October 4, 2006

You know what's a bad sign? A bad sign is when you go to the bar, drink a bunch of beer, then forget about anything that has bothered you all day. Don't get me wrong, I'm not drinking to forget, it just happens that way by default.

Notes that all should know: Russ and Josh are the greatest. They'll hang with me at the bar, and they will melt faces off playing funky grooves beyond your belief. Rock on, boys.

Russ beat me at darts a bunch tonight. I am jaded. What will I ever do?

Patents rehearsal went well tonight. We learned three new tunes in two hours. I like the direction we're going in.

I signed myself up for a Facebook page. I'm now officially hopelessly addicted to this whole blog thing. There is no hope.

I sang with a Bon Jovi song on my way home from the bar. I have officially become completely unattractive to everyone because of that- especially due to the fact that I just admitted that I did so in the first place.

Something I thought about earlier today (before I was drinking): I wish I could apologize to the few that truly feel that I have wronged or hurt over the past seven years. I want to, but I fear that it's too late at this point, and would it matter to them at this point, anyhow? The thought of that makes the pain all the more worse.

I need to go to bed. More soon.

October 1, 2006

It's October. I guess that means that it's officially fall. I'm not sold, though- it was eighty degrees out here today. Of course, that just means that it could snow fifteen inches tomorrow. You can't life around this area without quite the sense of surprise, I guess.

It was a good weekend. It was most certainly laid back, which is great. It was my second in a row, which never happens. Now, looking forward into October, there will be no more weekends like that. My weekends will be filled with Patents shows, the NDSU Opera Theatre, and drill with the Guard Band. That pretty much take me through the second weekend of November. Being busy is good, though, keeps me out of trouble (generally). It also puts bread in the bank.

Friday night, I went and saw the first performance of the NDSU Jazz Ensemble and Lab Band for this school year. There were some good moments in there. The Lab Band played very well, continuing Matt Patnode's signs of massive improvement in the performance of that group. It helps that NDSU has some very dedicated non-majors who love music, and really want to play well. Of course, the Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Kyle Mack did pretty well overall. The lack of the strong comping player was the most noticable problem, along with the lack of a stright-up lead trumpet player. I was impressed with the new young rhythm section, which includes a pair of talented players that just came to NDSU this year. The bones were outstanding (as well they should be) with a very young group headed up by Dan Hinman. The saxes were also strong under the leadership of Jessy and Brian. It was a welcomed sight to see Rena back in the section, and she also soloed, showing that she's been listening and practicing. I was impressed with her style, and more so than anything, it's just good see her back on stage playing again.

A few of us went out to eat after the show, to include Jeremy Meinert and his wife Roxy, along with Erin and Jessy and several others. We had dinner at Chili's, and even though it makes no difference saying so, our waitress- who was Asian- was absolutely beautiful. It's probably creepy to really say so, now that I think about it. It spawned a conversation that explained that I had never dated an Asian woman before.

-PORTION EDITED-

Back to today...I worked at the hotel on Saturday morning, then came home and took a good nap before going out to dinner with Dano. Kirsten was going to come too, but she ended up having to babysit. So, Dano and I went to Ruby Tuesday's (thanks for dinner, by the way), then we went and had a few beers at the Doublewood. It was nice to catch up with Dano again. I think about five years ago how we used to hang out all of the time, so I kind of miss the old days from time to time. Nonetheless, Dano is doing well and it was good to hang out.

I went to see Post Traumatic Funk Syndrome later that night. They were playing at the Aquarium above Dempsey's. There, I drank quite a bit and generally had a good time. The band is quite good, and why shouldn't it- it's full of the best players in town. It was cool to be out with a bunch of friends and all, but as the night went along, I started to feel a strange sense of jealousy towards the band. While I didn't deny that they were good, I began to think about the fact that Patents was going to play there soon in November. While I'm very excited to play that show, I have a fear that people who see us play that have already seen PTFS play will think that we're simply trying to copy PTFS, when that's not the truth at all. Patents has been around for five years, and we've always tried to do what we do. I don't want to get beat based on timing, basically. I also don't want to be jealous of those guys. I think they do some things better than us, but also, I feel we do some things better than them. They are really good, and I send out lots of props to those guys. I guess we'll see. I just need to stop being so damned paranoid.

For the record, I bought Krista Bjornson and Brandon Aune their 21st birthday drinks. Happy Really Late Birthday, you guys kick ass for coming out on Saturday. Welcome to my world.

I'm watching Sunday night football, and at each break, they keep playing Chicago tunes. I like that.

I'm feeling kind of dark tonight. I'm not so sure why. Every now and then, I sit around and think about a lot of stuff, mostly about relationships and junk like that. It happens on weekends like this when I have time to myself. I think that's why I try to stay busy. It's not that I don't want to deal with things, because for the most part, I've taken care of that baggage. It's more about just wishing that things had gone right so that I wouldn't be in this funk to begin with. I just see other people, and I don't want their lives to be mine, but I want my life to be good like theirs. I'm also one of those guys who always looks back on my regrets of the past, and that's never good. You might call it my worst vice. I'm trying to make things right. I'm not so sure everyone would believe that, but I am. I guess thats just on my mind. I'm making things heavey.

Well, I should go. I've got some stuff to do, and I think I'm feeling like I should now go and get a beer or something. Have a good week, I'll try to get back with you all sometime shortly...

"I can't to figure out what's wrong with me so I can say this is the way that I used to be..."

September 28, 2006

Hey, how's it going? The week has kind of flown by quickly, which has been good since I seem to always be aiming for the weekend and all.  Some good things are going on with the new reading back coming along really nicely.  Jessy Klimpel and I are working hard to make it all work out, and things are looking cool. I've always wanted to get together a read band program, and it seems like we have the good balance of veteran players and young players who want to just make some music.  It doesn't get any better than that. Of course, if by chance that you're in the FM area and you're interested in playing in the reading band, you can go here to get more information.

I've been browsing through sites and blogs over the last week, and I've found all sorts of really cool stuff. I read two really good blog entries with great memorable quotes that I can most certainly relate to. The first came from Anne's site. It was a simple quote that sort of hit home to me, and probably hits home to others, too.

"People pop in and out of our lives and I wish I could have at least an ounce of knowing what was ahead of us on the journey."

Enough said.

The other one that I kind of got a kick out of was from Laura's site.  While it's not a life-changing thought, it's certainly something that a got a laugh out of while pretty much agreeing with it.

"Marching band is no fun and does not contribute to a music program, except as making musically-ignorant people happy."

Again, enough said...with a big smile on some of our faces.  I did enjoy marching band in my day, but to be completely truthful, I'm not so sure I learned anything incredibly useful musically. The other thing that I saw on one blog was an old picture from the aforementioned marching band.  Erin found it somewhere and posted it on her blog, and it kind of brought back some fun memories from my early days in the band.

I had a bit of a crazy Wednesday night.  I'm not going to go into detail about what was going on, but I will say that some people need to learn to understand that everyone is different from everyone else.  To assume that the way you think is the way that everyone else thinks is absurd.  Attempting to change the way others are on the spot in a ridiculously persistant manner will accomplish nothing, especially if that person is under an immense amount of pressure and stress.  Everyone is allowed to speak their minds, but whta ever happened to a little tact and sensitivity, especially when someone is having a rough time?  All of this seems so logical to me, how can it be so unclear to a small percentage of others?

But, thankfully a good portion of the people and friends that I know are not like that.  Unfortunatly, it only takes one to ruin a person's night.

Thankfully, the weekend is almost here.  I have another weekend off, basically.  I do work at the hotel on Saturday, but other than that, it should be a good weekend.  There's a NDSU Jazz Ensemble concert tomorrow night, and on Saturday, I plan on taking Dano and Kirsten to dinner.  The Post Traumatic Funk Syndrome is playing tomorrow night as well.  It should be a good weekend.  Maybe I'll see some of you, get a hold of me.  You know my number.  Have a good weekend...

September 24, 2006

It's Sunday at about 5:45pm, and I'm watching in complete disbelief as my fantasy football team is getting spanked. I'm also in disbelief as I watch the New York Giants getting spanked by the Seattle Seahawks. The two really do go hand in hand, as a good portion of fantasy team offense is made up of New York Giants players. Of those players, only Tiki Barber is doing anything closely resembling playing football. Oh, the pain. The funny part is that my opponent, Matt Boeser, is also having a rough day with fantasy football, and it appears that I could maybe still win this matchup. I will limp out with my victory while licking my wounds.

On better news in football, the NDSU Bison made an impressive showing at Ball State in Muncie, Indiana, where thhey defeated the Cardinals 29-24. Ball State was a big game, as the school is classified a Division I-A school. I watched a good portion of that game online, where the Bison bounced back and forth between being ahead and behind. In the end, the Bison prevailed, using an unexpected passing game, beating the Cardinals using their own methods. Steve Walker threw for an eye-boggling 451 yards. It was a big game that is certainly a big confidence-booster as they get closer to the big NDSU vs. U of M game in a matter of weeks.

Wow, Eli Manning has thrown for two touchdowns. My fantasy team is starting a big comeback. Hooray for me. Hooray for Eli.

I had an alright Saturday. Last night, I went down to Scheels and bought some clothes. I love the new Scheels. It's fun to hang out there, and I always find stuff that I like there. Anyhow, I went there and then to Best Buy to grab a couple of DVDs, then went and had some Chineese. Erin Ott and Amanda Leingang just happened to come in to eat Chineese as well, so I had some unexpected company. That was pretty cool. Somewhere in there, I got a call to inform me that Cathy Childs was no longer in town, which was a disappointment, I was hoping to see her this weekend. Anyhow, after dinner, I met up with Josh at Lauerman's, then headed next door to Fort Noks. I hated to leave Lauerman's, but that annual Drunk Dash or whatever they call is was going on, and they had just showed up at Lauerman's at about 120 strong. So, we went next door and enjoyed some Red Hook on tap. I love that stuff.

After that, I made a quick stop to see Jessy, Jess, and John at the Northern. I'm not the guy that goes to the Northern, well, really ever, but Jessy told me to come down since he was taking Brandon Aune out for his first time there. However, when I got there, I found no Brandon, he had left earlier, I guess. I spent just a little bit of time with them before getting over to the Empire to meet back up with Josh. Russ was there, too. We had a shot and a beer, then I headed home. I watched some TV, ate a pizza, and went to bed.

Today, all I did was get up and go to church, then went to a rehearsal for The Pirates of Pennzance. I came back home, and here I am watching football and playing around with my computer. I plan on going out to watch the Broncos game tonight. They're playing the New England Patriots, so I have to hope for a little bit of luck.

Well, this was a useless post, really. Hope you're having a good day, and hope that you had a good weekend.

September 22, 2006

It seems like I find myself saying this more and more, but I’ll say it again- I’m sorry for not updating for the past two weeks. Life has a way of getting really, really busy, and what do you do about it? Forge ahead, I guess. That’s all you can do. So, what have I been up as of late, you might ask? Work, gigs, and Guard. That’s about it. You’d be surprised how much time it really does take up.

About a week and a half ago, a handful of us from Patents Pending took Tanya Matthies out for her birthday. It was a good time. Many beers were consumed and we had a nice time with the members of the band. There are pictures located here if you want to take a look at some of the fun.

Last weekend was a real busy one. Friday consisted of a full day of work. At 4:30, Deann Hickel came in and I got out of the office for a little bit to have some dinner and a beer at Labby’s. Following that short break, I was back at the Armory to make sure that the band got out of town with all the information and gear that they needed. The 188th was on it’s way to Valley City for the annual 164th Infantry Association Reunion- a yearly gathering of WWII veterans and their families from that unit, which was a part of the North Dakota National Guard back in the 40’s. I was disappointed to miss it this year as a member of the band, but gigs here in Fargo kept me back. Anyhow, we got the band out of town without issue, then I went home for a little bit. I got a chance to talk with Jennifer Schwind. It was an incredibly good conversation that lasted nearly an hour. Following that, I made a trek over to Lauerman’s, where Russ and Josh had been for three and a half hours already. They were drinking beers and playing Big Buck Hunter. Later on, Jessy joined us, along with Eddie. Matt Tompkins was in town on his way from Arizona to Minot for a wedding, so I was able to catch up with him, along with Mike Pagan and his wife, Marcie. Good times were had, but by 12:45am, I had to get out of there. I was tired and kind of drunk, and I needed some rest before my busy Saturday.

Saturday morning came quickly, and at 10:00am, I found myself at Jazz Arts rehearsal at the Fargo Theatre. There, we played down our show with NEA Jazz Master Jimmy Heath. The rehearsal was long and in-depth, and we got a lot covered. Following the rehearsal, Eddie, Jessy, and Dan Johnson joined me at Denny’s for some delicious breakfast. It was nice all hanging out, just a bunch of the old guys from the NDSU Music Department. After that, I went and bought a new white dress shirt. I’m sure you’ll all be interested that I just stepped up to a size 18 neck size. I’m not sure if that’s good or bad. Probably bad as far as me getting bigger (as opposed to smaller). However, it will prove well for my tape test in the Guard next month- I’ll be allowed more weight. Right on!

I played a gig with one of the NDSU Jazz Combos later that afternoon. It was for a “tailgating party” before the NDSU football game. I’m using the “tailgating” wording loosely, though. By party, I meant that there was a big fancy dinner under a big white tent for the rich Team Maker’s folks put on by the President of the university in the tailgating area. Besides, who has a jazz combo at a tailgating party, anyhow? But, I digress. The combo was pretty good, even despite the fact that I was playing piano (badly). The bass player (Mike) did pretty well, as did the drummer (I’m sorry, I just can’t remember his first name right now). Both are new to the school, and did very well. Jessy played some saxophone, and Zach Mathern, my former student, played trombone. It was a nice gig, and it was one of the only university gigs that I have ever done where I could have a beer (aside from the NDSU Gold Star Band Reunion, where I actually got kind of drunk). Anyhow, it was a good gig, although trying to get out of the tailgating area with my car was the true challenge. No one wants to get the hell out of the way. I stopped short of swearing out the window or honking my horn.

Saturday night was pretty fun playing the Jazz Arts show with Jimmy Heath. What a fine player, but even more so, what great compositions and arrangements. I felt a little bad because I didn’t feel that I played very well, but on the other hand, the crowd seemed to love the show. Also showcased on the show was some of Dr Allen Carter’s arrangements. Dr. Carter subbed on drums for Jimmy, and it was marvelous. He kicked the band like it was nobody’s business, much more so than Jimmy ever has, and the energy in the band was insane. I wish Allen could stay with us forever and ever, but that’s not the way it’s going to work for now, unfortunately. I talked to Allen for a little bit, and his energy continues over into his personality, and I have to tell you, it’s contagious.

After the show, a handful of us went over to the Radisson to enjoy beers and drinks. Beseler, Tanya, Jessy, Rena, and I started it all out. Russ and Eddie showed up as well, and we were joined by Joel, Michelle, Erika, Robin, and Ryan later on. It was a good night, and a handful of us closed the place down. Rena and I went and sobered up a little bit at the Fryin’ Pan, and with that, it was the end of a long but good Saturday.

This past Tuesday, me and my workmates with the 142nd Engineering Battalion enjoyed a day out in Milnor. This was the battalions annual end-of-the-fiscal year party, and it was a good time. Most of the soldiers did a golf scramble out there, but I opted to go visit Deann Hickel over at Milnor Public School. Deann teaches band and choir over there, so I chose to go check out her program. I ended up playing a little trombone and also accompanying one of her choirs. It was fun to watch her work. She does very good work, and as a first-year teacher, she’s got the signs of being a very successful teacher in the future with a bigger and more resourceful program. Anyhow, after she was done working, we had steaks with the battalion, then went to her apartment where we visited and had a few drinks. I finally took off at 9:30pm to make the hour-long drive back to Fargo. It was a very pleasant evening. Deann is really, really cool and is quickly becoming one of my very good close friends.

Congratulations are in order once again. First of all, happy birthday over the past few weeks to Ron Storhaug, Tanya Matthies, and Krista Bjornson. Also, congratulations to Amanda Leingang and Frank Clemens on their engagement.

In Patents Pending updates, we have three shows in October and one in November right now. See the Upcoming Events Page for more information on those shows, as well as information on other local shows of interest. Patents is getting better and tighter as time goes along, and our show is really growing. We have more new songs coming in, and I’m really excited to see what we have going on by the end of the year. Look for more things happening as time goes by. Bitzer Entertainment will hopefully have us playing lots and lots in the upcoming year.

I spoke of Jennifer Schwind a little bit ago. She took off for the Middle East on Monday, and she’ll be over there for some time. We expect her home somewhere in the range of July or August of next year. Everyone should think about Jennifer, as well as all of our troops deployed right now. If you know Jennifer, make sure you e-mail her or send her letters, if you need addresses, contact me. Also, we need to keep Eddie afloat for the next few months, so keep him in mind, too. And Eddie, if you’re reading this, I got my own set of darts now, so we can do that for the next six months, along with our many gigs. To Jennifer- be safe. To Eddie- we’re all here, so call us.

So, I’ve been bumming out a little bit about seeing some of my old crushes who are doing well in relationships. I wonder how many of those girls were interested, but I was too stupid, scared, and/or clueless to do anything about it. I’m not pissed off or anything, just dismayed thinking more about missed opportunities. I don’t even allow myself to complain about being single anymore knowing what I know now. It’s easy to complain, but it’s hard to just admit that you blew it a time or two (or more). I’m getting to an age where it’s going to be harder to get things started, and I’m also climbing up there where having a family someday is going to be more difficult. I’m not complaining, I’m just thinking out loud.

Well, that’s about it over the last few weeks. This weekend, rumor has it that my favorite and most loyal website watcher will be in town from Duluth, so hopefully I get a chance to see her tonight. I plan on dong the downtown thing tonight, and perhaps tomorrow night, too. This is one of those rare weekends where I don’t have any gigs or Guard or whatnot, so I plan on taking advantage of it. If you’re bored call me or e-mail me, let’s go get coffee or beer or dinner or something. More soon…

September 7, 2006

Went out to see Beat-Down for a little bit.  They sounded great and funky.  Caleb is my hero for his singing.  His bass playing is not too shabby, either.  Russ was kicking it all funky-like.  Eddie was cranking.  Chris was punching out the fat grooves and solos.  Josh was RIGHT ON.  I watched for a little less than an hour, then took off to grab one quiet beer at Lauerman's with Beseler and Tanya.  Andi and her friend also came along, and it had been a hell of a long time since I saw Andi.  Good to see her, it was nice to catch up a little bit.  And, I know I didn't say it, but damn, Andi, you're looking great these days!

I had a few beers quickly at Lauerman's, and I'm a little buzzed up right now.  I should go to bed.  I'm feeling kind of sad and a little lonley, and going to sleep is the best way of not meeting up with that stuff.  I hate those moments.  I'm going to have a few more brews here at home.  Why not, what could it hurt?

Talked to Ben a little tonight, we're planning a little hit-the-town deal on Saturday.  All participants welcome.  I want to burn things up that night.  Good beer, good friends, good times.  Join us...please?  I like weekends that make me feel welcomed and happy as a pig in s*&t.

More soon.  Going to watch some TV, then going to get to bed.  I have to work in the morning.  Thank God it's Friday, I need a weekend again.  Night night...

"I've seen a lot of good things die and I'm in an over emotional way..."

September 6, 2006

Well, it's been intersting, all sorts of people have been sounding off about my apparently controversial section Short Takes, Thoughts, and Complaints. Apparently everyone is trying to guess who or if some of those complaints were aimed at anyone in particular. Well, folks, I'll give you this much- a lot of those complaints and comments have been building up for months, if not years, so to say those things are aimed at one person is probably not accurate. For those of you who have read and kept up with my stuff for the past couple of years know that I write a lot of this stuff based on observation of the overall, not always based on one individual. There are times when I've aimed my thoughts at one particular person or a small group, but it's not what I normally do. So, stop guessing and wondering. All that stuff that I write is for what it's worth to anyone, which may mean it has no bearing whatsoever on anyone, or it may mean that some people think about it and keep it in mind. For me, it's just me thinking out loud, and there is no reward or punishment to myself if nothing happens. That's my take.

My phone is dead. I had to go out and get another one yesterday. Please e-mail your phone numbers back to me. I wasn't able to transfer any data from my old phone- that's how dead it really was. Again, folks- don't wash your phone in the clothes washer. It's no good...and kind of expensive.

I'm back here at work again, and things are going alright, though I'm kind of bored today, hence me typing stuff onto my website and/or blog during company time. We do have a lot of work to do, but most of that will go down tomorrow and Friday. The rest of my day is still kind of busy, though. I have Patents rehearsal tonight, which will be nice. I start to suffer withdrawl after a week of not playing with my girl and guys. It'll be good to make some music tonight, see you then.

Beseler = Donkey Kong. That's good stuff. I laughed, Beseler. A lot. It made the day and morning better.

Anyone want to go out drinking on Saturday night? Please say yes. I want to hit the downtown again. It's been a while since I've been out with a mission to get drunk. And, no, I don't have a drinking problem.

Well, I should get back to work. More to come shortly...

September 3, 2006

Happy Labor Day to all of you, I guess. I'm back home for the weekend in Minot, where I have pretty much done not a damned thing since I got here. It's been kind of nice, actually. I got out here yesterday afternoon at about four. I stuck around the house and visited with my family, took them out for dinner, then we came home and chilled at the house. Today, I slept in, got up, read the paper and drank a lot of coffee, played on my computer, and cooked my mom and dad steaks, potatoes, and mushrooms. We washed the dishes, watched some TV, and now it's getting close to ten o'clock here, almost bedtime for my folks. Tomorrow, I'll hang out until about one, then take off for Fargo.

I had an interesting and distressing Friday. First of all, I got up at 4:20am. Yeah, it sucked. I had to go into work at 5am to help transport some soldiers to the airport for the big Southwest Border Mission. I made a joke to one of the senior NCO's that we should just let the soldiers jump the fence behind the armory to get to the airport (the airport is just south of the armory, seperated by a field, the runway, and a fence) to see what it feels like to skip over the border. No one laughed. No one seemed impressed with my 5:30am effort. I hid.

Anyhow, we were done with that deal by 8:30am. I went to the office and worked a little while. Jesse Braunagel was making up a little more time. Kate came in after 9:00am. I was super-tired, but knew I had to work until at least one. So, that's what I did. At one, I took my car to the shop to have the exhaust fixed and to get an oil change before my trip home to Minot. That all ended up costing about $175.00. While they worked on my car, I laid down at home and took a nap. After the nap, Russ took me to pick up my car, then we went to Craig's for a band (Patents Pending) get-together. That's where my day got more interesting.

At Craig's, we enjoyed an evening with a few bumps here and there. Somewhere along the way, Craig spilled a brat on my pants and shorts. It got ketchup and grease all over me, to which I sort of freaked, as the shorts and shirt wesre pretty much brand new. In the confusion of it all, I managed to get the clothes under some cold water. Craig stain-sticked all of it, and we tossed it in the washer. Then, to my horror just fifteen minutes later, I realized that I had left my cell phone in one of the side pockets of my shorts. I reached into the washer, and sure enough, there was my cell phone. What a day. To this particular moment here in Minot, my cell phone is non-functional. That'll be an expensive mistake.

Yesterday morning, I got up and took off at 10am and met Dano in Bismarck, where we ate and caught up on his summer. He spent the summer in Indy doing an internship. Dano is the usual guy he always has been, and it was good to catch up with him. He's awfully busy and all, so the time I can catch with him is refreshing.

Anyhow, I've been kind of a bore the last few days. I head back to Fargo tomorrow, and maybe more exciting things will happen. I don't know, we'll see. More to come. To those of you coming back home tomorrow from the long weekend, drive safely. Later...

August 31, 2006

Just hanging out here at home tonight.  I have an early morning tomorrow.  I have to be at work by 5:15am.  Turns out that I've been tasked with the battalion to help transport troops to the airport to head out to Arizona to be a part of the Southwest Border Mission, aka the Bush plan to stop illegals from getting into America.  Not looking forward to getting up that damned early.  Not at all.  As a matter of fact, I tried going to bed about a half an hour ago, and had no luck.  It's almost 11:30pm.  Man, oh man, tomorrow is going to suck.

I went to the Bison game this evening with Beseler and Tanya.  We met up with Friedo, Erika, and Michelle there.  The game was a bit of a joke, we blew out Concordia- St. Paul by quite the margin.  66-7.  Good first game, though the Bison made all sorts of mistakes out on the field.  Concordia- St. Paul is a Division II team, so the blowout wasn't a surprise.  The Bison have a couple of weeks to get better.  I'm not too worried.

The Gold Star Marching Band looked alright out on the field.  Typical first game, really.  What kind of bothered me was how they sounded, though, especially in the stands.  It didn't sound so hot.  A lot of people didn't seem to care or pay much attention, and that was really noticable this time around.  I'm sure it'll get better as the year goes on, or at least I hope so, but I don't remember a band seeming that restless during my tenure in the GSMB.  We'll see in time.

Got a bit of a reminder of missed opportunities again tonight.  It's good to get a good kick in the ass once in a while, I guess.  Each situation like that is so different and memorable, however, and I don't know how great that is.  It's those situations that for some reason, I store in the back of my mind and torcher myself from time to time.  Now, that's not good.  But, again, it's good to learn.  Sometimes I wonder if I ever learn, though.  Wow.  Self discovery can be quite a bitch.  Wow.

Tim has been gone for almost three weeks.  He should come back.  It's just sinking in now that he's not around, and it sucks. 

I'm listening to some of the tracks off of Beat-Down's demo.  I really dig some of this stuff.  Caleb is a great singer, by the way.  His stylings on Never Been to Heaven are pleasing.  I love the song to start with.  His rendition is great.  Good stuff.  Go see them at the Nestor next Thursday.  It's cool.  I'll be there.

I'm going home this weekend.  Back to the old hometown of Minot.  I'm planning on heading out there on Saturday morning.  I miss my folks, it'll be nice to be back.  I want to cook them some sweet steaks.  I guess my dad got himself a new grill, so I want to see what I can do with that. Sad part of this trip is that it'll be the first time I've been home since out dog Johnny passed away.  I'm sure my mom still has his be and toys in the same place they were last time I was home and he was alive.  Mom is sentimental like that.  It'll make for a sad moment.  I miss our puppy.

Tomorrow night should be fun, it's a Patents Pending get together at Craig's place.  Brats, booze, and good times.  I'm looking forward to it.  Craig will be a good host.  All will have a good time.  Hopefully I'm not hung over on Saturday morning when I try to drive home.  That would make for quite a long day, as if the 4-hour trek wasn't enough.

Well, time to try to go to sleep again.  Wish me luck...

August 25, 2006

It's quarter to nine here at the Armed Forces Reserve Center, and I'm alone in the office doing not a whole lot. I'm actually doing some work to finish up the Blues in Greens books, which are now filled with a lot of new charts. I'm feeling incredibly annoyed and irritated at news that I got late last night that our gigs for this weekend are more than likely no longer happening. It seems that there was some sort of miscommunication between our agent and the club, and as it currently looks, there's no gig. I know it's not our fault, but still, I'm just so disappointed. This band has been working hard to pinpoint a sound and energy, and I, for one, was looking forward to playing this weekend. And when I say I was excited, I mean that I was really excited. I hate this disappointment. It's going to eat me up all day.

But, actually, there's still a chance that we might be able to play, but it's pretty slim. We'll get the call sometime before noon on the outcome. Our agent is stepping in and trying to salvage something. We'll see what happens. Hopefully we get it all figured out. Either way, what can you do?

Also, in somewhat dark news, trumpet great Maynard Ferguson passed away yesterday. He was 78-years old, and passed away from kidney and liver failure. Maynard has been an icon of jazz trumpet, mainly lead big band trumpet, over the past fifty years. He was a signature member of the Stan Kenton Big Band before heading out on his own to form his own big bands, sextets, and combos. He has been a leading authority on music education, and has used that as his main mission throughout his performing career. I am glad to say that I had the chance to see Maynard perform five times in my life, and each and every show was incredible. It is a sad day for the jazz world, but as Maynard's manager said in a statement after Ferguson's death, "Gabriel, move over to second trumpet, there's a new lead player in town..."

Nothing else to report at this time, I'm going to visit Craig for a little bit upstairs and try to lower my blood pressure. More shortly, I'm sure...

August 9, 2006

Well, it's been a while, and that pretty much says it all, doesn't it, now? Things have been insanely busy over the last month, and now things are sort of starting to slow down. Well, at least they're slower than they were a month ago. Where in the world do I start?

Well, the last time I left off, I was still in Germany. I had somehow found a wireless signal from my barracks room. While it was faint, I was still able to do everything I needed to do to keep up on the blogs and the site. However, after the 11th, I lost the signal and wasn't able to get it back, which really frustrated me. Not having the internet is one of those things that bugs me, especially since I have this laptop. But, what could I do?

To summarize the whole thing, Germany was an absolute blast. It was cool to be in another country, and it was somewhat undescribable how it was to roam around the area and discover how things can be so different when you're thousands of miles away from home. The temps out there in Germany were really, really hot- unseasonably hot, according to the locals and soldiers at Tompkins Barracks. Each day, it normally reached 95-105 degrees, which was hell on earth as we marched two-a-days a handful of times. The barracks we lived in were hot, too. It seemed that no one in Germany used any type of air conditioning. According to everyone over there, it was because energy prices are sky high in Europe.

It was interesting to be back at it in regular Army mode again. I hadn't forgotten about change of commands and marching in the heat, but it did take some getting used to once again. The marching engagements went alright overall, though mistakes seemed to increase as the annual training period went on. To keep things fair, though, no one fell out of the formation after the first change of command, which was a pleasent surprise.

The fest gigs are the shows that I'll always remember as my favorite. Blues in Green took the stage at one show, and it was one of the best times I've ever had on stage. Our rock and funk combo performed for probably about a thousand folks, who were giddy with excitement from the first note we played up until the final encore. We found that the Germans are in love with the 80's, and I'll never forget those people singing along with Centerfold and Mustang Sally. It really was something else. The energy of the band was at it's highest, and I was proud of my band that night. I've got nothing but love for those guys. Thanks to Paul, Tim, Aaron, Justen, Jesse, Brian, and Kevin. That was our night.

The biggest fest gig we played was right in Swetzengen at one of the castles. We played the Festival of Lights, or Lichterfest. The jazz band played for a little over an hour, then the USAEUR Chorus took over. While I wished dearly that it could've been BIG playing, it was cool just to be on stage with over 25,000 watching.

So, the Germany trip was great, aside from the many moments and situations of drama here and there. It's not worth bitching about on here, as I've already aired those stories a million times to others, it's probably not worth the time to do it again. But, I did have a great time, and I'd love to go back overseas real soon.

When I got back, I began work as a full-timer with the Army National Guard. My new job is to assist in the admin and operations sections of the 188th Army Band. I'm also doing some work with the 142nd Engineering Battalion, which is going through a huge change as of the new fiscal year. The job is only a temp job for now, and will expire at the end of September. I'm not sure what's going to happen after that, but I always have my job back at the Doublewood to fall back on. But for now, the new job is very good. Working with Justen and Kate is enjoyable, and the day goes by fast as we have a good time and get work done at the same time. Novel concept...especially for the Army.

Russ and I moved into a new apartment last Monday. It's a nice place on Broadway and 13th. Hardwood floors. We each have our own garage. Russ and I rock/paper/scissored for the big room, and for some unknown reason, I won. This is the first time I've ever gotten the big room, and I for one am very excited. In return, Russ for the big garage.

Jass went down this past weekend, and in many ways, it was a succcess. The band and the combo played extremely well. The players worked hard, and the concentration was extraordinary. I was in awe of that in rehearsals. Jessy did an outstanding job, and from what I saw, he's going to make some school really lucky someday. He'll be a great teaching and a wonderful director. Also, Chris wrote a couple of songs for the combo, which was really cool. The arrangements and the tunes that the combo did were done with ease and style, and I was seriously impressed. Also, Caleb is the best sound guy I've ever dealt with. He kicks so much ass.

And now, it's this week. This is it for Tim Stine and Jenny Thompson. Jenny is gone on Friday, and Tim is gone on Sunday. Emily Bair already took off for Bowling Green. Nina Shook will leave for UConn in a little over a week. It's crazy. Everyone is growing up and heading out to make a difference, and I'm excited to see them go and do just that, despite being sad to know that I won't be able to call them up to go get a beer any random night.

Patents Pending plays a couple times this week. If you're not doing anything on Friday, come to the Legion and check us out, we're doing a going away show for Tim Stine. We start around 10:00, and we'll play until probably 1:00 or so. Let's send Tim off with a bang, folks. On Saturday, the band heads west to Center, where we'll play a county fair. Sunday, I have Guard in Bismarck, then on Monday, I have a day off for travel and relaxation, which I'm most certainly looking forward to.

Well, not much else to say, I think I covered as much as could for now. It's getting late and I need to get to bed. I'm sure I'll think of more tomorrow. I'll add what I can remember then. It's good to be back on the site. It's good to be home. Now, it would just be nice to be able to relax. More shortly...

July 11, 2006

Well, today was our first official day on the job as the replacement band for the USAEUR Band in Heidelberg, Germany. We loaded up the buses at 5:00am and drove four hours to an Army base near the Czech border and performed a change of command ceremony as a stand-in-place ensemble. While some of the ceremony went pretty well, we did have several people fall out of the formation due to heat exhaustion, which is simply not good. Sure, it's not good because it's healthy, but it's also not good because it makes our band look not ready to carry out our musical mission while we're here taking over for one of the finest bands in the Army. I'm not saying that these things don't happen, but the fact of the matter is that falling out is usually preventable- but getting sleep before a gig like that, by drinking water, and by not partying all night. I know that if this sort of thing would've happened when I was on active duty, those six people would've been standing before the man in his office, and that wouldn't have been a good thing. But, all bitching aside, the ceremony did go off fairly well, and we survived our first day under extreme conditions. The temp rose as high as 101 degrees today, but as I add to this page, the temp has come down to a comfortable 75 for the time being.

Not a lot else went on today. When I got back from the gig, I was pretty tired, as were most people. A handful of my friends went out downtown, but I chose to stay back and relax a little. I had some dinner at the chow hall, then went to the band hall and practiced for a couple of hours. It was relaxing. Tomorrow night, I'll head to downtown Heidelberg for some food and German beer. We're going into day 5 of Annual Training, and things are going well for the most part. We're all settled in and getting used to how things are here. Hopefully things go well for the rest of the time.

I took this picture of the colors here at Tompkins Barracks where we're staying. I found the view of the colors of the US flag here in Germany to be kind of breathtaking. It was just something I was thinking about- having pride in our military forces and all that they do for others around the world. Maybe I was having a patriotic moment, which I tend to do from time to time when I get into uniform for more than two days in a row. It was a good feeling. and seeing the flag filled me with pride and optimism for a country that is in search of what direction to go in the future.

Well, not much else going on, more to come shortly, probably not tomorrow, but maybe the next day. Time to get to bed. Remember- I'm seven hours ahead of you all. More soon... July 10, 2006

Well, we made it to Germany. It's been an incredibly long last few days, but we've survived it to this point. It is currently 10:00pm local time here at Tompkins Barracks, just a few short miles from Heidelberg, Germany. That makes it about 3:00 back in Fargo.

Let's tail back a few days. Saturday was my first day of annual training. The fun started at about 5:00 with the APOE procedures, which was basically the administrative portion of pre-deployment. I was deemed "the special child" by the battalion, and therefor, got to go through all of the stations right away and as quickly as possible, as I had a gig that night playing for a wedding with Patents Pending. The team from Bismarck that was conducting the APOE got me out of there in two short hours, then I was out of the Armory and to the Radisson for the show.

The show went very, very well. The wedding reception crowd was a young and very drink-loving group, and we kept them on the floor all night, which was really cool. The band played well, and things are only getting better and better for the band. After the show, I bid my band goodbye, ran by my house for a quick shower, then headed back to the Armory at nearly 2:00am.

I slept out there on the worlds most uncomfortable military cot ever, then rose at 4:00am to get on a bus to the Cities. Once there, we boarded a flight to Chicago. We had a quick run to our next gate and boarded a United flight for Frankfurt. After being delayed for about an hour, we left the gate and began the long 7 hour trek to Germany. We left Chicago at about 4:30pm and arrived seven hours later and a few time zones east at 6:30am. I didn't get one lick of sleep on the flight, I just couldn't fall asleep. Not a good thing. Once on the ground, we cleared customs and bussed to Tompkins Barracks. The whole day we spent getting set up in the barracks, getting more briefings, and getting squared away in the band headquarters. And now, it's a little after 10:00, and I haven't slept in a lot of hours. I'm beat, and it's time to get to bed, as we have a formation for our first performance here in Germany at 5:00am.

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The first beer in Germany, with Paul Helfter and Tim Knabe...

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On the bright side of things, Germany is a nice place, though I haven't really seen anything yet. Tim Knabe, Paul Helfter, and I toasted our first beer in Germany at about 4:30pm today, but that was the only beer for me, I was just too tired, and I knew I needed to stay up for a while still. I got my Euros now, and I plan on getting some more beer tomorrow when I'm a little more rested up. The rest of the AT looks pretty good, though the barracks we're (seen below) are old WWII barracks. They're not such bad facilities, except there's no AC, and we're on the third floor. It's hot over here right now, and that's not so good for us. But, we'll make do. We'll have fun. We'll just sweat an awful lot while we do it.

The barracks...

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I expcet to be taking a million pictures over the next two weeks, so be looking for updates. I have a weak wireless connection in my barracks room, but it works, and that's what counts. I'm excited to be here and I'm really looking forward to checking out what this part of Germany has to offer. More coming real soon, at the most, within the next two days. Hope all is well back on the homeland...

July 5, 2006

Just hanging out at work with my computer.  This is a slow time of the year for hotels and conference centers, so it's a slow time for the employees, too.  I love this job, it almost sucks that I'll be taking pretty much a three-month break from it.  On the good side of things, I've secured a job for three months following the Germany deployment to work for the 142nd EB here in Fargo, which is really good news.  I stopped in at the Armory this morning and talked to my soon to be boss, MAJ Olson, and he seemed pretty excited to have me onboard, so that was good news.  I'll also get to work with Craig Hillig, who is a Captain up there, and that's cool, too.  I look forward to slipping for a brief time back into my active Army ways, it should be good for me.

Patents is playing a wedding this weekend, one for one of Alex's good friends from high school.  It should be a fun show, though that Saturday is going to be a mess for me.  I have to go to Guard for about three hours and do point of embarkation procedures in preperation to leave for Germany on Sunday, then shuffle out to the gig at the Radisson, then back to the Armory as soon as the gig is done to lockdown for a few hours before we bus out to Minneapolis for our flight to Chicago, then to Germany.  It'll be a hectic few days for me, but once we're settled down in Germany, life will be fine.  I look forward to the deployment, and I also look foward to coming back since Jass follows, my new job follows, a new place live follows, and a full month of Patents Pending shows in August follows.  Things look good from here.  I'm looking very forward to it all.

Had an uneventful Fourth of July. I worked from 7-3 and did absolutely nothing at all.  I brought my computer and completely updated the Patents Pending sight, which you should all take a look at (Click here for Patents Pending Online) right away.  Anyhow, besides doing that, I watched a Chuck Norris movie (Delta Force).  I listened to a lot of music on my i-Tunes.  Oh, and I made a kick-ass hot ham and cheese sandwich in the kitchen.  (The dining room staff had the day off and the dining room was closed...)  After work, I went home and took a two-hour long nap, then enjoyed a small gathering which included delicious steaks (thanks to Tim Smith) with Emily and Brian, along with Erin and Jessy.  Tim and Ruth also came by, and Tim Smith joined us later after work.  Good food, it was definately nice.  After that, Tim Smith and I went to the bar, drank beers, and threw darts.  I beat him three times- twice on Cricket (including an ass-whooping, 142-0) and once on 701.  Tim and Ruth came out with Lance and Cris after watching the fireworks in Moorhead.  Tim and I went home a little before one, and we found Jessy drinking Jagermeister straight out of the bottle.  It's probably no surprise that Jessy was really, really drunk.  I'm sure he's feeling it right now.

Not much else is going on, I guess.  I have a lot to do over the next few days before I leave for Germany.  We have an awful lot to bring with us, which sucks.  It all has to fit into two suitcases/garment bags and into two carry-ons.  I'm not sure how I'm going to do it.  Now that I think about it, I wonder how we're going to fit all of that luggage under a bus, which we're taking to the Cities for the flights.  I heard that the state spent a five digit number of dollars just to send our instruments over to Germany.  Thanks, North Dakota citizens, that's your tax money at work.  We'll have two weeks of duty over there which includes a lot of marching.  Hopefully that goes well.  This band has gotten quite a lot of training time in that area over the last three months, and thankfully, we do look and sound better than we did in April.  There are also a few rock band gigs slated, along with some brass quintet performances.  The way it looks, I'll be playing quite a bit over there, probably pretty much every gig.  That's fine, I love to play, we'll have some fun and hopefully make some good music.  Also, Dave and Dave, if you see this, know that I'm pretty excited about getting over there.  Be prepared to show me some of the good places drink.  (But then again, is there a bad place to drink?)

That's all I've got for now.  More soon...

July 2, 2006

Sunday night here in Fargo, I've had myself an incredibly uneventful weekend, seeing that everyone is either out of town, with a girl, or both. The two nights of the weekend, though, I'm happy to say that I was saved by what I now call, "The Lab Rats". By lab rats, I mean Al Berg and Kacie Hughes, since they both have or still do work in the lab at NDSU.

Anyhow, I had a delightful Friday evening at Monty's with Kacie, who is in town for the holiday weekend. We met over at Monty's, where Rick was already there hanging out waiting for a friend to stop in. Kacie and I caught up on all sorts of random stuff, and visited until nearly 1am. As Kacie put it as we left the bar, "I finally got my quality Christopher-time", which was nice. It's good to know that friends want to just visit, and it's even nicer to hear straight-up once in a while. Kacie kicks ass, hands down.

Saturday, I had to work at 7:00am (which I almost forgot about when I got home and went to bed Friday), but it wasn't a huge deal. The workplace was fairly slow except for a wedding that was getting set up in the Woodland Square. I was out of the Doublewood by 1pm, and I came home and met up with Al, who needed some media work done for Patents Pending, which I did quickly before he had to scoot out for a gig with the Jazz Arts Little Big Band. I spent the rest of the afternoon napping and watching TV. I watched the Twins kick ass (again) for the 9th game in a row, pulling out a victory against the Brewers. The Twins are hot, but more on that later.

Last night, I went down to the Aquarium where Josh Harty and Brooks West were back in town to play a show. Good show. Flatlands opened the show up, and I was sad to see that Tyler was not there. Apparently, Ty left already for Europe, and is reported to be in Spain at this moment. I think he'll end up in Poland for a while, too. Anyways, Flatlands was good, then Josh came up and did a set. He sounded very good, his guitar playing and singing has always been real good. Brooks followed, though I only stayed for a little bit, as my feet were getting really tired from standing, since there is little or no seating up there in the Aquarium. I love Brooks West's work, but my feet were telling me, "You have his CD's and you've seen him live before plenty", so I agreed after several beers and went over to the Legion to finish out my night. I called a few people, but no one was interested in coming out for an array of reasons. I went to the Legion, played video touch, and drank more beer. I felt kind of pathetic being out on a Saturday night by myself, espcially sitting at the Legion playing video games, but what could I do? Al called and showed up and saved the night, dropping in after his gig. We had some beers and conversation, shut the bar down, and then called it a night.

I went and played in church this morning, which was cool, though the church service kind of bugged me a little. They talk so much about going out and converting everyone to Christianity, which kind of bothers me. I'm one who thinks that religion should sort of be a private, personal thing, and going out and trying to change people from one to the other seems goofy to me. In a country where we have freedom of religion, why would anyone want other people trying to convert them? Now, if there are people who have no religion and are interested in finding faith, then fine, help them out, but must Christians go around actively trying to "recruit" for their faiths? I know the bible tells Christians to do just that, but that's one of those things I don't care for that much. It doesn't make me an awful Christian by my standards, but by many others, I'm quite a sinner. Perplexing stuff, really.

"Now, I find myself turning into the ever-critical adult that I never wanted to become- questioning everything and always looking for the negative consequences of situations. What happened to adventuresome me and what do I have to do to get her to come back? Have my negative experiences stomped by adventuresome spirit into the dirt? Is an adventuresome spirit machine washable?"

I read this on a friend's blog, and I have to tell you, I completely undertand it all. I often wonder the same thing. It's hard. I want to be focused and serious about making something out of my life, but I want to have fun and be myself. There is no fine line involved to me anymore, though, and that's where the conflict starts. The negative thoughts and feelings are always there, wondering only about what will happen upon failure while pushing so hard to make things happen, making potential disappointment a darker more difficult thing to unnderstand or accept. But, I do think things can change, and yes, I think that spirit is machine washable, as you put it. It's about the hope of finding the light, and while often I find it's seemingly impossible to even comprehend such a thought, time does it's job, usually much too slowly, but it does it job, and peace of mind is found around the corner. It can't rain all the time, and the sky can't fall forever.

Well, I should get a shower and stuff, I'm going to go out with Tim tonight for a little while. He's been gone for like a week, and we're going to get a beer and stuff at Tailgator's. More soon, sorry about the boring post. More soon...

June 26, 2006

Lots of you have been coming after me about my lack of updating, and for that, I should probably thank you for it. Things have been pretty busy as of late, though I've probably had some spare time that I've wasted on other things. At any rate, I am still alive, and I've updated the regular portion of my site (http://www.danoandchris.com), so that should make you all happy for the time being.

First off, the boys and I over here at the house have come to a decision to move out of the house. While we all love this place quite a bit, things are a little more expensive than we'd like them to be, so as of the upcoming August 1st, we'll all be out of here. It appears that John has found a place for himself, while Tim and Jessy will be getting place for themselves. As for me, Russ Pfaff and I will be moving in together soon. We've searched out a place or three, and we think we've found the place that will work the best. It's an apartment on 13th and Broadway North, and it's a nice place. The main deal is that they allow cats, which is cool since Russ will be bringing his cat along for the ride. I hope to have a lease taken care of within the next week or so. I leave for Germany in less than two weeks, and when I get back, I want to be able to start moving into the apartment as soon as my feet hit the ground. We're hoping that Russ can move in while I'm gone around the middle of July, and I'll get in there the last week of July.

Patents Pending played their first official show as a new band and as a Bitzer band last Saturday at the new Outer Limits in Detroit Lakes. It's the old Corner Cantina near the lake. The show went well and the band did a good job. We have two new members in there- Josh Maynard on guitar and Craig Hillig on bass, and they did very well for their first shows with the group. Eddie also handled the front man job, while I helped out the best that I could. The rest of the boys and girls of the band carried on with their usual deal, and as far as I'm concerned, Patents Pending is back to business as usual- making music and making people dance. We love what we do. What more could we ask for?

Happy Birthday, Mom. Happy Father's Day, Dad.

Keep supporting the troops overseas, especially our Guard troops deployed from North Dakota. It's been a month for them. Keep them in your thoughts.

Everyone in Fargo should boycott Taco Bell on 19th Avenue. They towed my car, along with three other soldier's cars while we were playing a public relations gig this past Friday. It was a complete crock. If you want to read more about it, go to Hanson and Beseler- Around the Horn and read more about it. I hope you'll understand what I talk about, and join me in boycotting those bastards.

Speaking of the 188th Army Band, we're leaving in less than two weeks for our deployment to Germany. I'm getting really excited about heading over there. We'll be there for about two weeks doing an active duty replacement of the band in Heidelberg. I'm excited to go there and play, and I'm excited to check out Germany. Also, as a neat deal, I'll also get the chance to catch up with a few of my old active duty buddies that I served with while I was at Fort Sam Houston, Texas. It'll be fun to reconnect with some of those guys, and I really hope I get a chance to play with and hang out with my old friend, David Burke. He taught me much of what I know about jazz now, and, as a matter of fact, my favorite jazz trombone of choice is one that I purchased from him some eight years ago. Anyhow, I'm bringing my computer with me to Germany, and I hope to have some time to update while overseas.

It's been kind of a strange last few weeks with me personally, as for some reason, a lot of old memories from way back in the day have sort of come back to haunt me. I'm not sure why, but I've found myself looking back on major decisions in my personal life, and lo and behold, I have begun to question a few of them. While I have no doubts that things have turned out great for her (as she is happilly married and has at least one child that I know of), I've found myself wondering if I just gave up too soon with her. I can't lie to you all- I really did love that girl a lot, and I do still miss her company and smile. It was kind of crazy, but a few weeks ago when I was driving back from a gig in Rugby, I pulled into Grand Forks and started heading south on I-29. Every time that I make that trip, I always drive by her old apartment. As I was catching that five-second view as I drove by, a song came on the radio that I used to listen to that would remind me of her and make me not miss her so much when I was living 2,000 miles away from her. I damn near broke into tears on that drive. It's amazing what memories can do to you. Anyhow, as I think about these strong feelings of lonliness when have spurned all of this in the first place, I think that perhaps it's just me confronting a lot of things that I didn't want to some six years ago, now. I realize that nothing is going to change what happened in the past, and again- she is happier now with someone else, and there's nothing I can do, nor would I want to do, to change any of that. I can't help feeling alone because that is just what my life is right now- walking alone without someone special like I had back then. It's even harder when I realize that most of my friends have found the same happy life that she did, but I have not to this point. But again, that's life. We roll with it. I'm rolling with it. No one said that stuff is easy. I concur with just that. I know I have a lot of life left to live, and you never know what might happen. I remain optimistic, though just a little blue for the time being.

Jennifer is going to be home for a night this week. I'm excited to see her for a little bit. She's got a little bit of time back here before she heads on down to Tampa where she'll be for some months before heading overseas. Can't wait to see you, Jennifer!

Well, not a lot else is coming to mind. I should eat. I should call Eddie. I should get a beer. I should get more sleep. Yada, yada, yada. If you're bored, call me. I'm around for a week and a half. You know the number...

June 6, 2006

Short and perhaps not so sweet entry tonight. I'm not feeling so well for some reason. I'm another year old, into another decade of life. I feel unusually alone these days. I feel like I'm some sort of jerk often, though I have no really changed the way I act around others. I feel as if there is less use for me these days. Of course, I might just be really paranoid with another year passing in my life story. I'm not sure. I just know that I can't sleep very well, and it's starting to get irritating as hell. Wow, now what?

Going to sleep. These things pass. Much more tomorrow, I have a lot of updating to do...

May 27, 2006

Saturday morning, my last official day of vacation. Jeremy just put Finley down for a mid-morning nap, after he wakes up, we'll be heading down to the Jacksonville Beach with the rest of the family. But, for now, Jeremy is cleaning house and I'm watching Ren and Stimpy on DVD. I've gotta get those things. I loved that show when I was younger. Even my dad thought it was funny. My sister hated it. Go figure.

The last couple of days have come and gone by here in sunny Florida. On Thursday afternoon after Jeremy got back from work, we went down to the richer part of town and checked out some of the shopping area. Jeremy needed to stop in at the Apple store, so that's what we did. I checked out a lot of computers (as if I need another new one), while Jeremy got what he needed there. Then, we walked about the load of stores that I have never shopped at (The Gap, Banana Republic, Pier One, etc.) Jenny Thompson would've had a field day here. Anyhow, we ended up stopping at a book shop, where I found Garrion Keilor's new book on sale, and purchased. Exciting. Then, we tried to find a restaraunt, but we were fighting the clock (Jeremy needed to get home and help give the children their baths), and we lost to the clock. So, we headed home with a few stops along the way, and ate pizza. I had my first chance to eat a pizza that had goat cheese and sausage on it. And, yes, it was quite delicious.

Yesterday, I went out to Naval Station Mayport. I had breakfast with Jeremy and some of his Navy friends, then he went to do a ceremony, and I went down to the Mayport Beach. I took some time and spent it walking up and down the beach. There's something about the ocean that I really do love, and this particular beach was pretty quiet, not busy at all. So, I just enjoyed the morning. It was deeply relaxing.

Jeremy finished up with his gig, and we took a few minutes to grab a few pictures, including one of the ship that Jeremy had just played on, the USS John F. Kennedy (CV 67). It had been a while since I had seen an aircraft carrier. In fact, I guess the last time I was near one was when I was onboard the USS Harry Truman (CVN 75) during an annual training session out in Virginia. Those ships amaze me. It's even more amazing when you're aboard, you realize just how huge those things really are.

We drove down to the Jacksonville Beach area and checked out some shops (you know, the touristy thing to do) and went down on the beach and down the pier. It was a pretty busy day out there, as you can probably see in the pictures. I took in quite a bit of sun, which constituted my first (and probably last) burn of the year. After hanging out down there for a few hours, we found some lunch at a local diner, which was a little more like home for me (eggs, hashbrowns, ham, cheese, toast). Then, we picked up Finley from daycare, went to Costco (a better version of Sams Club), then returned to the house, where we ate dinner. That night, Jeremy and I put the rest of his new playground together, which Addison and Finley were appreciative of. The night ended with some Shiner Bock.

In a little bit, we'll be heading down to the beach again, where I will hopefully get a chance to jump around in the ocean a little bit. I just realized that I've been wearing glasses for some time, and when I want to go into the ocean, I'm going to have to take them off, and I'm going to be blind. Here's to not getting swallowed by a shark or something. More soon...maybe...

May 25, 2006

Another morning of hanging around the house, Jeremy is out doing a ceremony somewhere. Not sure what's in store for the rest of the day, probably food and checking out some more of Jacksonville. This is an interesting trip for me, as it's the first time I've ever hung out with friends for a long amount of time while they had young children in their families. It's not a bad thing, Addison is the cutest little thing, and I'm having a good time out here. The spare time has been good, as it's given me some time to get some of the Jass 2006 work in order, and it's about damned time that I started doing that, afterall.

Yesterday, when Jeremy got home, we made our way down to Dave and Busters, perhaps one of my favorite places to hang out. Back in our San Antonio days, Jeremy and I spent a fair amount of time at this place. Dave and Busters is basically a big huge video game palace with a couple of bars and a very good restaraunt. You buy a card when you get there and put all the credits you want on it, then you go and play all sorts of games as long as you want. They have a great array of games, and it's a good place to bring the family, as there's something for everyone there. I turn into a big kid when I show up at places like that, and that's what I did yesterday. We were there for over five hours, and I got my moneys worth. Jeremy and I went down there in the afternoon, and later in the early evening, Courtney came down with the kids. I bought dinner and games for the family- it was the least I could do for them taking me in for the week. I should've bought Addison more games, after all, she did give up her pink bedroom for me. Anyhow, it was a good time. I played games, ate good food, and drank beer. They do have Newcastle on tap here, so life was good.

Just watching the news right now, I see that Kenneth Lay got convicted of everything in the Enron scandal. Good. He deserved it. Rich greedy bastard.

Jeremy has a cat here named Tanner. He's tan. Very original. Anyhow, he's the friendliest cat ever. He's taken quite a liking to me. He follows me around quite a bit, especially if it's only us two here. He jumps up in the chair right next to me when I'm working on my computer. He meows outside of the bedroom door at night if I shut it and he's not in the room with me. And, he sleeps on various parts of me. One night, I woke up because he was laying partially on my head. Now, that's the kind of cat I want (minus the cat sleeping on my head). I might have to get a cat when Russ and I get our place. We'll see. The thought is there.

Well, I'm a bit of a bore. I need a shower. More soon...

May 24, 2006

Just hanging out here at Jeremy's while he's at work for the morning, which is giving me time to update for a second day in a row- amazing stuff, huh? Things must be at a turn-around for the site. I've updated more than once during a week-long period, and Beseler actually proved that he was still a part of our current society by tossing a note or two in. It can only go uphill from here.

New news from the home some 2,000 miles away. News traveled to me quickly that Craig Hillig had been tapped as our new bass player in Patents Pending. I was relieved to hear about that news, as mounting pressure by both myself and indirectly from others was making me realize that I was probably holding the band back with my lack of bass precission. I really do think that this will remove yet another road block that is in the way of us going further. I also think that another horn and some assistance to Eddie on the front will do wonders in a show. I know there's some skeptacism about this route, but I think we can really make things happen, and I will be one of those who will try very hard to make that happen under the new mapped-out route.

God, I sound like a politician.

I had a fun day down here in Jacksonville yesterday. We made it a day to hang out with Addison, and that was cool, she's a sweet little kid, and I have re-found my joy for hanging out with kids on this trip. That joy had been lost since the ending days of my mom running day care some fifteen years ago. Anyhow, we went out for some pizza (at Ci Ci's, which we'll just say that the quantity outweighed the quality). After that, we fought to find the amusement park that Jeremy wanted to take Addi to. After a quick call to Courtney, we found the place. There, I got my video game fix, which was nice, though I was dismayed to see that there was no pinball, which seems to be the norm wherever I go.

After hanging out there for a while, we made the long trek back to Jeremy's place. Along the way, I saw the skyline and some of the beuatiful views of the city. I have to admit that a lot of Jacksonville looks sort of white-trash in some ways, but in the major metro areas and nearer to the coast, it's really something else. I hope to get downtown for a little bit to see what they have to offer, we'll see how the schedule pans out. I'm just happy to be out of Fargo for a few days, and especially happy to spend it here with the Middleton family.

Anyhow, we grabbed some Krystal's (which is a carbon copy of White Castle) and came home. We ate, then just bummed around. More delicious Shiner Bock was consumed. As a matter of fact, I just might need to make another trip to the liquor store for more, my 12-pack is going down fast. I missed my lovely Shiner Bock, brewed in Shiner, Texas. Dave Stordalen and I cry nightly for this stuff back north.

Rumor has it that we might be going to the beach today. I'm sure that would include picking Addi up from daycare, which would be fine, I've been hoping to get the sun and go back for my upcoming handful of gigs with some sweet color. I know, I know- I'm Asian, how much more color can I get? Well, you'd be surprised. I still remember how good I could look when I lived in Texas. Of course, I was also 50 lbs. lighter. And fit. And my head and face weren't were so damned fat. Oh, for depressing.

So, I'm about half-way through my time here. The vacation is going kind of fast, it needs to slow down. More to come soon...

May 23, 2006

I'm here in Jacksonville, Florida, and it's nice to be out of North Dakota. It's Tuesday, just a little after noon, and it's about 87 degrees outside. I had wondered if I was going to acclimate to the weather here, but as soon as I stepped out of the airport yesterday, I discovered that it was no big deal, and that it was a lot like I remembered it when I lived in San Antonio.

I've met both of Jeremy's kids as of yesterday evening. Addison is a sweetheart, just as I had figured she would be from all of the pictures I've seen of her, as well as the short phone conversations I've had with her over the past year or so. Finley, the younger of the two, is a little shy and won't let me hold him without crying. However, he hasn't really been able to stop looking at me since he saw me, which I will consider, for the time being, an OK thing. I hadn't seen Courtney, Jeremy's wife, since I left San Antonio some 6 1/2 years ago, so it was good to see her again. She's looking good as she was back then, and it was good to hear that southern voice live again.

We pretty much slummed all day yesterday for my first official day here. We slept in late, then went out for some lunch not too far from the house. We then came home and took a nap, you know- because the nine hours of sleep I got overnight wasn't enough and all. Then, we went out, bought some food, and came home. That's when I met the kids. Addison is a pretty active little girl. She showed me about half of her toys, which by the way, was a lot of toys. She also sang and danced and gave us a puppet show. She seems like a smart little thing, and I'm looking forward to her other surprises while down south.

After dinner, Jeremy and I watched some old videotape footage of our old country band in San Antonio, Eric Lynn. In this footage, I looked about ten years younger and fifty pounds lighter. My waist was smaller and my hair was in between military style and civilian style, so it just didn't look quite right. I was wearing some goofy Indian-head necklace, for which I have no reason to this day as to why I was wearing it. I was playing a five-string Warwick in the video, and my playing was at an intermediate-level at best. So, I was feeling a little dumb watching the video. Jeremy was wearing a punk/hardcore t-shirt and playing accoustic guitar while singing sky-high background country vocals. Ed Eberhart, our drummer, was wearing his usual NCAA t-shirt while playing drums...poorly. And, of course there was Eric, hitting on girls as he sang playing his key-tar, having a good time as he screamed "Go-Spurs-Go!" at random times while we played the show at a Texas drinking established named Double T's. The trip down memory lane documented with video, audio, and more. Priceless. It makes me realize that I've come a long ways musically, while I've gone the other direction physically. We call that a balancing act or sorts.

A day prior to yesterday, shortly after I got into town, I got to go see Jeremy play a graduation party at a country club. The band was comprised of his Navy band buddies. They were pretty good, especially since they were kind of flying by the seats of their pants. One thing that was a little uncharacteristic (for the situation or gig or venue), yet what I really did like, was the fact that they were loud as hell. Not bad vocals, ridiculous (but very fitting) guitar, and plenty of loud made for a show that I enjoyed, mostly from the bar since I felt kind of weird being at someone's graduation party that I had no idea who they were. No big deal, it was fun to hear Jeremy play. And, of course just like seven years ago, I'm still jealous of his bass playing. I quit.

Today, we're looking at going to the beach or going to some sort of amusement park or something. I'm up for anything outside, it would be fun. I want to get a ton of pictures while I'm out here, and I want to come home with some sun in my skin, you know- for the Patents Pending photo shoot. You know- since I'm always concerned about my image. More to come shortly, probably tomorrow. I'll have time to update in the mornings all this week. Hope things are well for you all in North Dakota and regions near and far...

May 14, 2006

Every few months or so, I have a period of time that sneaks in like a storm where I am forced to take a look at some things that I've either avoided or forgotten (sometimes by choice, sometimes not). These things could be thoughts, events, or feelings from less than a week ago. These things could be all of those things from more than five years ago. All it takes is a string of two or three incidents in my day that remind me of something so crystal clear, and then I'm off on a detour that is sometimes not so bad, while other times, is mind-numbing and emotion-crushing.

Ever have those moments/hours/days/weeks?

Big changes are on the horizon. Looks as if Russ and I will be looking for a place to live shortly. My wishes to attempt to draw a 6-month lease have ended at the house, and I just can't really afford to live here for another year. I'm almost paying $400 overall (rent and some bills), and I guess the realization that I could have my own place for $425 (including most of the bills) kind of opened my eyes a bit. I've had thoughts about leaving town once 2007 rolls around, but it's a big 'if' right now. But, I wanted to keep my options open, hence the six-month lease. But, if it isn't going to work out, I should probably opt out for cheaper rent in an attempt to save money for a future move. I have no qualms about my current living situation or roommates, but I guess times and situations change, and perhaps it's better for all of us to figure something else out. Russ and I have talked about getting a place for a while, and it appears that this should work out fine, with the exception of me having to pay double-rent for a month. Russ would be moving into a new place on July 1st. My lease is up on August 1st, but basically from June 29 until August 7, I'm busy as hell and will have no time to move. So, I'm going to have to move at the end of June. Not excited about the double-rent thing, which was another reason to stay here for six months, but I'll do what has to be done to make things happen and stuff.

I read up on some of my friend's blogs today. Took a brief stop in at Sarah Beck's site. She talked about some of her good friends that she had met while in the band, which they would dub themselves the Gold Star Band Beauties. It took me back to that era for a little while. Good memories. Regrets. All of those thoughts pouring around. The house. The band. All of those friends. The parties. Yeah- lots of good times, a handful of personal regrets that still beg forgiveness. That's life, I guess. There's never a 100% resolution guarantee.

I've also been following Raylene's blog for some time. Her posted thoughts over time about her grandmother have had more impact on me than anything as of late. I had a grandmother that I was incredibly close to all of my life. She was my last grandparent alive, and all the way through my high school days into my military days, she was always supportive and loving. She supported me as a musician, and loved to see me play when she could make the trips from Bottineau. The last time I saw her was at Jass 1997 in Minot. She would pass away a few short months later. The loss of her was an incredible void for me, and it took a lot of time to really get used to it. While Raylene and my situations differ in some ways, where I think I can really understand and connect is in the strong closeness and bond that one can miss when it's gone. It's almost been ten years now, and I still miss my grandma immensely.

Went out last night with Al and Russ. Josh and his brother also showed up later. We did the usual night at Lauerman's. Beer, darts, pool, and pinball. Lauerman's was pretty slow last night, although all of downtown was slow. Friday night was a party night for the grads, they apparently needed a night to recover. Fair enough. Anyhow, we had fun down there as we always do. Tim was supposed to come out, but no-showed on us. That's another tick-mark for him. He'll get his. Tim can earn some credit by coming out to Tailgator's tonight, though. We'll give him a fair shake.

Church was fun this morning. I play piano at Living Hope Baptist in a "sort-of worship band". That's the best way I can put it. We do a lot of jazz and take-offs of other songs to make the music sound different, and it's pretty fun. Chris Gould plays Hammond, along with Brian Bailly on drums. I play keyboards. Jesse Braunagel is usually playing guitar, though he wasn't there today. We pulled up Nature Boy for special music today, and played Polka Dots and Moonbeams as a postlude. I love playing there, even if it is only for a handful of dollars. We make some good music, and if we make a mistake, most people don't really notice, though Pastor John Flowers can usually tell. Thankfully, he's forgiving.

Six days to a vacation in Florida. I won't stop talking about it until I'm there. I'll be updating the site from Florida, which should be fun. Be watching for pictures and updates from the sunshine state.

Patents rehearsal tomorrow night, and I'm excited. The last rehearsal really got my blood flowing again. Exciting times. We've got new songs, we've got new energy, we just need to keep this going. I've always felt that these cats should be playing more. Perhaps it's almost the time to really make this happen. I'm ready...

I saw a professional billiards player on TV today that reminded me quite a bit of Robin (Childs) Fried. I kind of laughed a little at the association of Robin and pool. Took me back a little bit to a trip I took with her to Duluth. I learned a real lesson that trip- to never play pool against a girl again. If you're reading this, Robin, you at least better laugh a little bit, too.

See- it just takes two or three incidents in one day to remind me of the past, and you get where I am now. I'm content, though still a little strangely uncomfortable with the results, which make up who I am and where I am now. But, no one ever said life was going to be comfortable all of the time. I'm content. Live and learn. Life's a dance. Roll with it. All of those punchlines apply.

Until later, goodbye today, hello tomorrow...

May 13, 2006

The weekend is here, or at least as of 3:00 today, it was. I had to work at the hotel this morning, which is unusual since I normally have weekends off. However, with the busy weekend of graduations and weddings, I got put in on a Saturday, and it was not pretty. The hotel was a hole from the seven or eight graduation parties last night, which ranged from fairly messy to trashed. In addition to that, because two of the weddings for tonight were so huge, the hotel ran out of tables for the third reception, so they had to rent tables, which didn't come in this morning until 10. The bad thing about that is that the room was supposed to be ready for decoration at like 8. Sucky morning. I hate surprises at work. However, in the big picture, it looks like there's going to be a big shakeup as soon as this week in management, and if I'm lucky, whenn I come back from Florida, I'll have a raise and a promotion. Cross your fingers.

Last night was marvelous. Tim Stine got a booking to play at Dempsey's, and it went very, very well. The group was made up of Josh Argall on sax, Tim on guitar, Joel Thompson on drums, myself on bass, and Al Berg on keys. We played more modern and funky forms of jazz, and much to my surprise, the crowd loved it. I never had any doubt that we would play alright, I was just surprised to see people really digging it. Anyhow, the show was great, and four hours sailed by much too quickly. It sounds as if we'll be getting more bookings in there this summer until Tim moves away. Keep your eyes open, we'll be adding dates at Dempsey's, and you can come out and see what it's all about.

Not sure what's going on tonight. I want to go out, but I'm not sure if anyone else is game. Last night, as I mentioned earlier, was graduation, and the bars on Broadway were jumping. I kind of figure things will be a little slower tonight. It would be a nice night for some Newcastle's at the Ho-Do or at Monty's. We'll see.

To a select few...

If you think your life is as bad as you say it is in your blogs, life down the road when you're all grown up is going to be ten times worse.  Enjoy life, relax, show some maturity, don't blame everything on everyone else and the world, and most of all, realize that these current life difficulties are all a part of learning how to

GROW UP AND BE AN ADULT!

It's just that simple.

 

Just one week until I head to Florida. I'm absolutely amped about it. I need a break from here. I need a break from work. I need a break from thinking so much about how things are these days. It's going to be a much-needed vacation that I feel is somewhat deserved. Hanging with Jeremy will be the best, and seeing his wife again along with my first visit with his kids should be fun, and- well, hell, it's Florida, what's there not to like about that place (besides the hurricanes)? 

Well, I'm not much for excitement here (or length, apparently), so I'll sign off for now. More real soon, I hope...

May 8, 2006

Ok, I think I said something on my last post about promising to update more often. It's clear that I have no kept my promie, which is bogus of me and I apologize. I've gotten lazy and lax, and that's just no good. Here I have this new computer, and I've put it to no good use yet. The summer is upon us, so I'll have some more free time, I'll put that time to good use.

Well, it's Monday, and it's raining. Again. The wind just picked up and we're getting more rain. Fun. I really enjoyed the rain a few weeks ago, I love the smell of it, but now that's rained over half of the days since, it's starting to get a little old.

Today was a nice free day for me. I had the day off (so that I could work on Saturday since half of the crew is graduating) and I've spent it doing not very much. I did have a delightful lunch with Jenny and Nina, which was nice. We went to Johnny Corino's, and it was great. I had never eaten there before. Anyhow, after that, I came home, and I've been trying to update since.

I'll just jump around with some of my random thoughts, I guess. This past weekend was busy. On Friday night, I went out and enjoyed Cinco de Mayo downtown. Had some beers. It was cool. Rick was in town, and we did dinner at Juano's, considering the holiday. After that, we ran back to my house, had a few beers, then went downtown. We had some drinks at Lauerman's and the Ho-Do, then called it a night. Tim and the boys were having some fun over here at the house, so I came home and had some beers here. Tim drank some really tough martinis, and was bombed, which is always entertaining to watch.

Saturday night, I did dinner with Matt and Becky Tompkins and friends. Becky graduated from UND's medical school, and the dinner was a celebration of that. It was really fun, it got a bunch of my old classmates together. Mike Pagan, Chad O'Connell, and Matt and I were all together in the same room. Dinner was great, then we treked downtown to Fort Noks, which was also fun. I left there with Tim and Lance, and we took a trip out to the south and celebrated Al's birthday at Woody's. Happy 23rd, Alex.

Earlier in the week, Matt and I went out to have one last night on the town before he left town. Becky and Matt left yesterday for Phoenix, where Becky will be doing her residency. Matt and I started Tuesday night in West Fargo at the VFW. Along with Chad, we made a stop at O'Leary's to play some blackjack (where I lost all the money I put on the table) and some Golden Tee, which Chad is really good at, and Matt and I are not. Chad went home from there, and Matt and I went downtown and met up with Russ, Tim, and Eddie. A good last night with Matt.

I had Guard the previous weekend. It was a tech inspection weekend, and the commmander from Nebraska was here to check us out. The weekend was a much needed eye opener for the band. He pinpointed many of our playing problems. It was music to my ears to hear him point it all out. I'm not sure how much it affected most of the members of the band, but I was impressed. His job was to give us feedback about how we could be better. He did just that, and he wasn't afraid to hurt feelings.

Also, that weekend, our brass quintet rehearsed, and it was one of the most uplifting moments in my time in the Guard Band. The group played and read so well. It's an amazing group, probably a group of the best players in the band. With Tim Knabe and Jesse Braunagel on trumpet, along with Darren Olson on horn and Tom Janikowski on tuba, it was an uplifting experience. Blues and Green also rehearsed, and it was a good time. Having the chance to play some music and make some art with people who know what they're doing is incredible in that setting. It gave me a glimmer of hope of surviving with the band for another six years. Thanks to those cats, I'm feeling better about things there.

Also that weekend, the five-piece version of Patents played a graduation show. It went well. Groove was happening, and it was good. The crowd varied at time from lame to awesome, and as the night went on, they got more into it, which was a lifesaver. There were six dudes graduating that night, and I work with about half of them. I brought them all on stage and bought them shots of tequila- some were excited, some were not. Nonetheless, they took their shots, then I made them sing Piano Man as a group. It was actually really fun, and they did a pretty good job for being as completely intoxicated as they were. The band did well, and we functioned pretty well despite Eddie not being on the bandstand with us. Josh Argall did a great job filling in.

Even further back, the NDSU Jazz Ensemble played their final show of the year, and all things considered, it went pretty well. Wittkop wasted me on a solo/feature tune we did, but that's ok, he's really good. Things went alright and the energy was there, which is always a life saver. After the show, I thought about the glory days of that band, and I suddenly really missed those times.  I miss the Tim's, the Eddie's, the Russ's, the Greg's, the Jenn's, the Marquardt's, the Dau's...so on and so forth.  But then I thought about the potential in this current band, and I found comfort in that.   As for me, I think that was my last show with any NDSU group, it's been fun, but it's time to actually concentrate on getting out of here one of these days. I've put so much time and attention into playing, but not into all of the requirements it takes to leave. It's time for a change, and that includes leaving here someday.

Congratulations to Erin Ott on her selection as Drum Major of the Gold Star Marching Band.  Something new is always something good.

 

So, things are well. I have a vacation planned for less than two weeks from now. I'll be going to Jacksonville, Florida to hang out with my best buddy, Jeremy, and it's going to be great. It'll get me away from here for a few days, which I need, and it'll be time spent with someone I never get to see. I'll finally meet his two kids, and I'll see his wife for the first time since I left San Antonio. I'm looking very, very forward to the time there. Then, as soon as I get back, I have a number of gigs to play, which is also key. Life isn't so bad. Things are alright. I can live like this for now.

Seeing that the political process of the GSB has gotten to where it is, I wonder if anyone ever thought of proposing term limits.

My lawnmower won't work. Does anyone know how to fix those things? Mine keeps spraying gas out the side of the mower. I'm not even priming the thing. I don't know what's going on, but I do know that my lawn looks like a damned jungle, and that needs to be fixed.

Lots of people are graduating this weekend. Crazy. They're all heading off to the real world. Congratulations to you all.

Eric Schmidt got married this past weekend. Congratulations to him. Hopefully Beseler didn't get too hammered out there, though I have a feeling that he did. I know how he is at weddings and celebrations alike. As long as his eyes aren't anything like they were at Robin and Ryan's weekend, I guess we'd consider that a succesful and safe weekend.

Eddie was gone all weekend to Beaver Creek, where he was making sausage. C'mon- that's funny.

Well, I should go practice or something like that. I need to. I've been a little