Vices, I Have a Few
Posted: May 29, 2012 Filed under: Life, Movies, Weight-Loss, Woe Is Me Leave a comment »As a species, humans are beset with vices. Some are completely harmless. Some can endanger your life. Overcoming these vices can be a constant struggle for some people, and I am no exception. In an attempt to change things up, I decided to attack one of my easiest to handle vices earlier this year.
When January rolled around, or more specifically, my return to Utah in January, I decided that I was going to abstain from alcohol. I didn’t really have a problem with it in my opinion. Sure, there were times that I drank to much and did stupid things, but mostly it was just something that I could easily do without. After a brief relapse while playing some Starcraft at a LAN party shortly after moving back, I have now gone a little over for months without a drink of alcohol. Read the rest of this entry »
Fear, Reflection, and Good News
Posted: May 19, 2012 Filed under: Family Times, Life 2 Comments »I’ve been debating what , or if, to write in this blog. Is it something that should remain in the family? Or is it something that I should share, as I am not the only person that has experienced this. My best friend in the entire world, the lovely Megan, went through a similar thing a few years back, and that hit pretty close to home because I was fairly close to her mother while Megan and I were in high school together, though the impact of her news didn’t hit me nearly as hard due to distance. Luckily, dear Peg is doing great and is patiently awaiting the birth of her latest granddaughter, with Megan due to deliver little Maggie within a few weeks.
Anyway, the past two weeks have been less than fun for me. It started a couple weeks ago with “biopsy” and “cancer” coming out of my mother’s mouth and a visit to doctor to discuss options and whatnot… but I’m getting a little ahead of myself. We’ll rewind the story a couple of weeks before we get to that point, or maybe even a little further. Read the rest of this entry »
Dawson’s Creek Season 2: A Reflection – Part 3
Posted: May 15, 2012 Filed under: My Pop Culture Life, Television Leave a comment »All sorts of fun stuff happenin’ down at “the Creek” during our last update, and I’m sure it only portends to get more exciting as season 2 wraps up on the sophomore year for our pseudo-teenagers. Let’s get on with it!
In “Be Careful What You Wish For,” Dawson turns 16 and gets even more angst-y, trying to make sense of his poor little life and his difficulties with the ladies, especially considering that his former girlfriend Joey dated a guy that turned out to be gay.* As Joey plans a great surprise party for him back at the Leery residence, Dawson accompanies Pacey and Andie for a night on the town. On the advice of her therapist, Andie decides to act a little more recklessly, and Dawson joins in the fun, getting drunk and getting on stage to sing “the blues,” which was a truly difficult scene to watch. Meanwhile, Joey is dealing with her own stuff at the Leery house as Stupid Abby and her loser friends taunt Jack for being gay, than try to make out with him to prove that he is not. Joey unfortunately catches them in the act, Jack reaffirms that he is gay, and Stupid Abby’s game is foiled again. When a drunk Dawson finally shows up at home, he ruins the party by telling everyone how he really feels about them before passing out into the cake and spending the night in the bathroom with Andie, promising never to drink again. Read the rest of this entry »
Dawson’s Creek Season 2: A Reflection – Part 2
Posted: May 8, 2012 Filed under: My Pop Culture Life, Television 1 Comment »When we last left the humble folks of Capeside, things were starting to heat up between Jack and Joey, and Dawson remained his brooding petulant self. Pacey and Andie were even starting to get a bit closer. Let’s see what happened in the next few episodes.
In “The Election,” Andie decides to run for student body president, and enlists Joey to help. Joey is reluctant at first because she is wary of how the folks at school view her due to her father being in jail and all, but comes around when Stupid Abby is mean to Andie. This prompt Joey to attempt to usurp Abby and Chris’s campaign. Jen and Dawson unite to help take Dawson’s mind off his parent’s looming divorce, getting into trouble by pulling pranks and capping it all off with some skinny dipping. In the end, Abby’s horribleness leads Andie to quit, prompting Pacey to “hot mic” Abby into saying a bunch of stuff on the PA, leading to her downfall. Also…Jack won’t talk to Joey about his family. Read the rest of this entry »
Help Make Ben Folds Five Make Sweet Music
Posted: May 7, 2012 Filed under: Ben Folds, Music and Concerts Leave a comment »Have you ever wanted to see your name in the liner notes of an album by your favorite artist? Do you care about music education in our schools? Would you like to see music used as therapy to comfort the sick and others? Now you can, and you can do it pretty easily.
If you saw my previous post, Ben Folds Five has reunited to record a new album. Check out this link to hear the first song from the the as yet untitled upcoming release coming out in the fall. You won’t be disappointed. If you are a fan of BF5, or Ben Folds, or music that means something in general, you can help Ben, Darren, and Robert bring the new album to life, as well as helping them support music causes across the country.
If you want to do so, check out the video on the band’s Pledge Music page and contribute something to the new album. For as little as $10, you can help make this album a reality and help make the difference in the world of music. I’ll be throwing some money behind the project later this week and I encourage you to do the same. The album is already 100% funded in less than 24 hours, so every extra bit will allow the band to put even more money towards the music causes that they support.
Once you do, feel free to share this little blog post with your friends by using one of the various share buttons below. With our help, not only will we get an awesome album from the preeminent piano rock trio of our time, but also help support some great music charity programs across the country.
Until next time…
New Ben Folds Five Track “Do It Anyway”
Posted: May 5, 2012 Filed under: Ben Folds, Music and Concerts, News 1 Comment »Readers of this blog know of my appreciation for Ben Folds. The guy has been a solo artist now for over a decade, but I first heard his dulcet piano chords back in 1997 or so while in high school, around the time when “Whatever and Ever, Amen” was tearing up the radio waves. My appreciation has only grown deeper since that time, and I officially have to count on two hands how many times I have seen Mr. Folds live.
All that said, I have never been more excited for a Ben Folds album until now. But it’s not because it’s a new Ben Folds album. It is, in fact, a brand new album from the reunited Ben Folds Five!!! They’ve played together since they broke up in 2008, doing a concert in North Carolina in 2008 that I almost went to. They also came back together to play three songs on Ben Folds’ The Best Imitation of Myself: A Retrospective that came out late last year, contributing three songs to that awesome set. With this new album, due in September, and a fall tour, which I may go totally groupie on and follow them around for two months, it’s a wonderful time to be a Ben Folds/Ben Folds Five fan.
Folds has released an unmastered version of a song from the album entitled “Do It Anyway.” If the rest of the album sounds anything like this, it will be on par with most everything else that the band has released.
If you want to download and listen to the song, follow this link, which will download the song in MP3 format. Then feel free to spread the word with all your friends, and join the Five in hyping a CD in a way that has only been done a few times before. If you’re a fan, spread the word to other BF5 fans you know, or try to convince some of those people out there who have yet to learn to appreciate their music to open their ears and mind to the awesomeness.
Until next time…
Going public
Posted: May 3, 2012 Filed under: Uncategorized 1 Comment »
The adventure of life continues. As much as I plan and dream and try to anticipate outcomes, I will never know what lies around the next corner or down whatever road I choose to take. That’s the exciting and frightening reality of life. I wouldn’t want it any other way, however. As a Mormon, life was forced to fit into a master plan.
Dawson’s Creek Season 2: A Reflection – Part 1
Posted: May 2, 2012 Filed under: My Pop Culture Life, Television 1 Comment »When we last left the denizens of Capeside, Dawson and Joey finally got together, Jen’s grandfather died, and Pacey was being hassled for being a loser. What will happen during the second half of their sophomore year of high school?
Episode one, titled “The Kiss,” opens moments after Dawson and Joey “romantically” make out for most of the night, departing to “sleep” on the aforementioned kiss and what it might mean for their relationship and Joey’s opportunity to head off to France. She decides not to go to see what direction the fledgling romance will take, a decision she might come back to regret. While discussing what happened, Pacey and Dawson get their hair cut, with Pacey deciding to go all awesome and frost his tips. While distracted by the hot cheerleader he has a crush on, he pulls out in front of another car, which just happens to belong to new arrival Andie McPhee. I’m sure she’ll stick around longer than one episode. Poor Jen is reeling from the death of her grandfather, and is further upset when she discovers that Dawson and Joey are now a couple. The adults in the show, Dawson’s parents, come to some kind of conclusion after Mitch decides to visit a divorce attorney. Read the rest of this entry »
Paths Not Taken
Posted: April 29, 2012 Filed under: Life, The Ladies, Writing Leave a comment »Recently, a colleague of mine posted something on Facebook about a conversation she had been having with her friend. While not party to the discussion they had, she posed the follow question to Facebook: “What would your life be like now if you had taken a different path?” I provided one example in response, but since this is something that I am often thinking about, I thought I might sit down and examine some of my life choices I have made during my life, and weigh what I might have gained from taking the “path less traveled,” as well as consider what I would have missed out on from the path actually traveled.
The decisions made will cover numerous different areas of my life: the opposite sex, education, work, and other opportunities. Since I lack the ability to time travel and can’t go back and make these decisions in real time, the alternate realities may end up being what I viewed as a best case scenario or even pure conjecture or imagination. This is by no means a scientific study after all. We’ll start at the earliest decision point and work our way forward to about four months ago. Read the rest of this entry »
Dawson’s Creek Season 1: A Reflection – Part 2
Posted: April 28, 2012 Filed under: My Pop Culture Life, Television Leave a comment »When we last left our denizens of Capeside, they had just served detention together, kind of working out a lot of the issues that they were having. I have a feeling that something big is going to happen as we get closer to the season finale. Let’s find out…
Episode eight begins with the arrival of Billy, a “Boyfriend” of Jen’s from New York. Poor little Dawson gets all insecure (shocker) and pouts throughout most of the episode. On the other side of the love quadrangle, Pacey has to rescue a super drunk Joey at a beach party, while Mitch and Gayle, Dawson’s parents, reach a breaking point after the whole Gayle affair thing. I bet they get divorced eventually. Oh, and I guess Dawson and Jen broke up? Read the rest of this entry »
