Famous Dave

Can I just say that Famous Dave's has really good food?

I can?

Ok then, I will. "Famous Dave's has really good food."

We had them cater our lunch at work yesterday, and even the leftovers (which I'm enjoying for dinner as I write this) are ultra tasty. :)

Done and done

Last night we recorded another episode of Square2, which makes our third in as many weeks. It's good to be back to a regular schedule of podcast recording, though I don't know how things will play out in the next few weeks as things begin to change somewhat at work. I hope to have a regular schedule like we did when we first started the podcast, but we'll see how things go. At any rate, it was nice to be able to record an episode with Eddy once again. He continues to improve, and if you're interested in more details, you'll just have to listen to the podcast. ;)

I started watching another Doctor Who series this morning, called The Androids of Tara. While the show's cheesiness is almost unbearable, that is, apparently, part of its charm and one should not be put off by it. I'm trying to keep an open mind about the show, but good gravy, it's so cheesy! :D The storylines are excellent, though, and that almost makes up for the blatantly cardboard props, often hamhanded cinematography, and mediocre acting. If you haven't seen any Doctor Who, I highly recommend it though. It's good stuff to try out.

My iPod is doing really bad, meaning that I can currently transfer about 100 megabytes to its drive 40 gigabyte drive, but my cousin Beth's 2nd Gen iPod continues to perform admirable in its stead. Thanks, Beth, for the loaner!

Ok, so this weekend...

I had a blast at my cousin Matt's bachelor party. And I can quantify this statement with the following bits of data:

- I sort of learned how to wakeboard, in that I went from having never wakeboarded to standing up on the wakeboard while the boat was moving. I'm not good at it, but it was pretty fun. I did get to watch others, who were very good, do some crazy tricks which was really cool.

- I drove an ATV around and got it up to 50 miles an hour. I was wearing a helmet, but those things are still pretty scary at times. It's like riding a jet ski on land, and far less comfortable when one falls off. And speaking of jet skis...

- I rode around on a jet ski for a while, which is always fun. My favorite: going really fast and then spinning out. :)

- I hung out with a bunch of really cool guys.

- I played several rounds of cowboy golf.

- I went tubing behind a super sweet boat.

- I went fishing in the morning, and even though nary a fish was caught by yours truly, that wasn't really the point of going anyway. It's just fun to be on the lake with good folks.

First Episode?

When I was a kid I would stay up and watch Star Trek: The Next Generation every night during the summer with my brother Andy (how's that for a run-on sentence?). Over the years I watched every single episode of the show, often multiple times, and went on to watch many episodes of other Trek series because of it. And now thanks to Netflix, I am re-watching the show after finishing the entire Voyager series, and without fail after the first 30 seconds of each episode I find myself saying "Oh yeah, I remember this one!"

Well, last night I saw an episode which, I must confess, I do not believe I had seen before. It was called First Contact, and in it, Riker gets stuck in the medical facility of a planet with which the Federation is about to make (what else?) first contact. Problems, of course, ensued, and the episode was, in typical Trek fashion, an examination not of scenarios and events, but how the characters handled these scenarios and events. It was pretty cool overall, but I was amazed that I actually found an episode I had not seen before.

I'm actually hoping it happens again as I continue to re-watch the series. :)

In about 20 minutes we're heading out to Amigo's, which is basically the best Mexican food anywhere in, like, the universe. mmm...meat nachos...

The Return of Ed

I recorded a new episode of Square 2 last night...with Eddy! You should all go download it, like, right now. :) Ok, I gotta get to work, stat!

You Too?

Yay, I finally posted a video I made on YouTube!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mq4qyf8N1O4

Saint Cloud

I'm visiting my cousin Beth and her family in Saint Cloud today, and it's really cool. When I was a kid I got to see my relatives a few times each year, and now I get to visit far more often because I live an hour from several of my aunts and uncles, as well as my grandparents. Hopefully we can go get a McFlurry later. They're what I would call "McTasty". :)

Book Thingey

My cousin Beth told me to do this...

1. One book that changed your life?

The Bible

2. One book you have read more than once?

The Lord of the Rings (series)

3. One book you would want on a desert island?

Aside from #1, I'd have The Wheel of Time series because then I'd have no choice but to force myself to read it.

4. One book that made you laugh?

All the Calvin and Hobbes books

5. One book that made you cry?

I don't remember the title, but some book about a kid who has a puppy or something, and somebody dies. Whatever it was, I read it when I was a kid and cried a lot.

6. One book you wish had been written? Note: I read this as "One book you wish you had written?" Interpret for yourself as you like.

Harry Potter, because it's not very good (and by that I mean the entire series through part of book IV, which is as far as I made it) and I wish I would have been the one to think of it. The same goes for Eragon.

7. One book you wish had never been written?

Anything by Michael Moore. Take your pick.

8. One book you are currently reading?

Hamlet, because it's supposed to be really good.

9. One book you have been meaning to read?

Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis.

10. Now tag five people.

I don't know how to tag people. Does that mean link to them?

Can you hear me now?

I just switched from Sprint to Verizon, and it's a little strange. See, I signed up for a Sprint phone about six and a half years ago, and for a while it was a great time. I could make long-distance calls for free, I didn't have roaming in any major city, and my phone had great features like a four-line display. But over the years Sprint has kind of turned sour on me. Anyone can make long-distance calls for free now, I didn't get Sprint service in my apartment (or lots of other places here in the Cities), and a four-line display is pretty weak nowadays. Verizon, despite having an annoying (but very memorable...I tell ya, those marketing dudes know their stuff) tagline, seemed to have the best service out of the major cell phone companies, and they were running a pretty sweet deal lately. So I signed up, and it's been pretty cool.

My new phone is nothing special by today's standards, but coming from a black-and-blue four-line display it feels like going from an Apple //e to an Intel iMac.

I still have yet to send a text message. To anyone. Ever. But when that day finally comes, oh, what a...uhm...probably not very noteworthy day it will be. :)

The Latest Rundown...

In the past week and a half...

-I kayaked through sandstone caves on Lake Superior

-I petted a plow horse named Saffrin

-I got my first new cell phone in five and a half years

-I had an amazing dinner at a tiny little Italian place in Washburn, Wisconsin, called Viaggio's

-Apple showed off a ton of cool Leopard features at WWDC

-I painted two closets

-I met some very cool music teachers who live near my workplace

I don't mean to brag or toot my own fiddle, but sometimes it's so easy to get bogged down with all the uncool things that happen I forget to focus on the really cool things that happen.