Obligatory “long time no update” sentence. So that last post I made was done after visiting Hal up in Minnesota. I decided to go up and visit one week in early august. Spent some money on gas and headed up. Saw some cool open mic stuff at a bar, saw the majority of Black Adder and went tubing on a river. Oh, and saw the coolest junk/parts shop ever.

Also that month I went to three different weddings. First up was Tony’s, it was at Devils Head and was the first wedding of a friend my age I had ever attended. I ended up recording the audio for the wedding ceremony to put it with the video. It turned out pretty well.

Tony had Swing Crew at his wedding, and it was epic. I had a lot of fun, drank a bit too much, and ended the night in a really crazy way. Ask me in person if you wanna hear details. Safe to say I was “that guy” that wedding.

Next up was Abby’s wedding. This one I was filming. So I set up cameras and filmed the ceremony, speeches etc. I am totally failing at getting the video finished though (sorry Abby! I swear it will be done soon!). That one was fun too, saw people from MATC for the first time in a long time. Got to meet some new people, and sleep in an awkward hotel room. Less craziness, but still some interesting stuff.

Last but not least was Darryl and Leda’s wedding. For this one I found out at Tony’s wedding that I was going to be in it. This was the first wedding that I was not an usher or ring bear in, and it turned out to be a lot of fun. I don’t think I ever have stood so still while sweating so much as during that ceremony. Met some new people, and some I had again not seen in awhile. Ended up participating in the making of a nasty mountain of pizza in Darryl’s fridge. I also saw Lake Michigan for the first time too.

In September with the help of Bess I was able to get a new job at a UW Extension that makes online courses. This job is in addition to my other two (Budget Bicycle Center and Iron Skillet) so no full time benefits or anything, but it is a start. I am dropping Iron Skillet down though. I work nearly full time at the other two jobs now and don’t really want to give up my weekends no more. Meh.

I also went to Wo Zah Wah in the Dells and hung out with Tony and some other people. I am really noting a pattern in how might nights end though. I need to stop bringing electronic devices with me.

Despite anything you might have read on twitter, I am making progress in sorting out my life. I just need to keep at it, and try to practice the advice I get.

I am noticing I seem to have commuter friendships. I drive long distances just to hang out, or to attend things. Thats just how I roll I guess. So if you ever need to talk or hang out, but I am 30 mins or so away, give me a call anyway. The ole Oldsmobile is up for it.

One of the guys at work (Budget Bicycle Center) said this last week. I thought I could make a funny image for it.

So things have been progressing in my life. Some faster than others. But things really seem to be looking up. My job at the bike shop as a web/tech guy is going good, and I am still working at the Iron Skillet a bit too. Been stopping out at the Blarney on mondays to hang out with friends. Thats leading to some interesting things!

So yeah, I’m still alive and at the moment doing pretty well. I just need to keep looking at he positive sides of things, or something like that . Oh, and save up money so I can get out in the world!

Just finished installing the new theme I designed for my blog! I think it turned out pretty neat. I like it more than any previous one I have done to date!

In other news, I am currently a cashier at the Petro Iron Skillet. Mah dogs are killin me! But hey, a job is a job they say. And I got one. Now to search for one in my field!

Merry Christmas!

See my last post for more context.

Well, you are in for a shock next time you see me. I no longer have a beard. Lets get the reactions I had at first out of the way.

My reactions to my de-bearding:

• Whoa my chin is gone!
• Whoa I need a haircut too!
• Whoa I don’t recognize my self!
• Whoa my face feels funny!
• Whoa, was this a good idea?
• Whoa! People are going to freak when they see me!
• Hmm, I look less manly. Like I needed that…

So I have had a goatee since mid High School.I had full a beard since before the summer of 2005. All the people I have met and know me from MATC in Visual Communications have known me as a bearded fellow. That is a weird concept, and part of why I did not shave, people liked me when I had a beard (not because, just concurrently.) So obviously the beard was not that weird on me.

I never really had a very thick beard on the sides, so it never looked all that great. I get the impression it was not very attractive, and that it was not very professional. I need a haircut to match now. I need a haircut ASAP, maybe shaving it off in the early hours of Christmas was not the best idea.

And no pictures, It will be fun for the next few months too see peoples reactions. (or down right scary) (Maybe it will come back, or the goatee, Time will tell.) (Wiggling my chin in front of the mirror is like an out of body experience.)

Edit: MY CHIN IS COLD!

So a few days ago I saw a link to the HITs for the photo based product search in Amazon’s new iPhone app. And decided it might be fun to do some. And amazon was paying 10¢ a pop, so I thought it might be worth seeing how easy it was. I quickly started seeing patterns on what people were using to app to find many of them were obviously taken at the office and at their desk because trends appeared quickly.

Below is a list of some of the things I saw come up often and some notes about them.

For the watches, I was only able to find an exact match once. And for the coffee cups, never. I found every book someone took a photo of though. Only two photos appeared to come from inside a store.

And another year passes. Lots of big things happened this year, and other things did not.

Previous Turkeys Look Weird:2007,2006,2005