a joke

Here's one I heard a while back...and I realize I make fun of myself in it, no need to point that out.

Where is the safest place to hide from a tornado?

...

...

Cleveland Stadium (where the Browns play) They haven't seen a touchdown there in years!

Facebook

It looks as though I will be resuming frequent checking of facebook over the next few weeks as I'm on break. Hopefully, this will mean an increase in blogging as well. Recent developements have included the successful trip to Jefferson, WI to visit Kristin and family, completion of the last set of finals I should ever HAVE to take, and a rediscovery of a favorite place to just kill time, Squire's Castle. I have also resumed more frequent and worthwhile practice time with my trumpet which will hopefully lead to my joining an ensemble in the new year. Christmas preperations have been underway. The hanging of lights, baking of Christmas cookies, attending of advent services, and the frequency of Christmas music reaching my ears have all combined to excite my anticipation of the coming celebrations, both secular and religious, of this amazing holiday. I have also discovered and rediscovered two amazing movies respectively. Zombieland and Stealing Harvard. If you haven't seen either, I strongly recommend them for a lot of laughs.

In closing, I hope that this season finds you working hard, but with rewards and an eager anticipation of Christmas in your hearts and minds. All that is missing in Mentor, OH is the snow, but I'm not quite ready for it yet anyway, haha.

Photography

Photography is certainly becoming a hobby I enjoy. It relaxes and allows for expression. I had the opportunity to use a friend's nice camera which takes far better shots, has much better zoom capabilities, and is just in general, more fun because it is sooo much better. We went out to a local arboretum and strolled about taking photos and enjoying a nice, late fall day. As a hobby, unfortunately, photography probably won't push me to buy a camera which would make it even more fun for large sums of money, but I'll survive now that my camera which had been missing for 3weeks has been found once more. My brother-in-law accidentally hid it in his backseat as my camera apparently found its way into their family's stuff after I helped out at a youth group event.

Another hobby, were I able to afford it, would most definitely be bass guitar. I'd love to learn it and perhaps play in a coffee house type band. (Speaking of coffee, I am unfortunately falling into the trap of Starbucks once more as the weather begins to turn cold.) Maybe I can talk Bill into loaning me one for a bit so I can see if I use it enough to warrant buying one. As a future educator, it may be a useful tool to know a "rock" instrument well so as to teach guitar classes and such more effectively.

Lastly, I watched Van Wilder last night for the first time in a long time, and I had remembered correctly; it is indeed a hilarious movie. It was the perfect call for the mood I was in last night and therefore satisfied my need for laughter.

Triumphing over childhood fears

Definitely got on and off the roof from and to a shaky ladder today, which is a childhood fear I had not conquered. I tried the feat when we were re-roofing this house a long, long time ago and hadn't attempted it again. Today, however, the leaves sitting there waiting to fill the gutters again as soon as I walked back inside were pissing me off. Drastic measures were taken, and I prevailed. I realize this may not sound like much to the average reader, but it was a necessary step toward proving to myself that I do not have a fear of heights.

A few years back we took at vacation out to Washington to visit Jon, Steph, and the then very young Matthew. (Since then there has been a new addition to that little family in the form of Ethan, for those of you out of the loop.) While visiting them we all went camping at Mt. St. Helens and did some touristing around there. One of the things that was done was a hike out closer to the volcano than the nearest parking areas which are roughly 7miles away. It was very sunny, dry, and hot, and we naturally forgot to bring the water bottles out of the rental car with us when we needed them the most. Now, it's debatable whether that had anything to do with my heights incident or not, but I believe that it is, and I use today's fear conquering to prove it. We wound up walking across a 2ft wide path on the face of a mountain with, in some spots, 1500-200ft to slide down if you slipped. Both sides of the path had no trees as it was within the blast zone of the 1980 blast and no vegitation was left alive to recreate life in the area when all was said and done. The whole area was littered with ash and volcanic rocks creating a very loose soil to walk on. I got dizzy as the situation of a mountain close on my left and the ground 2000 feet away created a spinning sensation for my perception (ground moving much slower than the much closer mountain face. This caused mild panic and great concern and trepidation about the return trip across this 300yd stretch of path. You be the judge as to whether my problem was dizziness caused by the dehydration and sunburn I later discovered or a fear of heights...or a dormant (yes...cheap word play, I know) fear enhanced by dehydration. All that being said, I am glad to report that an old fear...is no longer a fear at all.

Veterans Day

I understand not supporting the war or other military efforts, but people that call in to the RMG or Maxwell belittling our troops and saying that we shouldn't even have days to honor them really bother me. I truly believe that without a solid military our lives would be at risk every day...and not just by car accidents. Treading softly and carrying a big stick seems to be a good plan. Unfortunately, we tend to not realize how loudly we tread.

On another note, I'm beginning to think that LeBron leaving Cleveland could be a good thing. Getting rid of a player like him could open a hole to pay two or maybe even three star players instead of only having him with some mediocre players around him. If we got 3 young stars with bright and long futures ahead of them, who knows how long we could have a good team. That being said...the Cavs have played 8ish games so far, and I've seen a collective 2 minutes of play...obviously I don't pay that much attention.

Last point for today: if you have the opportunity to join a handbell choir, do it. If it isn't laid back...leave it. They are so fun to play; but why put yourself under stress for something voluntary?

The Elm

Well, I finally kicked the habit of Mafia Wars on facebook and within a matter of weeks I had already picked up Farkle and Happy Aquarium to pick up the slack...pathetic. It is considerably harder to turn down requests to join stupid applications when they are sent by relatives. This is frustrating, by the way.

On another subject entirely, I think I may have mentioned the Winking Lizard as my favorite establishment in this area quite some time ago. Well, that has changed. I've definitely determined that I like the Fox and Hound that is near me the best now. Prices are more reasonable and who can argue with $2 pint night for a large draft selection? Also, they happen to have pool and ping pong, which the Lizard does not.

In other news, classes are what one might expect from ED courses...The Browns blow...The Indians are hopeless...The Cavs are taking their good old time to get it together...Ohio State isn't a title contender, but could win yet another big ten title in this streak of 5+yrs in a row...I'll be in WI over Thanksgiving...work reminds me why I'm getting my Teacher's license...and I'm sick of the game.

That is all.

I realize I haven't blogged enough lately...

BUT...

the things going on in my life that may actually be enlightening or interesting aren't really the things that you post about in a blog. And...I haven't felt compelled to talk about diving through piles of leaves or seeing silly movies. So...you've been left with nothing to read and I apologize.

I voted yesterday, and I have to say that I have mixed feelings about the results. We will now have under-taxed and over-priced Casinos coming into the state of Ohio. We will also borrow money to give to Veterans who already get money from other sources. However, we will regulate farm animal living conditions on our own instead of letting Humane Society types come in and tell us how to do everything and create a big scene out of our state. And that's the basic rundown of the election.

This was a short update, perhaps I'll come up with more soon, but I'm learning not to promise...

We were due

...for a particularly bad day. There wasn't one specific reason, but everyone woke up on the wrong side of their beds today. I don't know if my readers will agree, but mostly everyone around here had a bad day today. I personally woke up knowing today was going to suck. The day rapidly improved after I left work though, big surprise. A relaxing evening of walking around my neighborhood to random stores nearby and complaining to my parents about my work day helped everything. The vibe at work proved to me that everyone didn't want to be there or doing anything productive in general. All in all, I'm glad today is over.

The thought of Friday is getting me through this week one day at a time.

LCMEA

I've been meaning to post about this ever since it happened on Wednesday evening. Here it is Monday afterward and I'm finally getting to it, but better late than never.

I had the thrill of going to experience 10+ marching bands perform at the Madison football stadium last Wednesday for a Marching Band festival sponsored by the Lake County Music Educators Association (LCMEA). The bands ranged in size from 36 members to my alma mater Mentor High's 187 and in styles from swing bands dancing and doing head stands with bass drums to corps (military) style marching where precision and accuracy are the key. The musical selections spanned from classical to Latin, from Simon and Garfunkel to Styx.

Gutsy performances from the small bands and precise and loud performances from big bands all impressed me. It was a cold night, my first evening wearing a coat to sit out in football stands this fall. This just furthered my hopes and dreams that a program I one day take over will have a strong marching band.

Other than that, there hasn't been a ton to blog about in my life. I've made my decisions on a Halloween costume and have most of it picked up, I'm mostly done making plans for my visit to Valpo for Homecoming and am looking forward to the weekend off from my 6 day work weeks of work and school as well as seeing good friends and family. I spent the weekend trying not to catch a nasty illness my nephew, Jeremiah, had picked up. He stayed here while his family was off running around with the MHS band to competitions and football games all weekend. I enjoyed having him around to watch movies and play games, but the coughing made me feel sick. I'd rather not be sick heading into the 5hr drive to and from VU. Luckily, I think he's been sick about a week, and I don't have signs of catching it yet, so maybe I'm in the clear.

Lastly, I'm really on the lookout for the Nightmare on Elm Street series. We've taken a break from the terrible movie thing we had going on and are ready to resume. With the biggest horror series (Friday the 13th) out of the way, it's on to Freddy and nightmares for 7 movies. I'd rather not pay 40 dollars for them, so I'm hoping to borrow them from a library or find someone who owns them instead.

That is all.

Lazy Evening

While chatting with some friends and doing a bit of homework, I've taken it easy tonight. This has resulted in way too much Facebook time and a bit too much article reading. "How is keeping up with the news a negative thing," you may ask. Well, I learned that the 2014 Gay Games are coming to Cleveland, Ohio. The article was kind of a joke and we already boast a very high percentage of homosexuals in Lakewood, a suburb with HS colors of purple and yellow. All this to say...why further negative stereotypes if you are attempting to increase awareness and tolerance? The positive impact on relations and the local economy can't be overlooked though. Check it out if you are bored or feel like relaxing as I did tonight.

The other negative is learning that I'm more likely to get into a Car-Deer accident at this time of year due to it being mating season. Fantastic, not only do I have little to no treads on my tires, but deer are going to be hunting my hood as well. Deer are cute and all, but we really need to re-introduce some real predators to cut down on their huge population. Death by firearms or animals is more humane than starving to death, screw PETA.

Funny Stuff

Watch This

TV

How great was that season premier of The Office? It started off with Andy jumping into a refrigerator box off of a roof! Amazing. I had forgotten how much I enjoy that show. I continued my evening last night with more NBC programming, trying out Community...it was alright, nothing too special as far as I am concerned, but then Jay Leno brightened the day as one might expect.

Deception Point

Just a few things. First off, it has come to my attention that it is amusing for some to hear that I have now watched all of the Friday the 13th movies so I figured I would post it on here so you can all laugh or be jealous or some combination of the two. If you aren't going to watch them all, I highly recommend the original three, the 6th, Jason Goes to Hell, Jason X, and the remake. Do not watch the 4th, 5th, or 8th...just don't. 5 and 8 were the worst movies I have seen in my life, bar none. If you plan on watching any of them without laughter and commentary with a few good friends or relatives, I strongly suggest the 2nd or the remake.

Next, I'd like to make my prediction that OSU will lose by two scores on Saturday to USC in perhaps its most important game of the season.

Another point I'd like to make is that I've been reading Dan Brown's book, Deception Point, and enjoying it thoroughly. Nothing like a good political thriller book that keeps the pages turning. Oh, did I mention politics...I was disgusted by Obama's speech a few nights ago...not as if it is that different from all other presidential speeches, but honestly? Make a bunch of extremely vague promises and fail to mention how any of them could be put into effect without A. taxing the hell out of business owners, who in turn will not expand their businesses to create jobs, or B. expand the national debt by hundreds of billions of dollars. The title Deception Point could easily be placed on the biography of most national leaders in this country as well as every other. Depressing to even think about.

One more point, also involving politics, unfortunately, brings me to today's date. I still vividly remember my HS's administration coming over the PA with the announcement that the World Trade Center in NYC had been flown into by a plane and terrorism was suspected. I was sitting in an upstairs classrom in I-wing of Mentor High school in Mr. Elwell's AP US History Class. He immediately stopped what he was doing and turned the radio and TV in the classroom on and I saw the image I would see for what seemed like months after that horrific day: a commercial jetliner flying into one of those huge twin towers...that day only got worse from there. The ramifications from that day are still felt strongly in America today and those who died are not forgotten.

My final point in this rather lengthy post is to let you all know that I am extremely excited for Homecoming weekend to arrive that I might see my Fiancee and some of my closest friends once more. Talking to Meghan and Kristin both about that weekend last night has heightened my anticipation and I hope you are sharing my excitement.

I'll save you the apparently empty promises from me about beginning to post more often. I'll post again when I get around to it.

Bolt

I'd like to report no further intrusions by spiders in this house. This is a fact that is currently quite pleasing.

I played a new Disc Golf course yesterday. It is not as good as some of the others which I have played, but it was worth it, just to find out. I played relatively poorly, managing to hit 3 trees on one hole and land a disc in a 4 ft wide stream on another, however, my score didn't suffer as much as one might expect. The course played quite long, but I managed to average just a bit over 4 per hole. I'll take that as I haven't been playing much this summer.

Today, I did a little catching up on sports. Usain Bolt has shattered his own records on the 100m and 200m, both by 0.11 seconds. Amazing. The record holders on both the 400m and the long jump want him to try those events thinking he has a shot at shattering their records as well and is clearly not challenged by the field at the 100m or 200m. Phelps chimed in, breaking another record as well. The 100m Butterfly, the race which Cavic claims to have beaten him in, as I posted in an earlier blog, has now been set by Phelps as he edged out Cavic, yet again.

The Browns finally scored an offensive touchdown for the first time in quite a few games dating back to last season. Unfortunately, this didn't happen until we faced the Lions (0-16 last season). I guess I have to take what I can get at this point. The Indians are continuing to play well now that the season is hopelessly lost. Typical. Luckily the Buckeyes start in 2 or so weeks and I can watch them bulldoze the Big Ten before losing to some other big name school in a high profile bowl.

Office

I am happy to report that I finally caught a couple reruns of the Office on TV last night again. First time in a month or so. It definitely remains in the list of my favorite TV shows. Dwight rallying a crowd of NE PA salesmen with a speech on power satisfied my desire for Office-like humor. Jim showing Pam up in terms of skills with children was quite funny also.

I had to kill two of the largest spiders I have ever seen in this house in one night. This was a fairly devestating experience. Spiders with a diameter similar to that of a baseball should not be found in between myself and the door out of my bathroom. This caused a leap and a search around the house for anything long enough that the spider's leap may not find it on my leg. I killed this spider with a Louisville Slugger only to find another spider on my kitchen floor. What an awful night! I couldn't even write about it the morning after, so here is the delayed story. Yes, I recognize that I should be man enough to not be afraid of spiders and I do kill most of them without qualms, but these were enormous and something out of a nightmare.

That is all.

Bolt and Phelps

The FINA World Championships is going on right now...which I normally wouldn't pay much attention to, but when Yahoo informs me that Usain Bolt ran a 9.58 sec 100m dash...I have to start paying attention. That shattered his World Record time set at the Olympics last summer by .11 seconds. That is absolutely amazing. The man can fly if you give him some wings to get a draft under with that kind of speed.

While checking out the page further, I read that Milorad Cavic is claiming to have won the controvercial 100m Butterfly at the Olympics last summer. This being the race Phelps edged him out by a hundreth of a second in. Pretty sure that is just an excuse to have the rest of the world think the US cheats and to taint the amazing world record 8 medals, but perhaps I'm biased. However, thinking that you know better than the computer does on a matter of 1 hundredth of a second is ridiculous cosidering you were in the pool with walls of water around you and couldn't see anything. I rest my case.

Weekend

I found out that I'm a good uncle, but not yet "dad" material this weekend as I played baby sitter for the nieces and nephew. Their parents were out of town to two different places for a retirement party and a youth group related conference. My parents were also off to the retirement party so that left me making sure they survived without parents or grandparents around. No diaper changing was necessary, thankfully. However, attention was necessary all of my waking hours. I was the good uncle, but if I had to deal with more added aspects like: "Can I go see (boyfriend)?" "Can I have some pop?" "He did this!" "She did that!"

and if the duration had been longer? I'm not ready yet. Now it's just me at home by myself, and I like it this way. Children are a thing for the future...after more self-serving years have passed.

Major League

Is it sad that the Indians club from Major League reminds me a little of how the Indians are playing this season? Some of the players just don't even look like they deserve to be in the majors. We've also made moves that just don't give me the impression that we want to win now or in the future. Maybe this is the year for the Browns to be .500 again. That could salvage a sucky Tribe season.

Wii Fit Thursday happened again this evening. As usual, everyone is made to look dumb...which happens to be the point. It's a little like playing Twister with a group of spectators. Everyone wins and has fun, not just the people currently playing. One would think that push ups and side planks would get easier after the 5th or 6th time you do them, but I guess a once a week excercise doesn't necessarily prove too useful.

I came into a free Guitar Hero controller for PS2 and now have to find a cheap version of a few of the games because nothing beats rocking out on a video game. Medal of Honor tends to be more fun with a group of people who are all a threat to kill you, so playing with three relatively worthy challengers today brought that game back to life for me.

On a slightly more important note, it feels good to have finished summer courses and be moving on toward certification as I finalize some things for this coming year. Now, I just need the Fiancee to find a position so I can visit her as too much time has passed since our last visit.

Hope all is well in Mentor, Valparaiso, Chicago, St Louis, Jefferson, or wherever else my readers may reside. How about a few new posts from some of you?

It's been a while

but I guess I had temporarily forgotten how to blog about anything but police sightings.

Vacation was a good time. Bay City, Michigan didn't have the best beach I've seen, but the lake was "Great" and there was a Valplayso look a like which the nieces, nephew, and I enjoyed pretty thoroughly. The trees up there had abnormal growths on them, I'm not exactly sure what they were, but we saw shapes in them like many people see shapes in clouds. The campground in Indiana had a nice pool and I worked a tad on my farmer's tan as well as playing shuffle board and other such games.

Upon returning to Mentor, I finished up my summer courses and have been trying to stay entertained. Last night was the first thing worth a mention in the blog, I think, as I hit up a local establishment and cleaned house playing pool. Pool is a skill I had not used frequently since Freshman year, but apparently I play better after having a few. This is a theory that I hope to test out on 2 dollar draft nights this year.

I'm certain something else from the past few weeks was probably worthy of a blog, so I'll try to get back in the habit of blogging now that vacation and class are over.

Ridiculous Tightrope Walker

Click the title for a link to the article.

I apparently chose the wrong day to be at Cedar Point this summer because I would have loved to be there for this. Somehow it is slightly more impressive to me than the already impressive tightrope walking I used to see in the circus at MHS's Gym. Perhaps the lack of netting, the extra length, or the fact that it is actually slightly scary just to ride in those things. I invite you to read up on the family and some of Nik himself's latest accomplishments. Some of the images you can find of these people are pretty crazy.

Question of the day:

What's the location that you have been to which would be the scariest to do a tightrope walk across? (I.E. the Grand Canyon, Niagara Falls, building to building in a major city, etc.) State your reasoning.

Recognition

I recognize the amazingness of the feat...pitching a perfect game and all, but why couldn't that be a player for a team other than the Yankees, Red Sox, or White Sox. I mean, honestly? I could handle pretty much any other team and I'd be happy for the Indians or Cardinals. That being said, I understand it was quite an impressive display as per the usual. So I wish I'd not been working at the time and had been around as my father watched a few innings of it. I did get to witness an unassisted triple play last summer though, so that's my claim to history. That and Mark McGuire's 35th home run during his then historic, and now disputed season.

On another sports related note, I'm beginning to take a bit of an interest in soccer, for the first time in my life. It is a much more interesting sport than I had ever given it credit for.

Finally, anyone know of a good quality jazz trumpeter in my area? I'd like to take some lessons from a quality studio instructor for the first time in my musical life.

Question for the day:

What, in your opinion, is the most impressive feat a professional athlete can acheive in a single game of his/her respective sport?

Quick

How does one get cuts on one's hand without realizing that they are bleeding or in pain? This cardboard cut(I'm presuming that's what it is because it hurts more than any papercut I've had, and cardboard cuts hurt like heck) hurts quite a bit right now and yet I didn't even realize that it had happened until the blood had dried entirely. I don't understand how that works, but it happens fairly frequently. I'll also injure myself playing some sport and wake up the next morning realizing it for the first time.

Question for the day:

Worst injury you've sustained that you weren't aware of until a later point.

(I'd have to go with some back pain that came up weeks later from a car accident.)

Spontaneity

I see that my request for a must ride list at Cedar Point did not garner many results...hm...could that be because of poor readership? Why yes it could! That's ok though as my blog usually just winds up being a catch up on Dave's life with a side of humor.

I would have to say for my top 10...

1.Raptor

Millenium (it's a tie, i honestly can't choose)

3. Maverick (this was only determined on my most recent visit...prior to that i hadn't been impressed)

4. Dragster

5. MaxAir

6. Magnum (old and rickety, but still a great ride)

7 Gemini (only if both trains are running)

8. Thunder Canyon...is that at Cedar Point (the get drenched ride is a must on a really really hot day)

9. Skyhawk

10. A surpise member for me as the last on the must ride list...Wicked Twister

and now to the title of this post...

I've determined that spontaneity is the key to having some fantastic evenings. Take Sunday night for example...Wimpout pictures taken for the future blog and then random driving with a stop at Giant Eagle...the same Giant Eagle, mind you, which has resulted in two tie dying experiences. Travel across the entire United States, with an imaginary voyage into Canada and Mexico, also occurred. None of it was planned, nor was any of it a typical "fun" activity. Tonight can be an example as well...a spontaneous trip to MelonHead country resulted in finding an extremely creepy road on a foggy/rainy night and my fourth run in with police with no negative consequences. My list could continue, but I'll save you the details about things which have ocurred prior to my previous post.

Poll question for the day:

How many of you readers have had a run in with the police? If you have, how many...?

Kicking the Sky

Cedar Point on Friday was amazing! We definitely didn't wait in a line of more than 45 minutes and therefore rode everything I view to be important and hit most of them twice and the Raptor a third. What a day! 22 full inversions on coasters alone, who knows how many when other thrill rides are included. The scrambler even got hit. Definitely watched a country show with dinner (a taco salad which, btw, was an excellent choice. Wouldn't have left an hour before the park closed if it was up to me, but that was pretty much the only negative on the day for this guy. And who can complain about riding in the party bus to and from the park either?

The rest of my weekend wasn't too shabby either. After sleeping in to make up for an extremely long day in the sun, I went up to church for the youth group's camping retreat on Saturday and did the camping thing that day and night...playing lots of Cosmic Wimpout along the way, including a 2-4am game. Sunday included washing cars and a trip to the Drive-in to see Ice Age 3 and the second Night at the Museum movie. Quite the double feature, I might add. Neither was as good as its predecessor, but both were hilarious and multiple tubs of self-buttered popcorn helped to create a wonderful experience. Oh yeah, and of course the party bus and those who ride in the party bus tend to make most anything hilarious as well. I'm thinking a trip to the drive-in for every new double feature will be necessary from here on out.

Along with all the aforementioned amazingness came the idea for a blog relating to the greatness that is cosmic wimpout and the wonderful locations at which we will play it. Check in here to eventually find a link to this blog, once it comes to fruition.

Cedar Point

Definitely going to Cedar Point tomorrow which eats up a good portion of a small paycheck, but I'm looking forward to it This prompts a few basic questions to be asked of my few readers.

Which coaster do you start with on your visits? (I'm very partial to starting with Millenium)

Which non-coaster thrill ride is worth targeting on your visits? (I'm partial to both MaxAir and Power Tower)

and...to finish off the brief questionare...

Produce a top 10 must ride list.

late

Yeah, I realize I'm way late on getting a blog update rolling, but here it is now.

I went to Rachel Defassio and Sam Bowerman's wedding last weekend with Kristin...who was in town by the way. The wedding was a full mass and therefore way too long for the unairconditioned church. Didn't help that I had to be there four extra hours for the rehearsal and then Kristin's quintet's rehearsals. The reception was open bar though, which is always a plus. It was fun to see old faces and party it up in PA with Kristin. Dinner overlooking the city from the top of the Duquesne Incline may have been the highlight outside of wedding festivities.

With the rest of Kristin's visit we caught up on visiting my family, seeing my best friend who is also currently in town, and a trip to my bar of choice...The Winking Lizard ('tis a great name for a bar...I know). A trip to see a pretty sweet waterfall in Cuyahoga National Park was one of the keys to our last day before her flight back.

The weekend of the fourth has been quite enjoyable as it is now wrapping up. I celebrated my birthday on the 2nd so that I could celebrate my niece Kristin's bday on the 3rd...my real birthday. This is ironic, because her actually birthday is the day I celebrated mine. I'm not quite sure why my sister and bro-in-law thought this was the way to do things, but I don't make the decisions, I just roll with the punches. My celebration capped off with a trip to see the Cleveland Orchestra perform at Public Square in downtown Cleveland. We sat in lawn chairs on one of the biggest and busiest roads in Cleveland to hear great music. Yesterday we celebrated the fourth by grilling out and playing outdoor games such as cornhole, croquet, horseshoes, and hillbilly golf...all classics. In the evening we hit up the fireworks as usual and now tonight I just got back from hitting up another set of fireworks. My niece and nephew came with me to sit on the breakwall and view Fairport Harbor's fireworks from across the harbor itself. The delay from light reaching us and sound reaching us was cause for much laughter. We avoided falling in the lake off of the breakwall despite it being dark for the trek back.

My apologies for the merely informational blog post, but I suppose I tend to get this way when I've not updated for quite some time. Hopefully my next post will be more prompt and therefore resume my usual style. Hope everyone's celebrations were up to par and above.

Frustrating

I did almost nothing productive all day today. AND now you are reading about absolutely nothing...a fact that coupled with my over extensive use of elipsis points may be frustrating for you readers before this blog entry ends.

I went to my church's vacation bible school this morning and helped a little bit with music and such. Seeing my niece dressed up in a robot costume was pretty funny. The costume design was actually very well done. I ate left over chinese from yesterday's lunch at the Jade Tree (an excellent little chinese restaraunt here in Mentor). I killed time in the afternoon, aka 3-5 playing games with my nieces and nephew and then after dinner I got to excersising playing basketball and walking etc...

Tomorrow Kristin arrives at 7:45, so as you might guess, chances are there will be a short draught in my blogging. A stray blog may occur, but more than likely the next blog will be on Tuesday next week.

Hope you enjoyed catching up on my "exciting" day. I tried to keep it short...

Wii Fit Thursdays strike again

Today was a pretty entertaining day overall...complete with tons of photo opportunities. A visit to a local park led to much fun eroding the side of a cliff containing mostly shale. Chinese at my favorite such restaraunt was had for lunch. Dinner was skipped because of a lack of being hungry at a reasonable dinner hour. Wii Fit Thursday was held two days early because of conflicts from two of the important members. Pictures were taken to document said event and because hilarity was the main purpose and result of this endeavor (sp?). Having a fairly secure means to my subbing license is a bonus as well. Good day...good day. Today also marked the 4th day in a row that I have practiced my trumpet for an hour or more...which is very good considering I've had a week go by without practicing earlier this summer. Playing the trumpet almost always improves my mood, I'm not sure why I go through periods of ignoring it.

I'll leave you all with the report that the three of us who played Wii Fit tonight fail at balancing, though I'm fairly certain we all have good balance...why is this, you might ask? It just may be due to laughter induced by the other two who watch from the couch. I suppose that Wii Fit is doing what it was designed for even in our form of usage...not only do we mildly excersise, but laughter is supposed to burn a lot of calories too and I'm fairly certain we all laughed for roughly an hour of our two hours of playing.

intelligence

is not found to be a useful trait at McDonald's. Two guys call off for tonight...so who would you ask to stay extra time to cover for them...people who know the positions they were working at...or people who don't? I'd guess you can figure out what the manager at good ole Mickey-D's did, now can't you? I was left to run the entire kitchen more or less...with a little help from a girl who had worked in kitchen once...ONCE!!! She was sweet and relatively smart and easy to work with, but she had no idea what she was doing...i had to hold her hand the whole time. I did get a special write up to be sent to our owner though...woo hoo...like he'll read that. It is nice to have a few extra hours though...since I had to take this coming weekend off for Rachel's wedding and Kristin's visit.

On another note...playing basketball outside shirtless with an awful farmer's tan (aka extremely white skin where a t-shirt would normally be) during the middle of the day and a high and bright sun? Terrible idea! I'm definitely past the range of valentines day heart-red and into the lobster stage of red. The bright side to this, of course, is the fact that this will probably be my last significant burn of the summer, because after a burn like this I remain tan for the duration of the summer. For those of you wondering (aka no one) I did in fact win more games than I lost...impressive (for those of you who have seen me play basketball before).

Final word: I realize that I use way to many elipsis points, but frankly I don't give a s***... ... ...

Hilarious

It's entirely possible you've already seen this, but Kristin sent me a link to this and it's really quite catchy.

Watch it!

Some cop is believing he's going crazy right now

...and it's my fault. Haha. Playground squatting causes yet another run in with the police. There's a school in my subdivision here in Mentor and it has a pretty nice playground. Well, a friend of mine...who coincidentally was also involved in the hilarity of the previous post...and I were bored and not tired at around midnight a few nights ago. We decided to go swing and play on the playground over at the school. Not suspecting a school playground in a subdivision as a place cops would frequent, we were quite surprised when a cop pulled a U-turn on the road that passes the school. We ran for it and took a walk around the strip mall that is adjacent to the school. After walking for about 10-15 minutes, we circled back around and sat on the swings some more. About half an hour later a cop, presumably the same one, pulled another U-turn and this time stopped in the middle of the road facing us so that his headlights illuminated us. We ran for it again...down the hill to the adjacent strip mall, this time choosing the alley behind the stores instead of walking through the deserted parking lot. Just as we were entering the alley we saw a spotlight shining around the playground.

This experience is one we will think back on and laugh about frequently, because we have to wonder whether the cop will actually report his visits to the playground to his fellow officers or not. Our Friendly Neighborhood Cop: "I swear I saw two young people on those swing." Other Officer: "Were they the at the same spot both times?" OFNC: "Yeah, the same exact spot." OO: "Did you see any evidence of them when you got into the parking lot and looked around the playground?" OFNC: "No, but they were there, I swear it!"

Hmmm...I guess this makes me a residential ghost.

What an entertaining week...I wonder what tonight and tomorrow will bring.

movie-full week

So...I'd say I had attended about 3 movies in the theater all year...right? Well, I matched that number this week! Ridiculous....and Ice Age comes out in only a week or two as well as I want to see the Harry Potter one and the new Night at the Museum. Why did I go to all of these movies you might ask? My friends decided it was time to hang out, and that apparently meant movies this week. Luckily, two of the three were at the second run theater and the third, my ticket was bought for me. Drag Me to Hell is worth a watch if you're in the mood for a good horror flick as is The Haunting in Connecticut (not quite as good, but a perhaps better plot.) The new Fast and the Furious movie left something to be desired, but then again so did all the Fast and the Furious movies to date. I suppose it was worth hanging out with John "I don't show up to Cedar Point because of 'bad sausage' Oyster. Drag Me to Hell was watched with two hilarious friends of mine and we were alone in the theater, so jumping due to the loudness and making fun of the stupid decisions of the protagonist was a riot. The best part of the movies this week was the spontaneity attending them.

In other news from the week, I'm heavily picking up riding my bike in the attempts to lose some Senior year eating out all the time pounds. I lost a disc into the lake due to very strong winds. Quite a bit of yard work was needed this week. More hours at work than last week, thank god. A few lengthy night walks. I discovered that my energy drink of choice, cause you know I drink them all the time :cough: is one put out by Mountain Dew...there's a surprise...a highly caffeinated beverage that actually tastes good is put out by the company which has been making those kinds of drinks for years now.

The weekend looks to be pretty good, no particular plans, but I'm liking the current temperatures and my friend's propensity to do fun things this week.

Disc Golf

I love the two courses close to my home here in Mentor. I got out and played both this past week and it's just a great time. The first time, I didn't perform particularly well and I attribute this to my lack of rounds played prior to this week, but the course was in great condition and they'd added 2 new holes by the lake. Yesterday, I went and had a picnic dinner with my family overlooking a gorgeous Lake Erie (the weather was perfect...low 70's with clear skies and a great breeze off the lake) and then played the other course. I'm finally getting my forehand throws down a little better and man, does that tack on distance. My round was easily the best I've done there because of the added distance on some of the longer holes. The breeze off the lake was a factor, but not overcome-able.

A final note for today...here's hoping the tribe can beat up on Cardinal pitching two more days.

Learning

I learned nearly as much today...in one day...as I did in several semesters at Valparaiso. That's sad. Instrument repair is not a frightening subject anymore. I spent several hours with my old Junior High band director today determining which school owned instruments were fixable, and which needed to be sent into the professionals. This is an important way to save your department money and therefore spend it on other important things, like new instruments, sheet music, stands, and such. Good things. Taking a walk through my old junior high which is now a middle school was kind of fun too. Nothing much has changed, except the students look younger...partially because of the introduction of 6th graders and lack of 9th graders, but mostly because every year I get older, and kids seem to get younger/smaller.

On an unrelated note...I may have reduced my caffeine addiction by a lot. I haven't had anything caffeinated in 2 days and am not experiencing a headache. I don't know what's wrong with me. I actually feel like I have more energy than usual as well. Who knew?

In conclusion, I leave you with the thought that I am a moderate sports fan living in a terrible state for such allegiances. The Indians are awful this year, though they won tonight. The Cavs were absolutely horrendous against Orlando. The Browns just don't stand a chance any time soon. Ohio State is on the cusp of greatness nearly every year in one sport or another without succeeding. This is ridiculous.

Auditioning

I give it very little potential, but...why not try, right?

I'm going to audition for the Cleveland Pops Orchestra. How sweet a gig would that be if I have the audition of my life to date? I've been doing some research and trying to determine what professional level ensembles are in the area and there's an opening in the trumpet section of a quality ensemble. I have to try. My project for the summer on a music related note also is to teach myself improvisation so that I can better myself as a hopeful future Jazz musician. Jazz players have more opportunities than orchestral players and can play in bars, clubs, cruise ships and much more. It's time I focus in on it and just attack the thing my playing needs the most...improv skills. Step one...getting the Smart Music program.

two hours and forty minutes

two and two thirds hours...

That's how long the rain delay for the Cleveland Indians game I attended today was. Ridiculous. It was a good four innings that I was able to stay for before needing to leave to make my dinner commitment. A 12:05 start should not end after 5:30 in regulation. The 10,000 school kids that were at the game screaming during the t-storm that blew over made things a little more entertaining. Apparently today was weather education day too...irony? Being in the city wasn't a bad thing though and I get to attend tomorrow's game against the Yankees as well.

The Cavs finally looked like a decent team tonight for the first time all series against the Magic, here's hoping that continues, but at any rate, there is hope for next year.

I thought you all would be interested in the update from my day. It was basically just rain, but hey...everyone needs to complain about the weather once in a while.

I had a strange urge to play Twister today. Not sure why. The game is pretty fun though...as long as no one arrives in a robe.

feeling old

Becoming a college graduate should make me feel younger than being an old college student, but it hasn't done that yet. I happen to feel quite old now. I rearranged my room, and I think that is the problem. For quite some time, my room has been a center of youth. I hadn't really changed much of the layout for far too long, thus it was time for a massive overhaul. What do I want to save, throw away, or save (but put in the attic)? It feels nice to have that decided. All I have to accomplish now is picking what to hang on my bare walls. A plaque with my diploma in it will go nicely as will pictures of my fiancee.

The week has been tons of fun. Chicago with Jon's family and my parents was great last Monday. Wednesday's travel back to home went smoothly and the remainder of the week was spent largely on the above concern and unpacking/repacking dormroom things. The weekend was relaxing and fun as I caught up with my nieces and nephew, did some hiking, played my trumpet for church and my usual Memorial Day paying gig at the yacht club in town. Outdoor game playing and food consumption made up the majority of my Memorial Day after the gig. The cookout/outdoor fun is a family tradition for summer holidays and birthdays.

Hopefully this week will bring news that I have summer employment and more relaxation/sun tan opportunities.

Wow, Chicago, Wow

Nothing quite like taking over 4hours to travel from O'hare back to Valparaiso after picking up my brother and family. That was ridiculous...my father should not need a rest stop to make it back from O'hare...traffic was awful. 20 min from 45th st to 93rd? Really??? Turned out to be more like 45! And that was much better than heading into the city from O'hare. Why was traffic worse heading into the city than out during rush hour on the NW side?

At any rate, it was a good chance to catch up with Jon, Steph, and Matt. Kristin got a good chance to meet them too. I'm glad we rode in, but still.

This week.

This week surpassed my expectations for how great a week without classes, but still around friends and Kristin could be.

Kristin and I did a fair amount of walking, both around the city of Valparaiso, and at Coffee Creek Reserve and the Dunes. Excercise and just wandering with no particular need to get back to campus was a good feeling. We also attempted to visit a "haunted" graveyard out in LaPorte. That could have been a much better experience had we gotten out of the car. We also made a trip out to Chicago to see Kristin's best friend's saxaphone recital where I finally got to meet her and vice versa. Amazingly, it worked out that Britta was able to meet us for dinner at an amazing deep dish pizza place right off of MI Ave that evening. One last chance to see Britta...excellent. Then yesterday was time for one last trip to the Dunes...Kristin and I visited Mt. Baldy for the first time and enjoyed the amazing view and a beautiful blue sky. Meghan and I had our final Taco Bell visit of my extended stay here at VU. We then capped the evening off by a staggeringly great (of course) performance on the local putt putt course. Meghan, Kristin, and I only found the water once between the 3 of us...and of course 'twas I who did it.

Now...off to get ready so that Kristin and I can ride back into Chicago to pick up my brother and family from the airport...and so begins the whirlwind weekend.

nice day

So...after an extremely long battle with cold weather and not fun rain/snow the temperature was 70ish on Friday and there wasn't a cloud in the sky. It's always nice to dust off the shorts and short sleeve shirt combinations for the fist time each year. Being this close to the dunes meant a trip was a must. We tried out a new beach and found out it was only a stone's throw from one we'd visited before, but it was a different setting and therefore a little more fun. Exploring is always a good thing.
After napping in the glorious sunshine and getting our first minor sunburns of the season, we made our way to KFC in Chesterton to pick up a picnic dinner. We brought our food to the park along 49 with the huge fountain which I don't know the name of, but it was fun to mess around and take photos as well as eat a picnic by a quiet stream. I'll definitely be making a return visit to both our destinations of the day because it was fun.
All that fun meant being much lazier on Saturday, when we watched movies with snacks and drinks for the evening. Today, of course will now have to be the homework day. This was planned though, as today is supposed to be the 80% chance of rain day as well.

On a side note: The Indians beat the Yankees 22-4 and I couldn't be happier about this fact. One of the most hated teams in sports...hammered by one of my favorite teams in sports. Excellent. The Cavs won handily yesterday also. All things considered...great weekend. One of the few things that could have made it better would have been a disc golf outing. That will have to happen next weekend.

and after a long absence...

Kristin and I have found a new entertaining playground here in Valparaiso. It's north of VHS on Campbell and it has huge tube slides. It's fun to visit in the dark because you can see the huge sparks generated by going through these statically charged plastic slides. We also made a visit to the outlet mall in MI city just for the fun of walking around and checking out clothing and other things we can't afford at the moment. Other than that, things have...obviously...gotten quite busy with school and a trip home the weekend before Easter for my nephew's confirmation. I played a gig on Easter for good money and I have rehearsals on Sunday evenings for another gig I'll play with the South Shore Brass Band.

We try to find time to relax in the evenings and we've seen some good movies due to the 5 dollar bin at wal-mart and used movies in the merriville mall FYE store.

Hopefully, I can come up with more to write about here soon...but I was definitely long overdue for a post.

internet

So...I wasn't aware just how important being able to sign on facebook and be bored with it in 3 minutes a day is to me.

Now...I am.

Thank you Valpo for having connection problems for pretty much all of Memorial Hall since Monday evening. Fantastic. I love not being able to check up on friends, read blogs, check email, read ESPN articles, talk to people on instant messengers, etc...

Kristin and I found a new playground this weekend. You all, doubtless, know our history of playgrounds. This one is up Campbell on the way to the Disc Golf course and I've wanted to stop many times before, but finally we just made it the destination for a trip. The slides are really tall and quite sweet. They also make animal noises. We'll definitely be making a return visit on a warmer and less windy day.

I'm quite ready for graduation. Classes are becoming quite the drag as they often do at this point in the semester. My worth has expired in orchestra as our principal trumpet who missed the last two days of our orchestra tour, dropping the part in my lap to play for 1000 people in Severance hall, has returned after break and pretended like nothing happened. The horns can cover the parts as all the music that's been passed out so far has been only for two horns...so that leaves me out. Seems real fair doesn't it?

On the brighter side...I think I'll be playing a gig with the South Shore Brass Band and getting paid on May 2nd. That will be another good resume stuffer and just fun in general. Who can complain about a few extra bucks also? This weekend promises to be a great one. Now, if I could just get to it.

Mini Golf

So I can't complain about Kristin and I playing 18 holes of mini golf and having a drink each for under 10 bucks at Zao Island last night. It was perhaps a little chilly to be playing mini golf with temps dropping to the low 40s before we finished at 20 past 11PM, but a great time was had by all. Luckily, none of our four-some wished to keep score so it was a low key event.

Other highlights from yesterday include a walk around the mall in Merriville where I discovered that if I had even a little bit of clothing money, I could walk away with some nice clothes for really good deals, however...I'm a poor college student who must save this money for entertainment purposes. Kristin bought 3 used movies for the price of 2, so now we have 3 funny films to enjoy at our leisure.

My NCAA tournament bracket is doing fairly well. I'm yet to lose an Elite Eight team and am leading the pool I created for the time being, so...here's hoping that this is my year to have done the right point and click method.

New holes on the course

So...went disc golfing with Meghan today and the weather was gorgeous. The course, however, was not. Several of the holes were completely full of mud. It was good to get out for the first time this year though. The course added a few more holes so now it's up to 24. It's now officially a work-out to walk the full course throwing your disc ever so often. I'm very happy that we determined we wouldn't keep score, because I threw like crap for about the first 8 or so holes.

In other news, it's good to have Kristin back in the states. We hit up passtimes last night and had quality sandwiches which I topped off with a solid Newcastle. Tonight I had the fantastic Honey BBQ flatbread with a Bud Light at BWs. Good times. Well, now it's off to Duffy's to listen to Irish music and have a few.

Who wants to hitchhike to FL and back?

I could really use some warm weather. I've been dying to be outside getting a tan or at the very least not wearing long sleeves, but sadly the weather here at home has been either raining or under 40 (not satisfactory). I figure that we are interesting enough and don't look like killers, so we might be able to hitchike a good distance and not have to spend the boat-load of money on gas...guess that doesn't save on hotels. If four of us go though, splitting a cheap-ish hotel four ways could be reasonable. So, who's in? Haha, if only work/school didn't have to get in the way of all potentially good ideas.

I saw a dress in a mall nearby here the other day that cost 1395 dollars. On the one hand, how do you tell someone they aren't worth that money? But on the other, why not have at least 50-70 nice dresses instead of one that wasn't all that pretty? The neckline wasn't very appealing, it was a nasty shade of yellow, and pretty sure the cut would have made anyone look fat. Where's the draw in that? Is the only reason people buy those simply to prove they have money?

I purchased Murder at 1600 that day too. A classic Wesley Snipes thriller is always a good 3 dollar purchase (used at FYE). Now I just need to get a few people together to go and watch Madagascar II for a dollar at the second run movies since I haven't seen it yet. I figure it has to be worth a dollar.

My apologies

for not posting in quite a while. The VUSO went on a tour for a week and that occupied all my time and I didn't have any internet access. We started with a run up to Waukesha, WI which is a suburb of Milwaukee. We played in a small church there and the home stay was pretty nice. The hosts fed us a nice meal and conversation was bearable considering their old age. The next day we headed all the way to Waterford, MI, a northern suburb of Detroit, a seven hour drive. Our bus driver got pulled over for doing 20 over in a construction zone in IL. How she got off with no ticket is beyond me. The host family that night had a home built in 1922 full of the most unique antiques from a wash basin to lace curtains to an amazing desk/sewing machine. Their two cats were a ton of fun to pet and I'm pretty sure have helped me down the road to becoming a future cat owner. Tuesday brought us to St Joseph's, MI right on Lake Michigan after a brief 3hr stint at a mall. No particularly interesting stories...two wiener dogs at the host family's house that were really cute, but barked too much. Wednesday we played a concert in South Bend in the morning and a concert in Fort Wayne in the evening before driving back to and sleeping in Valpo that night. That was the longest and least fun day of the tour. Sleeping on the floor of the PMA house because of alterations in my plans that I'll get to at another time in a post that will probably feature the reasons for that in a long rant session. Thursday we made the long drive to Parma, OH, a suburb on the other side of Cleveland from where I lived, played a concert at a good friend of mine's alma mater and had a sweet home stay. A Wii, tons of food and drinks, and being left alone in a basement for the evening is about as good as it gets for homestays. Friday morning brought us to Severance Hall, the home of the Cleveland Orchestra. There we rehearsed for hours and hours, as well as walking around the University Circle area of Cleveland before a 7:30 benefit concert in front of 1000 people. This was a dream come true having seen several concerts in the hall. All of that bus riding and home home stays led to my sleeping the past two days away to recooperate. I'm over it now, as evidenced by my being up past midnight typing up a blog to report my experiences.

I'll do my best to catch up on all of your blogs within the next few days to see what's up in your lives. Hope all is well.

alright, i give in to boredom

25 things...I doubt I can get up that high, but here goes:



1. I'm the son of an LCMS minister, therefore I am LCMS. It's taken me a long time to grow in my faith to where I feel like it is my own rather than something my parents did. Now I've come to terms with it being a faith that is strong and ever growing, but whose seed was planted by my parents and I am very grateful to them.



2. Family is extremely important to me. Especially my immediate family: Mom, Dad, two married sisters and a married brother with 5 children between the three.



3. I'm the youngest of my parents children by 10 years and this caused me to feel somewhat like an only child. I'm closer in age to my oldest niece (Sarah, age 17) than my youngest sibling (Jonathan, age 33).



4. I tend to hang out with my family when I'm at home and forgoe some opportunities to hang out with friends I haven't seen in a long time. I hang out with Sarah, Hannah, and Jeremiah, Ruth's kids, a lot while I'm at home and even their friends. We go up to the lake, play on playgrounds, play board games, and watch scary movies to pass the time and love every minute of it.



5. Within my extended family, my mother was the 11th of 12 children and I was then the youngest of 39 grandchildren. Several of the next generation are older than me and married already. I love attending Ludwig Reunions every 3 years and seeing all those 100+ friendly faces.



6. I've been with my current girlfriend, Kristin, for 3 years, 2 months, and 10 days and plan to extend that period of time infinitely. She and I have grown very close and I feel like she is one of my closest friends as well as the one I love.



7. I have many friends, but few are close. This resulted in my posting these 25 things on this blog rather than on facebook or myspace. Friends who are close tend to be ones I choose to spend time with outside of required classes and ensembles.



8. I love music. It sustains my existence. I live my life to a soundtrack and could not do without it.



9. Due to the above statement, I could not remain an engineering student in college and switched to a music career path. This switch not only made me more happy, it was necessary.



10. My primary instrument is trumpet as you all know, but I can and have also extensively played piano, handbells, french horn, and sung in choirs. I hope to learn guitar much better than I currently know it once I can afford to purchase a nice one.



11. I have participated in concert band, jazz band, pep band, orchestra, pit orchestra, quintets, quartets, sextets, other odd chamber ensembles, brass choirs, trumpet choirs, a professional orchestra, and several other things I just can't think of at the moment. I've gotten paid to play in the professional orchestra, weddings, Estonian cultural ceremonies, yacht club functions, worship services, and much more. Is it safe to call me a music nerd, why yes, it is.


12. I listen to nearly all genres of music and will likely enjoy most anything that is on as background music. I will definitely attend concerts of the major orchestras as often as I can. I even enjoy the occasional new music concert down in Chicago with members of the symphony.

13. I am an Ohio man through and through. I always pull for the Ohio sports teams. I love the Indians, Cavs, Browns, and Buckeyes.

14. That being said, my favorite city, and a city that I would love to live near one day is Chicago. This is the first city I've been able to enjoy as an adult, free from home and it carries many special memories for me because of this.

15. I bleed Brown and Gold. I may complain or bash VU's sports teams, but this is only because I care. If I didn't want them to win so badly, I wouldn't be so upset when they fall short of their potential year in and year out.

16. My academic struggles took a long time to come to an end, but now I will be graduating with a BA in Music and will take a year to substitute teach before entering Teach For America to teach while gaining a Masters degree in Education. This is how I will reach my ultimate goal of teaching high school music.

17. While I will teach, I also plan to remain active as a performer and play in a professional orchestra and perhaps a few small ensembles while gigging on the side.

18. I hope to live in the great lakes region or perhaps St. Louis, but wouldn't be crushed if I ended up in the Northwest because it is beautiful up there and the culture is similar to out here.

19. I want to get married eventually and have children to build my own family. I think that a family is very important to keep one sane and to help one grow as a person.

20. I love the outdoors and in general would rather be outside than in. I love to hike, camp, swim, walk beaches, visit "the breakwall", play frisbee golf, play pick up games of various sports, and take long night walks.

21. I love movies. If I can't be outside, I'd probably next go for playing my trumpet or watching a good movie. Popcorn and a movie can turn any frown upside down. I'll watch almost any movie unless the comedy is too slapstick or I'm not in the mood for a chick flick.

22. In general, I'd rather hear what you have to say than speak myself. Please don't take this as me being shy or just anti-social. If I have something to say, it will be said, I'm almost never holding back. I'm just legitimately interested in your stories and love to know what is going on in my friends lives.

23. I love to travel. I have been in all 48 contiguous states and 4 other countries. I love mountains, oceans, and skylines alike. Some of my favorite memories stem from family vacations traveling the US and from band or orchestra tours traveling domestically (CA, Nashville, Myrtle, and Virginia beaches, WI, MI, IN, OH, IL, IA, and OK) and internationally (Toronto, Frankfurt, Malta, Gozo).

24. I enjoy a good drink once in a while, at a party with my close friends, or at a restarant with a steak, fahita, wings, or burger. My drinking is not to excess, it is merely social and for taste.

25. Believe it or not there is more to say, so rather than rambling, I'll just apologize for the few points in the middle that I made while rambling. Took me a while to gain my second wind.

Breaking the drought.

I've noticed a drought in blogging over the past few days among my friends and colleagues and I've decided to break it up. It was a very fun, yet short, weekend. Mall Cop was hilarious late at night after a few on Friday night. After that the long week caught up with me and I passed out until late morning Saturday. After getting up, Kristin and I headed out to Merriville/Hobart/who the heck knows? and had some Olive Garden for the cute Valentine's Day dinner. Seafood Alfredo, breadsticks, and salad are always a solid choice. Browsing the stores in the mall made for a fun afternoon before returning to VU for rehearsal and my debut on french horn with the VUSO. The concert went well and a nice romantic movie to conclude Valentine's day was a good choice. Sunday meant Dynasty and the most terribly officiated second half of basketball I've seen in person since the Mid-Continent Conference. Last time I checked, continuation was not allowed in NCAA basketball, but it definitely occurred on two plays in the Valpo-UIC game. Great game to follow up the 600th win of Homer Drew's career. Rush Hour, one of my all-time favorite flicks concluded my weekend.

The men's team played quite well, in my opinion, on Sunday afternoon, but one still has to wonder if the 600th win of Homer's career should perhaps cue him to retirement. I can't help but feel that with the talent that he manages to recruit, we should win more games in an average year, and at least make the NIT once in a while. Granted, we aren't a big school and don't have a ton of name recognition, but certainly these players have more room to grow than is reflected in their actual growth. This year is perhaps an exception, because we have virtually no leadership, save for the amazing, Jake Diebler. 73 consecutive starts, most by a Valpo Men's Basketball player in school history!

you know what really grinds my gears...

WEATHER!!!

How can the weather be so great for a few days, then positively suck for one and then be cold again? That's totally not fair...I had barely adjusted to the cold and now my body has to do it again. I really enjoyed those few nice temperature days, but I'm not entirely sure that they were worth now hating the cold even more than before.

THE CHAPEL!!!

The president of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod (my synod) came and preached the sermon two weeks ago at the Chapel of the Resurrection. I thought it was a decent sermon, I've heard better, but I've definitely heard worse (mostly from theology profs here). The LCMS and the Evangelical Lutheran Church of America (ELCA) don't see eye to eye at all and therefore the newly called and hired ELCA woman pastor should not be allowed to participate very much in the worship service (a fact which both the synod representatives should have known) when the president was here. This did not stop them from scheduling her to read the prayers and then having to remove her so that the president wouldn't be kicked out of his office. This of course pissed off our overwhelmingly ELCA acolyting crew and many more of the Theo majors here (also overwhelmingly ELCA for obvious reasons). Now we've had to listen to them complain about how intolerant the LCMS is for the past few weeks and how horrible it was that the pastor (who shouldn't have even been scheduled to participate in the service) couldn't read the prayers.

I could continue for quite some time with my frustrations with the doctrine and practices of the chapel and its staff here, but it's really not worth it.

quick trip

The weather was so positively gorgeous today that Kristin and I felt it was necessary to run up to the Dunes in between 2:35 and 5:30. This was a wonderful decision. It was so relaxing and envigorating at the same time to be out in 60 degree weather and sunshine that I'm a happier person now than I was this morning. Running in the sand and seeing snow on the N side of the dunes while temps were so high was a nice break in the week. About 100-200ft of ice extended from the shore out into the water, but there's no way that I was going to step foot out on this floating temptation.

Another benefit of the weather has been being able to leave the windows open without freezing to get fresh air in. I will definitely sleep great tonight with a cool, but fresh room...perfect.

On a side note...I was wrapping up Kristin's Birthday gift in a classy bag and I'm 23 with no clue how to properly use tissue paper to make a pretty gift instead of a bag with a bunch of paper stuffed in it. Do any people of the female gender have tips for me? Yes, that's a bit sexist, but considering who my ONE regular male reader is...no offense Brett...I didn't think he'd be much better than I am. Tips and strategies would be appreciated. It's too late for tomorrow, but it could help out for Saturday.

performance enhancement

Yeah, as if we aren't all sick enough of all the steroid allegations that resurface around the MLB every season, it occurs again. A-Rod, big surprise. 103 others, big surprise. At this point I'm surprised anyone cares anymore. A huge percentage of the league took them for at least a few years so just accept that fact and move on.

37% of SportsNation was lying today when I looked at a poll. Apparently they wouldn't take steroids if it would help them secure a $150M contract. I know I would, and you could buy off any judges/juries/lawyers to not put up a fight against you in a court of law and have tons of ching left over.

South Bend

I made a trip over to South Bend yesterday along with Kristin and Dave Elbrecht. I have been in the market for a good C trumpet to call my own for a while now and decided that Quinlan and Fabish was not going to be able to gather enough instruments for me to try and I did not just want to order one and pray that it was good. This left me with only one other feasible option, not wanting to buy online for the same reason. I made the trip to South Bend to try whatever horns Woodwind and Brasswind had in stock. Turned out they had 3 of the 4 I most wanted to try. With the help and guidance of two other musicians with well developed ears, I was able to take a mix of how they sounded vs how they felt to me and make a very good decision. I wound up with the best of three Chicago Cs from the Bach Stradavarius line. I found it interesting how much variance there can be between 3 instruments of the exact same make and model. It wasn't incredibly easy settling on picking one of the three Chicagos either though. The Philadelphia gave them a run for their money as it had a much clearer and more centered low register than the first Chicago I had been brought. Luckily, I tried the other two Chicagos and now have a horn that nearly matches the clarity of the low register on the Philadelphia while still presenting me with the ease of playing found in the first Chicago. I'm a satisfied Bach customer once again. To top off the fact that I got the best of the instruments there...there was a 10% off deal running on in store purchases, so I saved a good 250 dollars, plus my 300 dollar rebate courtesy of the guys I talked to at the IMEA convention in Indy a few weeks ago.

A quick note to extend my apologies to the majority of my readership, who really don't care about clarity in various registers or ease of playing on trumpets, but you are all, I'm certain, aware that on my blog the good and entertaining posts far outweigh the boring technical music jargon posts. Sometimes you just have to take the good (entertaining) with the bad (boring). My blog is no different.

Last night, I performed on 4 numbers by VU composers and VU alumni composers. The concert was a lot of fun, some pieces much better than others. Perhaps the coolest piece I got to play was a composition for Viola, Clarinet, Trumpet, Vibes, and Piano by VU alumn, Rich Ortiz. http://www.rlomusic.com/composition.html

If you scroll about 2/5 of the way down the page and click on one of the three movements of the piece Three for Five you can listen to a slightly less polished performance of the piece than what occured with the ensemble I played in last night. Still a pretty sweet piece though. Third movement is definitely my favorite.

I promise a non-music inundated post in the near future with some interesting/entertaining things I've done or heard recently, but I'm quite excited at the moment by my new baby...the Chicago C.

20"+ of snow

Yeah, it snowed a ton in about an 18 hr period or so. Valpo, of course, did not cancel classes, they were merely delayed until 11:50. I, along with Kristin and two of our close friends, tried very hard to find sleds on Tuesday evening to take advantage of the rapidly falling snow, but neither Wal-Mart or Target had any innertube style sleds in stock. Both had crappy plastic things for 30+ dollars, but I'm not throwing that much money down for a sled that will crack quickly anyway. We nearly picked up two large trashcans for 9.50 a piece just for their saucer-like lids. I'm pretty desperate, but it will all begin melting tomorrow when we have temps reaching the 40s and some nice rain and 50 degree weather will hit us on Saturday to melt the rest.

Saturday, I plan to make a trip over to Woodwind Brasswind to make my purchase of a C trumpet official. Should be a fun day.

winter

I'm usually pretty indifferent of winter and the cold. This year, however, I'm quite done with the frigid temperatures, the continual snow and crappy road conditions, and not feeling like doing much but watching tv or movies every evening. Spring cannot come soon enough. I want to play frisbee golf. I want to take walks. I want to visit playgrounds. I want to be outside without having to wear a hat and gloves. I haven't even been sledding due to being quite busy and having no sled. What's the point in snow if you can't go sledding?

Doing 180s at the intersection of Calumet, Roosevelt, and Vale Park is not my idea of fun. It's about time for the City of Valparaiso to suck it up and buy some salt. This packing the snow down tight with plows, but not actually clearing off the layer of ice and slush isn't cutting it.

horn vs trumpet

The french horn and the trumpet battled it out today. I had to play french horn in the orchestra, as I whined about in my post yesterday and then immediately after orchestra I was recruited to play a composition by a VU graduate. This piece was for an odd ensemble...Viola, Clarinet, Trumpet, Vibes, and Piano. The switch from horn to trumpet was not an easy one, not to mention that 2hrs of play on any brass instrument will have your chops tired. So, even if I had been playing trumpet in orchestra, I probably would have had a hard time with this challenging piece. The piece is really cool though (Three for Five by Rick Ortiz). You all should come and hear it in Deusenburg Recital Hall on Saturday, February 7th at 7:30PM. I'll also be performing a solo piece by a current VU student and will take part in a Fanfare for Brass and Percussion by a current VU senior Composition major.

Other than the musical excitement of reading a new piece for the first time and the switch from horn to trumpet, my day was business as usual, nothing particularly exciting to report. I did watch a quality basketball game between two teams I hate though. Duke lost to Wake Forest in an amazing finish.

french horn

Yep...you read the title correctly. I'm currently playing french horn in the VUSO...why? Don't ask me. DFC asked that I play horn for no credit because they only have two players this semester. So...it's a chance to play in Severance Hall, the home of the Cleveland Orchestra.

Musical news also includes my plans to purchase a C trumpet within the next few weeks. I'm quite excited and will immediately put it to use working on several solos. Also, I'll be playing in a VU composition recital on February 7th.

That's pretty much all the musical updates. I attended the Indiana Music Educator's Association conference this past weekend in Indy. It was a very informative time and I got to hear several good speakers and a lot of great performances including one by the Synergy Brass. I also had the opportunity to eat some amazing Jumbalya at Rock Bottom with drinks on Friday night. Good times, good times.

Classes in my final semester are alright, I suppose. I like them all ok except for one...Gender Studies. This is already a lengthy post so I'll not delve into my reasons for despising that class and save that for another post.

That's about it, I'd best be off to take the shower I awakened too late to take this morning.