And Life 2 Go

"If you would not be forgotten as soon as you are dead, either write things worth reading or do things worth writing" - Benjamin Franklin

Wednesday, November 30, 2005

Three Stooges

My dog, Kopper, is in the middle:


Three Shibas II


Kopper is a purebred Shiba Inu. He's bigger than the other two because he is a male, while the other two are females.

When we first got Kopper over seven years ago, barely anyone.. and I mean anyone.. knew of the breed. Even on his first vet visit, the veterinarian had never seen one before. Whenever I was asked what kind of dog it was, I'd say "It's a shiba inu", which then was proceeded by a blank stare, then the question "What's that?!" or "It looks like a fox...".

I can assure you it's not a fox. These days, the breed has become much more popular in the United States since seven years ago. This picture was taken two years ago, where we actually met two other shibas when at "Dog Day" at US Cellular Field.

I still get asked what kind of dog it is, but not nearly as often. I have to admit, it was a bit more fun when no one knew what he was. But we still love the lil' furball. Just don't grab his tail or he'll try to take your hand off.

Saturday, November 26, 2005

Thanksgiving Morning

... after somewhat sleeping all night, listening to the 45 mph gusts of 20 degree wind (0 degrees, with windchill) bash against my house, I awoke to this sight. I thought it was kinda cool how the sunlight through the blinds made the rings on our candle holder. Blah.


Candle and Sunlight I




Candle and Sunlight II

Wednesday, November 23, 2005

Potpourri #7

I saw in the news yesterday that George "Dubyewah" Bush pardoned two turkeys from death, and they are spending their Thanksgiving at Disneyland. What the hell is that? Did it make good ol' George feel good to save those 2 turkeys, then hop on his plane back to Texas to eat one? What a chump.

I got tickets to Coldplay. They are playing the United Center in March. I am pretty excited. I actually got decent seats this time, on the 100-level. Wow!

I seriously wish I would have saved all my concert ticket stubs. This Coldplay concert will easily be somewhere in the range of my 120th concert I've been to. Wish I had the ticket stubs to prove it to those who doubt this claim.

Work is dead today. I think at least half the people here took a vacation day. Usually we can leave early today, but my manager scheduled a meeting from 3 to 4, and then went and took a vacation day today herself. Can you believe that shiznit?! Guess who's ditching the meeting? Moi.

Tomorrow we're having a load of people come over, at least by our standards. We are entertaining 13 folks for Thanksgiving. After taking a quick inventory, my wife and I realized we only have 8 sets of plates and silverware. Ooops. Never fear, the in-laws are here! Not only are they bringing some food, but now some plates and silverware as well. My wife is all worried because now the place settings won't match. This coming from someone who at first suggested serving the food on paper plates.

We had our first snowfall today. Only a dusting, really. But it does look kinda nice. Hey, I'm all in the frame of mind, if it's gonna be cold, might as well snow. At least it brightens up the place.

I'm going to do some extra cardio today at the ol' fitness center, convincing myself that doing so allows me to extra-engorge on the food tomorrow. Somehow though I don't think burning an extra 300 calories today will make up the difference of the 7500 I'll consume tomorrow. Not to mention the leftovers throughout the weekend.

The company I work for (hint: 3rd largest retailer in the world) is making us work at the stores this holiday. (I am at the headquarters, so this is a new thing for me). So while most of you have Friday off, I'll be at St. Charlestown mall, doing who knows what. Don't give me any shit if you see me there. No, I don't know what the difference is between those two drills, and no, I can't tell you where the tighty whities are.

And on that note, hope you all have a fantabulous Thanksgiving. And here's something you may have not known: The fleshy growth from the base of the beak, which is very long on male turkeys and hangs down over the beak, is called the snood.

So now you know what a snood is. And I'm guessing you probably shouldn't eat it.

Tuesday, November 22, 2005

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Things You Like Eating on Thanksgiving

First of all, I'd like to apologize to my legion of fans for not updating this in a while. Most of my "text" entries (ie, entries with no photos) are written while I'm here at work, and since I recently switched teams here at my company, things are quite busy. So, without further delay...

Image hosted by Photobucket.com


10 Things You Like Eating on Thanksgiving
1. Turkey (duh)
2. Mashed potatoes (Red potatoes are good, too)
3. Stuffing
4. Green bean casserole
5. Asparagus
6. Tossed salad with italian dressing
7. Warm biscuits
8. Appetizers (cheese, sausage, crackers, etc..)
9. Cherry pie (Pumpkin is OK, but not my fave)
10. Corn

Nothing too original here. We eat a pretty traditional dinner.

Saturday, November 12, 2005

Wedding Day

... no, not mine. Mine was over two years ago. Today, one of my best friends is getting married. I have the honor of being the best man. I am both excited and nervous. It almost feels like I'm getting married all over again.

I went to the rehearsal last night. The bride is a fairly strict Catholic, and my best friend is a Christian Scientist. How's that for a combo? Somehow they worked things out, however, and the ceremony will be at a large Catholic church in the city. I hope the rental shoes are comfortable, because even at the rehearsal, the ceremony seems mighty long. Silly Catholics, why can't you be like us Lutherans? My ceremony lasted about 20 minutes. Walk in, trow out a few prayers, slap out a song or two, say the vows, walk out. Done! I kid, I kid...

Anyways, as the best man, I am responsible for the speech. Now, at my wedding, my best man happenend to be the person getting married today. His speech at my wedding was done from the top of his head, he even told me he didn't know what he was going to say until the mic was in front of him.

There's no way I can do that.

So, I have in front of me my 14th rewrite of the speech I am making tonight. I hope it's not lame that I am reading it from a piece of paper, but if I try to just wing it, it would most likely end up in disaster. Does anyone think it's lame reading the speech from paper? Please, do tell.

Anyways, I'm actually kind of nervous. I've never been one for public speaking. Ergo, my career in IT ;-). We'll see what happens. All I know is I have to watch the alcohol intake until after the speech. We don't want the best man to slur his way through it.

Cheers!

Tuesday, November 08, 2005

Ten on Tuesday: 10 News Stories You're Sick Of

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

10 News Stories You're Sick Of
1. Anything about Jessica Simpson or Nick Lachey
2. Anything about Brad and Angelina
3. Bird Flu
4. Hurricanes
5. Gas Prices
6. Iraq - let's get out already!
7. Anything about Paris or Nicole
8. Suicide bombers / car bombs
9. News about reality shows
10. George Bush

Wednesday, November 02, 2005

Caught on film!

...if this ain't true love, I don't know what is.

What you are witnessing a rare capture. My friend was sitting across the table with his camera, and took this shot of my wife attempting to twist my nipple.

She does this quite often, but denies it.

There is no denying this. Look at the pain on my face, and she hasn't even actually grabbed it yet.

Ouch


This, my friends, is what love is all about.

Tuesday, November 01, 2005

Ten on Tuesday: 10 Best Scary Movies

Image hosted by Photobucket.com

Before I post this, you must know I am a complete wuss when it comes to horror movies, especially those ones with known suspense. I absolutely refuse to watch any of the recent horror movies, including The Ring, The Grudge, Saw, or anything like that. Most of the movies I list here I watched with my hands over my eyes and probably experienced several mild heart attacks.

10 Best Scary Movies
1. Alien
2. Blair Witch Project
3. Silence of the Lambs
4. The Exorist (only really saw 10% of it. the rest of the time I had my eyes closed)
5. Seven
6. Signs
7. Misery
8. The Fly
9. An American Warewolf in London
10. Pet Semetary

Alot of people put Scream in their list. I watched the whole thing, and I wasn't that scared. Hmmm.