Everything is Gone

This story goes back to around 2001 or so. On this particular Friday night I was going down to the Admirals game with Nate and Jay. Justus had just moved into a place on 76th street no more than 10 or 12 blocks from my house. We had called him to see if he wanted to go with us. But he said that he was staying in with his girlfriend, Amy. Nothing wrong with that, but I knew we would have more fun if Justus came with us. Nate, Jay and I left my house and were headed for downtown, and we decided to stop by Justus anyway to see if we could perform a quick intervention to convince him to go with us. They were living in an upper flat. The door was open and we walked right in. No one was home, I had just talked to him no more than 10 minutes ago, and now no one was home. When you open the door into their place you walk right into the living room. To the right is a den, and to the left is the kitchen and bedrooms. I decided to leave them a little message that we had stopped by. In the next 5 minutes we managed to move everything out of the living room into other rooms of the place. And when I say everything, I mean everything. The movies and CDs in the built in china cabinets, all of the knick knacks on the shelves. The room was cleared out. And then we left for the game. As I said it took the three of us no more than 5 minutes. In talking to Justus later, he informed me that we must have showed up right after they left to go rent a movie and get chinese. He said they weren't gone for more than 10 or 15 minutes. When they got back obviously they thought they that were robbed and nearly crapped their pants. As they spent the next hour and a half putting everything back, Amy asked Justus "Who would do this?" Justus said "You don't know? This was Rickie for sure."

Picture of the Day

I was over by Borky tonight, and on my ride home I was messing around with my camera while I was driving. I do not endorse doing this. But I got this shot while going through an intersection. Because of the reduced shutter speed you can see how the lights were changing from green to yellow. So not only was I taking pictures while I was driving but also running an intersection. Good thing I wasn't drunk too. Unfortunately my finger also got in the way. I still think it is a pretty cool picture. But probably not "art".

Done. Done, Done, DONE!!!

I am happy to announce that I have completed my Christmas shopping. It is not even December and I am done. I really don't have a lot of gifts to buy. My nieces and nephews, well they get cash. My new tradition is, that I put their money in envelopes, all the same amount, except one envelope has twice as much money as the other 8. On Christmas Eve, I go to my brother, Jon's, in-laws. They do a white elephant exchange. Then on Christmas Day, my family does the same thing. I bought the same present for both of those today. I just got off the phone with my sister, Deb, she agreed to allow me to pay her and put my name on whatever gift she gets for my parents. I also throw together a family DVD and hand that out to my family. Unfortunately for my family, it is going to be long this year. So far it is just over 40 minutes. Sorry guys. A lot of quality photos this year.

And speaking of Christmas, mostly likely I will be putting together my Christmas card this weekend. Which is arguably one of the best Christmas cards that people get. If not number 1, it for sure falls in the top 5. For my loyal blog readers, this is your chance to make sure you get a card. If you got one last year, and you address hasn't changed, you will most likely get a card again this year. That is unless you pissed me off somewhere along the way this past year. The General, you are on thin ice. I realize most people are paranoid about putting personal information on the internet, so if you want to ensure your receipt of your card or your address has changed, email your mailing address to:

mitch_kumstean@yahoo.com

TGB, (Tall, Gorgeous & Brillant) if you play your cards right, you might even make the list.

I was in the lovely town of Prescott today, and I drove by this house. Look at all of the plastic crap in this yard. There must be at least 50 of these figures in the yard. My only question is where do they store that crap the other 11 months out of the year?

Movie Review

My life is actually rather boring. And as boring as it is, writing about is even more boring. So I have been looking for new ideas. Yes, I do still have the picture of the day feature. There are about another 50 or so still on my hard drive which have yet to be released to the public. My sister in law, Julie, gave me the idea of posting reviews of movies, since I mentioned to her that I go to a movie about once a week. Right after she made the suggestion she said she wanted credit on the blog for the idea as well. She may post a comment stating otherwise, but I have witnesses, such as my god wife, Nancy. So credit given and how about a picture too. Thanks for the idea Julie.Today is my first of what I hope is many movie reviews. I went to the local movie theather, The Woodbury 10. Here I am before the movie. Yes that is orange pants, black jacket, a green hat and white gloves.
I have been doing a great deal of thinking of my rating system of these movies. I had a number of ideas, but I didn't like any of them. So I will just go with a generic 1- 10 scale. A "1" being really bad and I tell everyone I know to never go and see this movie (Robin Hood: Men in Tights, Harley Davidson and the Marlboro Man). And a "10" being a must see buy it right away when it comes out on DVD and watch it every weekend when you come home from the bars(Pulp Fiction, Goodfellas). I will try not to spoil any of the plots of the movies. I would also like to post a disclaimer that I have traditionally been very hard on movies. So don't expect to see a lot to Bo Derek's (10's).

So here is my first movie review. I went to see Deja Vu staring Denzel Washington, Val Kilmer, Paula Patton, Adam Goldberg and Jim Caviezel (A.K.A. Jesus Christ) as the bad guy. I would classify this movie as a cross between "Back to the Future", "Bill and Ted's Excellent Adventure" and "Enemy of the State". The time travel in this movie doesn't seem too believeable but then again, maybe the theory behind it is over my head. Not that I don't believe in time travel, I do, at least Einstein's theory. I will explain it to you some day. But I did like how everything ties itself together by the end of the movie. So I will give this movie an 7, worth paying full theather price, but not worth buying when it comes out on DVD.

Extended Update

Here are some pictures from the last week. Here is another on of Nate and Elery. Unfortunately I was unable to get any ping pong in with Nate this week, he was busy being a father. I am hoping we don't have the same problem around Christmas.One afternoon my brother asked me to pick his kids up when they got off the bus. Here are Nick and Ethan. A little slice of life in any town U.S.A.Thanksgiving Eve I was out with my brother, Jon, his wife, Julie and Jon's highschool buddies, the Dillabers. Pictured here. This trip to the bar with Jon and Julie ended up being a little more than I bargained for. Every year on Thanksgiving Eve we go out with the Dillabers. But this year we were meeting at a bar that we normally don't go to. I soon learned why. Apparently Wednesday is normally the night that my nephew, Nick, plays soccer. But with the holiday, it was cancelled but the parents decided to meet out at a bar. None of this was known to me. So it turned into a Soccer Mom and Dad meeting. Well one thing led to another and here I am leg wrestling with one of the parents on my nephew's soccer team.I had been growing a beard since the beginning of November. And for no real reason, Thanksgiving morning I shaved in some big Lamb Chops and something of a Goatee. Julie thought it would be funny to give Nicholas the same look. So here I am with my nephew/ god son, Nicholas. A.K.A. Pickle or because some people say that Nicholas looks like me, Mini Me. He is identical, but only 5/8th the size.Jon and Ethan at Thanksgiving, two tough guys. Here is my dad just after finishing skinning a deer, seen in the background.Jon and my cousin Justin cutting up a deer. Looks like fun doesn't it. I actually didn't cut up too many deer maybe 30 or 40. Jon won't admit it but he is one of the best meat cutters around. If you ever really want to get a rise out of him, the next time you see him ask him who is a better meat cutter me or him. You are the best aren't you Haus? I know you are reading this.The Natesgiving Celebration just wasn't the same without Nate. Their weren't any real long stories being told. Instead I went to dinner with Dan and Jodi, and a disfunctional couple friend of theirs. We went to Crawdaddy's and the girl spent nearly the entire meal in the bathroom. That is a healthy relationship. After dinner I we went to Leff's and as I stated earlier I would buy any of my friends who showed up their first drink. Well my only friends to show up were Roman and Liz. Wouldn't they make a cute couple? But that was more of a turnout than I expected. As a heads up, I am going to try and plan the same thing again for Christmas Eve Eve. Don't worry I will make an announcement.
Saturday I went to my cousin, Mike's, football game. Whitewater was in the Division III playoffs against La Crosse. Whitewater hasn't lost all year, and actually hasn't been behind in the score much if at all this season. My aunt and uncle were really stressing out when Whitewater was down in the 4th quarter, but managed to squeak out a victory. Here is the group before the game tailgating. My dad, Timmy, Dave, Marilyn and Justin and Katie in the background.

At halftime of the game, Tim and I went out in to the parking lot to shot gun a beer. I won. But what a sight that is, a gorilla shotgunning a beer. Ever see that before?Sunday before heading back up to Minnesota, I stopped over at my friend, Jay's, parent's house. I usually stop by to help them cut their deer. I just threw this picture in so that my famly could see what I had to work with. That table is resting on two coolers on either end, and for light and antique light. But it worked.I would like to thank a couple people. Rebecca and her mother-in-law for the Packer tickets even though the game sucked. My aunt, Marilyn for baking me some cookies. And my brother's mother-in-law, Annie for also baking me cookies. Two batches of my favorite peanut butter cookies. Also my brother, Jeff's, friend Phil for killing a deer for me. Now I have venison in my freezer.

On another note, a number of people were asking me whatever happened to that girl who was described as "tall, brilliant and gorgeous" that an anonymous blog reader was going to set me up with. To answer your question, I never got an email from this girl. However, if the anonymous reader is still a reader, I am still up for meeting your friend, if for nothing else blog material because "The Life of Rickie" isn't normally all that exciting.

Sweet Home Minnesota

It is Sunday night and I just got back into town. I took a ton of pictures over the past week. And I will give a full posting of the events of the past week. But just not tonight. That drive sucks. I am sure I will have more than enough time to make a large posting tomorrow night when I give up on the Packer game sometime early in the 3rd quarter.

Natesgiving Celebration

Last night was the Natesgiving Celebration. I went out to dinner with my brother, Dan, and his wife, Jodi, and a couple friend of theirs to Crawdaddys. A fabulous meal as always. Then we all went down to Leff''s Lucky Town for the celebration. As I had mentioned in an earlier posting, I had invited all of my friends and loyal blog readers to come down. Not only would people get an opportunity to see me, but the first drink was on me. Only Roman and Liz showed up. But that is 2 more people than I thought would show up. And to think according to my poll 11 people would have come to my house for a half barrel party. Good thing I opted against that. Once I get back to Minnesota I will get some pictures from the week up on the blog. However, here is the most childish thing I have done in a while. Wednesday night I was out at the bars with my brother, Jon and his wife, Julie. Just as we were leaving the bar, there wasn't any music coming out of the juke box. So I took it upon myself to play The End by the Doors 3 times and then we left the bar. That is over 24 minutes of depressing pure listening enjoyment. I hope everyone had a good Thanks & Natesgiving.

Update

Well the Packer Game sucked. I did have a good time and the weather was actually great. But I can not recall a worse Packer game to watch in recent or even distant history. Probably not since the 80's have they had such a poor performance. Here are some pics.
Here Rebecca and I are in Lambeau. Here are the Pats right before their first touchdown. I would have posted a picture of the Packer right before their first touchdown, but that opportunity never arose.
Nate and Michel had their baby this week as well. Here is Elery Lucas Hardwick (A.K.A. Nate Jr.) One day old.The Heisman Pose with Nate Jr.

Making Love to School Boys

I don't know why, but when I woke up this morning this story was in my head. Again this is a college story and it happened up in Oshkosh. I went to a house party with Schmidty and The General. It was shortly after the movie "Dumb and Dumber" came out. Anyhow, we were hanging out at this house party and Schmidty could do the whistle thing that Jim Carrey does, you know the part where he says "Tractor beam sucked me right in." So Schmidty kept on doing that. And then the flood gates opened for all of us doing lines from the movie. After a couple minutes of we all dried up on good lines. Then a couple of minutes later I remember what I thought was a great line from the movie. Schmidty was talking to someone else so I was talking a little louder saying his name. "Schmidty...Schmidty....SCHMIDTY!!!" He turned to listen to me and as I was beginning to speak, there was a break in the music between songs, and pretty much a lull in the conversation in the entire room, and I yell out "I desperately want to make love to a school boy!!!" Everyone in the room heard me, paused for a second and then in mild horror looked at me like I was a pedophile. I took that moment to excuse myself from the room to go and refill my beer. Moments later The General and Schmidty found me by the half barrel and asked me what the hell that was all about. I told them that it was a line from the movie. They said "Really?" as if they didn't believe me and no longer wanted to be my friend. I told them to trust me and watch the movie again. It is funny now, but at the time that was worse than a fart in church.

Oh and Krum, if you are reading this, I found a picture that you may consider art. This is from the camping trip on the Mississippi. You see the tree in this picture is a symbolism of the struggles of life and a display of the will to stay alive even as the ground around it is eroding away. The tree continues to cling to the earth it has to remain in existence. It is a yet another cruel lesson of the brutality of mother nature. Much like seeing a wildebeest meeting it's final destiny along a river on the plains of the seraghedi as a crocodile drags it into the water by it's lips and finishes it off with a death roll. OK maybe not, irregardless, this is also the spot where I went to the bathroom every night.

Which is Art?

Last night, as I do every Thursday night, I played soccer with Krum. Normally I stop by his office. While we were there he was showing me all of these pictures that he took. It is a long story why he was taking them. Anyhow he took one of this thistle that was dead and wilting away, which I thought was kind of cool. I told him how that was ironic, because that very same day, I was in the pit of the my bridge where the counterweights swing and I took a picture of a dead decomposing rat. Krum claimed that his picture was art but mine is just disgusting dead rat. The way I see it, they were once both living organisms, both are now rotting away. So I thought I would see what you thought. I have a feeling I know which way this will go. But I am running out of material to talk about so this is what I have.

Which photo is art?
	Krum's Thistle
	Your Rat
	They both are
	Neither, you are both morons
Free polls from Pollhost.com

This is Krum's Thistle. Now I admit, he got had much better lighting, and probably had things in frame a little better than I did. Especially with the placement of the powerlines in the background, probably unintentional.But look at my rat. You can see the detail of the rib cage if you look closely. It's final resting place, alone on the cold dark damp floor of a draw bridge pit floor, is a parallel of the cold dark walk of death each of us will have to make as death is just a part and the end of life. Pretty deep don't you think?

Christmas Fines

I think people should get fined for putting up Christmas decorations up too early and also for leaving them up too long. Not that I should care that much since I am just renting up here in Minnesota. But my neighbor across the street from me already has Christmas decorations up. They were up last weekend. I have put mine up early before, but never before Thanksgiving. And I think if you do put them up before Thanksgiving you should be fined. Or maybe you can put up the lights but you can't turn them on until after Thanksgiving. Also leaving them up too long is another holiday faux pas. I know that my brother, Dan, has left them up year round before. Not good. Another fine. Clark W. Griswold would not be happy.

Update On My Holiday Plans

I realize that their are so many of you out there, especially in Milwaukee, that miss me. Please note how heavy I have laid on the sarcasm. Anyhow, I will be back in Milwaukee next week. And originally I was planning a half barrel party at my place, but I got a better offer for dinner that night. But if you would like to meet up, I am planning on going down to Leff's Lucky Town in downtown Tosa Friday night (the night after Thanksgiving, traditionally Natesgiving) for a beer or two. And I will tell you what, if you show up, I will buy your first beer. What a deal. So this is how it works. You show up at the bar, find me and come up to me and say "Hi Rickie. It is good to see you. I really missed you. Did I mention that I am thirsty?" At that point, I stop what I am doing or any conversation that I am having, go up to the bar and buy you a beer. Could it be any easier. I would imagine that I won't be down there until after 9:00 - 9:30. Although, I wouldn't be the least bit surprised if I ended up being down there all by myself. But hopefully someone will show.

Million Dollar Idea

I had two great ideas on inventions that would make you a million dollars. I was saving this posting until I could remember my other idea but I can't so I will just tell you about the one. When I was in college and in the dorms, they had one of the channels on the cable TV dedicated to just playing 4 or 5 movies that the residents requested on a loop. They would change the movies up every week. I was thinking that if you could come up with a DVD player that would do that for your whole DVD library. And it would have to be able to skip through all of the menus and just go right to playing the movie. I am not sure on the space that this would require. I suppose some people have bigger DVD libraries than others.

Well here is a shocker, I am half way done with my million dollar idea and I found a 400 Disc Mega DVD Player on line for $300. Although this player doesn't have the capability of playing all discs on a loop. And that is what I want. Have you ever been flipping through the channels on TV and found a movie you own being shown on TV and you stop a watch it until the next commercial. Well wouldn't it be great to have that capability without the commercials and with the F-bombs and "T" & "A".

Is this a good idea?
	I would buy one.
	I would buy one to drop on your head. No it is stupid.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Maybe I had better start remembering what that other good idea is.

Chipotle vs. Qdoba

I went to Chipotle last night for dinner. Not fast food. By the way I am still going strong on my no fast food New Years Resolution. The closest I have had to fast food is either Subway or Culvers. Again Oakland Gyros does not count. It has been over 10 months since I have had McDonalds, Burger King or Taco Bell. And I miss Taco Bell. Anyhow back to Chipotle and Qdoba, is there any difference? I don't think so. It tastes the same and looks the same. So I think that they are the same.

Pictures of the Day

These pictures was taken April 13th, 2000 at the Yellow Tail Dam in Montana. One is obviously below the dam and one is above it. I have another one somewhere on me actually up on top of the dam. It was pretty cool, but also really weird because no one else was around. It was also weird because it was quiet for everything except the loud humming of the power lines. I walked across the top of the dam, and to be honest I am not sure if I was suppose to or not. But there wasn't anyone to tell not to be on the dam. However there was a sign about 50 feet up the road on the picture belwo the dam that did say "Restricted Area, No Tresspassing". Big deal. All I wanted was a picture.

Picture of the Day

This picture was taken March 26, 2000 in Waukesha Memorial Hospital. This is me with my nephew, Jared. The day after he was born.

Lambeau Here I Come

I just got off the phone with my friend, Rebecca, and she offered me up a ticket to the Packer Game for this weekend. So come noon on Sunday I will be sitting on the 40 yard line. And it looks like the temp should be around freezing. Any ideas on how I can make it on TV?

Happy Rebecca?

Picture of the Day

I figured since I had a beer bong picture this weekend, here is an old one. Taken July 9th 1995 just outside of the old Soldier Field (seen in the back ground), Chicago, Illinois. That is Nate's 4-Runner I am standing on and this was just before going in to the Grateful Dead concert. The concert that turned out to be the last of the tour and the second to last one before Jerry Garcia died. And thanks to my friend, Krum, he just got me a copy of a bootleg of the concert. Actually a great concert to listen to. Also I would like to make a correction. On the "Picking up the Tab" story, I made a mistake. Steve Nevermann was not the best man, Kris Darragh was. So why wasn't Kris paying for dinner? That just goes to show what a great guy Steve is. Steve also informed me that he doesn't remember that at all.

Picking up the Tab

This story happened around 1993, I think. Jon and Julie, you should be able to tell me the year. Anyhow, it was a couple of weeks before their wedding and all of the guys who were in the wedding were getting fitted for tuxes. The idea was to get fitted and then grab something to eat and then go to a bar or two. I was underage at the time and in college living on ramen noodles. And I was broke just like every other college student. I had saved up a little bit of money for this weekend, and I might have had $60 or $70 on me. After we got fitted for the tuxes we went to Holligans at Brookfield Square. I think there was 10 of us. We sat down to get something to eat. I ordered a small appetizer and everyone else was ordering big meals. Again I didn't have much money. As we are finishing up the meal, Steve Nevermann, who was the best man of the wedding pulls me aside and says "Come with me up to the bar to take care of the bill." I remember I was thinking "WHAT???" It was a nice gesture and I knew my brother shouldn't be buying his own meal since he was the one getting married, but I didn't want to pay for everyone else. I went with Steve and as we were walking to find our waitress, I was doing a bunch of quick math in my head. 10 guys at about $15 a person, that is $150 plus tip. All I have is $70, so I give Steve all of my money to pay for half and I am stuck the rest of the night without a dime to my name. As it turned out, Steve just put it all on his credit card and just wanted me to go up there with him so he had someone to talk to while he was waiting on the waitress. But he had me pretty scared at the time.

Change of Plans

I know, I said that I was thinking about having a college binge drinking party at my house in place of the Natesgiving celebration. But unfortunately for you, the would be party goer, I have received a better offer for dinner on that night. However, I will be willing to meet up with people later that evening. So if you want to meet up, let me know.

Mike's Football Game

Here is the pre game tailgate party. That is me on the left in the gorilla suit.
Pregame gorilla beer bong. I wrote to the River Falls athletic department asking if tailgating was allowed at football games. I was informed that it was allowed and the alcohol would be monitored and was not to be "flawnted". I don't think a beer bong is flawnting.Not to be out done, here is my uncle Dave doing a beer bong.Katie and Mike with the post game kiss. How cute. Does anyone else feel like throwing up?Drinks at my house afterwards.Katie and Kim flashing their gang signs.Speaking of flashing signs. Here is Mike and the girls giving a free showing of what you can expect to see if you go to the gun show. Kim and Jake all excited to sleep on an air mattress.

Thanks For The Help

Believe it or not, I think I have actually matured. I realized this in just the last two days. Remember when you first get your drivers license and you speed everywhere and pass every car that you get a chance to pass. Well in the last two days on the way to work I got passed. I was going 60 mph in 55 mph. And just to show my maturity did I only not flip the person off, but I actually slowed down to allow their passing to be safer and easier. However, my driving habits were severely changed back when I got my $820 wreckless driving ticket in Virginia.
Now on to why I am thanking you for your help. Last I checked, my poll on if I should get a girlfriend or not was tied at 6-6. I am going to go out on a limb and say that the girls voted that I get a girlfriend and the guys voted against it. Well now I don't know what to do. On a completely different topic. I am currently in Prescott, Wisconsin on my job and the snow is really coming down here. I hope everyone has a good weekend and let's all keep our fingers crossed and maybe I won't get thrown out of the Whitewater/River Falls Football game. And on my drive home from my project I ran into these sheep on the road. I take the back roads to avoid traffic lights. And one of the roads is actually gravel and surrounded by farms. I have no idea where these sheep came from or where they were going. Do you have any idea where they were going Clarice? You can't save them all Agent Starling. Nonetheless most people do not run into livestock on their commute home from work.

Vegas Update

I know you have all been waiting to hear how the Vegas Trip is coming along. Well nearly a month after Tree and I booked our flights, The General finally got his act together and booked his flight. So Jan. 11th - 14th the three of us will be in Vegas. We are staying at the Excalibur. I am actually pretty excited about this since they have the Medieval Tournament of Kings dinner show featuring live jousting and swordplay knights, i.e. The Cable Guy. All three of us are on board with that. I am hoping that we run into my buddy, Spider, who lives in Vegas. Preston, I know you read this every once in a while. Why don't you stop being such a loser and get on board with this trip? I promise it will be a good time and you will be happy you went. Don't make excuses, make good.

Another Stupid Idea

Before I get to my next stupid idea, I would like to extend a congratulations to Lisa for winning my Survivor League. You can find Lisa's picture down below in the Halloween section as she was the winner of the female costume contest as well. Looks like Lisa is having a pretty good year so far.
I went and saw Flags of Our Fathers today. It was OK. I think I was more happy about sneaking into seeing the second half of The Departed afterwards. Yes I am sneaking into movies. How old am I? Next thing you know I will be digging popcorn tubbs and soda cups out of the trash for free refills. And in case you are wondering, no I didn't do that and I haven't done that since in was in college. Although I have brought beer into the movies before. Is that wrong? However The Rosebud theater in Wauwatosa does serve beer, making it one of my favorite theaters of all time. But their sound system sucks.
If you know me, or are just a reader of my blog, you know that I have a lot of stupid ideas: going to college for Civil Engineering, taking speedometer pictures at 120 mph or taking professional ski jumps in Lake Tahoe. So before I go through with my next stupid idea that is sure to be a failure I thought I would run it by the people who's opinions I hold the highest, and that is of course my valued blog readers. In years past, the day after Thanksgiving (Friday) has traditionally been held aside for my favorite made up holiday, Natesgiving. As legend has it, this holiday started a number of years ago when Nate was walking through the store and couldn't believe how cheap turkeys were, like $0.30 a pound. And thus Natesgiving was born. Unfortunately Nate and Michel really didn't think things through when they were in the planning stages for the arrival of Nate Jr. His due date is November 11th. Last I heard the arrival of Nate Jr. will mean there will be no Natesgiving this year. With no Natesgiving this gave me an idea. Obviously I am not going to cook a turkey. I can barely make a pizza. But I thought that with my house nearly completely empty that I would through an old fashioned college party in my house. Back to basics of college, to the days of binge drinking. Beer bongs, drinking games, half barrels, and $1 cups. So based on the results of these polls, I will determine if I will have this party or not.

Should I have a "College" Binge Drinking Half Barrel Party the day after Thanksgiving?
	Absolutely.
	Are you kidding? Don't do it. You are 33, act like it.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

If I have the party will you attend?
	Of course, I will do the first beer bong.
	No, I have to go to Home Depot for some wall paper on Saturday.
	And maybe Bed Bath and Beyond, if there is time.
Free polls from Pollhost.com

Picture of the Day

This picture was taken on New Years Eve I think it was 1998. Krum had a party at his place in Minneapolis So this is Krum, Me, Mike and Ben.
It is funny that I picked this picture today because tonight Krum, Mike and I got together to hang out and watch a little Monday Night Football. It was the first time I have seen Mike in at least 5 years. I know this because his son is 5 and he didn't have a son the last time I saw him. And just to get a little sentimental/ironic on you, Mike and Paul were my two best friends in high school. I would say that it would be a safe bet to say roughly 15 years ago we would be hanging out on a weekend drinking some beer, even though we weren't suppose to. Well tonight it was sort of the same thing. The three of us were sitting around Mike's kitchen table drinking beer and just talking. The only thing that was different was that Mike's 2 year old daughter, Ivy Lou, was sitting at the table with us. Then I thought it was pretty funny that when Ivy's mom came to take her and put her to bed, she just started crying because she wanted to stay up with the boys. So it was just like the old days the girls just couldn't stand to not be around us.

Picture of the Day

Not too much to report for this weekend. I played soccer with Krum on Thursday night. It was in a small gym and I am not used to all of that pounding on my joints. I didn't feel too bad Friday. But Saturday and Sunday everything below my waist has been killing me. I guess that is what you get for being 33 years old. Here is your picture of the day. Taken May 21st, 2001 in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. This is Jay, Nate and myself after we finally got the stump out of the ground in my front yard. We are all highly hungover. We were out with Jim Villa the night before so that always is the result the next day. Note Nate's lovely pink shorts. After we got the stump out, Jay and I ripped up the backyard in order to make it the lovely back yard that it is today.

Picture of the Day

This picture was taken on July 14th, 2004, in Waukesha, Wisconsin. It was Stegall's Wedding. And this is all of the "Creeps". Honestly what a group of idiots. Me included.