Saturday, June 27, 2009

Michael Jackson Coverage

I saw this on Mo Egger's blog on 1530homer.com in reference to the network coverage of the news of Michael Jackson's death...Mainstream media is so ridiculous...check it!

Congrats Brian & Debbie!

I just got home from a wedding for a couple friends of mine. It was an absolutely beautiful ceremony and an equally amazing reception. I'm just taking a few minutes at my house to get changed before the party continues. Best line of the night, courtesy of my dad:

"When Father Kyle gets on the dance floor (a sight in and of itself!) it's like having two disco balls!"

For those of you that don't know, Fr. Kyle's blog can be found here. What a fantastic priest...I'm blessed to have such good friends like Brian and Debbie & Fr. Kyle. Keep rockin' that 'do Father!!! (or lack thereof!)

Tuesday, June 23, 2009

Brendan Walsh

Just thought I'd give a shout out to my buddy Brendan Walsh who just came out with an EP about a week or 2 ago. It's called "Letters & Veins", and you can find it on iTunes or Amazon.com. You need to buy this album 1. Because it's awesome, and 2. To support good music. The more money you spend on music that actually enriches lives, the less money you'll spend on bands like Nickelback...who have absolutely no redeeming musical or artistic value.

Just for kicks, here's a pic of me & my siblings. I love them.

Monday, June 22, 2009

Bloggin' About Bill, Steve...Hair Plugs

I'm thinking about starting a sister-blog to this one entitled "A Roommate Named Bill". The entire subject matter would be to chronicle daily the efforts of a roommate, his high points and not-so-high ones. Just think, you could have the opportunity to read about biking, washing dishes, Jon & Kate Plus 8, Regina Spektor and the occasional amazingly weird food choices that share my living space and share a large chunk of my friendships.

I was also thinking about creating a blog where I would only write about Bill and Steve and their interactions between each other. It would be epic to hear the stories of the belly rubs that Steve gives Bill when Bill lays down on the living room floor and stretches...Wait, I think that's backwards.

Either way, since this blog is mainly reserved for Steve-related stories and my own personal reflections, I was considering starting one or both of these other blogs to further appease the appreciative niche in my readership, and really pursue all of them with a sort of direct marketing strategy to satisfy their individual tastes and preferences in recreational blog reading.

Let me know what you think about this idea. Maybe I'm overlooking an even greater idea that could make me wealthy beyond all recognition for my ingenuity and mind-blowing insightfulness.

On a completely separate note, my sister suggested this weekend that I look into hair plugs because my hair is getting a little thin on top. I think she's got a really good point and I'm going to have to look into that for realsies. NOT! I'll let you be the judge of my hair situation.

Saturday, June 20, 2009

Fathers Day

So, I know this is a scam - not Fathers Day, that's a good thing. I'm talking about what I received in the mail today. I got a Fathers Day card this year for the first time. It said "Happy Fathers Day from the GREATEST (and best) CAT IN THE WORLD! (I added the text in the parentheses...tribute). It had a paw print in the card as the signature, and to be honest, it really didn't look like Steve's.

The way I REALLY know it's fake is the way it was delivered. I think if it was actually Steve, he would have handed it to me while he headbutted me tomorrow morning in search of fresh food and the bathroom faucet turned on so he could drink some water.*

*For those of you who don't know, Steve only drinks running water out of the bathroom sink. He's weird, I know, but that's the only way Bill will drink it too, I think Steve learned to crawl in the sink from Bill.

Regardless, I think that Steve probably has something pretty nice planned for me tomorrow. I'm thinking an affectionate claw to the eyeballs or a hairball planted on the floor where I can't see it, but I'll probably step on it would be just wonderful.

So, whoever sent me that card, nice try...it was a noble effort, but I know you're not really my cat.

Thursday, June 18, 2009

Crawl Inside Your Head

I often wonder what it would be like to crawl inside somebody else's head and exerience their thought processes first hand. I tend to be pretty stubborn in the way that I percieve and handle situations, and it always fascinated and frustrated me that other people wouldn't or couldn't view things the same way.

I don't really have anything remotely insightful to say about it, but I just thought I'd share.

Wednesday, June 17, 2009

Tuesday, June 16, 2009

Week-end! All About the Week-end!

I had a wonderful weekend. There really is nothing more relaxing than a 15 hour drive through Indiana, Illinois, and Wisconsin to forget about all the other cool things there are in life besides corn and cow-pies. It really should have been a 12 hour drive, but we decided to take an extra 3 hours to wait for the very nice trucker-man who chose to run out of gas on the highway.

The reason for the trip was an Easter Rising gig at a wedding reception in St. Paul, Minnesota, which was fantastic. We ended up playing about 3 times as much as we planned on, and it was completely worth every second of it. I hope everyone who was there agrees. St. Paul is an absolutely gorgeous city too - Each house seemed to have a certain character and feel of it's own, while the cottonwoods provided the Summer snow for us, because if it's not snowing in Minnesota the residents don't know what to do.

I won't bore you with all the details of the trip, but it turned out to be a great weekend. I also had the opportunity for a cleaning/recovery day yesterday, which was much needed. Steve got some new cat litter and we re-stocked his food as well. He fell asleep on my bed last night and I had a little impromptu photo shoot. Here's a pic of the little guy.


Tuesday, June 9, 2009

Steve's New World

I know this would appear contradictory to the evidence on my armes and legs of the viciousness of Steve, but I have come to the conclusion that he is a giant wuss. I have realized that much of his aggression is fear-driven, although I have no clue why - I only kick him hard once a week or so. (KIDDING) (but not really)

On Friday after work, I was spending my first hour at home winding down by hanging outside on my front porch with a Hudy Delight and the cheapest frozen burgers that Kroger offers. My housemates decided to enjoy the beautiful evening with me and we took turns grilling the burgers and cutting our forest of a front yard with the prototype of the first reel mower ever concieved (you know, the ones that don't have a motor and the blades turn when you push it). The neighbors gathered around to comment on our artistic grass cutting styles and the fact that I had green feet from pushing the mower without any shoes on.

Amidst all of this, one of us had left the front door ajar, and Steve, being the curious fellow that he is, decided that he would like to join the porch party. Normally, I wouldn't be game for letting the little fellow wander around un-controlled outside for fear of him running away or being hit by a car, but for some reason, I was ready to oblige his interest and curiosity.

Initially, he cautiously sniffed and tip-toed (as cats are wont to do) around the porch and fron-yard shrubs in search of the meaning and purpose of his new surroundings. Nice dirt spots could be used for burying certain things, like things very personal (bad choice of word - he's not a person...cat-ional?) to cats and their digestive functions, plants could be used for making invisible olfactory walls with dual purpose - to attract female felines and deter the competition. His world slowly expanded as he ventured past the property line and saw the bird feeder in the neighbors' yard...fast food, as he would call it.

Every day since then, because he has stayed close to home and has always been back in time for dinner, I have let him out to explore, make new friends, and feed his primordial instincts to kill. he killed a bird on Friday, and he made me proud. Somehow, even though I have no experience in looking like prey, I have prepared this young squire to successfully hunt and fend for himself. My confidence in him began to skyrocket, and I believed I had a true guard cat in my midst.

Last night, I returned home from work to spend some time on my porch in the untamed wilderness of The Price Hill. I eagerly awaited the opportunity to see my Steve stalk his prey and lay claim to his territory, but this time, we had company. Now, I had gotten Steve from a friend of mine who had gotten him from a little girl who had found him in the woods and decided that he needed a proper home. I assumed that he still had a smidgen of the feral spirit that dominated the first few weeks of his life; after all, he seemed to demonstrate that desire on a regular basis.

It wasn't long between the venture outside again for Steve and the moment he spotted his prey. A little finch-looking bird in the neighbor's yard eating the seeds on the ground from the overstuffed bird feeder hanging from the lower branches of a tree designed to create shade and privacy for the occupants of the house next door. Steve carefully plotted the best route to pounce on dinner and satisfy the carnal urge to taste raw game. In the midst of lowering his profile in the grassy knoll of the neighbors' front yard, the village stray, in that very moment, let out a hiss that would make Kaa from Jungle Book blush, which then caused Steve to run helplessly, tail between his legs, back to the safety of the porch. This happened 2 or 3 more times before Steve decided he wanted to head back inside where it was safe and air conditioned.

I struggle to fathom how an animal who decides to dominate his space around me can be so timid around a smaller, uglier animal than himself. I would think it's because he's unfamiliar with the new territory, but it doesn't seem like he has any problem killing birds. I just want the little guy to kick some ass, take some names and dominate the neighborhood. That would make me proud.

Monday, June 8, 2009

WWDC

I'm such a gadget freak. I keep refreshing this page to get updates on Phil Schiller's keynote address at WWDC to see what Apple has up their sleeve this time. It just makes me want to buy a new computer even though I can't afford it...

iPhone OS 3.0 supposed to be coming out today. Can't wait! (even though I don't have an iPhone!) If they have one without a data plan, I might have to look pretty hard at getting one!

Friday, June 5, 2009

Obama & The Church

Ignatius Press' Insight Scoop blog has an article highlighting the comments regarding President Obama of Fr. James V. Schall S.J., a professor at Georgetown. I thought it was an interesting read regarding Obama's approach toward Catholics & and the thin veil covering his approach to gain even more Catholic support by appointing a "Catholic" Supreme Court Justice and accepting an honorary degree from the most well-known Catholic university in the country.

The other observation laid out in the article is that our country is no longer concerned with the document outlining our democracy - the Constitution. This applies not only to judges that legislate from the bench, but to the majority of Catholics as well. 54% of Catholics voted to put our current president into the Oval Office; this points to the bigger problem of Relativism that is prevalent in our country today, the idea that the so called "old fashioned" ways of the Church are open to debate because they directly interfere with our general happiness or preferred lifestyles. This couldn't be further from the truth. We have a responsibility as Catholics and Americans to uphold what is right and true without compromise or reserve. Too many times are we pressured into loosening our stand on the values and morals that make Faith alive and our country free. I pray that one day soon we realize that the mentality of instant gratification may lead to pleasure in the present, but in reality it mortages the future to something our Church, nor the founding fathers of our country never intended.

Thursday, June 4, 2009

College Diet/Fasting

I've been on the college diet for a couple months now. It's not fun. In January, I would have never dreamed that peanut butter would ever get old, but while it still reserves a special place in my heart as one of my favorite foods, I'm tired of it. I knew I would get tired of eating ramen for a month, but I never thought that would happen with such a wonderful food like peanut butter. You do what you can on a budget though.

This blog post by Patrick Madrid shared by my bro Brian on Google Reader has gotten me thinking about how much I really do care about the food that I eat. While I may not be excessively overeating or eating for the sake of having something to do, the fact that I consistently feed my physical hunger for food can be directly connected to the health of my relationship with God.

I'm just coming to the realization that the time is now to be prepared for Christ's second coming (Sure took a while, huh?). Gotta remove those barriers that keep Him at a distance. Food is just one example, I could go on all day with a host of other things I need to do, but this is a good start. Let's GO!


Wednesday, June 3, 2009

Phew!

Finally done with reports - for now.


Monday, June 1, 2009

Micromanaging...

I really don't know how accountants do it. I have spent the past 2 days at work creating and compiling roughly 25 or 30 forecast spreadsheets for my boss. My brain hurts from scrutinizing every detail and every number making sure they are right before I turn in each report - inevitably they come back marked in red ink with an air of overbearing urgency.

I can't profess to be absolved from my own contributions to the situation, but when did we migrate to a culture of micromanagers? People are scared to speak out because they will offend somebody somewhere if their opinion doesn't fit with the societal or institutional norms on an issue. You could pick up nearly any magazine in the grocery store and see pictures or a story of someone doing something outrageous or controversial, and subsequently being crucified for their lack of thoughtfulness.

I have been having a few seperate conversations with some friends on the matter of Christopher West's recent Nightline appearance (as well as his general method of going about his work), and I have seen plenty of people up in arms over his "vulgarity" or "crassness" in talking about Theology of the Body. I feel like some of this criticizm is fair and deserved, but he has been overly scrutinized and sucker-punched to the point where many fail to realize the good that he has done for the Church in his ministry. We are throwing the baby out with the bathwater.

I don't mean to make this about the debate over Christopher West & his approach to ministry, but I'm using it as an example of the way our society is overly vigilant in condemning those who step out of the norm...

I might not even be making sense to anybody right now anyway...my head's too clouded with the perfect spreadsheets I just created.