Random Access

Thursday – 22 October 2009
Another NBN Thursday kicks off in the valley.

It was a slow-starting morning, though. After sleeping poorly two nights ago, I slept reasonably well last night, but I did wake up a couple of times, for no apparent reason. Once I woke up, I wasn’t in a “get up and go” kind of mood, so I was rather lazy and slow about getting ready for work. And, as the cherry on top of it all: I cut myself shaving. On the back of my head. It didn’t hurt much; it was more of a “Really…?  Really?!? *sigh*” kind of thing.  And, it’s going to make the next few mornings’ shaving less-than-fun. Yay.

Last night, SaraRules and I went to a Cub Scout fundraiser that Mr. and Mrs. were part of. It was a fun change of pace. They had grilled chicken skewers, rice and salad as the main course and there were baked goods, too. They had games for the kids and there was even a jungle-themed photo board where you could have your pictures taken.

Once we got back home, I decided to catch up on episodes of Fringe that I’ve missed. I watched the last two episodes from last season and this season’s premiere. Good stuff.

Stray Toasters

• Even though no one else went to sushi yesterday, I did.
• Rules of Thumb
• SaraRules just pointed this out: The Counter restaurant closes at The Gateway.  That’s a shame.
• OnStar Ends First Police Chase
  I’d heard about this last week, but had forgotten about it… until I saw a commercial about it last night:

• ‘Black Dynamite’ pays homage to blaxploitation films
• The Weekly Crisis: A Collection of Random Thoughts, Vol. 17
• Boom De Yada… Boom De Yada….

  I Love xkcd from NoamR on Vimeo.

  Based on the I Love the Internet comic from xkcd.com

And now… meetings! Yay!

Namaste.

Wednesday – 21 Oct0ber 2009
Midweek and all appears to be well.

And it’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday, to boot.

Last night was my night to cook dinner. I pondered the issue all day and came up with “Fish…” as an idea. Then I came to the realization: I’ve never cooked fish – other than Van de Camp’s fish fillets or fish sticks – before and I wasn’t sure that SaraRules wanted to play guinea pig. So, I went with chicken instead. I made a dry rub, put it in a plastic bag, tossed the chicken in the bag to season it and threw the pieces of chicken in the oven.  Then I went to work on the rest of dinner: Green beans, cooked in chicken broth, and pasta (angel hair and thin spaghetti). When the chicken came out of the oven, it smelled good. It tasted good, too… at least my piece did. SaraRules had gotten a piece that was VERY heavily seasoned and was very salty. Looking at it, I realized that she had gotten the first piece of chicken to which I had applied the rub; it got the lion’s share of the dry spices, despite my attempts to remove most of them. She ate it quietly, suffering in silence. I traded pieces of chicken with her, as mine was nowhere near as salty-tasting as hers. That seemed to go over better. Other than that, it was a good dinner, though. I just need to remember to watch out for the first piece of meat that gets seasoned with a dry rub next time…

Stray Toasters

• For SaraRules and – Dolly Parton: NPR Staffers Celebrate ‘Dolly’
• If you ever wonder what “Fighting for freedom” means, take a listen to this testimony from an 86-year-old World War II veteran, speaking at a public meeting on Maine’s marriage equality bill:

  He wins today’s “Human of the Day” award.

• Turtles prefer ‘city life’
  Of course, this isn’t exactly news, as we have long known about sewer-dwelling, pizza-eating ninja turtles.
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Yahoo hires lap-dancers to entertain at its open, inclusive Hack Day event
  Be sure to click through the links at the bottom of the article (before the comments)
• Vatican welcomes Anglicans into Catholic Church
• Amelia Earhart: Pioneer of Style
• From xkcd: “More Accurate”

  

• has an interesting take on “a fundamental difference between Australians and Americans.”
• Essential plot twists for writers
• Bionic Eye Opens New World of Sight for Blind

Hm… it looks like it’s just going to be “Comics Wednesday.”  Oh, well.

Namaste.

Tuesday – 20 October 2009
This morning is rather grey and dreary… but it’s also without precipitation, so far. I think that maybe – just maybe – Fall weather has (finally) settled in over Utah.

Last night was a quiet evening in. There was football and a horror movie, 30 Days of Night. According to SaraRules and Reverend Tom:

“The goal isn’t just to watch ‘good’ horror movies or ‘bad’ horror movies; the goal is to watch ALL horror movies.”

And, after all: It’s October, the month made for horror movies. Or something like that.

Workout
Wes and I hit the gym today:

• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/12 reps
• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 205 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/12 reps, 120 lbs
• Dips: 3 sets/10 reps

Pre-workout weight (morning): 184.5 lbs

Instant Replay: Football
Last night’s match-up between the Denver Broncos and Sandy Eggo Chargers wound up being more of a slugfest than I had originally expected:

Denver Broncos at San Diego Chargers
34 – 23
Any game where you have three (3) kicks/punts run back for touchdowns is a good game… especially when both teams get in on the action.  This game was not an exception to that. It was a definite back-and-forth struggle, until the Chargers started fumbling the ball in the second half. After that, Denver forged ahead and never looked back. All-in-all it was a good game, from start to finish.

After the Patriots’ 59 – 0 beat down of the Titans on Sunday, I decided to look up a couple of football facts:

1. Highest-scoring game in NFL history: November 27, 1966, when the Washington Redskins defeated New York Giants 72-41
2. Widest margin of victory in NFL history: December 8, 1940, in the NFL Championship Game, the Chicago Bears beat the Washington Redskins 73-0

So…at least the Titans don’t have the distinction of “the worst loss ever.” That’s gotta count for something, right? But, on the other hand, the Redskins have the (dubious) distinction of being part of the both the highest-scoring and widest margin of victory games… which qualifies them for the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file.

Stray Toasters

• Apple unveils new hotness
• At the centre of time – A look at the Greenwich Prime Meridian
• Car seats can be dangerous outside the car
• How forensics use Photoshop to find missing children
• NASA’s rocket roll-out complete
• How do you solve a problem like IKEA?
• From Threadless: The Horde t-shirt
• Chillits 2009 ambient music mixes online

Okay…. lunch beckons.

Namaste.

Monday – 19 October 2009
Another week begins… and this one is starting off in shades of grey. Apparently, there was even a bit of morning lightning (!lightening) to accompany the clouds. I, however, was wandering around The Dreaming, so I missed it. And I’m alright with that, to be honest.

Yesterday was a good day, despite the Ravens’ loss, which I’ll get to in a minute. Following that game, SaraRules and I headed out to pick up a couple of things that we needed to go with dinner. Logan came over and we started watching the Patriots blow out the Titans. When that became boring – it didn’t take long at all – we decided to watch a movie, instead. We watched Rec, the Spanish movie upon which Quarantine was based.

Too bad we didn’t see this one first – it was a better film, on the whole… despite the fact that Quarantine almost lifted the entire movie shot-for-shot. Although, had we seen Rec first, I think that we might have been let down by how derivative Quarantine was.

After the movie, I started dinner – spaghetti with sauce I made. We ate and watched the Bears-Falcons game. Logan left after the first half; I half-heartedly watched the second.  Later, I decided to play a little City of Heroes. I logged in… and discovered that my cursor decided to reset its location whenever I tried to click on people or objects. Hmm. I logged out and hit the forums. Sure enough, it’s a known issue with Mac clients – it started with the live roll-out of Issue 16. *sigh* So, no City for me until it’s fixed. Around this time, SaraRules decided to watch a movie; she selected 28 Weeks Later. Good choice.

Instant Replay: Football Recap
The games of the weekend shook out this way:

Baltimore Ravens at Minnesota Vikings
31 – 33
I don’t know exactly what Coach Harbaugh said to the team at halftime, but the second half of this game turned into an actual football game. Even though the running game was still “off,” Joe Flacco started making passes down the field. Receivers ran their routes. Points were scored – including three TDs in the fourth quarter – and there was much rejoicing. The game came down to a field goal attempt by Steve Hauschka, which went wide to the left. It was a disappointing way to lose, after such an amazing comeback, but I am happy with the way the Ravens played the game… at least, the second half of it. Congrats, .

.

Philadelphia Eagles at Oakland Raiders
9 – 13
The Raiders won. Wait… let me make sure I got that right. Yep. That’s not a typo. The Raiders hosted the Eagles and won the game. Huh.  Miracles really do happen, I guess. Congrats, SaraRules.

.

Cleveland Browns at Pittsburgh Steelers
14 – 27
Ben Roethlisberger and company handed the Browns another loss. Sorry, .

.

Houston Texans at Cincinnati Bengals
28 – 17
The Texans went to Ohio and rode herd on the Bengals. Sorry, and .

.

Carolina Panthers at Tampa Bay Buccaneers
28 – 21
The Panthers were able to hang on against the Bucs and eke out a win.

Added Bonus – Boilermaker Watch: Drew Brees

New York Giants at New Orleans Saints
27 – 48
Former Boilermaker Drew Brees and the Saints went marchin’ in on the Giants yesterday.  Brees threw for 369 yards and went 23/30 on the day, as the Saints go 5-0 in the NFC South.

Stray Toasters

• Why All The Wonder Woman Hate?
• All-male college cracks down on cross-dressing
• just discovered to joy of Badass of the Week this morning.
• Rosie the Riveter bookends
• Amiga and Hyperion Settle Ownership of AmigaOS
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Man finds missile launcher in Comal County
• They Shoot Porn Stars, Don’t They (Not too surprisingly, this contains some NSFW content)

Namaste.

Sunday – 18 October 2009
This morning has been quiet and lazy. I was up at 0900 and decided to start the day. And I did. I made my way into the living room and started watching TV. USA was airing episodes of Psych; I was set.

And now I’m watching the Ravens struggle against the Vikings:

Baltimore Ravens at Minnesota Vikings
3 – 14 (halftime)
Man… I was not looking forward to this game, but still… Minnesota scoring 14 points in the first quarter… almost at will? Baltimore not being able to come up with an effective mid-range defense?  Didn’t see that coming. Hopefully, the Ravens will be able to find the end zone in the second half.

<< Rewind <<
Yesterday was a good – and busy – day. It started off with some cleaning. Yeah, I know, not the most awesome start to a day, but things needed to get done. Around noon, Kenneth – one of my coworkers – brought two of his kids over to do some sidewalk chalk art with us. We also played Freeze Tag(!), which was the first time I’ve done that in many, many, MANY years. It was a lot of fun… but seriously tiring.

After Kenneth and the kids left, SaraRules and I ran some errands… including getting some things we needed for this year’s Hallowe’en costumes. We then stopped for a bite to eat before heading off to get a little culture.

Utah Opera staged Macbeth. The performance was excellent. The set design. The costuming. The vocalists. It was top-notch, all the way around. After the opera, we went to the Vivace after-party, which was fun – I haven’t been to a Vivace event in four or five years. Last night’s event was at The New Yorker; I hadn’t been there before. It’s someplace that will be added to the “We should check them out for dinner sometime” list.

> Play >
I don’t know what’s on tap for the rest of the day, but I’m Ivory Soap sure that it’s going to be low-key.

Namaste.

Friday – 16 October 2009
Today has been a good 9/80 “off” Friday. After dropping SaraRules off at work – we took her car to the shop this morning – I came home and did a little cleaning in the dining room and living room. After that, I met Marci and Josh for lunch at Taste of Punjab. Next, went and hung out with Perry and the kids for a bit before returning home. Back out to get SaraRules, her car and to run a couple of errands and we’re home again. For the moment. Clitorati’s tonight, so there’s that, too.

Stray Toasters

• I was on a bit of a Will Smith/Fresh Prince kick this morning. My Facebook links bear witness to this fact.
• Balloon Science Lesson
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Dead man slumped on balcony mistaken for Hallowe’en decoration
• 
• Disney gags on “Ho White” beer
• A while back, I posted a link to What does Marcellus Wallace look like?, a typographic “interpretation” of a scene in Pulp Fiction. Today, posted a link to Pulp Wave Fiction, yet another interpretation of the same scene:

• Yo momma so fat THX can’t even surround her.
  (Damn and a half, I like the dozens.)
• Also from the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Interracial couple denied marriage license in Louisiana

Namaste.

Yep, definitely time to change gears and have a little break.

So far, the day has gone well and has been incident-free. We like those kinds of days… especially when they fall on NBN Thursdays.

Wes and I hit the gym at lunch for a workout. I am trying to keep in mind that I can’t just jump back into the saddle and expect to be working out using the same weight for some exercises that I did before my hiatus. Nevertheless, we had a good workout:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/12 reps
• Bench Press (decline): 3 sets/12 reps, 185 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Shoulder Press (machine): 3 sets/10 reps, 60 lbs
• Compound Row: 3 sets/10 reps, 140 lbs
• Curls (dumbbell): 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Push-ups (elevated): 3 sets/10 reps

Pre-workout weight (morning): 184.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Super-Social Networking: Superhero Facebook Status Updates
  • From the same author – Dracula Week: Dracula’s Soul Brother!
    (It’s a funny look at Scream, Blacula, Scream.)
• sent me a link to: What do you do with an old Vespa motorcycle?
  (Somehow, I don’t think that it would work if you substituted “a drunken sailor” for “and old Vespa motorcycle,” though.)
• sent a link to this, which is pretty spectacular: 9 year old scores greatest goal in Boston this season
• : Live-action ‘Clix bases for your wedding. That’s all I’m sayin’…
• En Vogue – My Lovin’ (You’re Never Gonna Get It)

Namaste.

Thursday – 15 October 2009
NBN 9/80 Thursday = ‘Technical Friday’
Nothing has blown up yet, so I’m counting the morning as good. So far.

Last night, I headed over to Chris’ to help him get his Windows machine up and running. It had a hard drive crash, so we had to reinstall the OS on a new drive and get drivers and… well, the usual stuff associated with an OS installation. All things considered, it went fairly smoothly. He still needs to install some programs, but he has a working box once again.

Stray Toasters

• There are many things in this article that are being placed on The Covet List. Many things, indeed.
  • In a related note, DC Comics has a rather decent Blackest Night site up, as well.
• Mormonism and the Negro
  I found this yesterday after a brief search, based on the articles that sent me. I am not casting aspersions about it, I merely find it interesting and curious.
• Reality TV’s Thoroughly ‘Modern’ Mistakes
  (This caught my attention because they mentioned Project Runway, specifically, when discussing this.)
• Lost in space race: Female pilots
• , you might be interested in the fact that this, this and this are now available as prints.
• 
• Social Security Makes It Official: No COLA in 2010
• Cool and Classic – Enlivening a Dallas Cultural District
• Kid ‘n Play – Rollin’ With Kid ‘n Play

• A G.O.P. Agitator Not Named Palin
• The Monty Python circus keeps rolling on
• From KUER’s RadioWest: The Art of Making Money
• In Texas, a Police Officer for Everyone?

Namaste.

Wednesday – 14 October 2009
Midweek and all’s well.
As if that wasn’t enough, it’s Comics and Sushi Wednesday!

Last night was a laid back night. After a few post-work errand with SaraRules, we stopped at Dask’s to pick up dinner and then headed home. NCIS and Greek food isn’t necessarily a combination that most people would put together, but you know what? It works. After NCIS went off, we headed up to the in-laws’ for a quick visit and then headed back home – Project Runway for SaraRules; foamcore cutting for some WWG terrain for me.

Workout
For the first time in… two weeks, I think… Wes and I hit the gym for a quick workout:

• Sit-ups (incline): 3 sets/20 reps
• Lower Back Extensions: 3 sets/12 reps
• Bench Press: 3 sets/10 reps, 185 lbs
• Flys: 3 sets/10 reps, 110 lbs
• Curls: 3 sets/10 reps, 25 lbs
• Reverse Punches: 3 sets/10 reps, 10 lbs

Pre-workout weight (morning): 183.5 lbs

Stray Toasters

• Wonder of Wonders: Star-Spangled Panties (not nearly as NSFW as it sounds)
• continues to send things that entertain/amuse me:
  • Best of IKEA for the Kitchen
  • 1964 letter “…not in my official Church position, but as a friend…” on the LDS Church’ stance on “The Negro Problem”
    • …and an interesting follow-up
      
• What actual Mayans are saying about 2012
  I think that “What actual Rush fans are saying about 2112” would be an appropriate follow-up to this article.
• Soda Tax Could Shake Up Industry
• 
• ‘Twin Towers’ warship sets sail
  • USS New York (Wikipedia article)
• Wild Cherry – Play That Funky Music

• Airlines that charge fees lost more money than airlines that didn’t
• Comics cover artist Greg Horn’s take on Wonder Woman (full article can be read here).

Namaste.

Tuesday – 13 October 2009
So far, it’s been a relatively quiet morning. That’s not a bad thing.

Football Update
I have been a Dolphins fan since… 1990, roughly. They were “my team” until Carolina got the Panthers and Baltimore got the Ravens. They’re still my #2 AFC team. They haven’t been really noteworthy in many years, but they are still one of my favorites. When I heard that they were playing in this week’s Monday night game, I was excited, but I wasn’t expecting much.

New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
27 – 31
Wow. I was expecting a bit of a sleeper, to be honest. I had no idea that a football game was going to break out. And it was a good game, at that! Chad Henne, Miami’s QB, looked good under center – he was poised, cool under fire and was able to deliver the ball, on target, in both long and short pass plays. Ricky Williams and Ronnie Brown ran the Dolphins’ famed “Wildcat” offense with more options than Baskin-Robbins has flavors. Even third-string QB, Pat White, got in on the fun. Mark Sanchez and the Jets had a solid offensive game, staying close to the Fish throughout the game. Their defense, however, only showed up intermittently. Head Coach Rex Ryan called the Jets’ performance “…an embarrassment” during the post-game interview. All-in-all, this was a satisfying – and exciting – game to watch with my #2 AFC team. If, for whatever reason, you missed it, look for the rebroadcast on NFL Network this week.

I also had something of an apostrophe epiphany last night: My favorite teams cover air, land and sea: Ravens, Panthers and Dolphins. In a very geeky way, it made me laugh.

Stray Toasters

• Methinks I need to start looking at picking up a Dolphins jersey or two…
• I was looking for an animated .gif of the Lion (or Tiger) from Kenya, when I stumbled upon these:

  
  (click for more info)

  Yep… these are going straight to The Covet List.

• Should Americans banish the burger?
• You Let Our Child Watch What!? Army of Darkness
• As that there are a few runners who will read this: How to run, meditate, and not get hurt
• Has hip-hop grown up?
• 
• Guy’s Guide to Geek Girls (The Sequel)
• The Clothes Make the Superman
• Girls sell sex in Hong Kong to earn shopping money
• Super Mario Cupcakes
• Memory not first Alzheimer’s sign

Namaste.

Monday – 12 October 2009
You know it’s going to be a great day when you walk into the office and the first thing – the FIRST thing – that someone says to you is not “Good morning” or “How was your weekend,” but “We’re down…”

Yay.

After a little bit of hunting, I discovered that one of our main servers decided to shoot itself in the virtual foot. Sometime in the wee hours of the morning. Did I mention “Yay?” We’re working on getting it back online now.

Last night, SaraRules and I watched a couple of episodes of Planet Earth: “Great Plains” and “Jungles,” both of which were rather fascinating. There was some footage that we’d seen in other episodes (and in DisneyEarth: Nature), but the episodes followed different tacks.

Football Update

Cincinnati Bengals at Baltimore Ravens
17 – 14
The Ravens lost this game because of some poor play and, say it with me, “Penalties.” Lots of stupid and unnecessary penalties, late in the game. Thus, with 22 seconds left in the game, the Bengals scored the go-ahead TD and sealed not only a win, but also the lead in the AFC North. Congratulations to and .

.

Oakland Raiders at New York Giants
7 – 44
Just… “ouch.” Sorry, SaraRules.

.

Cleveland Browns at Buffalo Bills
6 -3
As if to prove “The sun shines on a dog’s ass, too…” the Browns finally put one in the “W” column for the 2009 season.   Sorry, T.O. Congrats (finally) to on his team finally digging up a win.

.

Washington Redskins at Carolina Panthers
17 – 20
The cats finally scratched out a win, too…

.

Minnesota Vikings at St. Louis Rams
38 – 10
Brett Favre and the Vikes continue to ride herd in the NFC North. NFL.com added the following notes: The Vikings are 5-0 for the first time since 2003, when they started 6-0. … Favre turned 40 on Saturday and Sunday became the 12th QB in the Super Bowl era (since 1966) to start a game at the age of 40 or older. He is 5-0 for the first time in his career. Congrats, .

Maybe, just maybe, my beloved ‘fins will be able to bring me a little joy tonight and pull off a win against the Jets.

New York Jets at Miami Dolphins
Tonight at 8:30 EDT

Stray Toasters

• Groom’s cake: Finished.
  Wedding cake: Almost finished…
• Prelate Derek sent me this picture yesterday:

  

  That’s right, it’s a Blackest Night pic, with cereal mascots as Lanterns:

  • Tony the Tiger (Frosted Flakes) as a Green Lantern
  • Count Chocula (um… DUH) as a Sinestro Corps member
  • Sugar Bear (Super Golden Crisp) as a Blue Lantern
  • The Trix Rabbit (again… DUH) as an Orange Lantern
  • Cap’n Crunch as a Red Lantern
  • Toucan Sam (Froot Loops) as an Indigo Lantern
  • Pebbles Flintstone (Fruity/Cocoa Pebbles) as a Star Sapphire and
  • Quisp (Quisp) as a Black Lantern

  This made me laugh.

• Bright spot for fliers: Holiday fares lower than last year
• Tinker Bell has cool new look for ‘Lost Treasure’ adventure
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Six-year-old sent to reform school for bringing a weapon (Cub Scout camping cutlery) to school
• This made me snicker:

  

• lightening (definition) != lightning (definition)
• How to create a fiber-optic starfield ceiling
• Crop Art Is for Everyone!
• My generation: How Indie Game Makers Are Embracing Controlled Chaos

Namaste.

Sunday – 11 October 2009
This has been a good – and relaxing – weekend.

Yesterday, we slept in a bit and then went to the Downtown Farmer’s Market, where we picked up a few things. On the way to the car, my super power kicked in, as we ran into our friend Lawrence. We came home and did a bit of cleaning. Chris and Mary called to see if we were interested in joining them for seeing Zombieland. We were. And it was a riot. We had a lot of fun watching it. Seriously. If you’re looking for a fun way to pass an hour-and-a-half or so, you should go see this movie.

After the movie, the four of us had dinner at Spaghetti Mama’s. Kate was there, but off the floor… so we got to see her for a bit, but she didn’t wait on our table.

Back at home, SaraRules and I watched Superman/Batman: Public Enemies, the latest DC Animated Feature, based on the graphic novel of the same name. There were a few differences from the book, but on the whole, it was decently-adapted. And, while it did have many of the good lines from the book, it did miss the a couple that I expected to hear, including:

Superman: “Your butler guards the cave with a shotgun? You didn’t have a spare Mr. Freeze gun lying around?”
Batman: “This coming from a man who protects his fortress with a flying dog in a cape.”

On the whole, I thought that it was a decent adaptation and worth a viewing or two.

Today, we slept in again and then headed up to Park City for brunch at Cisero’s. After that, we went to the Kimball Art Center to see The Art of the Brick, an exhibition by LEGO Master Builder, Nathan Sawaya. It was interesting to see how someone can express themselves through such an… unusual… medium.

We came back to Salt Lake for Canadian Thanksgiving with friends of Sara’s family. They put on a nice spread and it was nice to hang out with friends and family. After dinner, we did some grocery shopping and then came home to watch some football.

All-in-all, I’d say that this has been a good, low-key weekend… and one that was definitely needed following last week’s festivities and hullaballoo.

Namaste.

Thursday – 08 October 2009
Having a week off was good, but it’s back to the grind for another NBN Thursday.

Yesterday, I went to sushi with shockpuppet, , and .  Before heading over to Dr. Volt’s, I stopped at Evergreen Framing Co. & Gallery – I’ve been past it many times without going in. It’s a nice little shop, with art from local artists. If you’re in the 33rd South and 20th East area, check it out. Next stop: Dr. Volt’s and then… back home.

Later in the evening, SaraRules and I made a pilgrimage to The Garden of Sweden. We picked up a GORM storage unit for the pantry and a few knick-knacks.

Today has been mostly getting back into the swing of things. And, a tasty lunch at Taste of Punjab.

Stray Toasters

• We have Dunkin’ Donuts Munchkins.  Booyah!
• For SaraRules:

  

• What’s Inside a Cup of Coffee?
  Aside from life-giving (and/or life-saving) goodness, you mean…?
• Rock out to Spider-Woman’s Tangled Web
• Missile Silo Fixer-Upper Now Swanky Bachelor Pad
• Ctrl-Alt-Del‘s Tim Buckley has a few things to say about the Left4Dead 2 “boycott”
  • I boycott the boycotters
  • Boycott: From the other side
• Wondermark’s Genre Fiction Generator
• Finding Common Ground in a Tiny Barbershop

Namaste.

Wednesday – 07 October 2009
We’re back. It’s been an amazing weekend… long weekend, that is. And it’s been fun, exciting, too fast/too short, and a whole list of other adjectives that are slipping my mind. In short: It’s been wonderful. I took a lot of pictures of the weekend, minus wedding (natch) and there seem to be a few that others have taken floating around various places in the Interwebs.

The wedding went off, literally, without a hitch. Seriously. Heritage Gardens was nothing short of excellent at taking care of all of the details. We arrived Saturday morning at 0900 and had a brief walkthrough of the ceremony. Amber, our coordinator, ushered us through everything, even without a few family members there. Next the wedding party got dressed and we took pictures.

Let me stop here to note that I hadn’t seen SaraRules’ dress before Saturday morning. Not during the trip to L.A. to find it. Not during the past six months that it’s been at her parents’ house. I didn’t see it until she came down the stairs from the Bride’s Room.

It was totally worth the wait.
She looked amazing in it.

Twila, our photographer, wanted to get a picture of my reaction to the dress, as SaraRules came down the stairs. I can’t wait to see that picture, because I know what the reaction felt like: A total jaw-dropping “Wow…” It was also the first time that I’d seen her bouquet: It was made of glass, as was my boutonniere.

We took pictures with our families… wait, I guess that’s just “family,” now. Twila, once again, was right on top of things – she took three pictures for each setting, to ensure that she gets “just the right one.” Parents. Grandparents. Siblings. Blended family. Wedding party. Us with Ben (our officiant). You name it, I think we have a picture of it.

Then it was time for the ceremony. We lined up and walked in. When SaraRules came down the steps and into the chapel, it was another “Wow…” moment – she really did look fantastic in her dress. We stood at the altar with our sibs as our groomsmen and bridesmaids – my Godsister, Tammy, filled in as a “stunt bridesmaid,” since we weren’t sure what Rana would have to deal with, as far as Bit and Pixel were concerned. Ben, Tammy’s husband, officiated the ceremony… and it was lovely. A nice blend of a traditional, spiritual ceremony with a few insightful words and a little humor for a modern marriage. We couldn’t have asked for anything better.

The reception was equally fun. We had lovely toasts from Adam and Melissa. We mingled with the guests and even managed to get in a bite or two of lunch. Then we danced. All that anyone knew of our dance was that it had been choreographed by SaraRules’ former classmate, Mark Baker, the Ballroom Dance Coordinator for Southern Utah University. No one expected The Spanish Inquisition us to break out in swing dancing to James Brown’s I Feel Good (I Got You). It was a big hit. Next up, SaraRules and her father danced to Stevie Wonder’s Isn’t She Lovely. Then it was time for the mother-son dance; we danced to If You Believe, from the Broadway production of The Wiz. (Mom liked my choice of song. WIN!) After more mingling, things began to wind down. But, It was awesome to have so many members of our family and friends there to share it with us.

We left the reception center… and headed to Beans and Brews for coffee. (It had been a long morning.) We went in our tux and dress. A patron came up and shyly asked if we had just gotten married; we told her that we had. She sweetly congratulated us and wished us well. Then we were off to our hotel. We changed into comfy clothes and proceeded to try and catch a nap before dinner. No such luck. We were far too wired from the day to sleep, so we chatted away the afternoon until time to head to…

…The Paris Bistro. It was our second trip to the restaurant and, again, everything was practically perfect. Our waitress, Lindsay, was attentive and quite sweet. The food was exquisite: We started with their Shrimp Paris appetizer, then SaraRules had their Bouillabaisse Provençal Fish Stew while I had the Grilled Mystic Wild Alaskan Silver Salmon. We had opted out of having dessert… but Lindsay, whom we had told that it was our wedding day, brought us a Bananas and Nutella Crepe dessert.

Leaving the restaurant, we decided to go in search of ice cream. The place I had intended to go wasn’t there anymore, so we cut our search short and opted to head back to the hotel and crash. And we did, in fairly short order.

Sunday morning, we got up and headed to SaraRules’ parents; they had decided to throw a brunch for the families family. If our count was accurate, there were fifty-three people there. It was nice to be able to see everyone once more before they took off for their respective parts of the country.

Back home to pack and then we were off for a mini-honeymoon in Las Vegas. We got under way around 1530. We stopped in St. George at the In-N-Out Burger and at the Dairy Queen and then were on the road again.  SaraRules had gotten us a room at the Luxor. By the time we got there, we were ready for dinner. After dinner and a little wandering, we were ready to call it a night.

Monday, we got up, got ready and got out. We had breakfast and then hit the road to visit Hoover Dam. The drive to Boulder City was nice, but traffic slows (to a crawl) a few miles from the dam. But, when we finally got there, I was amazed: It is an incredible feat of engineering. We walked along the front and back walls of the dam, from the Nevada side to the Arizona side and back. Naturally, I took a plethora of pictures (which are available from the link at the top of the post). Back to Vegas, where we drove around looking for Trader Joe’s, quilt shops and comic book stores. We were successful at finding all of them. We had dinner at Roy’s, a Hawai’ian fusion restaurant that SaraRules suggested. It was another fantastic place: The service was exemplary, the food was succulent. Everything about the place was spot-on. We started with a calamari appetizer, which came with a delicious macadamia nut pesto. Our main courses were: Hawaiian Style Misoyaki Butterfish (SaraRules) and  Chili Pepper Scented U-10 Scallops (me). Next came the “Roy’s Melting Hot Chocolate Souffle,” for dessert. And, were were sent a congratulatory mini-dessert of a berry custard on cake, as well. All-in-all, it was an excellent dining experience and one that I heartily recommend to anyone heading to Las Vegas.

We headed to Town Square to do a little shopping (we wound up only window shopping, though) and then headed back to the Hotel where Josh and Lish met up with us. It was nice to see them and catch up on some of the latest news from southern Utah and Massachusetts.

Tuesday morning, we got up, stopped to take pictures by the “Welcome to Las Vegas” sign…

…before hitting a nearby Dunkin’ Donuts for coffee and doughnuts (and Munchkins!) and getting on our way back to Utah. We stopped in Cedar City to watch a production of The Complete Works of William Shakespeare (Abridged). It was hilarious. Thanks to Josh for getting us tickets and for the in-play nod to our new marriage. And then, back on the road to Salt Lake City.

It was a wonderful (extended) weekend. Thanks to everyone who shared it with us.

Namaste.

Thursday – 01 October 2009
This NBN Thursday kicked off around 0745… and at only 32°F. Of course, following a day where it snowed (TWICE!), I’m glad that this morning was just clear and cold. Additionally, none of the snow in the valley lasted; on the mountaintops, however… *shrug*

This morning saw the first of today’s airport runs that SaraRules and I will be making:

1. Adam (Sib-3), Chelsea and Caden (Nephew-1) arrived at 0900. Their baggage… we weren’t too sure about. From the time they deplaned to the time they made it down to baggage claim, nothing with their flight number came up. This didn’t make them – nor the other people on their flight – very happy. Adam went to see what had happened while Chelsea went to get the rental car. According to him, the baggage claim clerk said that the people on their flight “didn’t make it to baggage claim fast enough,” so they took their baggage off the carousel and put it in the claims office. “Not fast enough?!” They walked from the gate to baggage claim! Any faster and they would have had to ‘port there. Idiotstick. Meanwhile, Chelsea was still waiting in line at the car rental counter – they only had one person working the desk. All told, it took almost an hour to get everything straight, which put us there when…
2. My stepsister, Barbara, arrived. In fact, I had to leave the others to finalize the rental arrangements to meet her. She had already gotten her luggage by the time I got back to baggage claim. We met the others at the rental counters. She got her car and we were off.

We had a “slight miscue” getting out of the airport, but that was clarified a couple of phone calls later. I dropped SaraRules off at home – she was meeting her sister and mother for a spa day and afternoon tea – before leading Adam and company to their hotel; I didn’t have to lead Barbara, as she had a GPS in her car… and she took off without us. Everyone checked in and then we went out for lunch.

Now, I’m back at home to take care of some cleaning while there’s some down time.

Stray Toasters

• T-minus two days…
• Caden is adorable. That’s really all there is to it. Or, as SaraRules put it: “Adam’s very lucky to have Chelsea help him make a cute kid.”
• Despite sending emails with weather updates to the family, I’ve already/still gotten two calls asking me how cold it is and if it really snowed yesterday.
• Movie Posters for Minimalists
• Being a bad guy can be good for career
• I still haven’t watched Superman/Batman: Public Enemies yet!
• I’m a bit late getting up to speed on this one, but it’s Banned Books Week.
• Monster Cereal: Fan Art Month
• Are you an Xbox Live subscriber? If so, what’s your gamertag?
• Are you a member of Good Reads?  What’s your username?
• From the “Whiskey Tango Foxtrot…?!” file: Bank of America demands thumbprint from man with no arms

Namaste.