Contest

My friend Peter (drummer for Mister Miyagi) suggested that I enter this contest from Electro Voice to video tape yourself recording a riff. The winner will win a brand new amplifier cabinet from EV. I decided why not? It don't cost nothin'...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I6akDfVvUOw

One of my favorite SCREAMING fans!!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pD2JFsHs2iQ

Quick run tonight

I had two people come and look at my truck today but neither one seemed particularly interested in it. I've dropped the price to $1300 and still no takers. I don't think it's even worth selling for that price. I might as well take it to a demolition derby and try to win some money next summer. Do something fun with it anyway. 2 posts in one day is just too crazy man. Derrinda and Dallas went to the church tonight for scouts/Relief Society presidency meeting. When they got back I decided to go for a run around Bldg. C. I felt really good tonight and ran 3 miles in about 19:30 (6:30 pace). It's funny because I wasn't really breathing hard, but I'm still a bit on the chunky side so that was all that was slowing me down. It feels good to get out and run harder once in a while. I need to start watching my diet again so that I can get down to race weight (165 for me, right now I'm about 180). I still seem to struggle with motivation. I feel like Gaston in Beauty and the Beast when he says "what for, nothing helps..." Me and Jason used to use that line when one of us was down in the dumps and get the other one laughing. Good times. I miss old Covington.

Water Coloring Mary Decker

Had a good run with Juliet this morning. We went the usual 6 miles on the river trail. She was sporting not one, but two winter hats this morning. Needless to say, halfway through the run, she had taken both of them off. It was over 40 degrees. It was funny. Then she showed me her new hair cut that she was sporting. I told her she looked like Mary Decker when she was running. Her hair was bouncing like Decker's when she runs. It must be the layers. Jumped in the Speed3 and drove home. Derrinda is still feeling pretty sick, so I took the boys to school, then I came back, ate some oatmeal, a banana, and some hot cocoa, then came down and opened up shop. Right now it's just me and Elijah partying down in the office. He is doing some sweet looking water coloring. Derrinda had to go write up a food order for a family in the ward, so she is gone right now. It looks like we are back to the usual winter weather in Seattle, i.e. rain and grey skies. Christmas in the Northwest.

Vanilla Ice Ice Baby...

Crazy ice trail prevented Juliet and I from getting our run in this morning. I met her at Stortini's at 7. The parking lot was so iced over that we had to skate down to the trail to see if it was icy too; Indeed it was so we decided it best to scrap the run. The Mazda did quite well on the ice. It is only front wheel drive, but I never even noticed that the roads were slick. The Nova (rear wheel drive) would have been a different story. I once got the Nova stuck at the end of the driveway at 192 in Orem and couldn't move it so had to have help pushing it back into the driveway and figuring another way to travel. At least the weather has warmed up considerably since last week. It was 36 degrees this morning, so I was surprised there was icy road conditions since it was 4 degrees above freezing. Oh well, go figure. It appears to be melting in the parking lot here at BSS now as I look out the window.

Since Derrinda has been called to be the Relief Society President, I now teach my CTR 8 class alone. We also just had a new Primary presidency called, and one of the counselors came and talked to me during sharing time and said I needed to have another adult male in my class, so they got a guy who just got back from his mission to sit in class while I taught. Kind of lame, but I understand why they have to do that I guess. Anyway, I've only got my class for 2 more weeks, and then I have a sneaking hunch that they will put me in as the Valiant 11 boys teacher. I think I'm the only male in Primary.

The gig went good Saturday. We performed well anyway, the audience left a lot to be desired. Nobody was really dancing. I don't think there were ever more than 10 people on the dance floor the entire evening. Microsoft geeks. They hire us and pay us $5000 to play to an empty room. I guess when you've got money to burn, it doesn't matter too much. The highlight of the evening for me was when we had only time for one song and somebody yelled out "R.E.M.!", so we busted into "It's the end of the world as we know it", and we haven't performed that song in probably over a year. Thankfully I didn't have a problem with the words (there are a LOT of them), because Cov-Cov and I have been performing that song forever.

Back to the grind here at BSS now. Thankfully I think we have all our Christmas shopping done. I have a couple of things I still want to pick up, but the majority of it is done. I hope everyone is enjoying the holiday season!!

Happy Holidays!

Ran a chilly 8 miles with Juliet this morning. It was fun. I love being able to run. I have learned from others that running will not last forever, so I am thankful to be able to do it while I can. The main problem I have is that I also love to eat. So even though I haven't been gaining weight, I also haven't been able to get down to where I like myself to be because I ruin all my running by scarfing down too much food. The holiday season makes it hard also because part of the fun of the holidays for me is drinking hot cocoa and eating cookies and other goodies. But anyway, Juliet and I have been very consistent since August, so we are doing really good with that. But until I decide to get serious and take it to the competitive level, I don't think I will improve much. Winter running is all about keeping the base mileage up though, so that come early spring you can hit the track and start getting the lungs and legs ready to push it.

I'm already missing college football games. I'm so used to the Thursday night game on ESPN and then spending most the day Saturday watching games. Oh well, I guess I need to get out and do other things besides watch college football anyways.

Derrinda opened up the office this morning, even though she is feeling a bit under the weather, and she rented a unit so that is good. Now I'm down here and it's kind of dead, but I've had some calls and a couple of payments already.

I've got another gig tonight for yet another Microsoft holiday party...those Microsoft geeks just can't get enough of us for some weird unknown reason. This will be the 3rd straight year that we've played this divisions holiday party at the Museum of Flight; it's always a fun show because I am staring straight at an SR-71 Blackbird the whole time (my favorite aircraft ever).

So I've been staying busy, which is good because I think if I wasn't busy I would go mentally insane.

Happy Birthday Tam!

Happy Birthday to my beautiful sister Tammy! Tammy has always been a great example to me. As her younger brother, I have always looked up to her, and I continue to look to her for her great personal and spiritual strength. She always makes me feel better about myself and encourages me through my trials. She is an inspiration to me! I love you Tam! Happy Birthday!

Viktor Frankl

"A human being is not one thing among others; things determine each other, but man is ultimately self determining. What he becomes-within the limits of endowment and environment-he has made out of himself. In the concentration camps, for example, in this living laboratory and on this testing ground, we watched and witnessed some of our comrades behave like swine while others behaved like saints. Man has both potentialities within himself; which one is actualized depends on decisions, but not on conditions." -- Viktor Frankl

I have been reading "Man's Search For Meaning" by Viktor Frankl. It has been a fascinating read. Dr. Frankl spent almost 3 years in the concentration camps of Nazi Germany. He lost his father, mother, brother, and wife to the horrifying death camps (gas chambers). He tells his story with the intention of showing that even when a man (or woman) has literally everything taken from them, they can still find meaning, even in suffering. It is their choice. He survived the camps and went on to have great success in his life, living to the age of 92. It is quite the story.

Even Alligators Cry!

I've been waiting all year for this ...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cfBH8e4FE-g