Update: 3/28/07

As promised, here is the video of Tim riding the electric bull this weekend. Tim is one of my best friends from my hometown of Southport, Connecticut.

Tim lives in New York city now, but back in the day we had some crazy adventures. Most of them were confined to computers. Thinking back on that time, I can remember all of the games I used to play on my old IBM PS/1 386 computer -- they ranged form weird to bizarre. One such game was entitled "Super Solvers: Midnight Rescue!" This game belonged to the educational genre. At the time, I genuinely thought that all video games were educational, with the key difference being whether or not they included math.

I think the premise of this particular "edutainment" icon was to save the protagonist's school from disappearing by solving puzzles and avoiding robots that throw paint at you:

Upon closer inspection, I think the robot was a paint brush? Or had a paint brush for legs?

Anyways, Tim introduced me to games like "Rise of the Triad."

The point of this game was to kill everyone. So it goes. That last sentence was a nod to Kurt Vonnegut, another obsession of my youth, but one that took form later and was arguably more imaginative than ultra violent video games.

Tim was a book reader too. He consumed Clive Cussler books like they were Hostess cakes. One day I told Tim that Clive Cussler died, when he actually had not, and it was the closest we've ever come to fighting.

Update: 3/25/07

What was I thinking.

On Friday I took out a mulch equity loan, and had it deposited on my driveway -- all 6 cubic yards.

Somehow the mathematical translation from my measurements didn't pan out, because I ended up only needing about 2/3 of the entire pile. So I spent about 10 hours on Saturday and Sunday moving the expensive dirt around the property.

I'm proud to say that it's all quasi-evenly distributed and I hosed down the driveway.

This is a pretty big deal since growing up I avoided mulching in highschool like the plague. I would disappear into the basement to play videogames. But today the videogames couldn't save me, and I had to mulch on my own.

Next year I'm hiring landscapers.

Update: 3/21/07

I am pretty stoked about my last dental visit. You don't understand, really. Despite a modest collection of university educations and respectable careers -- my family just does not do well in the dentist chair. Stories of drillings and fillings have scarred this blog once before, but I tell you this: I escaped yesterday with no drill!

Of course, I have to go back in 6 months to take care of a few very small cavities. But that can be our secret. I still fared much better than the last visit in September...

Update: 3/15/07

The grass is always greener... except on my lawn!

Seriously, it looks like post-it note colored velcro. This is not what it looked like when we bought the place, but my father in law warned me about zoysia grass. It looks fantastic 6 months out of the year, but goes dormant in winter.

No worries. A brown lawn is better than no lawn. At least the dogs can run around and play on it, they don't seem to mind. This weekend I'm going to fertilize it. Wish me luck!

I finally got the chance to rent Borat. Definitely funny, but I'm glad I didn't scramble to see it in the theater. To be completely honest, I feel like they showed the funniest parts of the movie on TV or Youtube.

Still, you have to hand it to Sascha Baron Cohen, the guy is a genius. And with that, I give you your Friday Video from another genius.

Update: 3/07/07

I just got back from a business trip to LA. I had never been to that part of California before, and I really liked it.

The trip was for business -- more specifically it was a chance to meet one of our largest business partners face to face and present some facts and ideas to the rest of their team. For all intents and purposes, the trip was a success and definitely worth the long journey.

Yesterday we were fortunate enough to enjoy a nice dinner in Hollywood and then a trip to see an improv show starring the cast of Mad TV.

Afer the show, I bumped into Horatio Sans, an 8 year veteran of Saturday Night Live. Correction, I ran up to him like a nerd and asked to have my photo taken with him.

And that's that. I'm home safe and sound. Glad I went, but glad to be back home too.

Update: 3/03/07

Well, it’s been awhile since anyone has heard from me. This is really Andrew’s forum for fame, fortune and attention, but I thought I would steal the show – at least for today. I just returned from a week in Chicago. My visit was one of both business and pleasure.

Sheila and Patrick hosted me at their new digs, which are fantastic. It was better than staying at a hotel – they are both amazing cooks and treated me very well. My first night in town, I was able to catch up with my college friends – Maggie, Courtney, John, Brian and Jason. We had a fun filled evening drinking wine, noshing on tacos and playing Guitar Hero. Here is a shot of Maggie and Court battling it out. I tried playing, but was pretty awful.

It was also great to see my co-workers in Chicago, who I had not visited since last summer. Everyone was just as I left them, which was bitter sweet, because I miss them so much. It was particularly great to see Yolanda, who, when I managed to split my pants at work on Tuesday, grabbed some needle and thread and sewed them up for me right there on the spot. If that isn’t friendship I don’t know what is.

I came home – after losing one of my contacts in the airport and flying through a tornado watch – to a spotless home and my wonderful family. Holly gained 3 or 4 pounds during my trip, which I think she stole from Andrew who is looking very svelte, almost resembling that of a male model. Tyson Beckford –eat your heart out!

At any rate, thanks to everyone I saw in Chicago – it was great to see you and I appreciate you taking care of me. I promise to be back soon, and if you ever want to visit Charlotte, you have a place to stay.