Last weekend I traveled with Julie for nine hours on a Friday night across the grand state of Kansas to reach Ryan Volkert and family's house in Kansas City (MO). Julie was meeting her dad there (who was coming from Alabama) to switch cars for the winter, a small Audi for a generous Tahoe. I couldn't pass up the opportunity to see RV for the weekend, so I agreed to tag along.
We left about 5:oo P.M. Friday and didn't arrive until close to 4:00 A.M. Central time. It was exhausting, but a lot of fun actually. We crashed almost immediately. The morning was spent touring IHOP (International House of Prayer) where the Volkerts devote some of their time each week. Breanne made a delicious lunch and when Ryan left for work, Julie and I hit the town.
Surprising to me, Kansas City is the "City of Fountains." Basically, if you have the money to build a fountain, you do. We saw well over a dozen in the few short hours we were in the city. Often, we would simply go to a fountain, take some pictures, and head the direction we supposed would lead us to the next fountain. It was more fun than it sounds.
Julie met her dad that evening and I bonded with Breanne and Ryan's new step-sons, Malachi and Payton, 4 and 7 respectively. We met Ryan at Whole Foods (where he works) for dinner and enjoyed some nice conversation when he returned. It was just real nice to see my good friend and his new family. Julie met me a little after nine on Sunday morning and we began our stretch back across the glorious state of Kansas. Did I mention how much I love driving lengthwise across Kansas?
Many of my friends got married this past summer, but Ryan one-upped them all and hopped right into a family. Tony and Jess had a baby in June, but Tony kinda got to ease into being a dad and a husband. Ryan instantly became a husband and a father of two boys searching for love and answers. They home-school their kids, so he is also their teacher and mentor and he is also the only one who can work for right now so he is also his family's sole producer and protector. That's overwhelming for me to even think about! It was so incredible to just sit down and talk with him about life, etc... He has such a good heart that I know he'll be extraordinary at all of his new roles.
As a sidenote: I have had the past 2 days off of school because a snowstorm has dropped close to 16 inches on us since Tuesday night and it is still snowing! Trish and I bundled up and walked the town building snowmen, making snow angels, and starting to build igloos. It was a real nice break! Pictures will be coming soon I'm sure!
Thursday, October 29, 2009
Wednesday, October 21, 2009
October 2009 Playlist
This is an interesting mix this month. None of these songs really grabbed me on the first listen, but after having it in for a week there are songs that I just cannot remove from my brain. So, please be patient with this mix and remember to let me know what you think!
1. The Cribs - We Were Aborted
2. Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Dance the Way I Feel
3. These United States - I Want You To Keep Everything
4. Diamond Rings - All Yr. Songs
5. Monsters of Folk - Baby Boomer
6. Downtown/Union - Bright Idea
7. Jay Jay Pistolet - Happy Birthday to You
8. Gotye - Learnalilgivinanlovin
9. Mumm-Ra - She's Got You High
10. The Black Atlantic - Reverence for Fallen Trees
11. Bombadil - Matthew
12. Owl City - Meteor Shower
13. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band - Albatross, Albatross, Albatross
14. The Gasoline Brothers - Going in Circles
15. They Might Be Giants - I Am a Paleontologist
16. The Holloways - Jukebox Sunshine
17. The Avett Brothers - Kick Drum Heart
18. Choir of Young Believers - Action/Reaction
19. Vampire Weekend - White Sky
20. Wild Beasts - Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants
21. The Beth Edges - Work Things Out
22. Andy Shauf - Your Heart
23. Owen - Too Scared to Move
Zach's Notes:
2. Token dance number!
4. I also like songs that abbreviate Your with Yr.
6. I enjoy the imagery in this song.
8. All little soul anyone?
12. Owl City has a new album out if you haven't noticed yet. He's got some songs on the radio now too!
13. Can there be a more tragic band name?
15. I wanted to be a paleontologist from ages 6-12. Now, I know what they do aside from what Jurassic Park told me.
17. These guys are huge with many of my friends out here. Their new album was picked up by Columbia and they are attempting to market their alt-country-blugrass-punk to the masses. Don't be surprised if this turns out to be their breakout album.
19. The new Vampire Weekend single. Not AMAZING like most stuff on their debut album, but a solid song nonetheless.
20. Try saying that 10 times fast.
23. Oh, Owen!
1. The Cribs - We Were Aborted
2. Ou Est Le Swimming Pool - Dance the Way I Feel
3. These United States - I Want You To Keep Everything
4. Diamond Rings - All Yr. Songs
5. Monsters of Folk - Baby Boomer
6. Downtown/Union - Bright Idea
7. Jay Jay Pistolet - Happy Birthday to You
8. Gotye - Learnalilgivinanlovin
9. Mumm-Ra - She's Got You High
10. The Black Atlantic - Reverence for Fallen Trees
11. Bombadil - Matthew
12. Owl City - Meteor Shower
13. Mt. St. Helens Vietnam Band - Albatross, Albatross, Albatross
14. The Gasoline Brothers - Going in Circles
15. They Might Be Giants - I Am a Paleontologist
16. The Holloways - Jukebox Sunshine
17. The Avett Brothers - Kick Drum Heart
18. Choir of Young Believers - Action/Reaction
19. Vampire Weekend - White Sky
20. Wild Beasts - Brave Bulging Buoyant Clairvoyants
21. The Beth Edges - Work Things Out
22. Andy Shauf - Your Heart
23. Owen - Too Scared to Move
Zach's Notes:
2. Token dance number!
4. I also like songs that abbreviate Your with Yr.
6. I enjoy the imagery in this song.
8. All little soul anyone?
12. Owl City has a new album out if you haven't noticed yet. He's got some songs on the radio now too!
13. Can there be a more tragic band name?
15. I wanted to be a paleontologist from ages 6-12. Now, I know what they do aside from what Jurassic Park told me.
17. These guys are huge with many of my friends out here. Their new album was picked up by Columbia and they are attempting to market their alt-country-blugrass-punk to the masses. Don't be surprised if this turns out to be their breakout album.
19. The new Vampire Weekend single. Not AMAZING like most stuff on their debut album, but a solid song nonetheless.
20. Try saying that 10 times fast.
23. Oh, Owen!
Tuesday, October 20, 2009
Excitement in the BDR!
So, I have a theory that all good cities can be shortened to 3-letters. I believe it all started with hearing Atlanta called "The ATL" and then thinking that the South shouldn't have all the fun. So, Milwaukee became "the MKE" and Marquette, "the MQT." The problem with Boulder is I can't decide if it should be "the BDR", "the BLR" or "the BLD." I like BDR the best. Thoughts?
A lot has happened since my last post so I'm going to try to keep it straight and simple. If you'd like details, give me a call.
An awesome snow storm hit Colorado the weekend after my last post. It started coming down hard Friday night and 3-4 inches of snow was on the ground into Monday.
That Friday night, Meg and I went to see the band Hot Buttered Rum at the Fox Theatre with Mountain Standard Time as the opening act. It was a really fun show and the place was PACKED which really amplified the atmosphere and made it extremely different from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band show. HBR is a mo-hawked fiddler, a guitarist who looks like Paul Simon, drums, and a banjo/flautist who reminds me of John Turturo. We danced, we laughed at the crowd, we got contact highs...it was a good night. Although my favorite part was the dude in the ticket line who asked me if I needed some 'shrooms. "No, man. I don't NEED 'shrooms..." That's Boulder I guess.
I helped my cousin Ashley move in to her new apartment on Saturday and got lunch out of the deal, so it was a fair trade!
Our frisbee games were canceled Sunday due to the lingering snow to which I scoffed. However, I was feeling under the weather so I took it easy and rested and saw opera singer Thomas Hampson sing that night. He sang all sorts of songs written in America through the ages which was very cool to hear. He also gave 3 encores! What a class act!
Finally, Monday came! I STARTED TEACHING! I taught 3 days last week to start off my Colorado teaching career! 2 classes of elementary music and 1 of junior high Spanish. I also catered mid-week and on my off-day (read: no one called for a sub) I applied to a few neighboring districts. Hopefully, this will help me to keep busy and keep rolling in the dough!
Last weekend was great! Friday night we went out for Meg's birthday and stopped at 1 bar too many. Saturday we actually had Meg's party in which I was forced to dress in overalls to visit a pumpkin patch out of town, complete with corn maze! We then proceeded to eat delicious Southern food (she's from North Carolina), get drunk, and carve pumpkins. The later night kind of turned into a dance party, but I spent a lot of time in the backyard teaching everyone the finer points of Ladder Golf/Testicle Toss/Polish Horshoes.
We won 2 out of our 3 Ultimate games on Sunday including a spectacular game winning catch by yours truly to secure a 5-4 victory in the first game. I'm really starting to see how this game works and my throws are getting better and better.
Finally, October CDs went in the mail today so watch your mailboxes! If you don't get one and feel like you should've/would like one, call me and we'll duke it out. I probably just forgot and I'm sorry.
I'm hoping to do a few things differently with the blog in the coming weeks. I am going to attempt to post more often instead of these monstrous, sprawling posts. This will help me to include the good stories hidden within the quick updates like this...
I am also working on reviews of the CDs I've received and of the ones I've recently purchased/come across. These include fun., Owen, Metric, and The Avett Brothers.
Peace Out and Keep in Touch!
A lot has happened since my last post so I'm going to try to keep it straight and simple. If you'd like details, give me a call.
An awesome snow storm hit Colorado the weekend after my last post. It started coming down hard Friday night and 3-4 inches of snow was on the ground into Monday.
That Friday night, Meg and I went to see the band Hot Buttered Rum at the Fox Theatre with Mountain Standard Time as the opening act. It was a really fun show and the place was PACKED which really amplified the atmosphere and made it extremely different from the Dirty Dozen Brass Band show. HBR is a mo-hawked fiddler, a guitarist who looks like Paul Simon, drums, and a banjo/flautist who reminds me of John Turturo. We danced, we laughed at the crowd, we got contact highs...it was a good night. Although my favorite part was the dude in the ticket line who asked me if I needed some 'shrooms. "No, man. I don't NEED 'shrooms..." That's Boulder I guess.
I helped my cousin Ashley move in to her new apartment on Saturday and got lunch out of the deal, so it was a fair trade!
Our frisbee games were canceled Sunday due to the lingering snow to which I scoffed. However, I was feeling under the weather so I took it easy and rested and saw opera singer Thomas Hampson sing that night. He sang all sorts of songs written in America through the ages which was very cool to hear. He also gave 3 encores! What a class act!
Finally, Monday came! I STARTED TEACHING! I taught 3 days last week to start off my Colorado teaching career! 2 classes of elementary music and 1 of junior high Spanish. I also catered mid-week and on my off-day (read: no one called for a sub) I applied to a few neighboring districts. Hopefully, this will help me to keep busy and keep rolling in the dough!
Last weekend was great! Friday night we went out for Meg's birthday and stopped at 1 bar too many. Saturday we actually had Meg's party in which I was forced to dress in overalls to visit a pumpkin patch out of town, complete with corn maze! We then proceeded to eat delicious Southern food (she's from North Carolina), get drunk, and carve pumpkins. The later night kind of turned into a dance party, but I spent a lot of time in the backyard teaching everyone the finer points of Ladder Golf/Testicle Toss/Polish Horshoes.
We won 2 out of our 3 Ultimate games on Sunday including a spectacular game winning catch by yours truly to secure a 5-4 victory in the first game. I'm really starting to see how this game works and my throws are getting better and better.
Finally, October CDs went in the mail today so watch your mailboxes! If you don't get one and feel like you should've/would like one, call me and we'll duke it out. I probably just forgot and I'm sorry.
I'm hoping to do a few things differently with the blog in the coming weeks. I am going to attempt to post more often instead of these monstrous, sprawling posts. This will help me to include the good stories hidden within the quick updates like this...
I am also working on reviews of the CDs I've received and of the ones I've recently purchased/come across. These include fun., Owen, Metric, and The Avett Brothers.
Peace Out and Keep in Touch!
Thursday, October 8, 2009
Ready to Rumble
To start, I'm going to post a few comments I've received on the mixes so far.
Tim Dries thought September was lacking compared to the Summer mixes. His favorite song so far is Heartbreaker by MSTRKRFT w/John Legend. He didn't like the 1979 cover by HoneyHoney saying, "it didn't add anything to make it better than the original."
Jackie Bordak lists her favorites from June, July, and August as: How We Roll, Walking the Dog, 1,2,3 Goodbye, We Are Kids, Toy Soldier, and Red Lipstick. So, if you haven't checked them out yet and trust Jackie's opinion, start with those.
In Colorado news, I had my substitute orientation today and am ready to teach starting Monday. It is going to be such a change from the routine I've gotten into: sleep, eat, play frisbee, listen to music, eat more, sleep more....
Ultimate Frisbee is going very well. Our team is obviously one of the better ones in the league. I catch a lot of Frisbees (or at least am thrown to a lot), I am now working on being more confident and comfortable with my throws.
Went to two of the Brewers/Rockies games last week and had a blast...even with the Brewers sucking it up. My cousin Nicole took me to the first game as a belated birthday gift and we caught up while running into my cousin Ashley. The next day we came back with Nicole's husband and kids and cousin Nadine with boyfriend George came too. It was really nice to see family in a comfortable atmosphere and I'm looking to seeing them again on Saturday when we help move cousin Ashley out of our Aunt Linda's place.
Trish and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park on Monday with friends Julie and pseudo-bf Colin. It snowed on us and was great to hike around and just be outside away from everything us. We met some very friendly ducks, had coffee to warm up in town, and proceeded to watch the Packers lose.
I also saw the Kronos Quartet last Friday. They are an absolutely amazing string quartet specializing in modern music. It was awesome!
And finally, I recently bought the new fun. album, Aim and Ignite, so be looking for a review of that soon. Also, I am hoping to have reviews of the albums people have sent me very soon. They will be posted in the order received, so just hang on and I'll let you know how I like your music. Watch for a pictures update soon too!
Tim Dries thought September was lacking compared to the Summer mixes. His favorite song so far is Heartbreaker by MSTRKRFT w/John Legend. He didn't like the 1979 cover by HoneyHoney saying, "it didn't add anything to make it better than the original."
Jackie Bordak lists her favorites from June, July, and August as: How We Roll, Walking the Dog, 1,2,3 Goodbye, We Are Kids, Toy Soldier, and Red Lipstick. So, if you haven't checked them out yet and trust Jackie's opinion, start with those.
In Colorado news, I had my substitute orientation today and am ready to teach starting Monday. It is going to be such a change from the routine I've gotten into: sleep, eat, play frisbee, listen to music, eat more, sleep more....
Ultimate Frisbee is going very well. Our team is obviously one of the better ones in the league. I catch a lot of Frisbees (or at least am thrown to a lot), I am now working on being more confident and comfortable with my throws.
Went to two of the Brewers/Rockies games last week and had a blast...even with the Brewers sucking it up. My cousin Nicole took me to the first game as a belated birthday gift and we caught up while running into my cousin Ashley. The next day we came back with Nicole's husband and kids and cousin Nadine with boyfriend George came too. It was really nice to see family in a comfortable atmosphere and I'm looking to seeing them again on Saturday when we help move cousin Ashley out of our Aunt Linda's place.
Trish and I went to Rocky Mountain National Park on Monday with friends Julie and pseudo-bf Colin. It snowed on us and was great to hike around and just be outside away from everything us. We met some very friendly ducks, had coffee to warm up in town, and proceeded to watch the Packers lose.
I also saw the Kronos Quartet last Friday. They are an absolutely amazing string quartet specializing in modern music. It was awesome!
And finally, I recently bought the new fun. album, Aim and Ignite, so be looking for a review of that soon. Also, I am hoping to have reviews of the albums people have sent me very soon. They will be posted in the order received, so just hang on and I'll let you know how I like your music. Watch for a pictures update soon too!
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