dicebourbon.com

A shooting star is not a star

2009-01-02T23:04:00.003-06:00

We saw a beautiful green meteorite walking home tonight. It flashed down across the sky over the course of several seconds. I remember seeing one similar shooting star driving once, but this was way cooler and lasted much longer.

We had fun at Beth and Steve's new year's party. Good company, good food. New Year's Day for us was pretty lazy - we moved the last of our boxes into the house, and that's about it.

2008-12-29T18:37:00.005-06:00

2008 in review

2008-12-28T12:00:00.001-06:00

So today I want to write about all the stuff I've been meaning to write about all year. I'll probably just breeze over stuff more than I would have if I'd written in a timely manner, but I want to get it written down somewhere just so I don't completely forget years from now.

I've been working at the paper all year, although only part-time for the second half of the year. I decided in the spring that I wanted to do more freelance work and I also started working at Jansen Products around June, designing websites and ads. I've designed five or six sites by now, I think, including Dishntunes.com, the biggest one. I'm also going to be redesigning some of the existing sites that are outdated. I feel good about the work that I've done there and I like the work a lot, especially since it's all local businesses that are really interesting.

In March I wanted to write about Joanna James's farewell show in Minneapolis but didn't. It was amazing. She had a bunch of Minneapolis area musicians who made guest appearances, including Haley Bonar, Dan Wilson (of Semisonic), Marc Perlman (of the Jayhawks), Martin Devaney (whom I hadn't heard of but was really amazing), Chris Koza and Jessy Greene (who has played with the Foo Fighters and is Joanna's roommate now, I think). (One of the dudes from Dada opened with an acoustic set that was kinda boring; another classic rock/funk band played after that and got the crowd juiced up.) Joanna was in fine form, playing all her best songs, many of which come from her most recent EP Back of My Mind. The song "Disappear", which has some sad resonance with her departing Minnesota, is one of my favorite songs by anyone ever, seriously. Joanna left for LA to make the next step in her career. I haven't heard much but I think she's making a go of it.

We were lucky enough to go to New York for a CrunchGear party on May 1 (we were in town a day before and a day after as well). It was my second visit to NY and I think Shannon's fourth. We stayed at Ted and Lorri's apartment across near the Lincoln Center, where once again we were visiting on the eve of a trip they were taking out of town. So we talked to them a bit that night and they were gone the next day, which was also the day of the party. It was a sort of Apprentice-like adventure that day when John (my editor) called me up and told me to get a vinyl sign made for the party, so I drew one on my laptop and figured out which Kinko's to get it printed and had it all figured out in time for the party. It was a fun time; they had video games and free drinks and gadget company reps with free stuff. Shannon was cute as a hostess who collected people's business cards for prize giveaways; she was much more charming than the CG dudes (me included) would have been. The next day we went to Brooklyn to hang out at John's house along with the CG writers ("dirty hippoes" according to John's son) along with my brother and his family. We wanted to see some friends of mine from Toledo who also live in Brooklyn, but we didn't get the chance to.

Elkader experienced a devastating flood in June, which wiped out some downtown businesses and dozens of homes. Almost all the businesses have reopened, some in new locations, but some are gone completely, like the athletic club (a new one has since opened). We took some aerial photos for the paper. It was really tough for our friends who own a restaurant right along the Turkey River.

I was really remiss in not posting about our nephew Mason's birth July 26. It was on the weekend of Sweet Corn Days here in Elkader, which is the town's big event (aside from the St. Patrick's Day parade). He's a really cute kid and I hope we'll get to see him often as he's growing up.

We got to meet Mason (and see the rest of our family) in October when we went to Paducah for my aunt and uncle's annual Halloween festival, which I'd only been to once before, several years ago. More importantly, we were in town for my grandfather's 90th birthday party, which was held at the Knights of Columbus hall and five generations of family and many friends.

I went to my 10-year high school reunion in Columbus at the end of August.

Other stuff from this year:

We started a book club with one other person who is a much more voracious reader than we are, but we have fun getting together every couple of months (on average). A bonus is that our friend hosts us and makes these amazing vegetarian meals when we join her family for dinner before our meetings. So far we've read Love in the Time of Cholera, Life Class, Oryx and Crake and we're meeting this week to talk about A Confederacy of Dunces.

We went to the Iowa State Fair with Shannon's family and had fun. We saw the Charley Daniels band.

We've done some fun stuff with Frederique and Brian like go to Minneapolis to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit at the Walker and to New Glarus for a brewery tour. They tend to go to places for one single reason and sometimes we join them. They love this Thai restaurant we took them to in Minneapolis and have been back many times (we went just the one time).

Our town got flooded, did I mention that?

The biggest news for us this year:

We thought we would surprise people with this photo for Christmas, but like our first president, Shannon cannot tell a lie and when asked point blank by her cousin's husband, we announced the news to our family. (Co-workers who see Shannon every day already knew, since it didn't take long for them to figure it out.)

Needless to say we are uber-excited and can't wait till July. We are also excited for Phil and Teresa, who are expecting their second child a week after us.

My problem is spending more time consuming media than producing it. There's so much cool stuff out there, but maybe there's some cool stuff in here too, I just need to take the time to find it. Looking over what I've written in the past, I don't think navel-gazing is my particular talent or calling, but I can use a blog as a vehicle for communication that is still a journal in a sense, that chronicles my life that will be interesting for myself and possibly others.

Naomi declares the winner

2008-11-08T09:35:00.000-06:00

Ketchup

2008-09-18T13:52:00.002-05:00

I have half a post written about going to my 10-year high school reunion last month which I'll post later. Also I need to tell you about the house we bought. I will. I just don't know when. Let me get some work done and I'll get back to you.

2nd City OHP

2008-07-25T17:59:00.001-05:00

Last night Second City was at the Opera House. It was a really good show and took our minds off some sad news. Afterwards the cast and crew of the show went to Schera's (where there was also a drink special for show-goers) and we stayed rather late. One of the women was from Ohio, one guy was from southern Michigan near Toledo where I went to undergrad. I looked up their website and realized that a woman from my high school is in Second City as well (not in this show of course).

This past month

2008-06-17T15:47:00.002-05:00

In the past month, we bought a house and had a flood in our town. I'm also in the middle of a slow job transition. Things are going pretty well but the town is going through a tough time.

Here for now

2008-05-11T00:22:00.002-05:00

Photos of Maddy's art auction.

I want to tell you all about New York and stuff but I have no time. I don't think I will ever have time to tell you about anything.

Back in NYC

2008-05-01T12:13:00.002-05:00

We're in New York on business. Haven't done much yet, but today is a work day. I'll let you know how it goes.

What I know now, what I'm doing

2008-02-21T22:32:00.003-06:00

I found out just now that I share a birthday with Tom Bodett.

We've been doing woodcarving on occasional Thursdays. It's fun. The first project is to carve a knife - a bit solipsistic but a good challenge.

I wonder what Shannon is writing about?

Hi.

2007-12-11T22:07:00.000-06:00

Hi.

Things are good.

A few facts

2007-10-20T11:45:00.001-05:00

The play has come and gone. My parents came to visit to see it on the second weekend and it was really fun. They brought us delicious Sprecher soda from Milwaukee after visiting my sister there.

Shannon and I got new phones. Ask me for the number via email if I don't contact you first.

Accent quiz

2007-09-15T23:28:00.000-05:00

What American accent do you have? Your Result: The Midland "You have a Midland accent" is just another way of saying "you don't have an accent." You probably are from the Midland (Pennsylvania, southern Ohio, southern Indiana, southern Illinois, and Missouri) but then for all we know you could be from Florida or Charleston or one of those big southern cities like Atlanta or Dallas. You have a good voice for TV and radio.
The West
Boston
North Central
The Inland North
The Northeast
Philadelphia
The South
What American accent do you have? Quiz Created on GoToQuiz

It's cool to love your family

2007-09-11T17:30:00.000-05:00

Tell me my niece isn't the cutest! I like the contrast between the peals of laughter and the mechanical noise of the swing.

This week

2007-08-16T15:30:00.000-05:00

Went up to St. Paul Tuesday by myself to get a career consultation at Springboard for the Arts. I got some good advice; it was a good morale booster. I was in St. Paul for about four hours and I drove for about 8.5 hours (round trip).

It looks like I have a new job! More later.

Noo Nanoo

2007-07-19T21:50:00.000-05:00

Aww...

Languorous weekend

2007-07-08T23:47:00.000-05:00

It's been very humid. Fortunately we got the A/C working just before the heat wave.

On Saturday we hardly did anything, but we did go to the grocery store and Shannon took me to a fairly new coffee shop. It had nice decor and I had a really good reuben and a coffee drink called "The White Nut". Then we just hung out at home for the rest of the day. We talked to my mom and my sister Joy in separate conversations. We're planning on getting together with Chris and Joy sometime in August, since we're only four hours apart and to meet halfway would not be a long drive at all.

This morning we went to church and it was potluck day (and a member of the church's 40th birthday). Somehow the word "kittywompus" came up, which no one who grew up outside of Iowa (including me) had ever heard before. It has the same meaning as kitty-corner or catercorner, diagonally across the corner from something. Lawrence (originally from NY) said "You know, like a can of wompus?" (I found out later that kittywompus or catawampus also means crooked or going all over the place, and that there is a Kitty-Wompus Airport in Wisconsin.) The other unusual phrase we heard was something like "put your whiskers in the water", and when we asked the woman what it meant, she said, "I don't know it's something my mother always says". So we asked her mother about it, and she said "It's like 'You're next'. I don't know, my mother taught it to me." Her mother, unfortunately, wasn't available for further questioning. We conjectured that it has something to do with preparing for shaving as a metaphor for getting ready for something.

I played some Lego Star Wars today and we talked to Anne, who is moving from Minnesota to Oregon soon. In the evening we walked over to Shannon's parents and talked with her mom for a couple of hours.

Leery

2007-07-02T11:31:00.000-05:00

Lawrence invited us (and seven others, including Karen and friends of his from Cedar Falls) to see King Lear at an outdoor theater (Riverside Theatre) in Iowa City. It was really fantastic. I'd only read it (and that was ten years ago, for a high school class) so it was great to see it, and done so well. It was rather emotionally draining. The setting was a sort of dystopian future, which was cool. The only thing I didn't like was the music, which sounded like synthy marching music (?) - it really distracted from the gravity of what was happening.

We had a bit of an adventure trying to contact Lawrence since we forgot our cell phones at home. It involved pay phones and expensive phone cards and calling my mother-in-law to deliver a message. Lawrence compared it to a Shakespearian comedy of errors. I'm sure I've gotten together with people before I had a cell phone, but I don't remember how.

Games and Dining Out

2007-06-17T16:31:00.000-05:00

Played way too much Halo 2 with Lawrence and Pastor Pete. Shannon was bored and I feel bad about it. Probably won't happen again (unless I bring the Gamecube so we can play Mario Kart or Smash Bros).

Had deer rib sandwiches for dinner at the in-laws. Yum. Called Dad (late) but no one was home.

Saturday we went to Tokyo, a Japanese restaurant where they do tricks with the food and cook it in front of you. The coolest was a volcano made of slices of onion, first shooting a flame five feet high and then a jet of steam. The food was delicious as well. We got a lot of information from the cook since Bill likes to chat with anybody within earshot. It made the experience more fun.

In the bathroom I put water in my hair to mat it down. When I came out, Amber aked, "Did you give yourself a swirly?" which instantly got added to the insult lexicon. Shannon emerged from the bathroom saying "I looked down and I was peeing on Caitlin's face!", referring, of course, a grad photo of a student whose graduation party we'd just attended that day.

Missing months

2007-06-16T00:07:00.001-05:00

I didn't write about going to Amsterdam and Berlin, but Shannon did a much better job of it here.

Show

2007-06-15T23:58:00.000-05:00

Shannon and I have a show up at a coffee shop in Elkader. Today we were interviewed for an article about us for the paper. It feels good to have some work out there for people to see. We were seated nearby our wall in the coffee shop during the interview, and we saw and overheard some people who were looking at our work and talking enthusiastically about it. Neat.

smdd bd

2007-05-13T19:10:00.000-05:00

It's Shannon's birthday! We went to church and then to Shannon's aunt's house to spend Mother's Day with her mom's side of the family. It was fun, and everybody probably ate too much, and lots of people got gifts (Katie just graduated on Saturday from Drake and Justin's birthday is later this month). I am sleepy.

2007-04-30T10:51:00.000-05:00

I want one of these.

Infrequent posting

2007-04-08T22:48:00.000-05:00

This coming weekend is the opening of the play. My family (parents and sisters) is going to see the show on Saturday night, as is Shannon's family. The show's coming along pretty well but the first act is still pretty rough. Hopefully we can pull it together and tighten the screws before opening night. We have four more rehearsals to do it.

The job is going well, I'm enjoying it. Last week Shannon got the exact same job at a paper in Elkader (although hers is full-time while mine is part-time). She's much happier than she was teaching. I am much happier than when I was sorting laundry for a living. We both feel like responsible adults.

Easter was pretty good. We spent most of the day at the Moores'. We made stuff with stamps - I tried to make dirty messages with stamps of phrases. We played Guitar Hero and Apples to Apples. We ate until we were sick. We made fun of each other.

I talked to my Jean, Kate, and my parents briefly. Kate is recovering from cataract surgery and is happy to have good vision again. Jean is changing careers (or at least jobs). My mom is coming along on her physical therapy after surgery on her shoulder. My dad is doing well also. I'm looking forward to seeing them all (as well as Joy and Chris). Shannon and I are excited that we will have guests to stay in our new music/rock themed room in our house.

Always work to be done.

2007-03-08T14:36:00.000-06:00

They killed Cap! It's the end of our ideals.