Rose and I both watched the eclipse “together” from 1075 miles away. Her from a snowy icy Virginia apartment parking lot, me from the roof of my condo in 65 degree December. Here are some pictures. I’m not a pro, so keep that in mind. 😛 And if you haven’t heard The Dan Band’s version of “Total Eclipse of the Heart,” you should. You totally should.

Well, as most of you know, I spent a wonderful 10 days with Rose in Virginia last week for Thanksgiving. She picked me up at BWI on Saturday morning, and we drove straight to Charlotte for Phil’s tenth annual “Martini Day.” Great people, great food, great drinks, great times. The party was Saturday night, then Sunday we went to brunch and stuck around to watch the Saints destroy the Seahawks at The Thirsty Beaver. We even got a retweet of that one from @OfficialSaints. 🙂 Then we drove back to VA and Rose went to work the next morning while I cleaned the apartment. After a way-too-long-ass day at work, we went to dinner after I realized she had a flat tire and filled it up just to go to dinner and deal with Tuesday while she was at work.

I drove about 20 miles to Sam’s, since they’re usually the cheapest. I wanted them to try to fix it first, but the guy seemed determined to sell me a tire, so I left and went to the nearest pep boys to get it fixed. I walked about 5.65 miles (thanks CardioTrainer app) while waiting for them to fix it, and shopped at the Salvation Army store I stumbled across, and then to Popeye’s to taste what non-NOLA Popeye’s is like. It’s not bad, but it’s not the same. It’s like it’s not as juicy or something. Got back to Pep Boys, they fixed it, said the other rear tire needed to be replaced, I said I’d deal with that later. Since I was a member of Pep Boys Rewards Club, or whatever they called it, it was free instead of $14.99, which I was glad about by Saturday…

Wednesday while Rose worked I bought some groceries from Giant and made broccoli casserole, baked macaroni, and sweet potato crunch. We fixed the turkey thursday morning, and had a delicious first Thanksgiving. And I’m not just saying first Thanksgiving as in since we’ve been married. I’m pretty sure she’s worked every Thanksgiving since I’ve known her. But I could be wrong. Since Rose doesn’t have a tv, I researched and actually found a place online to watch Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade.

She was off from Thursday-Sunday. After dinner (lunch) Thursday, we headed to the metro (which plays tricks with my vestibular system, unless I’m drunk, then I’m fine) to go to 18th Amendment, which is a Saints/Panthers/LSU bar. But they were doing some kind of construction inside, so we went down the street to the Tune Inn instead and caught that whew-dat of a game.

Friday we went to see Tangled, followed by a visit to do some neuro-analysis on Sinatra, a 16ish-year-old horse. Later that night we went to Bar None (if I remember right) to hang out with “Pastor Randy,” where we heard the best pitch-man ever for “DOS EQUIS!!” (read that in your head as a happily-buzzed black man doing his best impression of a happily-buzzed mexican).

Saturday was supposed to be Smithsonian day, but as we exited the apartment complex, someone pointed out that our tire was flat. Yes the one we fixed Tuesday. So we filled it up and headed to Sam’s. After a discussion about speed ratings of tires, and one of the tires being the wrong speed rating for that car, and that we shouldn’t mix speed ratings like you shouldn’t mix good batteries with bad batteries, or mogwais and water, or mogwais and food after midnight, or Donald Glover and Spiderman, we settled on getting 4 new tires. So she should be set for a few years. Hopefully by the time she needs new tires we can trade them in on a new car, cuz by then she’ll be done with her residency. 😉 We later tried unsuccessfully in a huge mall to find a blue bowl, gave up, and went to Jake’s parents house for Thanksgivingukkah and a delicious meal.

Sunday we went to church at St. Mark’s, followed by the Smithsonians. Monday Rose worked while I packed and dealt with some work stuff, we went to dinner that night, sad that the end was already near. Tuesday she dropped me off at the Metro station, where I took the Orange to the Red and the Red to the Amtrak/MARC station, where I took a train to the airport, followed by a shuttle to the terminal, followed by a plane to home. So I took just about every public transportation available, and it only took me 2.5 hours to get to the airport that’s about an hour away. 😛

Speaking of airports, I didn’t have to go through the naked death-ray scanner either time. Just the plain ol’ metal detector. Guess they’re still good enough for now, eh, Chartoff? I digress. I ran into Chrissy, who used to work with CM, at BWI. She was there for her 10 year high school reunion. Small world. She was also taking a 10:20 flight to NOLA, but hers wasn’t stopping in B-ham. At least I didn’t have to get off the plane in B-ham, which allowed me to move up to the 4th row. I’m new to this whole open seating idea, too. Weird.

Well, that’s the week-and-a-half in a nutshell. There are pictures up there in the menu. Check’em out. Oh and hey, how do ya like the new fancy seasonalization of the blog? 🙂

Why is it that people, mainly people in charge, tend to listen to the people who THINK they know what they’re talking about, instead of the people who actually do? Why is it that they’ll back up some random person instead of their own employee? Why is it that they’ll listen to a flat out lie, instead of cold hard facts, just because of the liar’s position in the archdiocese organization, even though they know that person’s been sketchy and contradictory and game-playing before, and that the employee, the person with the cold hard facts, the person who has actually done the research for a project, only has the church’s employer’s best interest in mind? And why is it, even after all this is aired out, facts explained, etc, that they will STILL waste money on doing something that is absolutely unnecessary?

Why? Because, in many instances, people suck. I promise, that if I’m even in a position of “power,” that I will never suck like this.

Need further example of idiots in power? Check this bs out.

Now, to balance out my negatoriousness, some positudinousness:

You should check out Donald Glover’s site (yes, that’s Troy from NBC’s Community), and, if you’re into hip hop, download his Culdesac album. It’s free, and lyrically awesome! But it does have language, so it’s not for the kids. 🙂

Now, a clip from Mardi Gras.

Finally, don’t forget that I’m walking for diabetes this Saturday! Click here to give my team money!! 🙂

I just wanted to push the Halloween picture down. Nothing major to say here.

Just a little fun i had with photoshop when i got my first digital camera and copy of photoshop.

Which, reminds me, I JUST BOOKED OUR TRIP TO DISNEYWORLD for the half-marathon in January!! Woo hoo!

And, I leave next Saturday for 10 days in VA!

I think I need a nap. I KNOW I need a nap. I just have too much to do. 😛

Oh yeah. I was at the dentist yesterday, and “Doctor Doctor” by the Thompson Twins came on while they were working on my face. I wonder if that’s ever come on the radio while someone was getting checked for an std.

Hey everybody. On November 13, just over 2 weeks away, I’ll be taking part in JDRF’s Walk to Cure Diabetes, along with one-half million other walkers across the country, as we try to reach our goal of raising $90 million.

Type 1, or juvenile, diabetes, is a devastating disease that affects millions of people, a large and growing percentage of them children.

Since Rose has gotten me into walking more, I figured the least I could do was to put that walking to good use. Also, what better way to train for the Disney World Half-Marathon we’re doing in January?!? (Yeah, Rose will be running that one, but I’ll be walking, of course.) If I can hike the Michigan Dunes and Harney Peak, surely I can do a 5k for diabetes and a 13.1-mile walk in Disney World!

That’s enough blabbin for now.

I bet no one knows what that subject is a reference to. 90 batrillion points to whoever can answer it.

My original subject was gonna be way more obvious and easy to name that reference. Here it is, in case you were wondering:

It’s been a long time. I shouldn’t have left you…without a dope beat to step to, step to, step to, step to, step to, step to, frikky frikky…

Yeah, easy, I know. What a sad loss. But on to happier topics. I forgot Jet Li was in that video.

Ok back to the blog. i just got distracted and watched a bunch of Aaliyah videos. Who can forget Are You That Somebody, with the “ah-AH-ah” baby sample. Heh.

Annnnyway, it wasn’t my intention to get derailed by Aaliyah. The point was to post a new blog, mainly about some fun stuff at work, to introduce you to some pictures, and, strangely enough, some musical reminiscing. This blog will take me a while to put together, I think. Longer than I intended. It’s gonna be typed in bits and pieces at different times. It’s currently 2:27 am (227…heh….Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaary – catch THAT reference) Saturday morning, October 16. So let’s see how long I actually take to put this together.

Now it’s Saturday night. Waiting for Big History, High in One Eye, and Native America to start. Should be a good show. HiOE is a guitar-drums combo who sings through their amp. So, in other words, I’ll be taking the second set easy. They wanna play on the flloor though. Should be interesting. I’m feeling old though. These are all college “kids” and recent graduates. When did I get old?? Which is a perfect segue to my next 2 paragraphs! Which one do I wanna take a segway into first? Hm.

Old. I went to see Paul Sanchez last night (October 15) at Chickie Wah Wah. I haven’t seen him play in a while, not every week like I used to. Sitting there listening made me remember all the shows I’ve been to over the years. I used to road trip like a mad man! I mean I’d drive 10-15 hours away and catch bands in multiple states night after night. Edwin McCain, MuteMath/Earthsuit, Cowboy Mouth, David Ryan Harris…and it’s not that I wouldn’t do that again. But most days when they’re somewhere I can drive to, I’m working. Which is a good thing, yes. Plus I guess they don’t tour as much anymore? I dunno. Guess we’re all getting older. 😉 And I don’t feel like “working myself in” with some new band. I just don’t have the “Almost Famous” inspiration anymore. I’d just as soon stay home and make money than get on the road and spend it…I wouldn’t mind following Minus the Bear around, but they don’t really play anywhere close. Hopefully Susan makes another trip to SXSW next year and I can go along again. 🙂 But seeing Paul really made me wanna go back and mix some of those recorded shows I never got to. Anybody got a time-freeze machine? Or at least a teleportation device.

After Paul I tried to go see Kelcy Mae at Clever Wine Bar, but I didn’t make it in time since she, too, was playing an early set. But I did get to talk to them for a while, and I offered BadAndy and Christina a ride home. They live downtown, and across from a bar, so we went there for a little bit. Christina was in the peace corps and lived in Spain for 2.25 years while Andy was still living here, so we have something almost in common. Anyway, after sitting down at the bar, I noticed that i sat in the spot where this was carved:

R + J

Weird huh?

Speaking of pictures, if you look up there on the main navigation menu, hover over “Photos” and click on “Favorites,” you’ll see that there’s a whole bunch of pictures there. I think for the most part they’re in chronological order. Or something else that makes sense when they’re not in chronorder. I’m sure there are more I could add, but I chose those for now, and that’s enough to digest for the time being, so enjoy. I’m missing my pictures from M.C.’s wedding, and the one I took of me and Method Man in Mango Mango. Not sure what the heck happened to those….

There are some awesome pictures from work in there. And by awesome I mean awesome at pointing out some of the ridiculous crap that goes on around there. There are no pictures of what I’m about to say, but that was my segue. A few weeks ago, I received a call from the people who take care of St. John the Baptist. Recently there was a major termite infestation, so Terminix went under the church to set baits or whatever you do for termites. Well, the people doing that work told the people who take care of SJB that there were bones down there, and something about coffins. Knowing that this was a church that is slightly above the ground, I figured it would be the first pastor, or some priests, or whatever, and that disintegrated coffins containing those bones should be handled by some official entity of the Archdiocese, who would know who they were. So I talked to the guy from the building office, who was coming to St. Pat’s the next day anyway, and he told me to contact the archives and the department of cemeteries. The archives had no record of who was down there. We’d have to have an idea to tell them where, year-wise, to look. Department of cemeteries didn’t know either. GREAT. The Terminix workers didn’t get close enough to see if there were any name plates or anything, or so I was told. So i just let it go for a while until we could all get together and go down there and see. After playing phone tag with the department of cemeteries, I was speaking to someone who knows more about these churches than the Archdiocese does, and he knew exactly who was down there. He said there’s 2 cement tombs down there, and the names of the priests are on them, and there’s no way that cemented tombs should have broken down and exposed the remains. So, a week later, he and I took an adventure down under the church, and sure enough, there are the tombs, intact, with the names and years. After not seeing any other bones, I called Terminix and talked to the guy in charge of the project, who told me that those workers basically exaggerated and were spooked out by the fact that there were tombs down there, and got the story out of hand, and to his knowledge there were no human remains. Maybe a cat or a dog or a R.O.U.S….ok, so he didn’t say that last one, that was me…or maybe even something someone brought from the butcher for lunch. Ah, how things get out of hand.

I could go on about things at work getting out of hand, but that’s a whole other topic for a whole other blog…this one’s already long enough.

And, in case you were wondering, the quote that became the subject of today’s blog is from Fighting Gravity. Not the Fighting Gravity from America’s Got Talent, but the original (?) Fighting Gravity from Virginia. How rude of new Fighting Gravity. I got all excited when a search lead me to fightingravity.com, only to find out it was the wrong one. I should’ve noticed that there was only one g….anyway, more on them here.

Have a great rest of the week. I’m sure I’ll be entering the blogworld again soon.

Oh yeah. This was finished at 7:10pm on Tuesday, October 18. Not too bad…;)

I know what you’re saying. It’s supposed to be “if jeff WERE” a coach. I don’t care what grammar says, I’m not a plural entity, therefore it’s if jeff WAS a coach.

So as I was saying. If I was a coach, I wouldn’t kick a field goal on first and ten. Trust me I know all the arguments FOR doing so. And to that, I say, screw it. We’re superbowl champs, surely we can practice super ball control and get it closer or even in the end zone. Practice for the post season, cuz that crap won’t necessarily seal the deal when the time comes.

Second…let’s make icing the kicker illegal. It either doesn’t work or completely backfires most of the time. It backfired for (I think) the redskins last week, and it backfired for us this week. Let them play!! We coulda used that one and only time out if they missed it anyway, so leave it alone!

Ah well. How one game changes the dynamics this early in the season. At least we have 13 games left, and hopefully we get some injured ppl back. And at least I had a great weekend with rose.

Now I get to take an earlier flight that is delayed to a time later than my original flight in order to at least have a chance to make my connecting flight. And where is that connecting flight? Why, atlanta, of course. Langoliers, I’m looking in your direction.

Two blogs in two days?! This is what happens when I don’t blog for a while.

Just a couple of things I forgot yesterday.

Is anyone else sick of the current fad of overusing autotune, or is it just me? Roger Troutman and Cher are probably turning over in their graves right now. Wait what? Oh. Um, sorry. But she would be if she were. Ok, so Roger Troutman wasn’t exactly autotune. It was autotune’s great grandpa. But you get the idea. I mean, if I wanted all my music to sound like robots, I’d just give Wall-E a record deal.

What’s up with places that say they’re open 24/7 not being open 24/7?? There’s a gas station convenience store on the corner of S. Causeway and W. Napoleon whose marquee advertises open 24/7, yet they’re closed at night, and when I went there at 7pm Monday night to get a bag of ice to bring to Taryn’s for the Saints game, they were closed? Huh?! And then there’s McDonald’s. Don’t advertise that you’re open 24/7 if you’re only open 23/7. Or even 23.5/7. Cuz I guarantee that .5/7 will be when I’m having late-night on the way home from Carrollton Station munchies. Sure, I should actually thank them for making me healthier and richer, but still. It’s the principle. I mean, when I pull up at 2:30 am and you say you’re temporarily closed to prepare for breakfast, then you are NOT OPEN. Do you close from 10am-11am to prepare for lunch? NO! So really, what’s the difference??

Now, check this out. Didn’t think THIS would ever happen in NOLA.

The Jefferson Parish Council on Wednesday unanimously approved a sweeping new zoning ordinance for Fat City, defying a firestorm of complaints about earlier closing times for bars.

The 64-page set of codes for buildings, signs, parking and other development standards articulates a gradual transformation of the once vibrant but now fallen entertainment district, into a more upscale mix of shopping, dining and condominium living. It makes for the most dramatic change in Fat City regulations in a quarter-century and marks Jefferson Parish’s first participation in a national trend toward redeveloping neighborhoods in favor of pedestrians and promoting a classic “town center” ambiance.

But the provision requiring drinking establishments to close by midnight most days and 1 a.m. on Saturday and Sunday dominated the debate, with detractors saying the rules suffocate businesses, threaten livelihoods and unfairly and unwisely discriminate against certain night spots based on geography. Strip clubs and other adult businesses, formerly icons of the district, must now phase out altogether by the end of 2012.

Wow. Just wow. I mean, I don’t hang out in fat city (ok, who doesn’t reserve at least a tiny piece of their heart for memories of Kenny’s Cheese Fest), but I still think that’s odd that NOLA would even pass anything like that. Ok. Technically it’s not NOLA. But it is. Heck, as I saw somewhere recently, New Orleans is now a suburb of Metairie. 🙂 Click here to read the full article.

Finally, on a more positive note, Jane Lynch is the ONE AND ONLY reason I watch Glee. No offense to the gleeks out there…but honestly, if it weren’t for her, I’d have an hour less tv to watch. She’s just flipping brilliant.

Now I must finish up at work and get ready for my flight. 😀

OOH! And as a p.s. to my p.s., the word “bookface” has become such a part of my vocabulary that I forgot that it was a reference.

So it’s been a while since I last had something to say. Nah, not really, it’s been a while since I last felt like typing it up. But since I have some time to kill before going to see The Creole String Beans and Cowboy Mouth in Lafayette Square, I figured I’d come on here and say some stuff.

Let’s work backwards from the future.

Tomorrow I’m getting on a plane at 4:30pm and flying to VA. First person to guess why wins….absolutely nothing! It’s too easy. Today I brought Sam and Daisy to the vet (thanks Russhelle!) for “regular maintenance.” Then I took them home, got some gas, and was gonna head back to work when…my car wouldn’t start! Got jumped (thanks Lakeside Collision for sending someone over for free), went out to where my dad works, he checked the battery and saw that it’s getting signal from the alternator, so hopefully it’s just the battery. Went down the street to Walmart and, long story short, got a battery. It was fine starting at Walmart after turning it off, but figured I’d rather be safe than sorry. Sure, I just got the car in July, but the battery is about 2.5 years old, so let’s hope that’s the problem. My radio stations were all reset before the guy jumped it, and the screen took forever to come out, and when it did it was off center so wouldn’t close until i realigned it, so I’m assuming that’s cuz the battery was weak? Who the face knows. So, yeah, let’s just say it’s been a just-over-half-a-k day. Then I went to work and got some stuff done. When I’m done this I’m gonna go eat and check out [see opening paragraph].

Yesterday and Monday I didn’t do any straightening up, as I threatened to do. Perhaps I will do some tonight. Haha. After Lafayette Square. And after I pack. Sure. Oh yeah. Monday night I nearly had several heart attacks watching the Saints game. Nothing new there. 2-0 baby! With Atlanta coming up this week, which I will have to watch somewhere in MD, since my flight out of Baltimore is at 6:50pm Sunday evening. Big game! Will be representing with my Darren Sharper jersey and XLIV champions hat.

Sunday I mixed (and performed surgery on) some drums I recorded at Knight Studios. I’m never 100% satisfied with any mix I do, but that’s just cuz I’m picky. But the guy whose song it is liked how it came out, so good. Had lunch at Pancho’s after, and went home to not straighten up.

Saturday night was an awesome show at Carrollton Station. 233 paid throughout the night. Big History rocked their first show pretty damn hard, followed by Big Rock Candy Mountain, who averaged out at 103-104db. Other shows average around 100-102, usually hovering around 101. I hear Twangorama hit 107 a few years ago, which is un-be-flippin-lievable for that room. So congrats to them.

Friday was another great show at Carrollton Station, featuring Ben Labat and The Happy Devil with Mia Borders (formerly MNSKP) opening. You can listen to and watch Friday night at UStream.com. But mostly listen to, because the video sucks. I need a better camera. Anyone wanna donate? 😉 Audio gets better around 24 minutes, thanks to Joy and Phil, my beta testers. 🙂 Sound seems ok for most of Mia’s set, but Ben’s might be a little loud. No webcast-soundchecking on that one. This show and the Saturday one are tests. Oh yeah. The Saturday link is here. Didn’t have time to webcast-soundcheck that one either. So, yeah, it’s loud as FACE. Ah well. Next time. As I said. Tests. Still working out the kinks.

Alrighty. I guess that’s enough for now. This time tomorrow I’ll be on a plane. And everyone else should be watching Community at 8/7 central. Speaking of Community, right now is a good time to plug Ken’sTwitter, Facebook, and Web Site (which is maintained by the same person who maintains this blog :)).

Talk to you kids later.