Baby Come Back!

I recall a time talking with some friends when the realization came that I was in a bad relationship. Over and over they would hurt me, and I just kept coming back. Sure, they promised that it would never be like that again, they'd changed - I was always left hurting in the end. . . Somehow, even after that realization, I did stay.

Of course, at the same time I was secretly seeing someone else, they were completely faithful to me (they didn’t' mind that I was seeing someone else). I can only remember a few small occasions when they actually made me want to cry. As our relationship continued, they just kept giving me more and more. I stayed with them too.

Both of these relationships are still going strong, but somehow the situations have swapped. I'm worried that for the first time in a number of years the USU basketball team will not achieve a winning season (it looks like their 30 win season is already out of the question and a Top 25 ranking is almost laughable). On the other hand, the USU football team is going to its first bowl game in 14 years. They have their first 7 wins in a regular season since back in the 70's!

Well, seems to me that the basketball team deserves my fidelity through their times of trials just like I gave to the football team. I wish them both the best of luck and I'll continue to be faithful, even if you're not.

'Tis the Season for COLD

I don't know how I survived Logan for so many years. I'm not a big supporter of winter, and it lasts for half the year up there. Sure the snow is pretty when it falls and is freshly on the ground. Sometimes it can even be fun (sledding, throwing snowballs, snowshoeing trips that you fear will end in your death . . . guess that's a story for a different time). However, most often winter is cold, difficult to travel in, cold, too dark, cold, too bright, cold, wet, and cold.

As far as I'm concerned, the whole reason why some of the best holidays of the year are celebrated in winter is because it's such a miserable season. (Summer is my favorite, fall would beat spring hands down for second place except for the fact that fall leads into winter.)

Sure, the 4th of July is great. (I mean what's not to love about a day where you get to play with fire and eat lots o' BBQ meat?) No matter how great the other holidays might be nothing ever compares to Christmas and the "gateway holiday", Thanksgiving. Why? It's a holiday that lasts for over a month! It's such a big event that it's become a season unto itself. In this special season all the great treats that were hidden away from the warm summer sun begin to appear. That's when the candy corn creeps onto the racks, the egg nog cartons edge out the healthier dairy products (is egg nog considered a dairy product?), pumpkin pies proliferate in the bakery.

Most importantly though, the whole reason why the Christmas season is so great is the theme spread out by everyone (even marketing, though in a different vein). Everyone is encouraged to give -- be selfless.

There are many more things to be given however than something you found at the store. Sometimes the most special gift we have goes ungiven, our time. How much of our time this season is spent running around trying to find that perfect gift? Time used up trying to place that decoration in the perfect spot (or, for those of us that are still getting our Christmas collection together, buying decorations)?

We spend a lot of time trying to make Christmas so perfect that we tend to not have enough for where it really counts, helping others. This might mean shoveling a driveway, singing some carols, or even just sitting down and having a cookie with a neighbor. (I'll eat a warm baked treat with anyone that's willing to share.)

OK, so it is not too often that my posts end up anywhere near the serious side of things (it's kinda like a cliff face lined with loose rocks). I guess it's just the effects of the month long celebration taking effect early, maybe this season will be able to seep into the way I spend my time.

Here We Go Again

You know when you run into that friend you haven't spoken with in a couple of years and feel really awkward trying to strike up a conversation with them, so instead you pretend you didn't even notice them? (OK, so maybe I'm the only one who's been in this situation . . . just try to imagine it.)

I've been going through this on a weekly basis for a couple o' months now. It seems like every time I work myself up to get another blog posted I hit that block of "what do I say now?".

One option I toyed with was just ignoring the idea that I've been away for so long and just pretending that everything is back to normal. (I've tried that with some of those "old friends" at get-to-gathers, apparently it doesn't work.) The other option that came to mind is my usual stance on things, admit I messed up and then get used to the awkwardness (I'm use to it by now). Instead I'm taking the last option that came into my head.

"Hey why not make your first return post about not writing?"

"Well self, that's not too shabby of an idea."

"Let's try it out."

And trying it out I am . . . Doesn't feel to awkward yet, but then again that's coming from the pre-posting aspect, we'll see how I really feel about it in about 20 minutes or so (yes, I really do expect to take 20 minutes to get it posted from this point. "Why?" you might ask. Well, Blogspot has apparently been revamped and I don't really know what I'm doing, that's why.)

So, here I am, back in the saddle again hoping to stay on track. No promises are being made this time about weekly postings or stuff like that, but I'll sure make an effort. Hope you'll join me.

Here's pretty picture as an attempt to make some amends :)

Not Gonna' Let Three Weeks Get Past Me

According to Michelle, it's OK that I've missed blogging the past two weeks, and I agree with her. Two weeks ago we were helping with my sister-in-law's wedding reception and last week we were moving. Technically we're still moving, but now it's that really annoying part where we have to figure out where everything goes in the new place. Since I'm the muscle and Michelle is the brains I was the key factor in moving out (last week) and Michelle is working as the key factor for the moving in (the rest of this week).

Here's something to tide you over till I get some time to write.

Yes, Post B.S. is a Fly-By-Night Organization

So, for those of you that didn't notice, I missed another posting deadline. However, instead of letting it slide, I'm going to give you a mid-week post with some pictures I took recently in Owl Forest at the Tracy Aviary.
The mesh threw off my camera's focus, but in the background you can see the barn owl.

I just decided to use my long arms to get the camera lens between the wire mesh and got a sweet zoom-in on the great horned owl.

I got a clearer picture of the long-eared owl, with mesh and all.

But I like the shots through the mesh better :)

If you can't tell, this is the face of a saw-whet owl. It was hiding behind a pine branch, so it makes for a pretty curious effect. However, it also gives you an idea of how small these guys are (check out that pine-needle to eye ratio).

Running With a View

Guess I need to start off with an apology. I procrastinated with my weekly blog last week (just like I'm doing this week,) and the little gremlins in the computer decided to throw a rock into the gears.

The thing I was writing about last week (but failed to be able to publish,) was the Legacy Parkway Trail. The good news is that this week, I didn't really need to think of a topic ;)

It's a great trail if you don't mind gnats and bikers that need to make sure you know they're faster on their bikes then you are on your feet. (Yes, I know this is normally to be polite and to give you warning so that you can move over, but the trail is pretty wide and the bikers are pretty noisy so they're not really sneaking up and going to surprise you.)

Just last week on our run we saw a couple of American coots, a Franklin's gull, some red-winged blackbirds, and a double-crested cormorant. The view of the mountains and plant-life is great, it's so wonderful to look at that you almost forget about the running. There are clear markers starting at the southern most part of the trail with 0 and showing every .5 miles up to the 14 mile marker. As I mentioned earlier, the trail is wide and so makes for very comfortable run even when there is more than the usual activity level.

There are plans to run the trail further south and connecting it with the Jordan River Parkway Trail which would be awesome. Anyways, guess this is just my little post to let you know that if you haven't been there yet, check it out.

Let the Training Begin

Guess we're making it a tradition.

For the third year in a row we've registered to run in the Deseret News Pioneer Day 10K. Technically this is only the second year that I've registered, Michelle ran the first year by herself (and placed 79th in her age group) since I was involved in something else that I don't recall at this time. And, of course, Michelle got sick right before last year's race and so I did that one alone (and placed 97th in my age group, so you can see who the better runner is).

So, here's hoping that 3rd time's the charm and we'll make it down together.

Hole in the wall, full of good stuff.

Get ready, I'm making my first attempt at a restaurant review.

Buca di Beppo

Michelle and I have always enjoyed Italian, but Buca di Beppo is a different style.

Most Italian restaurants are elegant, showing off a beautiful Tuscan atmosphere. Not Buca. They pull you right into the most active and lively part of Italian culture. The walls are covered with black and white photos (flattering or not), Italian football scarves, wine bottles, and grape vines. There are replica statues of world renown and busts of famous Italian personalities. The restaurant is lively and fun.

OK, enough about the environment, on to the food! Again, Buca di Beppo leaves the norm behind. Correction, it leaves the normal restaurant behind, but brings you in as a member of the Italian family. All the servings are done "family style". In other words, they ain't cheep. Unfortunately each serving is designed for more like four people, and the cost is for more like four people.

While these servings are larger than either Michelle or I can handle, it still doesn't stop us from going there for a celebrity night out. The food is great! It's full of flavour and shows up fresh and piping hot.

So, in summary, great place for a party. If you're just in the mood for some tasty Italian food, well, it's still pretty darn good (but plan on having some leftovers).

First Reader's Request

I think that something happens when I'm trying to write something and I'm just staring at the blank page, my mind becomes even more blank . . .

So, after many attempts, I'm going to try and tackle one of the requested topics and see where it takes me. From this point I'm just writing for the sake of writing and hope that something publishable shows up . . .

"Not just another pretty face, the personalities of birds."

Something that I think a lot of us don't stop and think about is that we're mammals. Why do I point this out? Well, as mammals we're more likely to relate of feel some sort of connection with other furry, hairy, woolly, things. (I'm not going to be the one to judge as to which category you fall under.) The mammalian sorts take front seat for most people as being the most individualistic.

What do many people feel about our feathery friends though? I remember in Biology 1010, the professor would always refer to them as bird-brains. He talked about how birds are simply designed to react. This enables them to fly through whatever obstacles evading predators or chasing prey.

While I can't speak for all birds, I do know that some have higher levels of thought than that, some could even say that they have quite the personality. Some of them are more willing to be trained and are even eager to work with us as we try to teach them new things. Others of the same group might just wish to avoid us all together.

We never really can tell what type of bird is going to react to what until we've worked with that individual for a while and can have a good idea of what their personality might be like.

I'm sure that those of you living with multiple animals, or children (if you want to put them in a different category) understand. Basically, what works for one doesn't always work for the others. Try to explain why and you'll probably come up blank.

Most Useless Machine Ever

I'm suffering from Writer's Block, so instead you get a view of this little invention:

Real Salt Lake Home Coming: 21 April, 2011

It's great being right out on the tarmac.

Ready to cheer on the home-coming heroes.

The only two I can readily identify: Paulo Jr. (First one off the plane); Will Johnson (In the black shirt).

Look at those smiles. You can tell that they played well in Monterrey.

The only purpose for the barrier was to keep us away from the planes, not Nat Borchers.

Yep, Will Johnson's dog was excited to see him.

Jamison Olave had some camera time.

Coach, Jason Kreis, was a little hard to get a hold of him. But I caught a quick shot on his way out.

Leo, Will, and the cutest dog in the hanger (oddly enough, he wasn't the only dog in the hanger).

After Years and Years of Running . . .

I had a roommate that was trying to improve his running. He found a book and it listed the four types of runners (or non-runners): Type I - Those that don't have the desire, or the ability; Type II - Those that have the desire, but not the ability; Type III - Those that don't have the desire, but do have the ability; and Type IV - Those that have the desire and the ability.

We were quickly able to ascertain that my roommate trying to kick up his running was a Type II, my other roommate was a Type I, and I was a Type III. The only one we were missing from our group was the elusive Type IV (I would've figured that anyone having the desire to run would be elusive). The only running I really did at the time was in Frisbee games, and I was happy to keep it that way. (Speaking of which, it's getting to be that season again! Anyone know of some groups getting together?)

A short while later I met a girl, turns out that she's the Type IV. Apparently it only took a cute girl to get me into a little running. It's been over three years and 100 miles since I married that girl and to be honest, I'm still not the biggest fan of running (I'd much rather be running for a touch-down), but I keep doing it. Why? Oddly enough there are a number of reasons.

For one, it keeps me in shape for trash kicking in Frisbee (I love being able to out run the teens and twenty-somethings). Another, running actually does keep me in shape. Yet another, there's always great stuff to see when I'm running. In the summer I get to be outside and seeing all the nature around. In the winter I get to watch ESPN while I go a couple of miles on the treadmill. However, probably the biggest reason why I keep running is because it's quality time with that Type IV girl I met a few years back.

Who to Root For, and Why!

I'm not turning this blog into a sports central, but it's just what's prevalent in my mind right now. Don't worry, the requested blogs are being worked on and will show up in the near-ish future. For those of you that didn't realize this, you can make requests in the comments area. (You could try telling me face to face, but most likely I'll forget what it was you wanted me to write about.)

So, on to today's topic: There are always rivalries in sports, it just makes the games more interesting. Many colleges take advantage of this by having rivalry cups, buckets, wheels, or other odd trophies. However, to my knowledge only one pro sport has actually turned this wonderful idea to a real marketable practice.

In Major League Soccer there's about nine rivalry cups (according to Wikipedia): Atlantic Cup (D.C. United/New York Red Bulls), Brimstone Cup (Chicago Fire/FC Dallas), California Clasico (Los Angeles Galaxy/San Jose Earthquakes), Heritage Cup (San Jose Earthquakes/Seattle Sounders FC), Honda SuperClasico (C.D. Chivas USA/Los Angeles Galaxy), Rocky Mountain Cup (Colorado Rapids/Real Salt Lake), Texas Derby (FC Dallas/Houston Dynamo), Trillium Cup (Columbus Crew/Toronto FC), and the Cascadia Cup (Portland Timbers/Seattle Sounders FC/Vancouver White Caps FC).

These are actual trophies that reside at the reigning winners stadium for all to see. Each season it's a big deal for the fans to have the cup in their team's possession and the rivalry games are usually some of the best attended.

Now many people will take these rivalries as an excuse to hate the opposing team and hope nothing but the worse for the entire season. But then how does this benefit your team? The best logic is to support your team and their rival team in all other endeavors. Because the success of your rival only increases others' views of your own team's success (assuming your team won the cup). There's nothing impressive about winning the cup if you took it from the lowest team in the league.

Let's put this into perspective. The top team in the MLS is the Colorado Rapids. They're doing great starting out having won all 3 games they've played and I expect them to make a good showing against FC Dallas to stay on top. After that game they get to come Rio Tinto Stadium and face off against their Rocky Mountain Cup rivals, Real Salt Lake. I'm planning to be there cheering on RSL the entire time hoping for a blow-out. Now tell me, could it be any sweeter than getting a solid win against your rival -the top ranked team in the league? I submit to you that it can not! Just some food for thought.

Shout-Out to My Peeps!

In this episode, I'm just going to have to give out a few congrats.

Congratulations to my sister-in-law and her Pinoy boyfriend.

The Pinoy is no longer her boyfriend, he is now her fiancé. He's a good guy, served his mission in the Philippines; give me good competitions on the foosball table; and doesn't enjoy playing Rock Band. What's not to like aobut this guy?

Congratulations to Real Salt Lake.

What was supposed to be a Clash of the Titans turned out to be “clinical, undeniable, dominance” by RSL. Unless Galaxy gets their rhythm soon, they're going to drop from Supporter Shield favorites to middl of the pack and just hoping to make it into the playoffs. Then again, Real might just be that good.

Congratulations to Diggity.

I wish I had mor information on this one, but Diggity is terrible at responding to any of my inquiries, so I'm only giving the information I have: On the 29th, Bungie released their Action Pack Playlist for Halo, and his SkeeBall map is on it! They duplicated the entire map and put it back to back for teams versus.

P.S. Apparently writing from Open Office and transfering it to the blog doesn't work well, so I've been working on making it presentable, but that ain't happening. So live with it, and I'll try again next week. (I might have it figured out now . . . )

The Big Five

Decisions, decisions . . . already I've come to realize that the hardest part of writing a blog is deciding what topic to write about. The choices really are endless. So, after a week of considering this, that, and the other, and the other, and the other, I've finally figured it out.

Last week my basketball season ended. The other day Michelle and I went to a hockey game. Tomorrow I'm going to a soccer game. I'm living it up with the sport's world. So, why not talk a little about sports. However, since sports is such a huge topic all it's own I'll limit it down to the fabulous Big Five. I'll let you know how I feel about them and try to explain why.

Baseball
Let's get started with the lowest on the totem poll. Pretty much, this game is funner to play than to watch . . . and I really don't like playing it that much. Of the Big Five, baseball takes the back middle seat. (But hey, according to some “The hump is good!”)

And why do I feel this way? Because I enjoy the team sports. In baseball the total amount of team play amounts to about 60 seconds. Usually there is a maximum of only three players involved in any single play. It could be the pitcher throwing the ball past the batter to the catcher. Or the batter hitting the ball, the outfielder picking up the ball, tossing to first base to get the batter out. Then there's the rare double play. Batter to the outfielder's glove, to the 1st basemen (I'll even go one more and say to the 2nd basemen,) A baseball game that makes the headlines is one where the pitcher throws a no hitter. Yep, the kind of game where nothing happens.

Hockey
OK, so there's a lot going on in hockey that I don't understand. Just the other day I learned a little bit about what those blue lines on the rink actually mean. Even though I don't always know why things are happening, but I still enjoy it.

Hockey is one a low scoring game so some people might not be interested in it, but for me the low scoring makes every play that much more intense. When the puck gets near the goal everyone is standing up and leaning in as close as they can to see what happens. Besides, who doesn't like the full speed impact? It's great to see the tactical use of a body check. Plus it's impressive how much those guys can do on a pair of skates. They are cutting and diving and pushing each other over just to get to the puck, all this being done in a pretty coordinated manner. Yeah, I said “pretty coordinated” cause sometimes it ain't so coordinate, those times are pretty fun to watch too.

Football
Another great contact sport. I would probably love it even more if the USU football team did better each season, but hey I still enjoy catching a game now and then. We just got season tickets for the Utah Blaze in a package deal, maybe I'll get more into the game.

Football keeps things interesting by giving a different amount of points for so many different things. When the game is drawing to an end everyone is talking about all the different combinations of scoring that can be used to get to the needed amount to win. Basketball is the only other game that actually has more than one point possible on any scoring situation. (Some might argue that baseball could fall into that category, but I beg to differ. It's one point for every player that passes the home plate, so even with bases loaded you still need to get all four players across that plate.) I guess that's part of what I enjoy so much about football, options. There are so many different choices to be made even before the play begins, rather they're going to devote themselves to a pass, a run, or the option. And then the defense needs to try and guess the play correctly, or just make the best out of the choice they made.

Basketball
As I mentioned earlier, my basketball season ended last week. When the USU aggies lost against KSU, It was called done till next season. When the aggies are playing I try my best to catch every game that's being played. Sometimes I can only listen to it on radio, other times I'm able to watch via the internet. Either way, I love USU basketball.

Hockey players on ice is pretty impressive, but basketball players moving the ball between and around different players to get it where it needs to be is awesome. This is a team sport at its finest. Every player needs to know what the plan is and what their part in that plan is. There are only 5 players out on the court, that's the fewest players involved in any of the games (unless a hockey team gets two of their players boxed, but that's a different matter), so one person makes a bigger difference in how the game goes. Basketball is the high scoring game, no other sport in the Big Five comes close. In basketball the stops and the scores can be a big deal.

Soccer
What can I say about soccer? It's known as The Beautiful Game. I have to agree.

Soccer has a flow that seems to appear in other games on occasion, and that's only with the best teams. Again, this game is a low scoring game and the ball spends a lot of time living in the midfield, but that's what makes soccer so exciting. When the ball moves into the 16 yard box everyone's eyes are glued to the field to see what is going to happen next, it always results in the whole stadium yelling and clapping or a mass gasp of disappointment. My theory is that the only reason some people don't enjoy soccer is because they don't understand it.

Guess that's all I'm gonna say for now, but maybe some other time I'll chit chat more about what those people who don't like sports are missing.

A New Level of Commitment

Well, yet again we've let a HUGE amount of time pass since posting something for our blog. I think the only person that still remembers this thing exists is my niece that likes to show up and feed our fish that lives at the bottom of this page. (If it wasn't for her it would probably be dead.) Now, I don't know how most people are, but I actually do have ideas running around in my head. I've looked at BookFace and decided that it wasn't for me. Guess I just feel that most of my ideas need more explanation than what is commonly acceptable to blurb about in the social network settings. Sure I keep my account so that I can . . . um . . . why do I keep my account? . . . hm. Anyways, the decision has been made: I'm making a goal for myself to have something posted here on a weekly basis. To make it even more likely to happen I'm using some of the “goal achievement standards”. Yep, I'm making it measurable, telling someone about it (you), and I'm writing it down so's I won't forget. Should be a fun ride for those of you that want to come along. I'm not promising that these posts will be interesting, or uplifting, or help you lose 30 pounds in two weeks. However, there will be something here. In fact I'll say that there will be something new here by Friday night at midnight. So in other words from Friday night at midnight to Friday night at midnight is will be one week. ( I was trying to think of some way to work in more “Friday night at midnight”, but just couldn't get ther.) No idea what all these posts will be about, possibly a lot of them will be about different rants that I have pent up inside of me. (Some future rants: People running with limp wrists; People riding bikes without using their hands; Swimming for exercise; Joggers and bikers that yell “left” as they run by; Blue poster putty. OK, I realized that my rants were taking on an exercise theme so I threw in that last one for kicks.) I might use this space just to post recent pictures of hikes/walks Michelle and I have been on. Posts might be reviews about books I've read or movies I've seen or even TV shows I enjoy watching. Maybe stuff will be posted about the last Aggie game I enjoyed or got upset about (that would probably mean I thought the refs were terrible, or it's football). Who knows, the choices are endless and I'll just try to keep going for as long as I can. If anyone was paying attention, I made sure not to say that I would be making a post on a weekly basis, this leaves the window open in case Michelle decides she wants to put something on here also. (Then my goal is met and I'm free for the week, wahoo.) With all of that being said, I'm going to leave you to ponder what might be coming in the near future, or just to just go on with life as you usually do.