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Blog life after my wife kicked me off her's.

7/21/2009

A Classic Two-Face

Posted by Jon |

The best point of this week's Bill Simmons Mailbag:

"Never, not ever, not in the history of mankind, has a TV or movie star vacillated back and forth between "not attractive" to "super attractive" this frequently. If you charted it, it would be like an EKG exam gone haywire. She's cute. She's not cute. She's hot. She's smoking! Yikes, I wish her face didn't just do that. She's cute. She's not cute. She's super cute. A genius selection by the show's producer."

Cute:
Not:
Notice that I said cute, not hot. I don't think Jillian, even at her best, has ever breached the hot category. She is in the same category as Gweneth Paltrow. Girls worship how good looking she is, guys think she is cute at best. The top 3 in this category: Gwyneth Paltrow, Sarah Jessica Parker, Tom Cruise's prisoner...errr wife.

7/09/2009

Michigan (Continued)

Posted by Jon |

Sometimes, you find yourself in a foreign state wondering which city is a hidden gem waiting to be discovered. At other times, you discover that the city next to you is called Farmington. How could I resist?



Turns out that every Farmington is a little heaven on earth.

After Farmington and after battling a VPN connection in my hotel for an hour and a half, I set off to Ann Arbor (thanks to a suggestion from Tula Gardner). I was determined to see the Big House. After driving through the Ann Arbor streets for a while, I finally made it to the stadium. I parked the car and walked around the classic brick stadium hoping to no avail that I could find an open gate to be able to take a peak at the field. Having failed at that, I turned my attention to the basketball Arena. I had a good friend on the mission in love with the wolverines, and I figured I'd make him jealous by seeing the court that the Fab Five played on and were ultimately one timeout short of possibly winning the title (sorry to rub that one in). At any rate, my luck finally changed when I swung around to the tunnel entrance where there was a door wide open. I stood at the door watching the Wolverine basketball scrimmage with a slightly obstructed view of the court for 10-15 minutes until a graduate assistant came walking may way and I asked him if anyone would mind if I went in to see the stadium. He said he didn't think anyone would mind, so I walked down the tunnel past the locker room entrance, past the board showing the different coach-designated player awards for each game last year and watched the scrimmage courtside for about 10 minutes. It was pretty sweet. I watched Manny Harris dunk 2-3 times and then do a sweet Jordanesque move where he was capped on one side of the basket, so he decided mid-air to convert it into a reverse layup (and made it of course). I also saw Grady give Gibson a hard time for missing an easy dunk under the basket. All-in-all, it was well worth the drive. I'll be keeping an eye on Harris...he apparently is the man.



The night ended with delicious ribs and brisket at Famous Dave's and a drive-by of Walled Lake (which was pretty cool as well). How are the kids honey? Just jokes.

7/08/2009

Michigan (Firsts)

Posted by Jon |

1. Fist time in Michigan. So far, so good. Any recommendations for a quick site to see after work tomorrow (near Novi)?

2. First time something was confiscated from my carry-on - a tube of gel. I should have known that I shouldn't have gone through the security line with the dude that gave me what he called a "free Salt Lake massage" on my first time through the security line because my shirt seemed too loose (even though the shirt says slim-fit) was sitting at the scanner. Note that the gel made it fine the first time and was unacceptable the second time through. Also, my shirt was considered too loose the first time, but not the second.

3. First time using Northwest (I believe). A 3-hour delay and a 3-hour flight later, I'm in Michigan.

4. First time driving a Suburu (edit:Subaru). Dave, Candice, and 1 million hippies will be so proud. I actually like the drive. Another side note is that the lady at Dollar was one of the creepiest ladies I've ever met...probably right behind the possessed lady I taught on my mission. I couldn't wait to get out of that place. She kind of reminded me of the lady at the gas station in Ruben and Ed only an evil version of that lady.

7/04/2009

Independence Day

Posted by Jon |

Beck and I started our holiday early, watching the hot air balloons in Provo.

Next to the parade, where Jess and Ira met us.

(The 501st Legion of geeks.)

We ended our day with a BBQ at Barbs only to walk out and find that some idiot thought he would honor those that fought for his/her freedom by hitting our car and taking off while we were enjoying the company inside.

Honor the United States of America. Honor our troops. Honor capitalism. Honor Jason Chaffetz. Dishonor the lame that hit my car.

7/02/2009

Goodbye Home

Posted by Jon |

I spent tonight cleaning out the last items from my parent's old home (and my home for the majority of my childhood and adolescent years) in Farmington in anticipation of signing the paperwork to sell it in the morning. The home has been on the market for quite some time, so this wasn't exactly a surprise; however, it was sad to walk through it for the last time. It wasn't supposed to be...I had told myself that the house is old, has low cielings, and has served its purpose...but walking through it, the memories came flooding back.

I left my basement room (Scott's old room) for last. I first cleaned out my parents room, where I had gone many Sundays to look for a tie or socks in my Dad's closet. Where my parent's wrapped all our presents on Christmas Eve. Then to my sister Heather's room, where her infamous "Hepther" paper hung for years on the left side of the wall when you opened the door. Next, my old room, which had since been converted to an office for my mom. I remember looking out of the window in the winter and seeing icicles as big as my waist. I remember banging on the door while my siblings locked me in by tying a jump rope between the knobs on my door and the bathroom door across the hall. Next, my sister Robyn's room, which seemed so much smaller than it did 15 years ago.

Downstairs, I took a picture down in our music room, the room I tried to avoid in my youth (and endured countless renditions of piazu, his hands, bring him home, etc. by my father and sisters) until attempting to learn the guitar with my Dad. I took a last look at the living room, where we had spent a ton of family home evenings. The dining room, where I thought my Dad was going to kill my brother after he purposely shook milk everywhere in an argument at dinner. Where we had said our three things we were thankful for each Thanksgiving. Where the kids served dinner to my parents in tuxedos and dresses a few days before my oldest sister's wedding. I passed our regular dinner table, where we ate dinner as a family every day of my life. I carried everything out to the garage through the family room where Matt hit his head on the ceiling beam when we decided to put the couches together and attempt front flips.

Last was the basement. I cleaned out Holly's room, where we had all slept together on the Christmas Eves of year's past. I cleaned out Matt's room, where I would go to "borrow" good CDs and Garbage Pail Kids that he left around. Where we had battled many floods. Where I used to search the window wells for salamanders. Last was my room...where my green couch sat...where my walls were covered by signs of youth...where I slept every night in my waterbed...where I had grown up. The same room that Mom and I spent a few days renovating into a kid's play room years later.

So many memories. Such a great house. It has indeed served its purpose. One of the things I took off the wall was a wooden sign on the wall leading out the front door that has "Walk in the Light" carved in it. I couldn't help but think that this was ultimately the most important thing that happened in that house. Two parents diligently taught 6 kids to walk in the light. So many lessons learned...so many memories.