Fair Days

I have made it. A full day at the Minnesota State Fair.
At first i was a little worried, but then i realized Brett Williams would be by our side to guide us through the great get together. As an added bonus, Tim Dybevik would act as backup in case Brett became unavailable.
We had four 30 minute shows with Stevie Rays throughout the day. In between the sets, we would be able to roam the fairgrounds. And we did.
We went and found some typical fair food such as a Pronto Pup, which is NOT a corn dog. There is a difference. I had the Pronto Pup. Wrong choice. Enjoyed a cookie and that was about the extent of it.
We did go to the Pirate shoot out. That was a good time had by all. Brett made the unfortunate mistake of putting his bucket of balls (insert joke here) on the upper ledge, exposing it to the shootout. With one swift shot, Brett's balls were everywhere, as was Brett.
The shows went off well. The longer the day went on, the more exhausted the troupe became. None the less, we made the crowd laugh, and in the end, i believe we may have secured a bigger stage for next year. Well see. Thanks Tim for the initial foot in the door.
We all gathered up and jumped in the van that would take us across the fair grounds to our cars. It was amazing how fair goers can become very angry and seething over a vehicle cutting through the street. Luckily the windows were tinted and our identities were protected from the short fused mob. The joys of the fair.
I was glad to get back to my car and head home, knowing i wouldn't have to deal with the fair for a long time to come... or would I?
The answer... no. The family and I would embark the next day.

Aftermath of B-day

I wanted to write about my birthday (as it was yesterday), but i find that i don't have time at the moment. Please stay posted, as i promise a surprise.

Lifes Fare

It was a little hotter then usual that day. Instead of the normal Hawaiian 86 degrees with ideal trade winds , it was somewhere in the mid 90's and calm. Dave, John, and myself had been skating (skateboarding) over most of Hickam Air Force Base and were exhausted. We decided that we wanted to make our way to Wallows and then on to Waikiki to hit some surf to cool down. John usually had his parents car, but it was in the shop. So we turned to the only other transportation that we knew of ... the bus.

It was a little strange and exciting to board a city bus for the first time. It slowly rolled up coming to a stop at a barren corner of the east side of the base. The brakes screeched with the typical air release. The driver was an older gentleman, rather heavy set, with glasses that looked like they were bullet proof. The only words that were uttered were "keep em off the floor". Apparently he didn't care for the skateboards. It was a typical bus. It had hard blue plastic seats, and was rather spacious. There weren't even any bars running the length of the bus for passengers to hold. It was jsut white and blue, void of any images. It was 1985. There was no one on the bus, so we headed to the back to camp out. There was no A/C, but the windows were open and generated enough wind to cool us down. The engine started to roar as we took off. I remember feeling eager to be venture the island with our new found travel. We saw interesting people enter and exit, most of them friendly. Even held some conversations with a few. I saw parts of the island i had not seen before, all while enjoying the company of my friends. Somehow, i felt i had aged that day.

Fast forward 23 years. My sister in law is giving birth to her brand new baby boy, and my wife is by her side in the delivery room. She tells me she wont be able to pick me up after work. That leaves me only one choice... the Bus.

It was a muggy afternoon in downtown Minneapolis. I had no skateboard (its at home), and i had to make a trek from WFHM to Lake and 35W in order to catch the bus. After a ten minute walk I climbed the 30 plus stairs to the bus stop sitting on the edge of the interstate. I waited with about 6 other people for the chariot that would take us to our domain. One by one they all disappeared onto their respective bus. Finally mine rolled up. As it did, i could see that it was full... completely.

The bus rolled up with the familiar release of the brakes. Excitement started rising in me much like my youth. Nostalgia started setting in. Door swung open and the bus driver didn't even look my way. Already i could tell things were different from my youth. I stepped about a foot past the yellow line, that had not been there 23 years ago, and was not able to move any further. Every seat and standing space was taken. No one was making eye contact. No one was talking. People were either reading books, listening to ipods, or staring blankly out the window. I call it City Grey. Everyone is somewhere in between the black and the white. They are just grey. There were advertisements running the length of the bus. Everywhere you looked, there was some kind of information being shoved down your consuming throat. Quite a bit had changed from my youth. There was no communication from anyone. Things had definitely changed. People made great effort not to connect with the person whom their bodies were literally pressed up against. It was sad to see this. It reminded me of my youth and the freedom I had and the freedom people had with each other in general. One by one they would all leave the bus. They would utter "thank you" to the bus driver, but not with some genuine feeling, but an obligation to the fact it was done by the passenger before them. I was the last one to exit the bus. Before i did, i tried to strike a conversation with the bus driver, but he seemed off put by it. I tried. I left the bus with a feeling of disappointment. I wanted to feel that same energy from my early days. It was not to be had.

So, i made the ten minute walk home. Thought about my kids and the new baby born that day, and could only hope they wouldn't become one of the Grey's. After arriving home, i went to the basement, grabbed my skate(skateboard) and tried to refresh my youth. The day was not lost.

Olympic Blog

What a terribly busy and stressful week.

I know what your thinking, is he part of the 2008 Olympics?? Does he have great stress due to all the training? Is his schedule filled with opening ceremonies, and last minute adjustments to the meeting all new people in a foreign land? I know that it would seem these to be valid questions, but the answer is no, I did not attend the Olympics opening ceremony. I did however have lots of training and met lots of new people in my new permanent job (which is on a different floor in a different building which is technically foreign to me).

My new job consists of me learning a whole new program to work in, and it is slow going to say the least. Hopefully i can get a better handle on it next week, so that i can feel more productive.

Along with a new system to learn, came lots of new names to learn... which is hard. The reason it is hard is something i have yet to figure out. You see, up until the age of about 26, i was able to remember every persons name that i met. I had an uncanny ability to remember one time acquaintances. I'm talking names that were useless to remember, like the boyfriend of your girlfriends cousin (Mike Boyd). Something changed in my brain in my late 20's, and now names are like gibberish. I will here a name, and literally, fractions of a second later, it is gone. It is like i leap forward in time when introductions are being made. My brain has turned on me. As a result of this, i can not manage introductions without looking like a fool. There is no finer moment then when you go to introduce your wife to a long time friend and realize you cant remember your... wife's name. Okay, it hasn't been that bad, but it certainly feels like it.

The days were busy, and the evenings were as well.

Tuesday saw the final 6 Ring of the quarter which was fun. It was the last night of CSGG (Club Squad Group Gang), as all the teams will be mixed up for the next round. It will be exciting to start coaching a new team from scratch.

Later that night the wife (whats her name...come on Jason, THINK) and I went to see An Intimate Evening with Mike Fotis. It is one of the many shows of the Fringe Festival. It was hilarious. Great story telling Mike. Nice job.

Wednesday was rehearsal for Stevie Ray's. It was a great rehearsal, as it was time to stretch the brains a little and really start juggling improv skills. I think the expressions left on the troupe was all the assurance i needed to know that i had gave them a work out. Came home that night and grilled and had some great conversations with Dave (something last name... dammit Jason, you can do this!)

Monday and Thursday was an evening busy with children. Insert multiple parenting things here. Thursday also came with a late night get together at Josh and Alicia's new home. My wife (I know its in there somewhere, think boy, THINK) and I went for some grilling and conversations with people we knew and new acquittance's (not even going to try).

Friday evening was also an evening of children and house cleaning. The first time in a while i was home alone with the little ones. The reason for that is because the teenager has begun working. That's right. If your at the BNW on a Friday or Saturday, you may be seated by him. He has a new title, and it is usher boy. Not sure how he feels about it yet, as he is not very expressive, but i am sure the money that can come from it might raise the emotional meter. We will see. The rest of the evening was spent with Karen (wait a minute, that's it, I DID IT!) watching some bad television. It seems like weeks since we were able to do that. Kind of cool.

Well that turned out to be quite the weekly recap blog. Sorry about that. Probably was more of a debrief from all the stress of some of it. It doesn't read very stressful, but trust me, it was in there. I'm off, i have to start stretching out for week two of ...(insert my name, CRAP!) Olympics.

Patchey the Painter

Aaaaargh, ahoy matey! That's right, I'm speaking pirate. Alas is time to finally paint the baby's bedroom. Okay, hes not so much a baby anymore, but i finally have the walls prepped and a severe itch to put my BFA to work.

The theme of the room if you haven't guessed yet is pirates and sea life. Capt. Jack Sparrow will be gracing a wall, and the wonderful world of Bikini Bottom will also make an appearance. I am thinking about limiting it to just these two themes, but am open for any other suggestions that might be cool to create. Feel free to submit ideas.

I have been trying to do research for murals in bedrooms, and i have to say, there isn't a lot out there. Let me correct that statement. There is a lot out there, but the majority of it isn't very good. There are a few stunning pieces i have seen, so there is some inspiration there, but it looks like i will just have to wing it. Having not sketched or painted in a while, i find myself a little rusty, and truly having to blow the cobwebs out of the visual recesses of the right side of my brain. It will be interesting to see how long this takes me. Will it truly be "like riding a bicycle", or will it be more like trying to figure out trigonometry. Well see.

I will try and keep some pics going up of the progress, that way everyone can experience my success, or my difficulty with math.

I suppose i should stop stalling and jump to it, so avast mateys, its time to hoist the sails and set sea. Aaaaaargh. The course be set for a land of paint and wonderment. Aargh... aarh... ar