I'm in Dallas, and not for the reason you might think (finding out who shot JR). For work. I'm in one of those hotels that will make you an expert in various fields just by staying there. But it hasn't made me an expert in anything. It has, however, made me very frustrated.
Last night, a gas line broke next to the hotel, in front of a Waffle House - seriously. Naturally, this caused the water to go out in the entire hotel. Huh? I did not realize we had no water pressure until immediately after I had used the, um, toilet. So that was an interesting discovery. The polite person at the front desk was busy handing out bottles of water, and explaining it would surely be back on in the morning. Which it was.
BUT -- the water did not come with the most important feature for morning usage, heat. So after a night where I used bottled water for tooth brushing, and couldn't flush the toilet, I had to endure a freezing cold shower. Then - and as far as I can tell, this is not the hotel's fault - as I was carrying a case of thawed beverage mix to the meeting room (part of some training/sampling we're doing), the condensation inside the box somehow poured through a crack and ran all down my dress pants. Fortunately, the hotel room did have a functioning hair dryer. For pants. I can't wait to see what DFW has in store for me tonight, what with my scheduled American Airlines flight on an MD-80 plane - safety & peace of mind! OK, off to the meeting...
Tuesday, April 22, 2008
Friday, April 4, 2008
Would you light my candle?
I've been in 3 states outside of this one since my last blog: Nevada, Connecticut, and Massachusetts - each progressively newer to me and harder to spell. It's late, and I can only really summarize one of the states. My Nevada experience occurred in Las Vegas, and per Las Vegas CVA mandate, my story has not left the city limits. Connecticut was nothing but a pass thru on the way to Northampton, MA, site of Murray-Esener wedding activities.
Before I get to that, I've also been to another planet recently. Moab. It took a second trip to that place for me to understand that it cannot simply be a part of Utah, United States, Earth. The Slick Rock Recreation area - where dudes in Jeeps compete for knobbiest tires - is one of my new favorite places. We hope to camp there and ride some mountain bikes, or just climb around the strange rocky mounds. Here are some pics. And a video that my lady will enjoy seeing on the Interweb. Yes, we are jamming to the Rent soundtrack.
Murray's wedding was an excellent reason to descend upon the unique town of Northampton, MA - home of Smith College, a naked sculpture park, a beer can hall of fame, and tons of boutiques and gift shops that are WAY more enlightened and clever than you, Mister Man. It was my first trip to what my brain imagines to be the typical "northeast" town. The weather cooperated by being primarily cloudy & rainy, but as often occurs, gave way to sunshine on Saturday, the big day. St. Mary's cathedral and the Hotel Northampton made excellent backdrops to a fun and memorable time with lots of my friends from childhood, high school, and college. A few pics here, and I'll refer you to my friend Megan's blog for more detail and better pics. We did pretty much all the same stuff as her, except the red eye and yoga.
Now that I think of it, something awesome DID occur in the great state of Connecticut. It involved salad, a state trooper, an awkward glance or two, and... well, I don't know if I should share the rest. But I could write a new entry: "Something came up on the way to Hartford Bradley airport"...
Before I get to that, I've also been to another planet recently. Moab. It took a second trip to that place for me to understand that it cannot simply be a part of Utah, United States, Earth. The Slick Rock Recreation area - where dudes in Jeeps compete for knobbiest tires - is one of my new favorite places. We hope to camp there and ride some mountain bikes, or just climb around the strange rocky mounds. Here are some pics. And a video that my lady will enjoy seeing on the Interweb. Yes, we are jamming to the Rent soundtrack.
Murray's wedding was an excellent reason to descend upon the unique town of Northampton, MA - home of Smith College, a naked sculpture park, a beer can hall of fame, and tons of boutiques and gift shops that are WAY more enlightened and clever than you, Mister Man. It was my first trip to what my brain imagines to be the typical "northeast" town. The weather cooperated by being primarily cloudy & rainy, but as often occurs, gave way to sunshine on Saturday, the big day. St. Mary's cathedral and the Hotel Northampton made excellent backdrops to a fun and memorable time with lots of my friends from childhood, high school, and college. A few pics here, and I'll refer you to my friend Megan's blog for more detail and better pics. We did pretty much all the same stuff as her, except the red eye and yoga.
Now that I think of it, something awesome DID occur in the great state of Connecticut. It involved salad, a state trooper, an awkward glance or two, and... well, I don't know if I should share the rest. But I could write a new entry: "Something came up on the way to Hartford Bradley airport"...
Thursday, March 6, 2008
Vegas Idea
Dudes, dudes, seriously, dudes: This is what we should do in Vegas. Just look at how much fun they're all having! That side shot is reminiscent of the Beatles on Abbey Road, so you know it must be good. I wrote a song about it to the tune of Ode to Joy:
Segways Segways Segways Segways
Segways Segways Se-egways!
Segways Segways Segways Segways
Segways Segways Se-egways!
Vegas Segways Ri-di-ing Segways
Dudes o-on Segways su-per rad!
Watch us rock those safety helmets
Flowered shirts and Se-eg-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaays!
Even though you knew - just by glancing - that the entire first verse was just the word Segway over and over again, you still had to sing it in your head to get through to the next verse, DIDN'T YOU! Ha! And that, my friends, is the magic of song. Good night now.
Segways Segways Segways Segways
Segways Segways Se-egways!
Segways Segways Segways Segways
Segways Segways Se-egways!
Vegas Segways Ri-di-ing Segways
Dudes o-on Segways su-per rad!
Watch us rock those safety helmets
Flowered shirts and Se-eg-waaaaaaaaaaaaaaays!
Even though you knew - just by glancing - that the entire first verse was just the word Segway over and over again, you still had to sing it in your head to get through to the next verse, DIDN'T YOU! Ha! And that, my friends, is the magic of song. Good night now.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
The Adjective Subject
Well, Mom & Dad made it back to the mitten state from the rectangle-with-corner-missing state, having survived 4 nights at elevation. I'll evaluate their enjoyment of the trip by comparing impressions. These are my opinions and have nothing to do with what they told me about their stay: "It was very nice."
Mountains: Very impressed. Our neighborhood: Mildly impressed. Our house: Mildly relieved. Our cars: Frivolous, but slightly impressive. Smoggy air quality in the valley: Not impressed. My parenting skills: Incomplete (the kids were only here for one night and I can't take responsibility for their behavior after a weekend at Nascar in Vegas with their grandmother. No offense Grandma K.)
Annie's hostess skillz: Mui impresivo. Disco Kitty: Impressed as you can be with a feline, and now they understand why I actually like a cat. Rock Band: Entirely unimpressed with the song selection (they're old-ish), but reluctantly impressed with my fake drum & guitar skills and "Welcome to the Family"-impressed with Annie's vocal stylings. Dinner at Annie's Mom's house: Impressed by both company and food, but slightly jealous that her family spends more time with The Steven now than they do. Mountains again: Hugely impressed (I use that word purposefully - people 'round here use the adjective (adverb?) 'hugely' too much, it's kind of a sloppy word, isn't it? No offense, Utah.)
Why am I thankful my buddy Matt is getting married? For one thing, I can finally stop worrying about his penchant for wearing short shorts and shaving his body. Aside from the fact that he's a pro-level triathlete, I couldn't think of one good reason for doing either of those things on a regular basis. Weekends only for me. But more importantly, it means I get to fly to the great state of Massachusetts at the end of this month to celebrate his wedding! I can't wait to pahk my cah in Hahvad Yahd! Actually, I won't be anywhere near Boston, but who cahes, you gawtta problem widdat? And most importantly, it means me and a bunch of dudes are meeting up in Las Vegas this weekend, ostensibly for a bachelor party celebrating Muzza's pending nuptials. But let's be honest dudes: this is the culmination of years of adolescence + young adulthood where we've been told that a dudes' weekend in Vegas is the capstone of our reckless manhood! So naturally, let's take it easy and not all go broke at once - we've got wives, kids, and almost those to consider - oh, and someone's gotta buy our bus passes home. In the immortal words of Butthead: "This will be the coolest thing we have ever done."
This Blog Post: They were more impressed with my 2nd grade Young Author's book, entitled "The Black Corvette." Or was 2nd grade "The Big Blizzard"?
Mountains: Very impressed. Our neighborhood: Mildly impressed. Our house: Mildly relieved. Our cars: Frivolous, but slightly impressive. Smoggy air quality in the valley: Not impressed. My parenting skills: Incomplete (the kids were only here for one night and I can't take responsibility for their behavior after a weekend at Nascar in Vegas with their grandmother. No offense Grandma K.)
Annie's hostess skillz: Mui impresivo. Disco Kitty: Impressed as you can be with a feline, and now they understand why I actually like a cat. Rock Band: Entirely unimpressed with the song selection (they're old-ish), but reluctantly impressed with my fake drum & guitar skills and "Welcome to the Family"-impressed with Annie's vocal stylings. Dinner at Annie's Mom's house: Impressed by both company and food, but slightly jealous that her family spends more time with The Steven now than they do. Mountains again: Hugely impressed (I use that word purposefully - people 'round here use the adjective (adverb?) 'hugely' too much, it's kind of a sloppy word, isn't it? No offense, Utah.)
Why am I thankful my buddy Matt is getting married? For one thing, I can finally stop worrying about his penchant for wearing short shorts and shaving his body. Aside from the fact that he's a pro-level triathlete, I couldn't think of one good reason for doing either of those things on a regular basis. Weekends only for me. But more importantly, it means I get to fly to the great state of Massachusetts at the end of this month to celebrate his wedding! I can't wait to pahk my cah in Hahvad Yahd! Actually, I won't be anywhere near Boston, but who cahes, you gawtta problem widdat? And most importantly, it means me and a bunch of dudes are meeting up in Las Vegas this weekend, ostensibly for a bachelor party celebrating Muzza's pending nuptials. But let's be honest dudes: this is the culmination of years of adolescence + young adulthood where we've been told that a dudes' weekend in Vegas is the capstone of our reckless manhood! So naturally, let's take it easy and not all go broke at once - we've got wives, kids, and almost those to consider - oh, and someone's gotta buy our bus passes home. In the immortal words of Butthead: "This will be the coolest thing we have ever done."
This Blog Post: They were more impressed with my 2nd grade Young Author's book, entitled "The Black Corvette." Or was 2nd grade "The Big Blizzard"?
Sunday, March 2, 2008
Freeze Frame
Wow - so much has happened! Most of it normal, everyday stuff that isn't particularly noteworthy, but I have some time to kill. One item: I passed my 1-year anniversary of living in Utah about a week ago. It came and went without fanfare, but it was interesting to reflect on how different my life is.
My parents are here this weekend! It's great to have them in my home, around my normal life, and - for my Mom - seeing Salt Lake for the first time. We went to Park City yesterday, walked Main St., and ate lunch at Zoom - Robbie Redford's restaurant. How chic! Then Mom & Annie cooked an awesome dinner back home. They picked up some fresh fish and clam chowder from one of our favorite restaurants, and cooked it up - I daresay better than restaurant quality.
In the meantime, I gave my Dad a quick tutorial on the guitar on Rock Band, and we jammed a little. Then Annie & I showed them how we roll as a band, crushing When You Were Young with a 5 star show on vocals & drums. After dinner, we played a mean game of Scrabble while enjoying some dessert and coffee. All 4 of us love word games, so it didn't even matter who won (mebyalot), we had fun all around.
Today we're heading downtown for some shopping and site seeing, then to my future in-laws' house for a family dinner. Tomorrow, the kids get back from a weekend with Grandma, so then the REAL real-life will be on display in our house. :) Can't wait.
I'll leave you with this cool social experiment. Thanks to Heidi for the link:
http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html
My parents are here this weekend! It's great to have them in my home, around my normal life, and - for my Mom - seeing Salt Lake for the first time. We went to Park City yesterday, walked Main St., and ate lunch at Zoom - Robbie Redford's restaurant. How chic! Then Mom & Annie cooked an awesome dinner back home. They picked up some fresh fish and clam chowder from one of our favorite restaurants, and cooked it up - I daresay better than restaurant quality.
In the meantime, I gave my Dad a quick tutorial on the guitar on Rock Band, and we jammed a little. Then Annie & I showed them how we roll as a band, crushing When You Were Young with a 5 star show on vocals & drums. After dinner, we played a mean game of Scrabble while enjoying some dessert and coffee. All 4 of us love word games, so it didn't even matter who won (mebyalot), we had fun all around.
Today we're heading downtown for some shopping and site seeing, then to my future in-laws' house for a family dinner. Tomorrow, the kids get back from a weekend with Grandma, so then the REAL real-life will be on display in our house. :) Can't wait.
I'll leave you with this cool social experiment. Thanks to Heidi for the link:
http://www.maniacworld.com/frozen-in-grand-central-station.html
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