them of spiderwebs and mayfly nests. I was expected to give a brief talk, so I placed my scriptures in a plastic bag and stuffed them into my backpack, along with sunblock and bug spray. We got the girls loaded into the canoes and sent them off, after giving them directions. I stayed back, and one of the leaders and I waited to make sure the girls were headed in the right direction.

Have you ever met someone that just thrives on drama, that actively seeks it everywhere she goes? We had one of the at camp. Let's call her Emily. She's in her sixth year, and she's been at the center of drama every year I've seen her. I can't imagine living that way, but that's just me. Anyway, since she's not an especially strong swimmer, we placed her in the middle of a canoe with two good swimmers, and sent them off. Sure enough, their canoe zigzags across the lake, with us slowly trailing them. I tried to give them advice, but it just wasn't working. They made it to the other side, all the while complaining that their canoe was cursed. Uh-huh.

Melissa and her helpers in the kitchen had set out a nice fancy lunch (crab salad on croissants, ooh la la), and after lunch I gave my talk. I wish it had gone better; I spoke about Rebekah at the well, and from the few words written about her (Genesis 24), some of her characteristics. I got so nervous that I failed to conclude the talk properly; I had wanted to show them that if they prepared themselves properly, that the right man would come to them, that they didn't need to worry about chasing down the right man. Not terible, but it could have been so much better.

After that, it was back out to the canoes for the trip back. One pair needed to use the ladies' room, and didn't want to squat in a bush, so they made a vapor trail to the other side of the lake; I had to haul tail just to make sure I could see them as they turned around an island in the lake. And predictably, Emily's canoe once again fell behind, as they just seemed unable to keep the canoe going straight. I tried to instruct them again, going so far as to tell them, "Paddle left! Paddle right!", but to no avail. At about the midway point, Emily reached the end of her tether, started screaming about how frustrated she was, and stopped paddling, along with the rest of the canoers. We paddled over to them, grabbed the rope at the front of their canoe, I tied it around me, and pulled them in. As we neared the shore, I heard Emily say, "We should probably help, huh?" to which I thought, "Please don't help." Hehehehe. We then pulled the canoes back onto the shore and returned to camp.

Next up for the campers were skits. In previous years, they were elaborately prepared, but this year each cabin was given a bag of props and asked to come up with something in one hour. The men's skits used to be pretty lame, but since Jim and I (both natural hams) showed up, things have gotten much better. We took our bag and managed, in one hour, to cobble together something based loosely on "The Wizard of Oz" that I wish I could find on YouTube, because it really was funny. The girls' skits were good too, although the girls often forgot to E-NUN-CI-ATE and talk to the audience. Good times were had by all.

Dinner was pizza, which led to the most unexpected beat-down I got all week. I was casually eating my salad and pizza, and decided that I was going to need a third slice, as I had a long night of tearing down canopies in my future. I had no sooner sat down with that third slice (and a mess of green beans), when I hear "ARE YOU CHEATING?!?" to my left. Stunned, I look over and see Maddie, a third-year girl who'd said maybe three words to me in her previous time, Staring me down. I had no idea how seriously the girls took my diet, sheesh! Feeling a bit guilty, I explained that I would be doing a lot more work that day, and it was just a small slice of Hawaiian pizza, and could I please have it, with puppy eyes and everything. That smoothed things over. ;)

After that, it was off to tear down canopies and put away the canoes, oh joy. The work was only interrupted by a detour to put on all my black (I'm a ninja!) and get to shoot a Nerf arrow at the leaders, who then got to attack me and beat me down. I didn't get to stick around and see the purpose of the thing, but I'm sure they tied it in nicely.

One final thing: we finally got to relax with a late-night swim at the pool with all of the adult and girl leaders, followed by letting the girls raid the fridge and stay up late and goof off for a while. Good times. There's no way anyone got to sleep before 2AM.

Oh, and here's day 5 in a nutshell: we cleaned up, got on the bus, and made it straight home. Yay!

Ah, a good night

2008-06-26T18:37:00.000-05:00

I had planned to take the two youngest boys out to the YMCA so they could swim and I could go run, but there they were, sitting on our bed watching our DVD of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory", looking so darn cute together, that I just didn't feel like sharing them

So we hung out together. I made us pizzas; heavy on the cheese and pepperoni for them, light on the cheese but HEAVY on the sauteed onions for me. We then squatted on the bed and watched DVD's with a bowl of Sour Patch Kids for dessert. Our choices? Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, Matilda, and Big Fish. Mmm, Mara Wilson sandwiched by Tim Burton. That's how we get down. :)

Leave me alone, I'm cookin' chicken - Girls Camp Day 3

2008-06-25T12:17:00.001-05:00

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More about this song

Fair warning: this is not near the fun read the others were, because for me his was not a fun day. Well, let's get to it.

My alarm woke me at 5:30 this morning, although I had no reason to wake up at that hour. I tried to get back to sleep, but only slept in fits and starts until 7, when I had to wake up. At this point, I should have realized that this would not be my day.

After a quick breakfast, it was time to set up for the big activity of the day, a small Renaissance Faire on the camp grounds. We had rented a jumping castle, dunk tank, and inflatible climbing pyramid, all of which needed to be set up and staffed. In addition, there were photo booths, jousting suits, and stations for making daisy chains. Lunch this day would also consist of chicken drumsticks, as opposed to the traditional turkey legs, so girlls needed to be staffed and about 150 drumsticks needed to be grilled.

Before camp had started, I had been asked to sit in the dunk tank. Early in the morning, this didn't look so fun, but by 10AM, the sun was shining bright and warm, and the water looked inviting. I went and changed into swim clothes, but all the other men had been asked to man the climbing pyramid, so I was handed charcoal and asked to grill the chicken.

Let me stop here and declare that I love to cook, it's one of my favorite hobbies. Ask the Coachella gang if you don't believe that. However, my least favorite method of cooking is grilling. Yes, I assure you that I'm actually a red-blooded American male, but my Y chromosome must be slightly malformed. Anyway ...

So away I went, to grill and grill and grill. While the other adults got to interact with the girls, get wet in the dunk tank, and do whatever else. I grilled. For four hours. That entire time, I was either wrestling with coals, grabbing bags of drumsticks from the kitchen, or delivering the finished drumsticks to the oven to make sure they weren't bloody. Or singeing my arm hairs reaching across the grill to flip the legs. I tried to put on a happy face when people asked me how it was going, but I'm pretty sure I failed miserably.

Next up, I had been asked to teach the third-year campers how to navigate using a compass. It's become a tradition, something I've done for four years of camp, and I enjoy it greatly. Part of the process is teaching the girls how to calculate their pace by having them walk 50 feet and divide by the number of steps. The previous night, I had placed two rebar poles out to mark the beginning and end of the course. As I took the first group to the starting point, I saw that they had been removed. I asked if anyone knew what had happened to them, and found out that an adult had been driving along in a golf cart and scratched her leg by brushing one of them. She found them and threw them away in a rage. So, there's that mystery explained. I ran and found my tape measure and we made do, but the first group was put off at that point. Several of them whined their way through the (short and simple) orienteering couse, and I got them through it as fast as possible, just to be done with them. Thank goodness, the second group actually enjoyed the process, and we laughed and joked through the entire course.

Next, it was off to the waterfront for canoeing. Usually, this is very well-attended, but this year, the third-year girls were taken to go tubing at an adjoining lake, and that made the canoeing lose a lot of its luster. In previous years, I've had six or seven canoes in the water at a time. This year, three sufficed.. I finally got to play in the water, at least, as I helped the girls get in and out of the canoes and watched to make sure they didn't get too far away. After two enjoyable hours, it was time to head back to camp, so I put away the three canoes and made sure everything was cleaned up before heading back.

Dinner was short, as I needed to help tear down everything from the Renaissance Faire and get it stowed away. Frankly, I don't really remember the rest of teh day, which is just as well. I was essentially shoved off to bed at 10PM by Gale, which figured out that I had reached the end of my tether. After a few blissful minutes of music, I was long gone, but not before fixing the alarm so it would wake me at a much more proper 7AM.

Leave me alone, I'm cookin' chicken - Girls Camp Day 3

2008-06-25T12:17:00.000-05:00

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More about this song

Fair warning: this is not near the fun read the others were, because for me his was not a fun day. Well, let's get to it.

Mind where you crouch - Girls Camp Day 2

2008-06-23T19:07:00.000-05:00

(simulcast on MOG)

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OK, this song's a real stretch, but it sorta connects. Trust me on this.

Day two started at the obscene hour of 5:30. I have no one to blame but myself, as I had noticed that there was a early-morning hike for the first-year campers, and had asked if they wanted a guy on board. They decided they did, and would I be so kind as to come along? Of course, but it didn't sound so appealing at that wakeup call. Being dutiful above all else, I dress and throw the necessities in a backpack, including bug spray and the first aid kit.

After a slight delay, our sleepy-headed first years arrived and we set out. We got to see a lovely sunrise over the lakefront, and chance to feel the cool air for about the only time all week it felt anywhere near cool. Then we headed into a lovely tree-lined amphitheater called the Green Cathedral, where Chris had started making some yummy Dutch-oven breakfast with cinnamon rolls and hash browns and scrambled eggs. We then hiked back and rejoined the rest of the campers.

The four of us men all got together and set out to set up two more canopies before the skies, which had grown progressively more grey, started to open up. I caught up to them just as they had finished setting up the first canopy. Gale said that he still had a funny feeling about the camp and asked me to offer a prayer of blessing on the site. That's when the miracle occured.

Last year, I had lost so much weight that my wedding band no longer fit, and it was literally hanging off my finger. Well, two days into Girls Camp I lost it. I told Melissa right away, and we were bummed but not overly stressed. The campers were shocked and appalled, and many of them spent time combing the campground looking for it. I figured it had fallen onto the ground somewhere and had been lost, and when no one could find it, I gave up hope, and we replaced it with the ring I wear now.

Back to the present day, right after I offered the prayer, Jim grabbed the bag that held the spare parts for the canopy we had just set up when he noticed something round and silver fall out. He held it up for me to see, and sure enough, it was my old wedding band. The four of us looked at it in amazement, then we tried to figure out the best way to tell everyone. I finally hatched a plan with the camp leader, who took the band. We'll return to it later, I promise.

The rain started falling, so plans for outdoor team-building exercises were put on hold, and indoor workshops were held instead. I was invited to demonstrate "putting on the armor of God", which involved me getting shot with a Nerf gun with no protection. I got one stuck on my upper lip, another on my neck. Then I was suited up with a breastplate and helmet, and given a shield, and asked to defend myself. Exce3pt for one shot the eluded the shield and hit me in the upper thigh, I was totally protected. We then read Ephesians 6:11-17 and discussed at length. We then repeated the process for the other half of the campers, with similar results. You would have been so proud of my shield-weilding prowess.

Now would be a good time to hit the red button.

After this, Chris and I decide that we had best go check on last night's work and ensure that our canopies are still standing. We head down to the waterfront, but not before being alerted by the camp leaders that girls were trying to sneak down to the waterfront without supervision, a big no-no. We head down and inspect our work, and after tightening a few lines, head back. As we're walking, we hear the unmistakeable sound of giggling girls up to no good, so we investigate. After walking along a way, we find two girls crouching behind some trees, hoping we wouldn't see them. What they had not noticed, and what we immediately point out, is that they're standing in a nice batch of poison ivy. We send them immediately to the nurse's station for a checkup, laughing inside that they had been so addled-brained to jump into some weeeds without looking. (They were fine, no worries.)

Lunch this year was a revelation, as the girls were expected to cook their own lunch two days. Day two was one of those days. I was invited to come and eat with the first years, and was happy to see that they had laid out the fixings for some yummy ham-and-pineapple kabobs, with lots of onions and green peppers. Delicious, and it didn't mess up my diet at all. That's right, for the most part I kept up with my diet, despite the extra workload.

After lunch, it was decided that we would try to open the pool so the girls could go swim, and I volunteered to assist there. The kids were playing along, and having a good time, when I heard a rumble of thunder. I hoped it would be a one-off, but I heard another one shortly thereafter. Caring for the firls' safety above all, I stood up and asked everyone to get out of the pool. There was quite a bit of grumbling, but they did leave the pool. Maybe a minute after everyone left, KA-POW! a HUGE peal of thunder sounded right over our heads. After regaining our bearings, the next sound we heard was the camp leaders running to the pool to get everyone out. I reported that everyone was already out, to their immense relief. Yay for foresight! The lightning and rain clear after a few minutes and the pool repoens later.

Not long thereafter, Melissa finds me and reveals that she doesn't think there will be enough pulled pork for tonight's finner, and asks if we would be willing to grill some burgers for dinner to supplement the pulled pork. We dig up the grill, find cleaning tools and charcoal, and proceed to cook 80 hamburgers. At the same time, some of the girls decide it would be great fun to squirt the men with water guns. I do my best Roadrunner impression for a while, but finally let them soak me good, which felt nice standing in front of the hot grill. We deliver the cooked patties in time for dinner, where the girls predictably wolf down the burgers but barely touch the pulled pork. Figures.

Ah yes, back to the missing ring. There is a tradition at camp that if someone misplaces anything, and it gets turned in to lost and found, the owner must sing for the missing item. It's a cute way to remind the girls to take care of their stuff, and provides free entertainment to boot. This time, the camp leader gets up and asks if anyone lost a silver ring with the words "Families Are Forever" etched thereon. I make like I'm embarrassed to get up, then start walking up to a rising chorus of cheers, as the girls who were at camp last year realize what's happening. Someone pulls Melissa out of the kitchen as I sing "Love At Home." Melissa then slinks back into the kitchen, since she's not a big fan of singing in front of crowds, unlike her weirdo husband.

We had a light load the rest of the night, as everything was set up. I did have to flex my PC skillz, as we had some difficulty with a presentation running from a laptop, but nothing I couldn't handle. All in all, a great day, one for the books.

The devil, sleepy driver, and a big sail - Gils Camp Day 1

2008-06-22T20:11:00.000-05:00

(simulcast on MOG)

I spent last week "swimming in the estrogen ocean," as I put it in a previous post. To be more descriptive, I spent Monday through Friday last week with about 100 women and girls, all LDS and all from west Wichita and the surrounding towns, at their annual camp, deep in the heart of Oklahoma. Yeah, 100 women and 4 men, we were a bit outnumbered. We were also far removed from cell phones and malls and other distractions, so the girls got the learn to cook outside and sing silly songs and bond together. Us four men were there mostly to do man things like heavy lifting, removing pests and unclogging toilets, but we were able to do more than that, rest assured.

Late last Sunday night, I ran a few things out to Gale, our leader and one of the finest men it's been my pleasure to meet. While there, he scared me a bit by saying that he had a "dark vision" and to be sure to pray before we left that the girls would be protected and kept from Satan's grasp. Unfortunately, he didn't elaborate until much later in the week, so I had a lot to chew on that night and didn't sleep much.

Monday arose warm and muggy as Melissa and I went to church to meet up with everyone else who was going. Oh yes, we both went this year; her mom watched the kids so we could do so. Melissa ran the kitchen staff this year, which is beyond funny as I do most of the cooking at home. We checked in on the girls that we knew, and most were excited to go, although the first-year campers were very nervous as well. It didn't look like anyone had much sleep. I packed the essentials: trail mix and baby carrots to keep me from running for candy, towel and toiletries, and of course the Gigabeat which had to be kept on the DL since the girls weren't allowed to bring any electronics. Heehee. Alas, that means no camera, so no pix, boo.

This year, instead of having many people drive a few girls, we rented two school buses to drive most everyone down. The drivers appeared to be competent and ready to go, so we got the girls piled into the buses and I said goodbye to Melissa, who would be driving in later with the food. I took a seat near the back and prepared to take a nice long nap for the four hours until we arrived.

About 30 minutes into our drive, one of the adults near me pointed and said that she thought the driver was sleeping. I didn't think so at first glance, but another adult up front concurred, so I walked up close to confirm. Sure enough, he was rubbing his face and head in that same way that I've done on so many trips driving at 2AM from a show. Oh great, he is sleepy! Driving all thoughts of sleep out of my own head, I grab my stuff and sit right behind him so I can talk to him and keep him alert(er) the whole trip. It wasn't perfect, but after a couple of long stops we managed to get to camp, a bit shaken but none the worse for wear. We do however inform the camp leaders so they know to call the company to request a different driver for the trip home.

After checking in, I proceed to my home away from home, to find that we scored the only place with central air in the whole camp. w00t! I meet up with Gale and our other two men, Jim and Chris. Gale, Jim and I have done this the past three years, so we work together really well, but Chris is a n00b, so we take some time to go over the basics, then we get started setting things up.

First thing to set up is coolers filled with ice water, a clear necessity in summer. We dig up as many coolers as we can find, fill them with ice and water, and set them out strategically throughout the camp. So far, so good.

The next big project is to set up four large canopies so the girls can get respite from the sun, rain, or wind. Two need to be set up at the water front, so Chris and I set about it. Of course, while we do so a fierce wind kicks up, so as we attach the canvas fabric to the metal frame we about get taken on a ride. After two good hours of sweating and stressing, we manage to get them tied down enough that we think they'll stay in place. Just in time too, as by the time we return to our base, the rain starts to fall.

After dinner, it's back to work, so after a quick meeting, it's off to the cabins to ensure that the girls are all safely inside. I check in with the girls from my ward and find them playing nicely together while decorating their cabin. I get a few minutes to talk to Melissa about her trip down, which wasn't as eventful as mine, and then head back to set up more stuff, including a campfire for the second-year campers for s'mores and such. Yum! It was about 11:30 when I finally crashed on my bed and grabbed the Gigabeat for some bedside listening before getting shut-eye.

More tomorrow, sleep now.

No rest for the weary

2008-06-07T18:44:00.000-05:00

It's been a doozy of a week here, busy busy busy. Tomorrow will just be the cherry on top, I guess.

Let's see, I have:

To deliver seminary completion notices for Melissa to the other bishops,
A meeting at 10AM with the Elder's Quorum,
A 10-15 minutes sermon to give during sacrament services,
A Sunday School lesson for about 40 minutes,
and a 35-minute lesson in Elder's Quorum, because we have no instructor yet.

But, as D&C 84:33 teaches us:
"For whoso is ^afaithful unto the obtaining these two ^bpriesthoods of which I have spoken, and the ^cmagnifying their calling, are ^dsanctified by the Spirit unto the ^erenewing of their bodies."
So, I have to look forward to, which is nice. :)

That big job thing ...

2008-05-26T19:43:00.000-05:00

You may recall that one of the things stressing me out last week was that our bishop had been hinting that a new calling would be heading my way. Well, it finally hit yesterday. I was asked to come to church a half-hour early, where I was called to serve as a member of the Elders' Quorum presidency. I will be released from my current position as finance clerk, and most likely also from my Sunday School position as well.

Um, for those not LDS (like, alomst all of you) some definition would help.

One of the facets of LDS life is being part of a lay clergy. No one gets paid to serve, except those who serve full-time, and they get a very modest stipend to cover expenses. That way, we serve because we want to serve, with no hope of monetary reward. Our bishop, for example, works at Cessna full-time, then spends hours a day managing the affairs of our congregation (called a ward). Just about every adult has some kind of position; here in Kansas, we usually have two or more.

Also, the men in the Church are grouped into quorums based on priesthood office they hold. Most men hold the office of elder, so they meet in Elders' Quorum. The president and his two counselors make sure the elders are doing their duties, like visiting ward members and being good fathers and husbands. No small task, to be sure. So, that's what I'll be doing now.

In a way, it'll be less time-consuming, as I won't have to spend hours after church every Sunday counting donations and writing checks. I'll be able to go to and from church with my family most every Sunday.

On the other hand, this will likely mean more meetings during the week, as we try to figure out what we're supposed to do and get about the business of taking care of so many men. Frankly, I have no idea what's in store, and it's that unknown that freaks me out.

Here's a thought ...

2008-05-23T13:34:00.000-05:00

On the week that I have the following work/home things going on:

Three unbelievably nit-picky IT security audits
Health checking for Windows, Citrix, and SSH
performance monitoring tool goes belly-up, and I'm the only one that can fix it
Another round of Microsoft patches
My turn to be the on-call sysadmin 7PM to 7AM
School's out and the boys are hanging around the house all day
Helping the wife out with a big campout for next month, with a pre-camp this weekend

DON'T get attitude when I dismiss you because I don't want your advertising on my yard. Contents under pressure, dude, capice?

Wichita River Festival Musical Acts Announced!

2008-04-10T17:48:00.000-05:00

Friday, May 9

Opening Night Concert and Fireworks

Gates open at 3:00 pm
$10 at the gate, Riverfest Button Required!
8:50 pm COLBIE CAILLAT
Newly released into the music industry, COLBIE CAILLAT has left her mark on the online community Myspace. She held the No. 1 unsigned artist spot on Myspace for four months! She now has over 10 million song plays on her page. Colbie has a low-key, refreshing style. Armed with her acoustic guitar and her dusky vocals, she evokes the same gentle yet spirited style of her musical influences John Mayer, Bob Marley and Lauryn Hill.

Saturday, May 10

Bombardier Learjet Presents Legends of Rock

Gates open at 3:00 pm

Riverfest Button Required

4:00 pm Twist of Fate

4:00 pm Midlife Crisis

6:00 pm Uche

7:00 pm The Angel/Devil (formerly Gooding)

8:30 pm Three Dog Night

The sound you just heard was me struggling to avoid gouging out my eyes. Can these two weeks PLEASE go by faster?!?

Is it too early ... ?

2008-03-20T08:34:00.000-05:00

For my March Madness bracket to go down in flames?

Stinkin' Bulldogs! Georgia's beating up on Xavier, which threatens to ruin my bracket all the way to the Elite Eight.

Gaaah!

Corned Beef (no cabbage, thanks)

2008-03-17T17:40:00.000-05:00

Last Saturday, I was out with the boys doing the grocery shopping. I had planned on doing a nice simple beef stew for St. Patrick's Day dinner, but came upon a lovely corned beef brisket at a price that made it practically leap into our cart.

Today, it's been cloudy and rainy enough to really evoke images of Eire, except for the lack of greenery. Oh well. It got me in the mood.

So, I busted out my cast-iron Dutch oven, and put it over medium heat on the stove. I then smashed a couple of garlic cloves and threw them in with two tablespoons oil. Once the oil was hot, I took out the brisket, which I had washed in cold water to get the goo off it, and placed it in the pot. I fried it for about five minutes each side. Meanwhile I cut two onions into quarters and halved six small red potatoes, then cut six carrots into large chunks. After the meat had finished browning, I tossed in the veggies and added enough water to cover the meat. Finally, I put the lid on the Dutch oven, then put it in a 350 degree oven for 2 and a half hours.

The family was really nervous at first ("It's still pink!"), but after having a taste, we all agreed it had come out well. I might just keep this in the back of my mind for future St. Patrick's Days.

Need I add anything? A Place To Bury Strangers @ The Conservatory, Oklahoma City

2008-03-12T13:40:00.000-05:00

(simulcast on MOG)

I knew when I left home yesterday, after extricating myself from the myriad conference calls that dot my schedule, that seeing A Place To Bury Strangers live could either completely satisfy, or prove a massive disappointment. There was no middle ground. I had heard too many good reports from faithful moggers whose word I trust.

Being too excited to possibly wait, I left home at 4pm, hopped in the Jetta, cranked the MP3 player, and got on the road. The albums on the trip down were:
The Bravery (homonymous)
The Cribs - Mens Needs, Womens Needs, Whatever
Silversun Pickups - Carnavas

(I feel a need to stop and point something out. Remember that Top 40 albums of 2007 list I did? No Cribs thereon. Just goes to show, I'm an idiot. Moving on.)

About a half-hour into the trip, I realize that I forgot the digital camera, so no pictures. D'oh!

Five minutes later, it hits me that I also forgot to bring the MOG stickers; I was hoping to hook up some people, including APTBS bassist Jono, with a sticker. Double D'oh!

I must have been terribly excited to make the trip, because I got to Oklahoma City in record time. I was at the venue by 6:40, which was ridiculous. I couldn't get in the club, so I milled around the record store next door. Good thing I didn't have tons of money, because they had some very tempting stuff, including a vinyl copy of the new Bauhaus album. Drool, and I don't even own a record player.

I walked back to the car and noticed that the front bumper had broken free, and was barely hanging on. I tried to fix it, but I'm pretty helpless mechanically. Just then, a guy showed up, asked if I needed help, and set about helping me re-attach the bumper. I'm telling you, music fans are the nicest people! I picture Coachella weekend being a lot like that.

Finally, about quarter to 8, I get in and survey the proceedings. The Conservatory is my favorite venue because it's so small and intimate. I love the beat-up checkerboard floor most of all. I'll go back sometime, just so I can take pictures so you can enjoy the view. Anyway, the club is pretty empty, which saddens me. Don't these people know what they're missing?

Another thing I notice: the club is no longer selling ear plugs. Melissa had offered me a pair, but I had said that I would get my own, and now I couldn't. And I'm gonna get assaulted by noise. Triple D'oh!

Pre-show and between-set entertainment was provided by the DJ team of I Can Has Dance Party. Yes, LOLcats have arrived at the heartland. They have now jumped the shark. The DJ's played some great music to get us in the mood.

After a longer-than-necessary wait, the first band, Portland's Panther, take the stage. They played some good music, but it's two guys, a drummer and a vocalist. I got a distinctive whiff of karaoke from their show, because the singer, would just pull up a track on his laptop, maybe add a few vocal effects, and sing along, while the drummer did his thing. OK, he did play the guitar on two songs, but still. Anyway, their music is pretty good; their album is out on Kill Rock Stars, so check 'em out.

Ah, I forgot to mention that as soon as Panther took the stage, I planted myself dead in front, just a touch to stage right. It was fine for Panther, but as they cleared off and APTBS took the stage to set up, I knew I was in the right spot: directly in front of Oliver Ackermann. Yes! It was fascinating to watch him set up his pedals (I counted seven), in addition to a black box that did who knows what. I fought back the urge to pepper him with question, like which ones he built himself, and let the band get set up and finish soundcheck. The last thing we heard from Oliver all night was a simple command: "Kill the lights."

With that, we were off. As has been noted before, there was no interaction between band and audience, not that I cared. The only light, until the last two songs, was from the projected images from the back of the venue.

The band played only seven songs total, making the show far too short for my taste. They also played three songs I didn't recognize, maybe songs from their debut CDR. I didn't grab the setlist, as tempted as I was; for some reason, it didn't feel right to touch their stuff, but the songs I did recognize were:
To Fix The Gash In Your Head
Another Step Away
I Know I'll See You
Ocean (the set-closer, of course)

On record, the drum tracks don't particularly jump out, likely because they were done by drum machine. Live, their drummer smokes, and he and Jono lay down some heavy rhythm over which Oliver lays down much beautiful noise.

Being perfectly perched to observe Oliver, he showed the quiet intensity I expected, keeping his head down and singing into the mic or checking his pedals. He was still mesmerizing, although I stole furtive glances at Jono, mostly trying to figure out the bass tabs for the songs. Heh.

And Ocean ... oh my goodness. I was breathless by the time it was done. The flashing strobes, the fog machine, and the assault of pure noise was a wonder to behold. The finale was about 90 seconds of raw feedback, so powerful.

I walked out shortly thereafter, skipping the headliner. Sorry guys, I have a long drive ahead of me. For a half hour, I just let the noise in my ears ring, providing the counterpoint to the beautiful noise I had just experienced. Then I got wise and played some Bloc Party, Lush, and She Wants Revenge.

This morning, after getting a totally refreshing four hours sleep (yeah right), I tried to explain to Melissa how good the show was. All I could come up with, for a long time, was "it was loud." Now she thinks I went to a metal show, LOL. I went ahead and played Ocean and set her straight.

I have

2008-02-14T07:07:00.000-06:00

A bass guitar and practice amp.

In my house.

As a Valentine's present from Melissa.

More details later, but for now let me say ...

SQUEEEEEE!

1055rock.gr NOW

2008-02-04T10:14:00.000-06:00

They're playing She Wants revenge ... you know what that means.

http://1055rock.gr_online_servers.html

Choco-Doodles (or proof positive my wife's an evil genius)

2008-01-07T18:43:00.000-06:00

Today, along with whipping up the normal snickerdoodles for the family, my wife asked if we could try introducing some cocoa powder to the cookie dough, and rolling them in powdered sugar. Oh, so wrong. It's like she WANTS me to regain my weight. ;)

OK, let's start with the basic snickerdoodle dough:

1/2 cup shortening
1/2 cup (slightly rounded) sugar
1 egg
1/2 tsp vanilla extract
1 cup (slightly rounded) flour
1/4 tsp salt
1 tsp baking powder

2 tbsp sugar
1 tsp cinammon

Cream the shortening, sugar, and egg until white and fluffy. Sift together the flour, salt, and baking powder. Mix flour gradually into sugar mixture until a slightly sticky dough comes together.

Mix the sugar and cinammon together in a small bowl and set aside.

Preheat oven to 400 degrees.

Scoop the dough into a tablespoon (for uniformity), and roll into a ball, then toss in cinnamon sugar mixture until coated. Place on a lightly greaed cookie sheet, and bake at 400 degrees for 8-10 minutes. Let cool for 5 minutes, then store or eat as desired.

Now, the choco-doodles:

To the flour mixture, add 1/4 cup cocoa powder.
Skip the cinammon-sugar mixture and roll the dough in 3 tbsp powdered sugar.
Otherwise, same as above.

Sorry, no digital camera means no pix, which is just as well, b/c the more I'm around those cookies, the more likely that I'll eat them.

Let it ice, let it ice, let it ice!

2007-12-10T19:49:00.000-06:00

It's still cold and drizzly here, and while the kids did have school today, the rain has kicked up in earnest, and it is freezing to the ground on contact. This does not bode well; we could very well lose power sometime tonight. However, we're ready.

First, light. We have all our candles out on the dining room table, in easy reach. We located the lighter, so we're ready to light them. I also found a lantern outside that could be used as well. The batteries have been located for all the flashlights.

Second, warmth. We have a gas-powered fireplace that works without electricity, so we can keep the house warm. If the power goes out, we'll get everyone into the living room, bundle up, crank on the fireplace, and be nice and toasty for the night.

Third, food. This shouldn't be a hassle, since we have never lost for an extended time, but Morgan and I did just do those yummy foil dinners, which we could easily recreate for everyone, so we won't starve.

Actually, last time we had an ice storm, we had the time of our lives. We had lost power, but we were back online within 12 hours, so it was all good. In fact, I had just called my team lead to tell her that I could not be on-call that day due to no power when the lights came back on. D'oh! However, our friends did not have power or a fireplace, and their little ones were getting very cold. We practically insisted that they come stay with us. Now keep in mind, our house would not be called "spacious" any time soon, but we managed to make room for our five, and their eight, and not climb all over each other. They brought all their food, which they were afraid would spoil, and we ate well and had lots of fun together. In fact, we likely would not have bonded with them so much had we not invited them in our homes. These are the same people that now have us come out every Thanksgiving, so our moment of charity has paid HUGE dividends.

So, whatever happens, bring it on! Just ... let me post this first. ;)

A Sabbath Without Church

2007-12-09T18:45:00.000-06:00

It's been cold and miserable around here all weekend, but we still did not expect the call we got at 10:00 Saturday night. Our friend Erik called to inform us that, due to the roads getting slippery with ice, there would be no church services on Sunday. Shortly thereafter, I got three more calls, from our home teacher, my Elders' Quorum president, and the bishop, all saying the same thing, so we knew it had to be true. We also found out that the stake choir's rendition of Handel's "The Messiah", the highlight of the season, was also canceled.

We initially thought this quite the over-reaction. After all, I had been out all afternoon, going to the mall with Morgan, taking Joshua to his cousin's birthday party, going to the store for groceries. Then we noticed the weather forecast calling for freezing drizzle, and realized that the roads would get slick very quickly. We also have people at church who attend from much further away then us, who would have to brave icy roads for much longer, people whose sense of duty would not allow them to miss church unless it were canceled. People like me, except from longer distances.

So, we stayed in. It was good to sleep as long as we wanted for the first time in what felt like ages, not waking up until 10:00. I read my e-mails, and then puttered about the morning studying a lesson that I would have had to teach had there been church, that I will have to teach next week. Later, I decided to make something special for us, and made one loaf's worth of French bread dough, which I then split into 16 little rolls. Once they rose, I stamped them with a heart-shaped cookie cutter, then baked them. I am resolving to get our own digital camera soon, because they were cute. They also went nicely with turkey, peanut butter, orange blossom honey, and cinnamon butter.

The afternoon was largely wasted doing something I had not done in almost two years: watching pro football. It was good, but I wish I hadn't. I found it was really hard to fill that time that I would normally spend at church, doing something Sabbath-friendly. So, rather than sit around and watch the idiot box any longer, I went upstairs and threw myself into the kitchen. I started our spaghetti sauce, spent another hour studying my lesson again, then baked some snickerdoodles before finishing dinner. Yeah, my family enjoys my boredom even if my waistline doesn't.

Now we're watching Bewitched on TV and lounging about, and it doesn't feel like Sunday. It just feels like another Saturday. This is not a good thing.

No more dialing China

2007-12-06T20:53:00.000-06:00

Last Saturday, while in my excitement to remove my dirty clothes from the campout and get into something warm, I did something phenomenally stupid, even for me. I left my cell phone in my jeans pocket. I then proceeded to throw all my clothes in the wash. Yup, by the time I realized what had happened, I had a very clean, but utterly useless, cell phone.

Of course, this could not have come at a worse time. I'm dead broke, so buying a cell phone would be impossible. And I really need to keep a phone on me all the time, for work.Melissa's got a good cell phone, but she needs hers as well. Fortunately, after calling around the family for soemone with a spare cell phone, I found one that could be programmed for Cricket. Nothing exciting, but I don't need exciting, I just need functional.

So, here it is, the new thing:

And look Ma, it's a flip phone. This is good, as I'm fond of stuffing my phone into my pockets and ignoring the beeps and boops emitting from my old Motorola non-flip phone. I would then pull it out and find a long line of gobbledygook thereon. I'd stare at it and wonder, "How the heck did I manage to type in a P?!? This phone isn't in txt mode!"

Well, here's to clearing out your pockets before doing the wash, and to new technology.

And now, enjoy some Horrors. This connects, really. :)

Loose Shorts PWN All

2007-12-03T21:19:00.000-06:00

So, I got back in one piece from the campout. Actually, it was better than that. In fact, it might have been the best campout I've experienced.

So, everything got rolling with a couple of calls from Morgan's Scout leader, asking if I would be so kind as to pick up a couple of other boys who were supposed to go with us. I figured it would be fine, since I was taking the Explorer, so I agreed. One is Morgan's best friend at church, so that would have worked out well. However, I got a call that Morgan's friend couldn't make it, because he was sick, but apparently not too sick to ditch the school bus and go skate with his friends. Oh well.

As soon as Morgan got home from school himself, we set about gathering the things we would need, and throwing it all in the car. We planned on preparing our foil dinners at the campsite, so I grabbed heavy-duty foil and the following items:
2 chicken breasts
4 potatoes
3 carrots
2 onions
Old Bay seasoning (a recent discovery)
lowfat Italian dressing
spicy brown mustard
butter
2 bananas
cinnamon
brown sugar

The drive was relatively uneventful, although we did have to wait a bit long for our other boy to meet us. Morgan immediately slapped on his MP3 player, which left me free to enjoy the sneaky menace of A Place To Bury Strangers. We arrived at the campsite at 6:00, the last ones to appear, and the last ones to set up our tent and get our dinner going. Ugh. I hate making people wait.

As soon as we got the tent up, we started chopping. We sliced the potatoes, and laid one out in a single layer on a big sheet of foil. Then we chopped up the chicken breast, and arranged it atop the potato. Next, we applied liberal amounts of Old Bay, and Morgan reached for the Old Bay while I grabbed the salad dressing and mustard. Then we chopped up the carrots (2 for me), and the onions (all but a quarter of an onion for me). What? I like veggies! Finally, we laid the remaining potato on top of our heaping piles of food, and sealed the foil into a tight pocket.

After about 40 minutes on the hot coals (and one flip to make sure everything cooked through), we opened our packets to enjoy what was within. Yum! They turned out so good. Our bishop had come to the camp for the sole purpose of judging the foil dinners. While he declared ours "tantalizing", he declared the father and son who wrapped up Wal-Mart chimichangas the winner. Bah!

After everyone had enjoyed their feasts, we had a nice spiritual message from the bishop, and one of his counselors. The boys then retreated to their "man-cave", a natural shelter they selected for their campsite. That was fine by me, as even at my reduced poundage, Morgan and I don't fit real well in our small tent. After an enjoyable time chatting with the other adults, we called it a night and headed off to try to stay warm. Truth be told, I didn't get too cold, even when it started to rain. I had remembered to bring an extra sleeping bag, which went under the bag in which I slept. That soaked up all the rain that leaked into the tent, keeping me dry, except for the times I had to get up to go to the bathroom. (note to self: drink less water during campouts.)

By morning, the rain had slowed down, but had not entirely stopped. After a warm breakfast of blueberry pancakes, scrambled eggs, and bacon, we got busy with the main activities of the day. There were two activities scheduled: an orienteering course, and an obstacle course with ropes. Morgan and I volunteered to do the orienteering course first, and were thrown for a loop when directed to a canoe. We had to cross a small section of lake to start the course! Feeling up to the challenge, we decided to go on, paddling across the lake with no problem. It took us an hour on the other bank to try to find the markers, with only a compass and a set of directions to guide us. We had to backtrack a couple of times because we struggled to find markers the first time. We found five of six, but the last marker completely escaped us. After trying again and again, we gave up, and tried to head back to the other bank. That didn't work out so well, as the wind and current had gained strength during the time we were there. Despite our best efforts, we ended up on the north bank, a good quarter mile from our camp. We had managed to drag the canoe halfway there when some of the Scout leaders, who had seen our struggles, came and bailed us out. We got back to camp tired, wet and cold, but still feeling pretty good.

After a brief lunch (cold sandwiches, chips, and cookies), we got to see the obstacle course for the first time. There was a rope for shimmying between two trees, which led to a two-wire bridge, which then led to a monkey bridge, ending with a rope swing. There wasn't a thing there I would have attempted last year, but with some food in me, I felt ready for it. We were paired as fathers and sons, and our goal was to:
1) Sprint to a canoe
2) Carry the canoe overhead 50 ft, around a tree, and back to its starting point
3) High-five the shimmying rope, which didn't work out as it was too loose to climb
4) Cross the two-wire bridge without touching ground
5) The boy crosses the monkey bridge and swings off the rope swing to the ground
in the fastest time possible.

Once again, we went first. We made it to the canoe in good time, but just as we got the canoe overhead, disaster struck. My lovely American Eagle belt lost its buckle, and my jeans, which were too big before getting bogged down with rain, slipped to my hips. I reached down and grabbed my pants, and tried to keep them up as well as possible, while everyone else (except Morgan) howled with laughter. Good thing I had my thermals on! Through the rest of the race, I had to keep tugging my jeans up, and yet we finished. Since we were first to go, we had no idea how good our time was. It turned out good enough to win the race. w00t!

So everyone then got to have fun on the obstacle course. I walked up the monkey bridge, and then enjoyed the rope swing, until I had to dismount. I almost ended up upside-down before the other adults helped me off. Then we started to pack up, and that's when the rain hit with full force. Ugh. By the time we got the camp torn down, everyone was soaked and miserable.

We left after everything had been loaded in the trucks. Morgan and Todd (our other passenger) fell asleep again, leaving me free to enjoy some Ceremony on the ride home. (At some point, I will stop obsessively playing Ceremony, but not soon. Heh.) We made it home just before sunset, in time to shower and pass out. I wish.

Some randon junk to finish

2007-11-30T10:36:00.001-06:00

Listening to: Wire - Send

So I have made it to the end of NaBloPoMo. Whew! I can't wait to get back to the random postings of before, haha. I know there are things I can talk about here that I haven't, but I'll do that again, later. I need to get back to posting when I feel like it, you know?

Tonight, I will be spending the time at an overnight campout with my oldest. I'm really looking forward to it, it should be good. My only hope is that the activities planned actually come off, because they do sound like fun. Unfortunately, Morgan's Scout leaders of late have been kinda slacking on the details when planning, so stuff has been getting missed a lot recently.

I'm relieved that I have the campout this weekend, otherwise I would be working this evening at midnight. Ugh. I get a one-week reprieve.

Well, over and out. It's been fun.

Too Much Too Young

2007-11-29T22:29:00.000-06:00

We found out recently that there's a young woman in our oldest son's school that's pregnant. If he were in high school, that wouldn't be so off-putting. He's not, though; he's in 8th grade. He said that the young woman is 15, but still, yikes!!!

I greatly worry about the effect her choice will have, not only on her life, but on that of her baby as well. Our son informed us that where she had been fairly popular, that she has been well ostracized. Now, I've asked him to not shun her, but he's been told since he could wrap his head around the concept, to save himself for marriage. I mean, he gets upset when people swear around him. (Yes, just like dear ol' dad.) He's never had to deal with anyone who's done something like that before. I'm curious to see how this works out.

I was chatting with someone else about a similar issue (Britney may be pregnant again?!? EGAD!), and this song popped in my head. It fits here as well.

The lyrics just finish it off:

You've done too much,
Much too young
Now you're married with a kid
When you could be having fun with me

Oh no, no gimme no more pickni

You've done too much,
Much too young
Now you're married with a son
When you should be having fun with me

We don't want, we don't want
We don't want no more pickni

Ain't he cute?
No he ain't
He's just another burden
On the welfare state

You've done too much,
Much too young
Now you're married with a kid
When you could be having fun with me

No gimme, no gimme,
No gimme no more pickni

Call me immature
Call me a poser
I'd love to spread manure in your bed of roses
Don't want to be rich
Don't want to be famous
But I'd really hate to have the same name as you
(You silly moo)

You've done too much,
Much too young
Now you're married with a kid
When you could be having fun with me

Gi we de birth control, we no want no pickni

You've done too much,
Much too young
Now you're chained to the cooker
Making currant buns for tea

Oh no, no gimme no more pickni

Ain't you heard of the starving millions
Ain't you heard of contraception
Do you really a program of sterilization
Take control of the population boom
It's in your living room
Keep a generation gap
Try wearing a cap!

Can you hear me now?

2007-11-28T23:01:00.000-06:00

OK, here's a question for those people with teenagers: When did you capitulate and give your teenager a cell phone? What kind of service plan did you sign them up for?

I think I must be terribly old-fashioned. We really had no intention of giving our oldest son a cell phone until we felt that he really needed one. Well, enough nights waiting for him to call us from football games convinced us that he might need one, just for emergencies and such. He did some research, and decided on a Virgin Mobile pay-as-you-go phone. I was cool with that, as it offers decent price for a pre-paid cell phone plan. That phone turned out to be very handy, as we ended up using it a couple of times while on vacation, as our Cricket cell phones had no service.

The reason we decided on the pay-as-you-go phone was to encourage him to be judicious with his minutes, and to only use the phone for emergencies. The deal was that he had to earn his own minutes. That lasted about a week. Since he has had the phone, his friends have been txt'ing him left, right, and center. Sure enough, he was out of minutes while we were on vacation, forcing us to buy him a card to recharge his minutes.

Tonight, we got a call from him, while he was supposed to be out with his grandma helping unload furniture. He had been talking to her, and had managed to convince her to add him to her T-Mobile plan, and could we please let him get a phone?

Now, I have nothing against T-Mobile. We had T-Mobile for years; they're very reliable, and we never had screwy issues with our bill, like my in-laws had with Cingular. The thing is, if we wanted him to have a phone with unlimited minutes, we could afford to add another phone to our Cricket service, dust off the old Kyocera Phantom that sits in my sock drawer, and hand him a phone with unlimited minutes and txt, easily. That was not, however, the point. He hasn't yet shown any real responsibility with his phone, has not earned any minutes, and now wants to go buy another phone so recently after buying one.

Don't even get me started on the lame line that everyone else has one. He's tried that one before, and it failed spectacularly. Frankly, I don't care if every single other person at his school has a cell phone that Mommy and Daddy pay for happily (and I know that's not true), we're trying to teach him something that he hasn't learned yet, or at least hasn't shown any prowess yet.

Am I being overly anal about this?!?

Ugh

2007-11-27T23:04:00.000-06:00

I find myself completely frustrated this evening. I started this morning with my two oldest kids fighting over who gets the Aeropostale beanie with the red stripe, and my youngest failing at making his bed. I should have just gotten them out the door and gone back to sleep, since I didn't have to work, but I'm far too type-A to do something like that, so I put on my sneakers like I was going to work out ... and proceeded to fall asleep in front of the PC.

It's now past eleven o'clock here, and I've barely done any exercise, barely done any work, failed to make bread to go with our chili for dinner (which did turn out well, especially with the huge sauteed onion mixed in; yum.) I think I'll putter around for a little while longer, than get some sleep and try to start my day better tomorrow.

The Stretch Run

2007-11-26T21:34:00.000-06:00

So this is the last week of NaBloPoMo. Hooray! I don't know if I'll get anything for writing here every day, but it has been a challenge, no doubt about it. There have been more than a few days where I've stared at the Create Post page for ten minutes, trying to think of anything interesting to talk about.

I think I got to participate in a small miracle tonight. My mother-in-law called me tonight and asked me to bring over my consecrated oil, as her newest grandson Brodie, who is living with her with her mom and dad as they get their feet back under them, was wheezing and coughing. I grabbed my keychain with the flask of oil, and headed over to her house. Brodie was sleeping fitfully at the time, so we waited until his other grandparents could make it over. Once they made it, we headed into his room. I put a small drop of oil on my finger and rubbed it on his forehead, then put my hands on his head and finished the anointing. Grandpa then took over, and we sealed the anointing and blessed him to be whole. By the time we finished, he had woken and was in full voice. He immediately drank a full bottle of formula, and looked much happier, or at least sounded better. We'll see how he does, but I feel confident that he'll now recover fully.

Reasons To Rejoice

2007-11-25T21:26:00.000-06:00

Today, I taught a lesson based on a talk from Elder Dieter Uchtdorf from this past October's General Conference, about how the gospel can give us joy, even in times of sorest trials. The lesson went fairly well, although I didn't study the talk nearly long enough. It did, however, give me cause to reflect on the things that make me feel joy.

As this is ostensibly a music blog (well, it was at first, but has mutated since), new musical discoveries always bring me joy. There are so many talented artists out there toiling in obscurity, and it's wonderful to find them, and hopefully bring them to a bigger audience.

I also rejoice that my family seems to be getting closer together. Our recent vacation went really well, with a few potholes, of course. Morgan has his moments, as all teenagers do, but when he's not trying to prove how cool he is, he's a good guy. Really.

My friends are an unending source of joy. The only disappointment in that regard is that they're all online friends, and therefore still removed slightly.

And finally, my faith is a great source of joy, in that whenever I feel overwhelmed, or feel unequal to the tasks before me, I can know that if I continue to press forward and do the things I know I need to do, the rest will take care of itself.

Home again

2007-11-24T22:32:00.000-06:00

No more vacation posts, I'm home, and had to get right back to work, bleech.

It was so hard to leave our friends, to come back to Wichita. They had been so warm and welcoming, even though I had hardly seen the husband all week. Poor guy's getting hammered by angry shoppers at Best Buy right now, even. What a life. At least they pay him well for his efforts. Ozark, MO is so green and beautiful, with lots of rolling hills that would have been great for long bike rides. And if I had brought my laptop, I could even have used their network to work. Sigh. Alas, I have two lessons for which to study and teach tomorrow at church, and needed to hurry back.

We discovered, over the past few days, that our middle son Jordan may be a good singer. He was playing the American Idol game for the PS/2 all week, and was doing really well. Now, I'm not about to give Simon Cowell another penny, but we do plan on getting the Rock Band game as soon as we have the spare coinage, and we now know who will be our band vocalist. I'll take the drums, as I think I'm better at that than guitar. Morgan can take the guitar, and Melissa can be the token-female bassist, our Kim Deal, as it were. :)

Anyway, the drive home was thankfully uneventful. We made it home in five hours easily, maybe even less. The only disappointment there was to get home and find out that the power is no longer working in the master suite. Ugh, we get to call over our electrician brother-in-law.

Vacation Post #5: Black Friday

2007-11-23T18:28:00.000-06:00

Another Black Friday has come and gone. Whew. I really despise what this day has turned into, a non-stop festival of materialism and avarice. I was given the option to watch the kids (our two youngest and our friends' four) instead of going shopping, and happily took it. That really says it all; I would rather babysit than shop.

My wife got home maybe twenty minutes ago, and informed me that she stole a sale item from an unattended cart. I am shocked and appalled.

Here, let The Slits dance it out for you. This will heal your shopping-afflicted soul:

Vacation Post #4: Crumbled Resolve with sweet potato side

2007-11-22T21:04:00.000-06:00

I'd love to tell you all that I managed to stick with the diet through the Thanksgiving meal today, but that would be an all-out lie. I ate a week's portion of carbs alone today, not to mention the mounds of turkey and fruit salad. Even the green beans, which served a role as the only vegetables on the menu, were coated in cheese and creamy soup, and covered in French-fried onions.

As has become custom, I was in charge of the turkey, so I got up at 8 this morning and washed the brine off the bird, and got it started in the oven. I have also done the sweet potatoes and gravy, and did so again this year. The sweet potatoes came out sooo good this yea, I feel a great need to share the recipe. Beware, it's really hard, though. ;)

6 large sweet potaotes
1/2 c butter
2 c brown sugar
1 tsp cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg

Peel the sweet potatoes, and slice 1/2 inch thick. Melt the butter in a saucepan, then add the sweet potatoes and other ingredients into the saucepan and cover. Reduce to low heat and cook for at least 1 hour, stirring occasionally.

Basically, the sweet potatoes cook in syrup. They turn out firm, yet soft, and sweet as can be. I wish I had made more, though, because they were gone in a flash.

Seriously, how am I supposed to restrict myself, with all this yumminess about me, as a recovering food addict? Well, I didn't. I failed miserably. It's not a problem, though, because tomorrow I will hit the treadmill, as I have done every morning since we got here, and work it off, and get back on track.

Vacation Post #3: Throwed Rolls and Other Delights

2007-11-21T22:09:00.000-06:00

Morning in Ozark, Missouri arrived gray and cold. We had sleet by noon today, which put a damper on my desire to borrow a bicycle and ride around town today. It would have been really nice as well, as there are lots of green hills and valleys to treasure, but not so much when the roads are slick and icy. So, I sufficed with the treadmill.

Today, we went ahead and partook in a part of this trip that everyone both looks for and dreads in one: the trip to Lambert's. If you've never heard of Lambert's, you've never experienced real gastronomic excess. If you leave Lambert's hungry, you're trying really hard, because they find new and exciting ways to get the food to you.

That starts with the throwed rolls. I don't know why they're called throwed rolls instead of thrown rolls; I'm sure it's a fascinating story. Anyway, about every five minutes, a young man calls out "Hot rolls!", and proceeds to throw them at anyone with a hand raised. They're hot and fluffy, with loads of butter and honey at the tables, and the waitress with the surghum molasses right behind. Oh my stars, they're delicious!

Next come the waitresses bearing bowls of fried potatoes and fried okra to the table. The fried okra sounds disgusting, but they're delicious as well, little fried balls of cornbread batter with okra inside. Keep in mind, at this point, you haven't ordered any food, and could already be well on the way to being stuffed.

Then comes the food. I've ordered their chicken-fried steak each time I've been there, and have been delighted each time. It's huuuuuuuge, at least the size of my head, with a huge portion of mashed potatoes and milk gravy on top, with two servings of "veggies" (choices include a baked potato or white beans).

How did I dare survive this feast with my newfound diet? Well, first thing, as soon as I realized that I would be eating there today, I made sure I didn't eat any carbs or protein, knowing full well that Lambert's would take care of those, and then some. We also went early, giving our bodies lots of time to digest before settling in for the night. I substituted a bowl of steamed baby carrots for the mashed potatoes, and chose green beans for the other side. (OK, I also got pineapple walnut salad, but I gave that to Josh.) I gave some of the steak to Josh, although I wished he had eaten more. And, most importantly, my hand didn't go up every single time the hot roll guy came by.

Make no mistake, I still overate, by a long shot, but it could have been so much worse. Instead of eating a dozen rolls, I only had four. I only had honey on the last one. And I only asked for seconds on the vegetables (Oh yeah, did I mention that all meals are all-you-can-eat? Can you imagine needing more than one chicken-fried steak the size of your head?!?)

We finished eating at 4:00, and it's past 10, and I'm still stuffed. Oy. My stomach is well-stretched for Thanksgiving food, heh.

Vacation Post #2

2007-11-20T23:17:00.000-06:00

To the people of O'Reilly Auto Parts:

This is to inform you of the kind service I received this day from an unknown employee of your store in Cuba, MO.
In the midst of our trip from Illinois to Ozark, MO, we experienced sluggish performance and our Check Engine light came on. I pulled off the highway and tried replacing the air filter, to no avail. At the suggestion of a gas station attendant, I pulled into O'Reilly Auto Parts to get some advice. I got much more than that.
The employee pulled out his diagnostic device and plugged it into the port in our car, and immediately figured out the possible cause of the trouble. He reached in under the hood and found a problem: one of the vacuum hoses had broken. He went in, cut a length of hose, replaced it, and retested the car. All the time, he kept us in high spirits and reassured us that he would help us solve all the issues he could. It turned out that the hose solved all our issues.
I will not soon forget his kindness and knowledgefulness.

Thanks again,

(signature)

Vacation post #1

2007-11-19T20:05:00.000-06:00

I'm gonna make this quick, as I'm on a stranger's computer.

We left home at 9 this morning and, after driving nine hours, successfully made it to Chatham, IL to meet my wife's online friend and her family. They're a very nice family, so far. Took us out for a Mexican meal that's currently sitting uneasily in their stomach, although that's largely my fault for wanting to stick to the diet. Oh well.

Tomorrow, we go do some touristy stuff (Abraham Lincoln library/museum), and then head down to Missouri to meet our friends there, and get our Thanksgiving on.

I am so jealous right now that my wife gets to meet an online friend before I do. I am so going for Coachella next year, if only to even the score.

Till tomorrow, then!

Walking on Water

2007-11-18T22:04:00.000-06:00

Listening to: Cocteau Twins - The Pink Opaque

Something interesting that was brought up in a lesson today that I thought worthy of sharing:
A man in class was talking about how Satan had power over the waters. Quoting from Doctrine & Covenants:

Behold, I, the Lord, in the beginning blessed the waters; but in the last days, by the mouth of my servant John, I cursed the waters.
Wherefore, the days will come that no flesh shall be safe upon the waters.
And it shall be said in days to come that none is able to go up to the land of Zion upon the waters, but he that is upright in heart.

As he was talking with his family about that scripture, he had a sudden impression in his mind, that that was the reason why Jesus walked on the water.

I thought about that for a moment before I realized how profound and simple that was. Certainly Jesus could have used other means to get to his stranded disciples in the boat, or could have stopped the wind and waves from the shore, right? By walking on the water, he showed that while Satan may have power over the waters, Jesus had power over Satan. Not an unknown concept, but an interesting way to show it.

And, to keep going on that point, how cool is it that Peter was able to walk on the water, and show that same dominion over Satan, until his fear caused him to sink into the water? That's a tremendous testimony for anyone that doubts the power of the Lord's appointed servants.

A Few Pounds of Flesh

2007-11-17T22:07:00.000-06:00

No, not another weight-loss entry today, although I really do need to get back on that. I'm just very frustrated tonight with the workload that remains on my plate, with vacation approaching.

I work on IT, more specifically, in IT security. I get to do all the grunt work that entails, such as applying security patches, checking security settings, changing passwords, et cetera. I actually like my job a lot, but at times it can be very stressful. In addition, there's always something going on. Usually, I can handle juggling two or three different things, and come out fine.

This past week, on the other hand, has been a non-stop carnival ride. Everything has hit at once. This past Tuesday, Microsoft released their security patches. Sure, there were only two, but it still means scheduling downtime so I may apply the patches to the servers that need them. There have been a number of audit data requests, which all must of course be answered right away. I needed to finish checking server security for a handful of servers. I need to babysit our other security team, in case they FUBAR a server and I get the joyous task of bringing it back to life. Oh yeah, and the cherry on top, th reason I'm so stressed tonight: I need to change the privileged account password for over nine hundred servers. UGH!

The only relief this week has been sweet, beautiful music. That might be obvious, as I've posted more music here than I usually do (I usually MOG about music). Right now, I'm enjoying a mix of sweet-themed songs that's going down nicely.

By Monday, I'll be well out of town, and work will be far behind me. I hope.

2007-11-16T22:44:00.000-06:00

Tonight, we got to go to a Thanksgiving dinner at our church, which turned out to be really nicely attended. There might have been 100 people ready to get their feed on, and everyone brought something yummy. I brought a cranberry-orange dipping sauce, that goes really well with turkey, and Melissa brought a huge pan full of potato casserole.

This turned out to also be a good bellwether for how well I'm going to be able to maintain things as a newly slim guy. I knew going in that I would probably overeat, so I planned for it in advance by going real light for breakfast and lunch, and by riding the bike even though I had not planned to do so. I felt a bit bloated when I got home, but now I'm feeling nothing but a bit sleepy. The key was loads of veggies: there was cooked broccoli, steamed carrots, and green bean casserole, and I had more of those things than I did turkey, mashed potatoes, or stuffing. Actually, come to think of it, I don't recall seeing any stuffing. Boo!

How much do you want it?

2007-11-15T21:17:00.000-06:00

A couple of weeks ago, Morgan walks up to my wife and I and declares that he wants to join the wrestling team. That kinda came out of nowhere; he had never expressed any interest in wrestling beforehand. However, I know a bit about how he operates; he wants to be with his friends, and he's willing to join anything to do so. After all, he doesn't have to pay anything.

WRONG!

Today, we had a meeting with the coach, and found out that we would not only have to provide wrestling shoes, but also headgear. Not to mention, he would need to get a physical, and since his grandpa is out of town, that means more money. So when we got home, I asked him point-blank why he waned to wrestle. He just said that he just wanted to, so I then asked if he was willing to give up $50 of his own money to wrestle. He marched downstairs, screaming something about how unfair that was.

Was I out of line? Am I being too hard on him? It's not that I don't want him to participate in school activities; he's already in orchestra, was a football manager, and will be on the track team again in the spring. He was committed to those things, and was willing to help defray the costs. And let's face facts: I don't make enough money to just pay out whenever he wants to do something.

I feel like I did the right thing, but I still have this nagging bit of doubt that I might have snuffed out the one thing he's really good at. Such is the stress of parenthood.

Good thing my shoes are clean

2007-11-14T23:38:00.000-06:00

... because all the delightful "shoegaze" music that keeps getting released is making me sway lazily along while staring at them.

Point of reference #1: Yesterday's post on DC band Ceremony. That discovery has led to a treasure trove of lovely and loud sounds, from former band Skywave to former band members' other band A Place To Bury Strangers, to label mates Alcian Blue, to unrelated Brooklyn band Dirty on Purpose, who were listed as My$pace "friends" to APTBS.

Point of reference #2: Maps getting nominated for the Mercury Music Prize for the all-too-lovely We Can Create, which helped throw a light on the new wave of bedsit electronic dream weavers.

Point of reference #3: Portland's High Violets, who may have the cutest amateur video I've seen this year for their lovely song "Love Is Blinding".

I could go on, but I had best stop, before the music-drunkenness makes me unable to press Enter.

Where have you been all my life?

2007-11-13T22:05:00.000-06:00

Today, I received a most pleasant and agreeable MOG notification. My friend Pekka, a man of discerning taste, delivered this most delicious piece of music: Ceremony. First good sign: their name invokes New Order, a band I reverence above all but a few. Better sign: their imagery rings of My Bloody Valentine, whom I reverence above all.

These guys make music that is positively engineered to make me fall to my knees. Droning vocals low in the mix, buried behind huge walls of guitars and drum machines, dare me to not drop it onto the Gigabeat, run out to the car, and go anywhere at high velocity. And the melodies and vocal harmonies buried in the mix that peek out ever so gently ... swoon.

Seriously, go to their Myspace NOW NOW NOW, and prepare to fall in love.

Then again, maybe just watch this:

Hey MOGgers!

2007-11-12T11:45:00.000-06:00

Ever notice that every time the MOGfather makes some announcement to get us all psyched for the new MOG, the system simultaneously responds by dropping a deuce all over itself? Today, there are no notification e-mails. It's crazy, and it's getting very frustrating.

Look, I don't want to start a MOG-bashing session, which is why I'm not posting this on Multiply. I still enjoy MOG greatly, and keep finding out about bands that would have escaped my attention otherwise. Besides, I would not have met so many wonderful people outside of its pages.

I would just like it very much if, instead of providing some flashy new interfaces or toys or whatever, we get a site that works properly. I've had too many days where no notification e-mails have gone out, and to be honest, I don't have the time to MOG that I once did; I rely on the notifications to know when one of my Trusteds posts. I'd like a MOG-o-Matic that doesn't take hours to update, and that accepts my meticulously updated ID3 tags as the actual data. I'd also like that phantom MOG-Mail that has sat in my box unread because I can't find it. I'd like MOG to stop having so much gas. But mostly, I'd like to never see Schloopy again!

A clean and pure vessel

2007-11-11T19:52:00.000-06:00

Sunday again ... more musings from my lessons from church. You know the drill.

Today, one of the two lessons I taught this day was about the prophet Joseph Smith. As I was studying, I was wondering about something specific that I read. I was reading the words of Spencer W. Kimball, which taught:

And the individual was prepared in the person of a youth, clean and open minded, who had such implicit faith in the response of God that the heavens could not remain as iron and the earth as brass as they had been for many centuries.

This budding prophet had no preconceived false notions and beliefs. He was not steeped in the traditions and legends and superstitions and fables of the centuries. He had nothing to unlearn.

He had read in the Bible that God would answer his prayer, and just accepted it as truth. I pondered to myself why this had to be so.

As I pondered, it hit me: Imagine, if you will, and older person, that had spent many years in any of the Christian churches of the time. He would have learned to memorize the Nicene Creed, and would have recited it thousands of times. It would have been ingrained in his thoughts regarding Deity. Now imagine that same man seeing this vision:

I saw a pillar of light exactly over my head, above the brightness of the sun, which descended gradually until it fell upon me. It no sooner appeared than I found myself delivered from the enemy which held me bound. When the light rested upon me I saw two Personages, whose brightness and glory defy all description, standing above me in the air. One of them spake unto me, calling me by name and said, pointing to the other—This is My Beloved Son. Hear Him!(Joseph Smith-History 1:16-17)

That vision would have been so out of line with this man's understanding of what God looks like that he would have instantly disbelieved it, and thought it a vision from Satan. He never would have accepted it as a vision from God.

On the other hand, take a boy of fourteen, who lived in a family that loved God and read from the Bible daily. He was familiar with prayer, though not familiar with praying vocally while alone. He knew that, in order to learn more about God, he could read from the Bible and gain wisdom. He also had a father that was inspired enough to have known for himself that none of the churches of the time were true, and had enough strength of conviction to keep his family away from the various sects, despite the intense religious excitement of the day. Such a boy would receive the vision described above as what it was: a personal vision from his Heavenly Father and his Son, the Savior. He would have accepted the seemingly simple doctrine that they were two distinct personages, yet acted as one.

This also explains the wildly hostile reaction from the pastors around them, when Joseph recounted the vision that he had seen:

Some few days after I had this vision, I happened to be in company with one of the Methodist preachers, who was very active in the before mentioned religious excitement; and, conversing with him on the subject of religion, I took occasion to give him an account of the vision which I had had. I was greatly surprised at his behavior; he treated my communication not only lightly, but with great contempt, saying it was all of the devil, that there were no such things as visions or revelations in these days; that all such things had ceased with the apostles, and that there would never be any more of them.
I soon found, however, that my telling the story had excited a great deal of prejudice against me among professors of religion, and was the cause of great persecution, which continued to increase; and though I was an obscure boy, only between fourteen and fifteen years of age, and my circumstances in life such as to make a boy of no consequence in the world, yet men of high standing would take notice sufficient to excite the public mind against me, and create a bitter persecution; and this was common among all the sects—all united to persecute me. (Joseph Smith-History 1:21-22)

Well, of course they did! Everything in his vision discounted centuries of accepted dogma regarding the very nature of God. To accept his vision as truth, they would have to accept that the foundation of their preaching was false, and they would have lost the confidence of their congregations, not to mention their source of income. With that in mind, it's no surprise that they persecuted him so.

As for myself, I know that the account of the vision that spring day of 1820 is true. I spent much time studying the story (commonly referred to as the First Vision), and finally received the comforting assurance of the Spirit of God that it really happened, as it has been written. How marvelous it is to know that, same as in Biblical times, there is a man on earth that speaks as the mouthpiece of Gad!

Not good times, bad times

2007-11-10T11:56:00.000-06:00

Listening to: My preliminary L mix, 120 songs. Pruning will be difficult. ;) Right now, it's Morrissey - Last of the International Playboys.

I had thought that I had never had a bad time at a concert, but Lucy's Erasure post reminded me that that was not true. So come, take a tour through my recollections as I recount the worst time I've ever spent at a concert.

The tear was 1988. I was working to save up money for my mission, and living as cheaply as possible. It was a fun time in many ways, but I was still a bit uncomfortable in my environs. I had spent a wonderful first year at college in Tucson, and really felt more at home there than in my hometown.

Anyway, when I heard that Erasure was coming to town, I knew that I had to go, so without thinking I snapped up a ticket to their show at Irvine Meadows Amphitheater, my first show there. I was really excited, until I read the date on the ticket. Oops, the show was on Sunday. I decided to go anyway, figuring it would be worse to waste the ticket. That did, however, ensure that none of my friends would be going with me. That didn't worry me either; I had had such a great experience earlier that summer at the Depeche Mode show at the Rose Bowl, meeting plenty of friendly people, I figured it wouldn't be an issue.

WRONG!

As soon as I got into the venue, I felt ill at ease. Maybe it was my conscience, but I felt distinctly uncomfortable. Maybe it was so many people with their concert T-shorts, and me without enough cash to afford one. Anyway, I went in and found that I had an aisle seat. No one had yet arrived in my row, so I sat through the opening act, whose name I forget, and who no impression on anyone around me.

During intermission, the people that sat next to me finally showed. They were a couple, and only had eyes and ears for each other. My efforts to initiate conversation were met with stony silence. Super.

The Erasure show itself went well enough, though any lingering doubts I had about Andy Bell's sexuality were completely shattered. There was little dancing, though, and I felt stupid just standing there, watching. The crowd was completely not into it. I think some people even booed when Andy went into a speech about practicing kissing boys on his pillow.

I couldn't have left faster than I did, but I still got stuck in traffic. Then some moron that was try to cross spent five minutes cussing me out loudly, because I couldn't move enough for him to pass.

Maybe it would have been better not remembered. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Party Games

2007-11-09T21:19:00.000-06:00

Listening to: Nine Black Alps - Love/Hate

This morning, my wife was too sick to take care of her calling to teach seminary, so she asked me to cover. Luckily for me, today was game day, a chance to let the kids learn about the scriptures in a fun way. We dug around last night and found a game based on the party game Taboo, got it together, and let the kids try it out. It worked great; all the kids were involved, on the edge of their seats, and working together as teams. I couldn't have been more pleased. They gave me the ultimate seal of approval; they asked if we could play it again.

This makes me think, what's better at a party then getting people together to play Taboo? What a perfect game! You're forced to work together, and hang on the clue giver's every word. Connections get formed, and lines of communication are opened. Great ice-breaker. And let's not forget the joy of the buzzer! How many guys have NOT used that thing as a shaver?

I think it's time we get some people over for some game time. We still don't know our neighbors very well, which is a shame. Also, there are plenty of people from church that I'd like to get to know better.

Besides, it's a great excuse to play Scattergories for the purpose of showing off my knowledge of obscure band names. Heh.

Drawing a blank

2007-11-08T22:56:00.000-06:00

I've been staring at this page for fifteen minutes now. There are things I need to write, but I've waited too long, and my brain is now mush. I promise I'll put something better up tomorrow.

Until then, please enjoy some Meat Beat Manifesto:

Short and sweet today

2007-11-07T23:52:00.000-06:00

Heaven help me, I loves some Nine Black Alps.

The love of music, next generation

2007-11-06T23:07:00.000-06:00

Today is a very proud day at our house. Our second child, Jordan, just performed at his first band concert, after a mere five weeks of instruction on his trumpet. We also found out recently that our oldest, Morgan, has not only made second chair at the middle school for viola, but has been selected for the district's honor orchestra, which convenes this Saturday.

swelling with pride

It's curious how the instrumental programs here work. The band program is huge, gets fiercely competitive by high school, and gets richly rewarded. Until last year, the main reason people would attend high school sports was to hear the band. The bands are always flying off to Six Flags or Disneyland, and even got to march at the Holiday Bowl in San Diego a few years ago.
Orchestra, on the other hand, is just now starting to develop into something that's a big deal. The music is getting more complex, the awards are starting to come, and the orchestra is getting to go on trips now.

When I was in school, we just pounded rocks on other rocks to make music. OK, it just feels that way. Anyway, I wasn't able to pick from all the instruments until fifth grade, but could play a string instrument starting in third grade. Yeah, thanks a lot for messing THAT up, Prop 13. GRR

With the boys, they get to pick any instrument and start playing in fifth grade. They make a big deal out of it, let the kids come and try them all out, and finally have a big sign-up day at the school where we sign up for the instrument of choice, get the rental agreement, and pay for the music and everything else.

Morgan, being the contrary sort he is, decided to play viola because he wanted to play something different. One year in, he showed real talent, but wanted to switch to percussion because he saw all the cool things the band kids got to do, and felt left out. We promised to let him try out for percussion, and work out private lessons with a high school kid from church, if he continued to practice the viola. Sadly, it didn't pan out for him; we've been forced to nag him to bring the viola home and practice. His talent still allows him to outshine the other kids, but I wonder how much longer that will last.

Jordan, being the more happy-go-lucky sort, actually wanted to play trombone but was told that his arms were too short. If you've seen Jordan, you'd know how much that made me laugh. Jordan has never been too small for anything, in any of his ten years. Tonight, we also found out that one of his friends, who is almost a year older but quite a bit smaller, is playing trombone. What the?!? Anyway, Jordan switched to trumpet, and has been delighted with it so far. He practices with minimal supervision, and is excited to see the older kids at their performances, so he can see what the future holds.

And I get to think of what great music they'll make, once Jordan gets better, and they can find music they can play together. Right now, practice time gets pretty dissonant.

Vacation approaches

2007-11-05T20:58:00.000-06:00

Listening to: For Against - Echelons

Back to the grind today. Bleech. I can't wait for two weeks from now, where I'll get to be offline for an entire blissful seven working days. Ah, such sweet relief.

The kids had to go back to school for the first time in six days, but they weren't too bad about it. I fully expect that to change by about Wednesday. Then, the fangs will come out as they complain about having to get up so early. It was nice as well to have a quiet house in which to work. It's hard to keep telling the boys to be quiet because I'm on yet another conference call.

So, we're back in the routine, at least for the next two weeks. Then we're off for Chatham, IL, to meet Melissa's online friend Dawn, who's actually living in the UK right now. (Hmm, maybe I'll fit in her luggage.) The next day, we'll travel back down to Ozark, MO, to visit our dear friends, whose faces will split in shock at my new physique. I can't wait.

2007-11-04T21:34:00.000-06:00

It's Sunday, so that means more things to ponder that I picked up from church today. As always, if that kind of thing makes you itchy, move on. No hard feelings.

We spent some time today in Sunday School discussing the thirteenth article of faith:

We believe in being honest, true, chaste, benevolent, virtuous, and in doing good to all men; indeed, we may say that we follow the admonition of Paul—We believe all things, we hope all things, we have endured many things, and hope to be able to endure all things. If there is anything virtuous, lovely, or of good report or praiseworthy, we seek after these things.

Isn't that lovely? Who can't get behind a sentiment like that? Anyway, the question came up: What is the admonition of Paul?

Well, here it is, in Phillipians 4:8:

Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things.

After giving this some careful consideration, it hit me: we need to be finding those things that are true, honest, just lovely, et cetera, wherever they may be found.

That may not be revelatory to some, but hear me out on this. We Latter-Day Saints tend to be very insular, willing to read, see, and listen to only a few things, all within the bounds of that which is "safe". In many milieus, I'm the same; I'm more comfortable going to the movies than the art museum, I don't read a lot, I play it safe in the films I do decide to watch. Really only with music do I eagerly seek out good things wherever they may be.

What I guess I'm saying, is that it's high time I get to the library and do some reading, and it's time to get to the museum in town and get my art on. I will still have my limits; still no rated R movies for me. That still leaves a lot of places for truth to be found.

But how will I know the truth when I see/read/hear it? That's easy enough; the Spirit of God testifies of truth, so as long as I stay close enough to be able to listen to the Spirit, I'll be in good hands.

Where I Came From

2007-11-03T22:26:00.000-05:00

One of the reasons I signed up for NaBloPoMo in the first place was so I could take some time to document the things I've gone through to lose weight. It's been a hard long slog this year, but it has absolutely been worth it.

That fact got driven home today, as a friend called for some help. He had bought himself an elliptical machine, and needed help lugging it down to his basement. I drove over to help him, because he's a good guy and if the elliptical is what gets him going, then bully for him. Thing is, though, is he's a BIG guy. Scarily so. He's maybe five foot ten, and weighs nearly 320 pounds.

Here's what's sad; last year, I made him look like a pixie.

Last year was my absolute nadir of physical condition. After Thanksgiving, I probably weighed close to 370 pounds, spread all over my six feet two. My waist was nearing fifty inches. I was relegated to 4XL shirts, and my neck was approaching 22 inches. I would huff and puff walking up fourteen steps to get from our basement to ground floor. My wife, bless her heart, didn't nag me (much), but she was secretly scared to death that I would die soon.

How did I get that way? In my case, it was simple: I would overeat uncontrollably. I would go through portions of food that would stuff a normal person, and find room for more. When my wife would gently suggest that I had eaten enough, I would eat more out of spite. There were more than a few times that I would eat until it became hard to breathe. In addition, I hardly ever moved anywhere except from the couch to the PC to the bed.

What made me change? Strangely enough, my competitive spirit. My wife called me one night, as I was out picking up groceries, and suggested that I go to the local sporting goods store and sign up for a weight-loss contest, with a sizable cash prize. Motivated by the money, as well as a nagging feeling deep down that I wasn't living right, I signed up. I was given a diet and some suggestions for exercise, then I was weighed. On that day, December 27, 2006, I weighed 355 pounds.

I looked at the diet when I got home, and almost quit right away. It looked impossible, to be honest. I decided to make a deal with myself to try it out for a week, and see how it went. I wouldn't even try to exercise, like I could have at that point anyway. (I'll get to the diet restrictions later, I promise.)

One week passed, and I weighed in. To my delight, I had lost nine pounds, and didn't feel completely ravenous with hunger. That sealed the deal; I would stick with the diet.

Where am I today? Today, I weighed in on my friend's scale, after getting the elliptical down to his basement, and weighed in at 217 pounds. That may be off, because he had just purchased the scale, and it wasn't tared properly, but I'm not much heavier than that. My size 38 jeans have to be cinched to fit properly. My size 19 dress shirts make me look like a kid wearing his dad's clothes. I've lost weight off my feet, for Pete's sake.

Visual evidence: here's me, after six weeks of diet, having already lost 27 pounds.

Here's me, from this past December.

Time well spent

2007-11-02T23:04:00.000-05:00

Two tickets to the second-run theater to see Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix for the third time a piece ... $5.00.
A gallon of milk, Rice Chex, and hair color ... $13.27.
Dinner for two at the Chinese buffet place ... $23.04.
Letting Melissa know that I'm not glued to the PC, skiving off work to spend a night with her, and counting her almost sixteen years into our marriage ... priceless.

Oh yeah, good times.

I don't know why I get suckered into Chinese buffet. We actually have a pretty good Chinese restaurant that we found right after moving here, but we still try other places, and each time I've come out disappointed. What really gets me is why some places feel the need to compete with Hometown Buffet and the like, by offering poorly-done fried chicken and French fries, or heaven help me, enchiladas, instead of just hooking up some really good Chinese food. It's sad, really. They at least had some basic sushi, which was nice, and their mushrooms in brown gravy was good.

I had to laugh as I sat down with my first plate. I had piled it pretty good, but I had broccoli I had taken from the beef & broccoli, green beans, mushrooms, and a yummy chicken & veggie stir-fry. If I had been there last year, it would have been laden sky-high with lo mein and meat and the like. I walked out today feeling full, but not totally bloated.

Melissa and I decided that OotP may be the most subtle of the Harry Potter movies, because it reveals little secrets from close inspection. For example, you can see the scowl that crosses Ginny's face every time Harry and Cho talk together. There's rock music in the Gryffindor common room, and I couldn't quite hear it well enough to place who does it. So I'm a Harry Potter geek; it's little things like that that bring me joy.

Well, enough for today. Good night all.

Ack, today's the day!

2007-11-01T22:32:00.000-05:00

I completely forgot about NaBloPoMo starting, to the point where I almost forgot to post here!

NaBloPoMo, for those unaware, is the blog-posting equivalent of NaNoWriMo, and stands for National Blog Posting Month. The idea is to get those creative juices flowing by forcing oneself to make a blog post every day through the month of November.

To be honest, I don't know if I'll make it. No, not because I want to slack out, or because I lack material. The problem is that I have a huge vacation coming up around Thnaksgiving, and I don't know how much time I'll be able to use to access a PC and make a post.

Heck, I almost missed tonight, due to the following things that took away my attention:
That job thing
Cooking chicken noodle soup and snickerdoodles for our missionaries, as it was our turn to feed them
Dealing with a spouse with a killer migraine
Having to study for her seminary class, due to said headache
Babysitting another team that is upgrading our anti-virus software
Dealing with three boys, their friends, and their never-ending sugar-fueled requests for sleepovers
Trying to potty-train Suki the Evil Terrier

Ugh, I had best get on with that seminary lesson. I'm supposed to cover Exodus 5-7 in a coherent manner for a group of high-school age kids, all extremely intelligent.

Wow, NaBloPoMo is getting off to a rip-roaring start here. :P

Someday

2007-10-28T21:52:00.000-05:00

Listening to: 2006 In Its Right Place - Ladies First

This is a result of some things I've been thinking about all week, culminating in a lesson I taught in Elders' Quorum today. This will get preachy, so if that bothers you, move on.

We all have those "Someday I will ..." things that we consider from time to time. Mine is that someday I will learn to play the acoustic guitar that currently collects dust in my closet. What gets scary is when those "someday" things are more important than that, like "someday I will foster a better relationship with my children" or "someday I will read the scriptures and find out if they're true" or "someday I will forgive my enemy".

Why would that be scary? Because we don't know how many someday's we will get. That point got rammed home for me this week. An acquaintance, someone with a great mind and superior writing skill, and a great friend to many of my friends, died last week suddenly. As I dealt with the loss, I thought of what he left behind. the man had plans, good plans: he was moving to Europe to be with his paramour, he was making inroads in his writing career. Now, he's got no more someday's to make those things happen. That's what hurts most; what could have been?

In the Book of Mormon, here's how it gets laid out:
And now, as I said unto you before, as ye have had so many witnesses, therefore, I beseech of you that ye do not procrastinate the day of your repentance until the end; for after this day of life, which is given us to prepare for eternity, behold, if we do not improve our time while in this life, then cometh the night of darkness wherein there can be no labor performed.
Ye cannot say, when ye are brought to that awful crisis, that I will repent, that I will return to my God. Nay, ye cannot say this; for that same spirit which doth possess your bodies at the time that ye go out of this life, that same spirit will have power to possess your body in that eternal world. (Alma 34:33-34)

Here's how it reads: Someday will only get us in trouble is "someday" does not mean "this day". This day is the day to make the changes I want to make in my life. I don't know how many days I have left. Naturally, I hope to have many many more, but the point is, I don't know, so why not live today to its fullest?

With that in mind, here's a few things that I intend to do to get where I know I need to be:

Start my days with some time to pray and read the scriptures by myself. I'm real good about doing those things with the boys, but I need to do it myself.

Remember that my boys start their day just as groggy as I do, so don't jump on them in the mornings for little things. I need to be the one setting the tone in the mornings.

Make sure I'm getting my work done during the day; maybe spend a bit less time playing around on the Internet.

Invite our neighbors, the ones with whom Jordan has become friends, to our church's Halloween activity, and maybe slip them a pass-along card while I'm at it.

Stop staying awake until all hours of the night, especially when I know I need to get up at 6:15 every weekday morning.

And, just for the heck of it, get that darn guitar out of the closet and start practicing my scales again.

Discomfort times 12

2007-10-23T23:11:00.000-05:00

Listening to: Underworld - Second Toughest In The Infants

I'm a happily married man; I have been for almost sixteen years now. I've not once had a thought of straying. So, why is it that going to buy condoms makes me bust out in shame-blushes, like I'm cheating? Shouldn't I happily saunter up to the counter, slap down my money, and order up my dozen?

Tonight, I got word that we were out, and that I should probably get some more. Being dutiful above all else, I went to the nearest mega-lo-mart.

Here's where my Y chromosome betrays me; I won't ask for directions. So I spend about five minutes wandering around the pharmacy section, looking for condoms fruitlessly. Finally, I get spotted. Of course it's not a male, but a cute lil' pharmacy assistant. The resulting conversation went like this:

"May I help you find something?"
(to shoes)"Yes. I'm looking for condoms."
"Sorry?"
(slightly louder, to the counter) "I'm looking for condoms."
"Sorry, I can't hear you."
"I'M LOOKING FOR CONDOMS!"
"Oh ... hold on ... (to pharmacist) WHERE ARE THE CONDOMS?"
"They're over that way, behind the hair color."
(I start walking that direction)
"Wait! May I help you find them?"
(to self) "No, I can't think of anything I want less right now."
(out loud) "No thanks."

Seriously, do they train pharmacy assistants to do that for sick kicks? Thanks for making me feel like a pervert. Sheesh!

Darth Vader is gone

2007-10-17T23:01:00.000-05:00

Listening to: Shiny Toy Guns - We Are Pilots

For those first reading this, I've recently lost a great deal of weight. People ask me constantly if I have more energy, and I most certainly do. I recently discovered another health benefit that has me very excited.

Due to my excess weight, I had developed weight-induced sleep apnea. For those unfamiliar, that means that from time to time at night, my windpipe would get pinched shut, forcing me to wake up to breathe again. It's just as unpleasant as it sounds. I would snore in the worst way; my roommates would either shake me awake, ask me to wait to go to bed until they were sound asleep, or in the worst case throw water on me.

My wife tolerated my snoring for a long time, but it got progressively worse and worse, until she had finally had enough and kicked me out of the bed. We spent four years not sleeping together, which led to four years of not doing other things together.

In addition, my job performance was suffering. Since I never really slept well, I was constantly tired, and would fall asleep at work during conference calls or periods of slow time. I would have to stand around or pace during meetings with the lights dimmed, or I would fall asleep. Unfortunately, that happened in front of managers enough times that I was warned to get it straightened out. That drove me (slowly) to go to the doctor to see what was the matter. I was put in a sleep test where they put a hundred different probes and other things on me, and finally diagnosed me with acute sleep apnea.

My therapy was to sleep with a machine called a CPAP, short for Constant Positive Air Pressure, that would force air into my lungs, keeping my windpipe open enough that I could sleep through the night. What a godsend! After getting accustomed to having a mask around my nose, I was able to sleep without snoring. My energy and mood immediately improved, as did my work performance. It didn't matter that my voice sounded funny or that I looked like Darth Vader with the mask on.

Fast forward to this week. My mask no longer fits properly, since I've lost so much weight, so I would have to fuss with it all night, making it more trouble than it was worth. My wife finally suggested that I try sleeping without the mask, to see if I still snored.

The results at present are mixed. My wife noted that I no longer snore, which is good. I feel much more tired, though, and don't sleep as soundly. It may just be a matter of getting accustomed to breathing properly while sleeping, instead of letting the CPAP essentially breathe for me. Stay tuned ...

Start Here

2007-10-12T23:35:00.000-05:00

Listening to: Autokat - Late Night Shopping

I've been meaning to gather my thoughts on the things I have done to get rid of my excess weight. Now, I've never had a problem finding a forum, or support, at my other homes on the Internet. That's not really the point, though. This just seems like a nice place for it. I can always cross-post if it works out well.

Who knows? Maybe I'll even try to get it published. That's kinda putting the cart before the horse, though.

There's one book (well, the one non-scripture book) that I read without fail every year, so I stay in contact to it. That book is Scott Adams' "The Dilbert Principle." I think it helps me keep a arms-length distance from some of the BS in the workplace that management tries to shove down our throats. For me, this is especially helpful, as I tend to be very idealistic, and "The Dilbert Principle" helps me keep a safe level of cynicism.
Anyway, in the beginning of "The Dilbert Principle", Scott says that reading a book on office politics from an academic is like reading a book on cannibalism from someone that read the book "Alive", and then reassures us by informing us that he has chewed a leg or two.
Why do I bring up such a disgusting image? Is that the key, that I forced myself to think of cannibalism while eating? Heavens, no! Let's face it; there are a LOT of weight loss books out there, and so many of them come from doctors and personal trainers. How do they know what it's like to be fat? Have they studied it in labs, or have they lived it? Have they felt the paralyzing torpor that propels so many people to remain on the couch, shoveling in salty snacks? Have they pushed away from the table, knowing full well that they should have stopped eating two platefuls of food ago?
Well, in that sense, rest assured that I've chewed a leg or two in my life.

Put your shoulder to the wheel

2007-10-11T10:37:00.000-05:00

Listening to: Radiohead - Hail To The Thief

One thing you'll see here is my thoughts and feelings about my faith. It's a BIG part of my life, although that hasn't come through my MOG posts. I also never felt comfortable sharing that side of me in Multiply posts, mostly due to the OVERWHELMING anti-religious tone from a number of people, mostly contacts of contacts. Here, I feel no such burden. I'll understand if these posts don't get as many comments. But if you do read and don't understand something, please ask; I realize that we Mormons have our own vocabulary, so some things may not completely make sense.

When we moved from Colorado to Kansas almost four years ago, we knew full well that we would be asked to serve in church a lot. When Melissa's parents lived in Medicine Lodge, KS, we would visit them knowing that we would have to teach classes on Sunday, even though we didn't live there. There are so few members of the Church here that if you have a pulse and a testimony, you're called to serve.

That has proven true, more than I ever thought possible. Melissa currently serves as an early-morning seminary instructor. That means she gets up every morning at 5:00 AM (yes, there is a 5 AM), arrives at church, and teaches a lesson to high school kids for about 50 minutes. EVERY Monday through Friday. I would never have thought it possible, since she's such a night-owl, but she's doing great at it, and the kids love her. Of course, she comes home and goes back to sleep until noon, so it's not like she's not well-rested. She's also becoming quite the expert on the Old Testament, which is the course of study this year.

As for me, instead of one huge calling, I have four callings of various sizes. First, I've been our ward finance clerk for 2 1/2 years now, meaning that I'm responsible for all funds that come in or go out. I get audited every six months, and I've not had a problem yet. Second, I'm one of two stake technology specialists, meaning I go fix computers for the Lord as well as my employer. ;) Third, I teach twice a month in elders' quorum. Finally, I was recently called to teach our youth about becoming better missionaries, three times a month.

So, if you have noticed that I don't MOG much on Saturdays, it's not because I'm watching football on TV, although that is possibly true too. Likely, I'm studying for a lesson.

Stepping out

2007-10-10T22:51:00.000-05:00

So this is a Blogger post ... not too bad, so far.

About the title ... I thought EMCD Online was so very clever (good one Erin), but I think I'm tiring of being anything evil. So now it's Angelic, even though I'm far from angelic myself. Really; just ask Melissa. ;)

I imagine that many of you that are reading this are familiar with me from MOG, Multiply, or both. That's cool; for now, I'll be using this place for things I feel like spouting that don't really mesh with the aims of MOG or Multiply.

Have no fear, though; it's the same person you met (and hopefully liked) from MOG. Just more so. :)