I’m on the road for the rest of the week, attending an NCSC National Team meeting in Dallas, Texas. This is my first extended time in Dallas, so it’ll definitely be interesting. Coming up: four days of meetings and activities! I have a lot of random thoughts I want to add, I’ll look for opportunities to do so.
Random
12 on the 12th for September
Despite my blogging sabbatical I did manage to remember 12 on the 12th, and logged them in for September. This month’s edition included a Dave Matthews concert, as well as some time at school! I apologize for taking a few days to get them posted:
I started my day working from home, ready to tackle a busy day at work!
Hours on the phone later, I’m still working away.. This is my glazed look towards the end of the day.
I gathered my stuff to head out for the afternoon. First I had class, then the Dave Matthews Band concert. Here are my school books, concert tickets and of course ear-plugs.
Heading out from school at the end of the day.
I turned around and took a picture of the sun-set over the mountsin. It was a pretty one!
My friend Carrie and I got to Pepsi Center, just in time for DMB to take the stage. I managed to sneak in my camera and get some great concert shots!
They had a really awesome back-drop setup, with three huge screens. Typically they had three different angles on the screen, but this one of the times all three screens had the same picture. It’s a bummer that our angle blocked the third screen.
Carrie and I at the concert.
I really liked this shot as the lights shined towards the crowd.
One more shot of the stage…
This is the outside of the Pepsi Center, where the concert was held.
After the concert I had to end my day with work. We started to experience some big problems and this is my "timidly scared" look.
Back from vacation (don’t I wish)
I wish I could say that my blogging hiatus was due to a sabbatical, sat on a beach for three weeks and enjoyed the end-of-summer weather. Unfortunately my disappearance is nothing that glamorous or exciting, but simply due to an extremely stressful month. To answer the question, "Where the heck have you been?"
School started on the August 21st. When I posted the short "Hey Ya" entry, little did I realize that my time would essentially evaporate. After consecutively unsuccessful semesters taking classes on-line, I’m back in the class room for the fall semester. I’m determined to get my academic butt back in gear. Little did I know how much my time would evaporate.
Work has been a perennial nightmare for the last few weeks. Things began inexplicably breaking, and we are still struggling to get a permanent solution in place. On top of that, rumors of layoffs have everyone on edge. Now is not the time to be lax at work.
I joined a band. After my well-publicized search for drumming opportunities, I found one that was worth the wait! I am the new drummer of Greenfoot, a rock/blues/rockabilly band. I am especially excited for this opportunity to join two talented musicians. I believe that my musical gifts can help take this music to an awesome new level. Originally the blues/rockabilly genre wasn’t one I ever initially considered, but I’m definitely growing into the music. These guys have a really unique sound, and I am challenged by the genre. I’m used to being able to easily crank out some grooves and lay a solid foundation. With this new genre, I find myself taking a step back and reflecting on my true place in the genre. How can I apply my signature to this style? It’s neat to actually sit down and "wood shed" my parts, deliberately planning each song. We actually have a few gigs lined up in October. I am looking forward to playing live again!
Matt and I are hard at work, starting a new business. We’ve been inspired to create a unique seldom-done service, that will be greatly needed by many people. As we’re finalizing the planning stages, I’ll be sharing more on my blog. In the meantime, you can say that we’re working to "Preseve Memories". This has definitely been time-consuming, especially since we’re looking to launch on October 1.
Many other new things are beginning. I’m now a Knight of Columbus. I’m dusting off my Broncos jersey for another exciting season. I’m still biking and finding ways to get back in shape. I am scaling a mountain of NCSC work, and will be heading to Dallas in about a week.
These are definitely crazy times, but I still have many random thoughts. I hope that this inaugural school-year post will remove the psychological barrier I have from finding time to post. Thanks for sticking with me, wish me luck!
Long week!
Wow, TGIF! I am really grateful that this week is finally coming to an end. At the beginning of the week I knew that this week was going to be long – little did I realize how much of an understatement I made. Frankly work has kicked my ass. When it’s all said & done, I’ll be putting in about 55-60 hours of work this week, and it’s all been fighting fires, with our application consistently going down. It’s definitely frustrating to say the least.
I’m a little fearful about this upcoming week: given the amount of butt-kicking that works’ brought about, I’m nervous to add school on top of that. Also looking at my schedule next week I have something going on virtually every night. Ugh.
On some good notes: I got my Broncos season tickets yesterday! It hurt the wallet a bit, but I was fortunate enough to be able to pull it off for another year! Now football season can officially begin…
Tonight Bethany and I are headed down to the Pepsi Center in Denver for the Red Hot Chili Peppers concert. This is a show I’ve really been excited about. I saw them a few years ago at the crappy Fiddler’s Green / Coors Amphitheater venue in Denver, and it was about as good as it could be at the venue. I can’t stand Coors Amphitheater because they have this noise ordinance that prevents any groups from playing after 10:30. Snoop Dogg actually opened for them (which was an unique but awesome combination), but he played for almost 90 minutes, and when the show started at 7pm it really didn’t give the Chili Peppers much time to play at all. This time, I’m really anxious to see a full set from them.
This will also be the debut of my "concert-camera". I bought a used Casio Exilim EX-S3 camera off of eBay a few weeks back. My intention is to have a camera of decent quality, but is small enough to sneak in. Both the Sonys and Exilims got good reviews for slim cameras, and the price was right on for the Exilim on eBay. This thing is small enough to fit in a deck-of-cards holder, or a cigarette case – should be easy enough to smuggle. I am looking forward to providing an update on my concert-camera’s inaugural journey.
12 on the 12th for August
Here it is! As promised, my 12 on the 12th included pictures from a wedding – my friends Ryan and Karen. Congrats to them! Outside of the wedding, I tried my best to stay on top of my picture-taking – check them out below:
I begin my day by heading out to run my pre-wedding errands. This is my car outside of my apartment. Lately I’ve been parking right under the tree so the shade can cool-off my car.
First stop of the day: filling up the tank for the week. Ouch – gas prices are hurting my wallet. At times like these I wonder about having an SUV.
Next, over to target to get the wedding gift. I’m not really into registries, so I just opted for the gift card.
This is the inside of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s in Fort Collins, where the wedding was held. I didn’t want to take a picture during that Mass, so this is right after the wedding as we were all heading out.
One of the great parts about weddings is seeing all of your good friends again. From left: Emily, myself, Joel & Shannon
This is a picture of the church hall next to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s – it’s beautiful! My friends Meghan and Michael are in front.
I broke out my camera during the toast and took a picture of Michael through my champagne glass.
Joel chowing down on the good food – I think this was his second plate!
Dancing at weddings, doing the "Electric Slide". I was glad to have my camera at this point – anything to avoid dancing!
After the wedding I went to my mom’s to visit my uncle who is in town. They were replacing the wooden gates with vinyl – hopefully the dog won’t tear these up!
My sister and her boyfriend came over. We played with the dog for a while and then threw the football around. This is my mom’s back yard.
My sister Christina and Cole our cat. We call her the "Mafia Cat" because her fur looks like a tuxedo: black on the outside with white up her stomach.
My fifth 12 on the 12th is in the books! Next month’s edition should actually include the Dave Matthews Concert! I’m definitely looking forward to that!