Favorite Bloggers

One of my hobbies is taking photos, and every now and then I'm surprised when one turns out. Most of the time they don't.

I'm amazed by those who really have talent at what they do. Many of my fellow bloggers are excellent photographers; one of them being my newest addition to the blogroll, Brienne Michelle Photography.

Whether it's a coffee cup or a full blown wedding shoot, Brienne's creative eye and skill using her camera are stunning. She's a captivating writer too!

By all means, please visit her blog and you can see even more of her work on her web site.

I went to school with her husband (another talented person), and about the time we were deciding to become hetero life-mates, we met our future significant others. Thank God, we are much better off now.

Get Out Of Town

Why is it so hard to pick up and get out of town?

I have nothing to do this weekend and I thought it would be fun to go camping for a night or two. But I just can't commit myself to going. Why is that?

Maybe it's the musician in me that's afraid a gig will come up at the last minute. The last time I made a reservation at a campground, I got called for 5 gigs that weekend (a record for me). Granted, that was 5 years ago and I don't play as much now, nor am I as afraid to turn away work as I used to be.

I guess I should just pick up and go, I'll have a good time.

Photoblogging Monday!

I can't think of a better way to get back into blogging than with a new photoblog (although it hasn't worked the last few times).

I've really been enjoying the last few weeks spending time with friends and my beautiful wife. There's been a few opportunities to get my old trumpet out and make some noise, and I'm making inroads in the constant battle against the weeds in my back yard.

One of these days I'll hopefully have the talent (that many of my fellow bloggers have) of telling a story with my photos. Until then, it'll be show & tell....or, tell & show if we want to be chronologically accurate. I tell the story, then show the photo.

Today's photo is of my good buddy the grouper. He resides in the World of the Sea aquarium in SeaWorld and I've had the pleasure of spending the night with him twice now, thanks to the SeaWorld Adventure Camp. He's always kind enough to let me snap a shot of him 1st thing in the morning, even though he hasn't had a chance to 'freshen up'.

Rolling over at the break of dawn to see his morning face peer out at me has given me a deeper appreciation for my beloved wife, as she experiences the same thing every morning when she rolls over and sees me.

Grouper Morning Face

Rickrollin'

Yesterday's double post was my meager attempt at an April Fool's Day prank.

There is a strange Internet phenomenon called "rickrolling" in which people post links leading to one thing but actually point to a YouTube clip of 80's pop star Rick Astley singing "Never Gonna Give You Up".

Google rickrolling to learn more about it.

Besides being a meager attempt at a prank, it also wasn't original either. I got the blog idea from one of my favorite bloggers, Bean, at Strongly Worded Letter. His post wasn't as safe for work as mine, but he got me good...especially considering his post on March 31st was all about rickrolling.

Google got into the rickrollin' act as well. Their Blogger.com homepage listed an exciting new beta version of Google WeBlog set for release. They had a preview video that promised a first look and many never before seen features. The link pointed to a YouTube clip of Tay Zonday (Internet star famous for singing Chocolate Rain) singing "Never Gonna Give You Up".

I can't figure out if I got rickrolled or taytossed!

Double Post Tuesday!!!!

Now that I've started writing again, I just can't stop!

I was bored at work today so I began randomly searching YouTube. After watching a few viral videos, I started looking up old friends like I sometimes do on Myspace and Facebook just by chance someone has posted a video (using their real name).

How freaky is it that I found a video of myself in high school! Now this is a little embarrassing, but in 10th grade my friends and I performed YMCA dressed as the Village People for a talent show.

You guessed it...I was the sailor.

Here's the video.

Enjoy!

Things I Miss

After a few weeks of the emotional high I was on, it all came crashing down to the expected rut I am in now. Spawned by the many changes I will be making this year and cleaning out the garage and finding old mementos, I've been reminiscing a lot.

I feel guilty when I'm in these moods because I think I should be thinking of the future. Those precious minutes of thought spent on my favorite Transformers episodes could be used to cure cancer, solve world poverty or figure out how I'm going to pay for law school.

But when I think of the past, I remember who I am, and that helps guide me where I'm going tomorrow.

So that being said, I'm going to list some things I miss, remember fondly or just can't get out of my head:

• Being one of the 10 million strong and growing Flinstone's kids
• The pinball cartoon on Sesame Street that counted up to twelve
• Anything with tracks and ramps
• Going to Disneyland with no concept of how expensive it was (and not being pissed that everything sold there is made in China)
  
• Knowing every supermarket, drug store and department store that sold baseball cards within a 100 mile radius of my house
• Spending all afternoon building a battle-ready fortified base with my toys but losing interest when it was time to battle
• The awe of 1980's corporate behemoths - Xerox, IBM, Coke, McDonalds, GE.
• Asking my first girlfriend out on April Fool's Day (15 years ago today!) and trying to convince her and then my Mom that it wasn't a joke...the first of many smooth moves in life
• Thinking that a color monitor would be the coolest thing in the world
• Thinking that a color printer would be the coolest thing in the world
• The A-Team, Knight Rider and AirWolf

That's enough for now...time to think ahead for a little bit and dream about the future. Is there anything you miss? Do you live in the past like me?