Day 347 - Leroy

September 19, 2011

For better or worse, my father loves his car.  It's a 1977 VW bus.  It's a great car... when it runs.  I mean, it's great if you can overlook the dysfunctional heater, the broken muffler, and tonight's brake rotor replacement.  

(Is a brake rotor a thing?  It sounded like that's what Dad was saying.)

Every time I sit in the car, I think about the Dharma vans from "Lost".

That was the moment when Lost became unreal.  It wasn't the polar bears, or the time travel, or the unexplained resurrections.  The most unbelievable part of Lost was the Dharma vans that functioned after 30 years in the jungle.

Dad's car is named Leroy.  It has become so associated with him that the kids at his old school made a Bookface page for his car.

Please help me convince him to get a Tuareg.

Linkage:

Can Bird Poop Crack A Windshield?
Now there’s something else to worry about.

Day 346 - A Real Human Being, And A Real Hero

September 18, 2011

Drive

Great movie.  The story I've heard is that the director and Ryan Gosling met about the movie and decided it might not be for them.  Then Gosling gave the director a ride home.  So they're driving through the deserted streets of LA at night, listening to 80's synth music.  And they agreed that this is what the movie is about.  A guy cruising around and night trying to feel something.

Don't get me wrong, the movie is jarringly violent.  I found myself covering my eyes during certain scenes.  

But this movie is so good.

And the soundtrack is killer.

And I got out of the house on a RedZone Sunday.

The NFL will be a part of my life.

The NFL will not control my life.

Linkage:

Movie Plot Holes You Never Noticed

Yeah, the Joker is still ALONE with all the rich people!

Day 345 - Mobile Food Rodeo

September 17, 2011

There's an old joke about an amusement park that has "the line ride".  All you do is stand in line.  That is the entirety of the experience.  The Mobile Food Rodeo felt like that with only a few good snacks thrown in.

When I don't think about all the time spent in line, I look at the goodies from "Bigfood" and it looks amazing.  But by the time we finally got the food, we were already in a bit of a funk.  I'm sure it would have tasted better if we had been well rested.  I was suckered in by the promise of Duck Confit.  But they sold out as we reached the front of the line.

This is the menu:

We also tried "Snout" which won the audience vote as the best truck at the rodeo.  

Whitney, what did you think of Snout?

I felt the same way.

We were unimpressed.

Linkage:

Moment of Silence from Runner’s World
Great read about a man who used running to cope with 9/11

Day 344 - Untitled EP

September 16, 2011

"Falling Leaves" is finally put to bed.  Whitney suggested that we write a four song set that is thematically linked.  So, tonight we took a swing at the other three songs.  Even Sophia, who normally can't stand the sight of me, was excited by the creative energy in the room.

Linkage:

Stephen Colbert and Jimmy Fallon: No Longer BFFSM (Best Friends For Six Months)

Two great shows that taste great together. Or something...

Day 343 - Call 911 And Get The AED!!

September 15, 2011

CPR Class is no joke.  You must be there on time.  You must pretend to save someone's life (I saved a hand from an exploding burner and I was saved from a netbook rewiring gone awry), and you must laugh at all the teacher's jokes.  Which is easy, because she's hilarious.  I never want to take a first aid class from anyone else.

Jen received the award for: 

"Most Convincing AED Deployment"

In celebration, we went to Frankie's in Redmond.  I've lived here all my life and I've never been to Frankie's.  How have I been missing out on this for so long.  The pizza is amazing!

And I finally finished my Pizzaiolo badge!

Double Win!

It was Garlicfest too.

Delicious.

Linkage:

Weekend at Bernies in Real Life
I guess this is what happens if you DON’T take the CPR class.

Day 342 - Copy Machine Revelations

September 14, 2011

Today, at the copy machine, I had an enlightening conversations with someone smarter than me.  We were talking about how much time our work actually required.  She said it didn't matter.  At a certain point, you have to leave.  There's always going to be something left unfinished, or some lesson that could be made better.  But kids know we work hard, and the day to day operations in our classes probably won't sway anyone's ability to get into Harvard.  Plus, you're no good to anyone if you stay and wallow in work and are cranky the next day.  I found this difficult to digest because I don't have kids or pets.  So I don't feel like there's any pressing reason I have to leave at night.  If anyone can absorb long hours at work, it's probably someone like me.  

She said that was putting the cart before the horse.  You can't have a good reason to go home if you spend all your time working.  You have to set the limit first, and then stick to it.

I'm trying to heed this advice.  For some reason, it's really stressful to not work.  I find myself thinking about all the things that have been left undone.  "Panic Attack" is probably too strong a phrase, but I've definitely had some "Micro Panic Skirmishes".  But the more time I spend outside of work, the better chance that I find great reasons to leave work on time.  So, for now, the reasons to leave can be dumb and I'm confident they will get better with time.

Today's reason to leave?  

The Bed Intruder Song was added to Rock Band

Yes, you see five stars next to that song.

Because I rock like that.


Linkage:
Bed Intruder Song
(Just in case)

Day 341 - Another Great Idea Foiled By The District

September 13, 2011

It was curriculum night for my old school and the lunch crew was getting together for dinner.  My shutter shyness got the better of me even though they probably would have been cool with it.  They were all dressed up for curriculum night, this would have been the best time to take a picture, right?  

But after I left I thought "Shoot, I didn't take a picture.  What should I do instead?".  I thought about our Communicator avatars and how cool it might look to have everyone's avatar at dinner.  

But then I tried to use Communicator to access their sites and see their avatars.  Of course, Communicator didn't work.   Something about me not having permission.  Heaven forbid I should be able to collaborate with colleagues at other buildings.  We certainly wouldn't want to encourage that.

So I'm eating dinner alone. 

With my basketball and my dragon.

Sigh.

Day 340 - If It Was Blue, It Would Be Artsy

September 12, 2011

Picasso went through different periods in his art.  The Blue, Rose, and Cubic periods help define the man and his work. 

This is from my "Hobbes At Play Period".  I'm going through a phase right now.  Give me a few weeks and I'm sure I'll snap out of it.  

There.  Now it's art.

Day 339 - Football Sunday

September 11, 2011

RedZone sucks up my whole Sunday.  

But sometimes that's exactly what I want. 

My newly retired father had never seen RedZone.

We started at 10am and snacked our way to 2:30pm.  Halfway through our second container of hummus, Dad looks up and says "Whoa!  What time is it?!?"

Remember Dad, there are no commercials.  You can watch every touchdown, as it happens, for six straight hours.

I think I created a monster.  

Day 338 - Futbol Saturday

September 10, 2011

Sounders 1 - Real Salt Lake 2

David Hawthorne (#57, the player on the side of the stadium) is affectionately known as "The Heater".

He's a fan favorite, but he shouldn't be one of our best players.  
We seriously don't have anyone else who is any good.  
The Seahawks are so bad right now. 

Thank God the Sounders are crushing it.

Outside the stadium, kids show off their juggling skills.  I've always thought that juggling a soccer ball looks awesome, but I've never had a reason to learn.  As with every other new skill, the biggest barrier is accepting that children are WAY better at the skill than I could ever hope to be.

SWAG!!!

And I know it's odd to feel proud of how I slept, but I nailed it last night.

Day 337 - No Flash Allowed

September 9, 2011

Morning practice is so early, I need Starbucks to get me going.  Venti iced coffee, no room, no sweeter (In case you were curious).  I'm getting to Starbucks so early, I earned the "Midnight Munchies" badge from Foursquare.

5:30am is too early for Foursquare to register that time as a new day.  Foursquare thinks "No weirdo would be starting his day now, he must still be partying!  Awesome!  Give him a badge!".  
So when I'm driving to work, the cool kids haven't gone to bed yet.  
Sigh.

When we do go out, we meet at 8:00pm.  While it's still light outside.  And the night ends around 10:30.  Because we all have adult jobs and are used to getting up early.

I was told I could not use a flash in these photos.  That's why they're so dark.  Sorry.

Day 336 - "You Are Tearing Me Apart Lisa!!"

September 8, 2011

Trapped in the Closet

and

The Room

Double Feature at Central Cinema

Trapped in the Closet

Greatest cinematic achievement of the last 50 years?

The awesomeness that is "Trapped in the Closet" takes 24 chapters to explain.  The fan wiki has everything you could ever want (and you can watch the entire thing there).  You need to know that everyone has guns, it has Omar from "The Wire", and there's a midget who poops his pants named "Big Man".

The Room

Do not watch The Room alone.  Go see it with other people who know what to do.  It's kind of like Rocky Horror Picture Show.  This fan guide from the AV Club will describe it better than I ever could. 

So much fun.  And Central Cinema provided our spoons.

Day 335 - We Are Explosions In The Sky And Our Songs Never Stop!

September 7, 2011

Explosions in the Sky tweeted about this show a few days ago.  The band mentioned they were trying something new with these "guerrilla" shows.  The Crocodile was packed.  So I guess twitter works. 

  I thought it would have been hard to replicate their sound live, but they sounded great.

They didn't even have any microphones on stage because nobody sings.  Every song just flowed into the next one.  It was a great show for a small venue.  And I learned that the Crocodile is awesome. 

Day 334 - Dad's Retirement Dinner

September 6, 2011

We intentionally planned this for the first day of school.  Which was officially the first day of Dad's retirement.  

The family celebrated at Maggiano's with our close friends.

Day 333 - Only Six Other People In the Theater

September 5, 2011

Our Idiot Brother

Highly recommended. 

Sale at Eddie Bauer.  Score.

Also, for some reason we went to Outback.  Which is a "fancy" restaurant.  I would go to Red Robin at any time for any reason.  But Outback is only for birthdays and weddings.  I have no idea why I feel this way.

Day 332 - Bumbershoot

September 4, 2011

Broken Social Scene

Feist wasn't there.  Sad face.

At least the mainstage was inside.  It was 90 degrees outside but Key Arena was air conditioned.

SIFF Shorts One Reel Film Fest 
North Atlantic

Fantastic Flying Books of Mr Morris Lessmore

Amazonia

Cataplexy

New Digs

I showed up 20 minutes early and there was no one in line.

Pretty soon, there were 1000 people in line for a theater that seats 300.

People at Bumbershoot are not punctual.

Jessica Lea Mayfield

Warpaint

Leon Russell

He KILLED it.  Might have been the best show of the day.  Maybe he sounded better from the beer garden.  Tough to say.

Toro y Moi

The Kills

Anyone could work on this giant paint by numbers. 

I colored that orange leaf.

Good work, team!

Day 331 - Dinner Party

September 3, 2011

Song is done.  Today, Whitney was mixing and fiddling with levels and tweeters or woofers or something.  I am unable to help with much of this part of the process.  Aside from an occasional listen to the progress, I wandered around and played with the cats.

This made Dante happy.

 

Sophia couldn't care less.  That cat is stuck up. 

Yeah, you can tell her I said that.

There was also a dinner party, but I didn't know some of the people well enough to start snapping photos.

Is there a shorthand phrase for that situation?

I suggest shutter-shy or snap-o-phobic.

Dwight was not invited.

Day 330 - Rewrites

September 2, 2011

Listening to our song in the car, the lyrics don't work.  They don't fit syllable-wise.

Dammit.

So while I waited for Whitney to get home from work and let me in the house, I enjoyed my sweet tea in the grass and rejiggered the lyrics. 

Then Whitney got home and told me he just laid down a metric ton of dandelion killer. 

So I'm sure that was good for me.

Main Vocals Complete.

Tomorrow, we finish this thing!

Day 329 - Pool Party!!

September 1, 2011

The Social Committee has alwasy been very inclusive.  I received invites to these parties even when I didn't work with these people.  So it's hard to say that my heart missed these kinds of parties when I've attended every party in the last five years.

However, it's different being a part of it.  Feeling like I have a place and feeling like I belong means something.  This group has been exceptionally welcoming.  It's like once you've been a part of it, you're always a part of it.

Like we're a family.

I hope everyone at the party appreciates how rare it is to have these kind of get togethers. 

Day 328 - "Lyrics Are Difficult, I Must Say"

August 31, 2011

We wanted to record main vocals today.  But you can't record vocals without lyrics.  And since we didn't have any lyrics yet, we had to spend today hammering that out.

He is flipping off the microphone.  Because the microphone is requiring us to have lyrics.  We finally finished most of them, but it was too late to spit hot fire.

Day 327 - The Cahoon Classic

August 30, 2011

I think I get golf.  It's an excuse to take a walk in the park with your friends.  The balls and the scores don't matter.  I do find my heart experiencing a weird internal tension between two extremes.  I'm either feeling serenety and peace stemming from our natural surroundings, or frustration and rage from that stupid white ball having a mind of it's own.  

 Golf is awesome because they bring the drinks to you.

Best Cart Girl EVER!

There is a much better photo of our team in a powerpoint that I can't access from home. I hope I remember to put that picture here:

What's even better than golf?  Raising hundreds of dollars for Esme's college fund.  We are sending that kid to college whether she likes it or not.