May 31

Before I go on about today, let me say that yesterday was a blast. I finished out the night getting some good footage of Justin and Nick in the studio. I quickly packed up my things and headed out to meet up with Katrina and Justin to get some ice cream. Let me just say...Superman is the bomb. Man, I can't remember the last time I had a triple scoop of multi-colored goodness. We headed on back to their house where we turned on the end of the Tigers game, Red Wings game, and the Magic/Cavs game. Haha. Oh, I forgot to mention that Katrina's dad was with us. That man is awesome. Seriously. I had a great time talking with him. AND, on top of all of that, all of the teams we wanted to win won. That would be the Tigers over the Orioles, the Red Wings taking game one of the Stanley Cup finals over the Penguins, and the Magic dominating "the best team in the NBA" and eliminating the Cleveland from the playoffs. HAHA!!! Great night...and it wasn't over. Before I headed on back home, I got a hold of Shannon and Chelsea who happened to still be in the Grand Rapids area. They were snacking at iHop, and considering I hadn't eaten dinner up to that point (11:45 at night) I drove on over. From what I gathered, both girls were running on empty and had a pretty busy day. Shannon apparently ate the restaurant out of food, too...which is awesome. Hell, I couldn't even finish my chicken strips and fries and lil' Shannon just had a 3 course meal. Dinner was finished and I bid the girls farewell. It took me about 1.5 hours to get back to Flint, where I tried to go to bed. Didn't end up falling asleep until around 3 and had to get up for my one day at Best Buy at 6:15am.

Today started with an early, easy day at work that included an AMAZING CALL!!! It was Novi. My Mac was finally done and I could pick it up at my convenience. So, as soon as I finished at the store, I ran home, changed, and headed out to Twelve Oaks for the n'th time. When I got to the mall, I stopped in California Pizza Kitchen first to put in a to-go order. I figured by the time I get my computer the pizza should be ready. As it turned out, I was right. I went upstairs, talked to a Genius, signed some papers, and had them take my computer outside to pick it up. I drove back down, picked up my food, and headed on home. And let me tell you about this machine. It's basically brand new. I'm not joking. Everything except the video cards, hard drive, and memory had been replaced with straight-from-the-factory parts. Here's a list of said parts that were replaced:

• Power Supply, 600 W, Grommet
• Board, Logic, H
• Multiprocessor, 2.7 GHZ, w/LCS
• Enclosure
• TOTAL: $0.00

I really have to give Apple a ton of credit. Yes, they had my machine for a long time, but in return went above and beyond the original repair and gave me a "new" computer. Think of it this way:

You have a car and the battery dies. You take in it a few times and come to find out it's more than just a battery problem. You leave it in the shop and when you come to pick it up, they've replaced the battery, engine, transmission, repainted it, and cleaned the interior...all for free. You went from 150,000 miles on a 6-year old engine back to 0's. You're going to have a good day.

That's what I'm feeling. Like I said, when I go to sell this computer later this summer, you know how much more I'm going to get now? Wow. Good times, all around. And in case anyone was wondering, I am currently typing this entry on the desktop. It's all gone smooth since I plugged it back in. Word.

Before I finish up for the day, let me say that the Tigers are currently beating Balitmore 3-0 in the bottom of the 9th with 2 outs and one man on. Hopefully we can finish this one off and take a series split. The Red Wings go for another win tonight on a back-to-back Stanley Cup finals games. Why are they playing again so soon? Because the air-waves have to be completely clear for Conan's big Tonight Show debut tomorrow night. Wow, June 1 snuck up on me. Oh, and about the NBA finals that start on Thursday; Orlando is the only team that the Lakers did not beat in the regular season. I'm just saying...

The Tigers just won,
B

May 30

WOW. You know, I've gotten used to trashy news concerning my computer. It's not the best thing, I know, but I've just come to expect the worse. Well, apparently my phone decided to lose it's signal sometime this morning. I just received a voice message from Novi. On the other end was a worker named Kevin who called to informed me they just heard back from engineering and they decided to cover all repair costs for my PowerMac G5. They're looking to get working on said repairs A.S.A.P. AWESOME!!! I'm extremely happy right now. No worries on paying for a new logic board and/or cooling system and/or power supply. On top of all of that, now when I go to resell it, I'll be able to list all of this brand new, from the factory equipment that should keep it operable with no problems for another 5+ years. WOOO!!! Seriously, good times.

I'm in Grand Rapids right now. Nick is laying down more guitar tracks and I'm just waiting for either Justin or Josh to start recording to get different coverage. I might hop in the other room to get some more of Nick while I still have a few minutes of tape left. While I'm in town, I may try to stop by and see people before heading home. I wanted to yesterday, but ended up getting too busy. We'll see what happens.

Oh, the sweet sound of guitars,
B

May 29

As expected, this day was busy. It started out early in the morning when I met the guys in Owosso. We packed all of the equipment into the van and headed to Grand Rapids to Studiotte. Come to find out, the studio is operated out of the Otte brother's home. Great set-up.

I started by getting some more shots of Jon playing drums, Nick putting together his guitar tracks, interviews, B-roll of computer work and the house, etc. Basically, anything that happened, a portion of it was filmed. Tomorrow hopefully I'll be able to get Justin and Josh on filming doing WORK. Throughout all of this I was talking to a few different friends that either reside in the G-Rap or were visiting. I originally was planning on staying the night there, so meeting up would have been a possibility. As it happened, Jon needed to leave early for the day, so I went back with him later that night. I WILL be heading back tomorrow, I'm just not sure at which time. I'm thinking it will be some point in the morning.

So Jon and I arrived back in town. We did some running around, hit up Biggby's, and I drove immediately out to NCG to meet up with Brandon and the gang. We had talked briefly about wanting to see Up, so that's what we did. I'll be honest...it was OK. Definitely not the best Disney/Pixar collabo that's ever occurred. Then again, every time they come out with a new film, they have a TON of expectation and acclaim to live up to. I still expect this one to be a box office success (the theater was packed for such a late show). When the show concluded we went out to get some late dinner and headed back to Laura's where we hung out and played a little Things. By the time we realized the time...it was quite late. After all the goodbyes and drop offs, I made it back home and got on the computer. And here I am...

Like I said, I'm not exactly sure what time I'm supposed to head up there, but I plan on getting up in the morning and driving straight out. Might even get some time to see some of the folks later. That'd be sweet.

Wings/Penguins start their championship series tomorrow. Good things could be in store...but I'm not saying anything for certain.

We got to stay positive,

B

May 28

Unless something crazy happens at work, I'm not sure it's even worth commenting about. Same ol', same ol'. When I got back, it was time to get some stuff done around the house. This stuff mainly concerned a ton of laundry and getting my equipment together for the next couple of days. Tomorrow I'll be getting up early and headed to Grand Rapids with sosaveme - a great group of friends - who are putting together their new CD. Think of it as a mini-doc. Should be some real good times. REAL good. From what Nick was saying, I'm looking to be back in town late on Saturday. Hopefully I'll be able to get to a computer for a blog entry tomorrow. Can't miss a day.

Time to check the battery life,

B

May 27

Work was typical. A few things happened during that I had no idea about, though. First off, the Tigers played and won and...wow, Porcello is pitching out of his mind right now. Around the same time, Barcelona defeated Manchester United, 2-0 in the Champions League final. It was watched by an estimated 200 million people worldwide. I wonder how much advertising cost?

As soon as I got out, I ran over to Creek to see Brandon for a few minutes. I then received a call from Josh saying that a group of peeps were meeting up at Buffalo Wild Wings for the Red Wings game. So I picked him up and we left to the restaurant where Chadwick, Adam, Nick, Tiff, and Dave were waiting. Stayed the entire game until Detroit won it in O.T. Like I said yesterday, we now have a rematch from last year. Hopefully the result will be the same. After dropping Mr. Kennedy back off at his place (after the Lakers/Nuggets game) I drove on home and started typing up this post. Good times. Good people.

Also, last night when I was writing the blog entry o' the day the Magic were in the middle of a dog fight with the Cavs. I didn't want to say anything before it happened...but I was really hoping Orlando would pull that game out. And they did. Another CLASSIC in O.T. As of right now, the Magic lead the series 3-1 against the regular season's best team. They could END IT tomorrow night in Cleveland. Wow. What a fantastic turn of events. Now...if we could just do something about those Nike MVPuppet ads...

I love a good folk tale,

B

May 26

Do you want to hear how exciting today was? Well I'll tell you. Work from morning until night. Got home and had left over Oliver T's for dinner. Currently watching the Magic/Cavs game. It's not over...it's close...and it's killing me. Tigers lost and Penguins swept. If all goes well tomorrow night, there will be a rematch in the Stanley Cup this year.

Nighty-night,

B

May 25

Happy Memorial Day to everybody. I hope you all paid tribute in your own way. I also hope you had a nice day to relax, go out with friends, sleep in, etc. Do whatever you wanted to do.

I decided to sleep in. Haha. Woke up for a little breakfast and made some phone calls. The rest of the day I re-energized the batteries. I'll be honest, I didn't do much of anything else. And here's the kicker, apparently sometime during the night my phone lost service. At around 11:30pm, it vibrated with a few new text responses and voice messages. So, sorry to Josh, Josh, and Nick. T-Mobile is trrrble.

My sister, while she was home, did the classic Meijer run with the Mother to stock up for East Lansing. She finished some laundry, took some pictures, then it was back to her summer pad at State.

As I'm finishing this post, the Nuggets are up large against the Lakers and are about to win to even their series 2-2. Sweet. Earlier, the Tigers destroyed the Royals to the tune of 13-1. We're maintaining that AL Central lead quite nicely.

Back in the routine tomorrow. It was a good break (minus the whole being sick part).

Chicka-chicka, boom-boom,

B

May 24

Feeling fully recovered is amazing. I'm going to give this last sickness credit for 1.5 days. Not bad...but the bad-to-healthy day ratio is still in my favor for the year.

Got up early for work and hurried back home to get ready for Brad's cookout later in the afternoon. Watched as the Tigers decided to not give any run support to their pitcher for the second day in a row - which resulted in their second loss in a row - and went to Meijers to get some food and drink to pass. I arrived shortly after 3 and Brad and Colleen already had the Red Wings game on. When everyone was accounted for Brad threw the chicken, hot dogs, and corn on the grill and we ate. And boy, did we eat. Fantastic; Everything. Not only that, but the Detroit blew OUT Chicago 6-1 to go up 3 games to 1 in the Western Conference Finals. While the girls chatted in the kitchen, the guys were in the living room laughing along with "funny videos" from "America's home" and random scenes from Dirty Dancing (don't ask about the latter). When I left Brad's I turned on the Magic/Cavs game and actually dozed off during a little stretch there between the 3rd and 4th quarter. When I did wake up, I didn't think I was going to make it through the rest of the game. I was wrong. I watched until the final buzzer sounded and Orlando won. Wow. I've said it before...these playoffs have been crazy.

Tomorrow is Memorial Day. It's not just a day off of work.

Brownies are delicious,

B

May 23

I felt better today but still stayed close to home. The one time I did venture out was later in the afternoon after I got a hankerin' for some Things. Target exclusive. Can't beat it. I'm looking forward to (hopefully) being fully recovered by tomorrow. Hopefully...

Good dreaming,

B

May 22

I woke up this morning around 7:45am and my stomach was killing me. My limbs felt heavy, joints aching, and I had trouble walking down to the kitchen on my own power. Man, after a great night last night, way to be sick. Haha. So I made myself some waffles and proceeded to drink 2 glasses of O.J., a glass of milk, and a few glasses of water. I settled in my bed until around noon when I needed to head to the store to pick up my check. When getting in your car and driving is hard, it's not a good thing. So I popped in, popped out, drove home, did my banking, and just laid in bed. As the day wore on I found myself feeling a lot better, but still relegated to my sleeping quarters. This is where I'm typing this. The Tigers are up 3-1 on the Rockies going into the bottom of the 8th. The Cavs are up on the Magic (not cool) and the Wings are down going into the second period (not cool at all). I've been a bum, I admit it. But, considering I only get sick one day out of the year, I guess it's good to get it over with. I'm hoping to be back tomorrow, where I can actually get some things accomplished - the game of Things, anyone?

Chicken noodle soup, here I come,

B

May 21

Have you ever had one of those days where the beginning sucked hard but the evening made it. Well, today was just that. Work sucked. Hard. Stressed me the hell out. I was happy to leave without blowing up on someone. Seriously, Rhett, if you're reading this, just know that talking to you helps take the edge off of that job. Same goes to you, Meg. Big time.

So, after an adventure of an afternoon, I ran home, ate some food, and drove out to pick up a few pals to head to...SHANNON'S SURPRISE BIRTHDAY PARTY!!! WOOO!!! I got to Owosso and picked up Ryan and Justin, and we hit the express way to Lansing where everyone was gathering (specifically at Erica's house). We parked a few houses down, so as to keep the surprise...well...a better surprise? Yeah, I'll go with that. Once everyone got word that Shannon was on her way, we all gathered in the kitchen while a couple others jumped in their places in the living room. We heard a door open, greetings all around, and with a 3 count, jumped up and screamed, "Surprise!" What? Don't act like you would've done anything different. Regardless, Shannon looked genuinely surprised and it was a really cool moment. Some cake ensued soon there-after and a rousing game of Things. I'm not going to lie, Things is amazing. I'm looking for it tomorrow. First thing.

So, given that this is the OFFICIAL May 21 post, I want to wish Shannon another Happy Birthday. HAPPY 21ST BIRTHDAY, SHANNON!!! You'll never have another birthday that matches the actual date of your birth...so enjoy this one.

I got back home around 2:09-ish and found out that Denver had beat the Lakers tonight. That, on top of a Tigers sweep of the Rangers, made it another good day for sports. Haha. Tomorrow is game 2 of the Magic/Cavaliers series as well as the start of interleague play with those same Detroit Tigers and the Colorado Rockies. Always a good time. Oh yeah...and some Detroit hockey team looks to go up 3 games to none on Chicago. Hmmm...

If I'm thirsty then I'm going to take a drink,

B

May 20

Wow. That's all I can say. There has been a lot of good sports on the past few months. From the Tourney, to the start of the MLB season, NBA playoffs, NHL playoffs...wow. Tonight was no different. The Tigers beat the Rangers AGAIN after another great pitching performance from Justin Verlander, who went 6 innings, allowed 1 run, and struck out 8. Both him and Porcello have been on fire this month. Absolute fire. So that's 5 wins in a row, all at home, and 7 of the last 10. We go for the sweep tomorrow at 1:00 with Jackson on the mound. And during all of this, the rest of the AL Central have been faltering. I'll take it.

The big game of the night was the Cleveland/Orlando match-up. Wow. After leading throughout the entire game - by as much as 16 in the first half - the Cavs actually slipped up in the forth quarter. The final minute of this game was clutch shot after clutch shot from both teams. In the end, Rashard Lewis hit a 3 that ended up being a dagger as the Magic beat the Cavaliers by one point. This was Cleveland's first loss in these playoffs, and it was a hell of a game. Seriously, when the "blue guys" are hitting their 3's, they're the hardest team to defend in the NBA. It also helps that they have a player named Dwight Howard manning the post. Home court now goes to the Magic. Let's see if they take advantage.

Work was typical. Nothing too exciting, besides a nice lunch trip to the Meijer. I'll probably be finishing up a spot tomorrow...so that's cool. Got home, had an amazing dinner, and saw a couple good games. Not a bad way to end a night.

Also, Ryan VanLoon ended up stopping by early this morning and borrowing my camera for a radio shoot he had. From what I heard, everything went well, so that's good too. A lot of good today.

They will see us waving from such great heights,

B

May 19

It seems like I'm always commenting on either work or sports. Today is more of the same. For some reason, I was tired all day. Long story short, I should be busy the next couple of days making some new spots. We'll see how they turn out.

It was a Tuesday, so you know some new music/movies came out. Nothing I was too interested in on the DVD side, but CD-wise I picked up the new Iron & Wine CD - a collection of rarities, B-Sides, etc. - and Method Man & Redman's new Blackout 2 album. Good times, indeed.

Lastly I headed on back home for some dinner and a ton of sports. The Tigers, behind strong pitching from Dontrelle Willis (!?!?!?), shutout an extremely hot Texas Rangers team, 4-0. How good was Willis? He pitched into the 7th inning, striking out 5, allowing only 1 hit, and, at one point, retiring 17 straight hitters. Wow. Welcome back, if only for tonight. On the hockey side of things, the Red Wings survived in O.T. after a mistake by Chicago lead to a 3 on 1 and a goal by Samuelsson. It was a fitting end, given that the play RIGHT before that, Osgood scared the hell out of me. And in the NBA, the Lakers (BOOO) beat the Nuggets after 2 bone headed plays in the final minute of the game. You'd think professional basketball players could at least inbounds a basketball without turning it over, especially at a time when you just gave up a lead you'd had the majority of the game...but no. I hate to say it, but Denver choked. I hope this doesn't continue to be a pattern for them in the playoffs. On the brightside, this was only game one and, really, the Lakers did what they were supposed to do - hold home court advantage. There's still plenty of time.

Honestly, I was hoping to get a call from the Apple store at some point, but it never came. Maybe tomorrow.

Go back baby the way you came,

B

May 18

Today was different. Work was extremely slow, most likely due to the fact that a lot of our clients are not having shows this weekend. So, I worked on finishing up a few spots for next week and dug through the archives to find a couple old commericals. And that was work.

After, I drove over to see Brandon and Matt for a few minutes, then it was over to Brad's where myself and Eric enjoyed some nice dinner and some NHL Live action. Never played the game until tonight...and it's not easy. I don't play many video games at all (outside of the occasional Mario Kart Wii), but I really do enjoy 360 sports games. Hmmm.

Let this be understood: I love my life. Seriously. However, every once in a while...I feel like something is missing. Anyone else feel the same? If not, you're very lucky.

Go go gadget flow,

B

May 17

Early to bed, early to rise. I like that saying. Too bad I don't like it enough to listen to it. I didn't get nearly enough sleep last night and was running on empty throughout the day. I wasn't tired enough to watch the Tigers come back (if you can even call it that) to beat the A's 11-7, though. Then there was the Lakers domination of Houston...which was sad. Not sad was the Red Wings beating the Blackhawks in game one of the Western Conference Finals, 5-2. Unfortunately I ended up passing out and missing the last 3 goals we scored. Haha. I got up just in time to realize I was running a tad bit late to Sunday dinner at Laura's. A wake up call, indeed. So I got up and drove out there, had another great dinner, and hung out until the end of the Orlando and Boston game...which BOSTON LOST! Haha. Sorry, I'm just not a Celtic fan...at all. At. All.

Kudos to the Magic for not choking. Now you get LeBron and the Cavs. Have fun with that.

Oh, and one more thing. I received a call after dinner from the Apple store. Apparently, they think the problem may be - drum roll please... - the power supply AGAIN. They ran some tests and may have pin-pointed the problem. It could have something to do with the video card and how it's wired. So, the plan is to install a new supply, run a few more tests, and give me a call to let me know when it's all done. And since it's been less than a month since I last brought it in, it looks like all repairs and parts should be free. Should be...but I'm holding out hope for now. At this point, I won't be satisfied with any answer until my computer is back in my room and I've left it on for a couple of nights with no technical malfunctions...period.

Smile tomorrow and something good will follow,

B

May 16

Today was much like the past two weekends...I took a trip to Novi with my G5 and hoped for answers. This time, much like the first, the answers may cost me. Now the cost will vary, and any repairs may still be covered under the previous repair; But if the problem is what one of the workers suggested it was...it might cost me. Who knows. All I can say is if the price is anywhere near what was put on paper...I'm getting a new computer. That's all there is to it. The worst part is I'm not sure if I will be able to see my current computer for any sort of profit. So lame. But, again, this is all to be determined. It could be something small and it could be covered. I'm hoping for that outcome.

But yeah, today was fantastic. I slept in and ate a fantastic lunch. Ran a couple SHORT errands and ran to the Apple store with Eric and Andrea. When we got back I grabbed some dinner and headed back over to Eric's to watch Taken with them. It was good. Entertaining.

I have to get up for my one day at Best Buy tomorrow. Haha. I love it. 4 hours a week with some friends and a discount is fine by me.

Well grab the rope and I'll pull you in,

B

May 15

For the first time in a while, I had a nice, easy-going night to myself. I got out of work, ate some dinner, relaxed for a bit, did some laundry, and watched the Tigers destroy the A's 14-1 thanks to a couple of grand slams by Ryan Raburn and Brandon Inge. Inge is playing out of his mind (on offense and defense) this year. But...yeah, that was about it. Nicholas stopped by the office today. It was fun seeing him for a short while. Had some MORE last minute videos that were requested and I actually got them out for the most part. I'm looking forward to tomorrow to sleep in and lay back...until I have to deal with my G5 again. Seriously, I'm over Novi.

He got game,

B

May 14

So, yesterday I plugged in my iPod to my computer and as I was starting to fade into a deep sleep, The Beatles "All You Need Is Love" came on. The theme of the night was love. Today I'm about to hit the bed and Okkervil River "John Allyn Smith Sails" is playing. I'm not tired enough to start writing about the death of a fictional character, so I'll continue with the love. Love is good. Done. Haha.

No, but seriously, the big news here is the Red Wings defeating the Ducks with a goal in the last few moments of game 7. A heck of a goal, too. Now we meet Chicago on Sunday. Tigers lost...so that's not cool. But the Wings are headed to the Western Conference finals. Why we're still in the "Western Conference" - along with Chicago - I'll never truly know. Oh well.

Work was relatively calm today, until about half way in, when a client confused everyone and had me working on a spot that had no direction whatsoever. It was fun...for about 3 minutes. Then it got stressful. Then it got over with as I headed home for the day. The game was watched at Brad's with a group of friends, food, and many laughs. Very good times.

The next day I have free I think I may have to take my G5 on a drive to get it re-re-re-fixed. So annoying. I'm not talking about your everyday, person driving too close to me annoying, either. I'm talking...ANNOYING annoying. I rely heavily on technology, which is both a good and terrible thing.

Rhett Miller is now performing "Girl" through my small laptop speakers.

Is there anybody going to listen to my story,

B

May 13

Man, I'm feeling a bit tired tonight. Probably should of went to bed an hour ago, but it's hard when you're not at your house. I haven't actually been back home until right now. Full day of work, visiting a friend at work, food, and the 13 inning Tigers game (which we lost). Crazy. As far as work is concerned, after going pretty smoothly yesterday, you knew something was going to happen. And it did. And it's causing me to go in early tomorrow morning. Basically...people got pissed. Haha. It's funny, really. Some people just don't realize that when you only have 30 seconds to fill for a spot it's hard to find extra time to put 30 more seconds of information. Amazing concept, I know. Also, it'd be wonderful if they gave us more than, oh, the day of to put an entirely new spot together. Again...hahaha. Amazing. On the bright side, Mr. Kennedy stopped on by while we were in a mad rush and checked out the work place. I told him I need to get him in there with another computer next to me. We'd get so much more accomplished and things that go down like today wouldn't be as stressful. Oh wells. Only time will tell on that.

After work I jumped in the car and headed to see Brandon. After a nice shift at work we went out to Buffalo Wild Wings for some grub. It was delicious. Funny thing about that trip was I was starting to get sleepy. In fact, I was on my way home when I remembered Brad had told me to get a hold of him when I finished up. So considering I was almost home at this point, I just drove a little ways down to his place and rang the door bell. We hung out for a bit, watched some NBA action and, like I mentioned before, the Tigers lose. And somewhere in between all of this I saw the Penguins/Capitals end score. Wow. Talk about domination. Sorry Caps fans, but you'll have to wait another year.

I'm lying in bed right now and my eyelids feel like they're being forced open with a fast-weakening rubber band. It's only a matter of time until the elastic is going to give out and I'll be able to rest. I hope it comes sooner than later.

You know how they say love never comes to you when you're looking. Well they're right. It comes to you when you've turned your head to blow away a fly. By the time you realize it, it's too late and love has you in it's cross-hairs. And love isn't using some weak little sling-shot. No, love has itself a semi-automatic carbon-fiber assault rifle, and it's firing round after round into you. But you don't feel pain. You feel...different. And then you look back and see her, and it's game over. Thanks a lot, love. Way to play fair. Sneaking up all unexpected like. How about you give a brother a chance?

Haha. Just to let anyone who's reading this know, the above was completely meaningless. I'm that tired right now. I'm literally writing anything that comes to the top of my head. Nothing makes sense. AHHHHH. I can also guarantee there are a few grammatical and spelling errors above, but I'm too tired to care. No joke, I literally fell asleep for a minute there. I woke up and my right ring finger was holding down the up-arrow key on my laptop.

One sheep, two sheep, red sheep, blue sheep,

B

May 12

Got up for work knowing that a lot had to get done. Finished work around 8:15 accomplishing almost all of it and feeling pretty good about it. In between, went to lunch with the sister at Tropical Smoothie. Also, later in the day I received a text from Brad saying he was having folks over his house to watch the Wings play later, so my evening was full. In fact, I just got back from there. We were down 0-2 after two periods. Hopefully the third will be...better (to say the least). Can we get a clean shot on goal? I'm pretty sure the Tigers lost tonight, as did the Magic against Boston (BOOO) and the Rockets currently are against the Lakers (BOOO). So...not a good sports day.

Maybe things will be a little more eventful tomorrow.

Here's to you,

B

May 11

You know what, I'm going to switch it up a bit. Let's go in reverse, shall we?

The night ended with me talking with Rhett on the phone about what he's been up to in D.C., the Capitals/Penguins series, G5's, render farms, Cornwall videos, lame non-repairs, the new Star Trek, computer screens, and whatever else came up. A good way to end it, indeed.

We got to Buffalo Wild Wings afterwards and caught up. Talked about job prospects, girlfriends, kids, etc. You know, it's funny, but the conversations I find myself having with my friends NOW are completely different than what was discussed in high school. In fact, Eric and I talked about that. High school was all about goofy videos, girls, snacks, what college you applied to, etc. Now we're talking about college graduation, marriage, having kids, 5-year plans, etc. Wow. Time does fly, doesn't it?

Eric actually ended up meeting me at the office. The reason: because I thought I was going to be there a little later then I was. Actually got out around 6:15 today. So we went to my place, changed cars, and headed to the IMAX. Like I said, everyone that had seen this movie over the weekend had been raving about it. In fact, everyone I'd spoken to loved it. I guess you could say my expectations were a little high now. Walking out of the theater, I'd have to agree with everyone. Going into this movie, I admit that I know NOTHING of Star Trek. William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy were in the original...and that's about all I can gather from this universe. I was happy to find out that the direction of this film (and the supposed movies yet to be made) is heading on a completely separate story-line, so you didn't have to know much about it. I'm sure there were little easter eggs and certain jokes that flew completely over my head, but you can tell it was made for both the obsessive fan-boy and average viewer who thought the trailer looked good. Kudos.

This morning I got into work at the classic time of 10. Everything actually ran pretty smooth today. We received one location right off the bat and a few more later that night. So...maybe smooth wasn't the right word. It ran smoother...but typical of what usually goes on, a lot of information was given to us late. Haha. Anyway, throughout the day I was talking to some of the newly graduated folks and Mr. Eric Strong asked about going to see Star Trek later tonight. I checked times and saw there was a 7:00 IMAX showing, so I text'd him with the info and he was down. Simple. Plans were made and I figured by the way things were going I'd be out of work in time. I mentioned to Shannon about the show for later and she became very excited, as she had seen the midnight showing on Thursday and loved it. That, in turn, got me excited as that was yet another person who enjoyed their experience with the Trek. Speaking of Shannon, she officially made my day. We were working on a new video and needed a "female woo-hoo." She was recruited, came into my office, threw on the headphones, and proceeded to put together quite possibly the cutest/funniest/thoroughly-excited "WOO-HOO" I've heard in a while. Not only that, she let go of a variety of them. Smiles all around. Thank you, Shannon. Thank you. By this time, everything was winding on down. People were leaving work and I stayed to finish up a few more things.

WOOO-HOOOOOO,

B

May 10

I'm not lying, this post will be a short one.

I got up for an early morning work day at the Buy.  Easy and out at 11am.  I grabbed some food and came home.  Things got a bit crazy when my Mom got a call and took my Great Uncle to the hospital, but everything seemed to be fine.  He may have been suffering from a bit of vertigo brought on by, get this, some other medication he was prescribed.  Anyway, that basically took away the entire afternoon, as both her and my Dad didn't get back until 7.  By then my sister had came home for a little Mother's Day surprise.  We both gave her cards and presents, ate dinner, and called it a night.

So, Happy Mother's Day to all you Mothers out there.  I hope everyone had a great weekend and is ready for a new work week tomorrow.  Should be fun.

The American Heritage Dictionary is one thick book,

B

May 9

I was just about to go to bed when I remember that I hadn't posted anything for today.  So here's a rundown:

I left for SVSU at around noon to see Josh, Ryan, and Eric graduate.  The ceremony started at 1:30 and lasted a couple hours.  When I got to the campus, the police had blocked off a lot of roads and were directing people to different parking lots.  It just so happened that the section I was flagged to was one of the farthest from the Ryder Center.  I had a bit of a walk ahead of me.  As for the actual graduation, it was pretty much what you'd expect, with the obligatory yelling of friend's names when they're announced.  The Hockin's were kind enough to save me a seat with the, so I got to enjoy all of the festivities with a good group of people.  After, I even got to see Eric's mom and sister, whom I haven't talked to in a while.  Pictures were taken with everybody, I was dropped off at my car, and we were off to Lucky's for a fantastic post-grad dinner.  It was great.  No, scratch that, it was GREAT!!!

I pulled into my garage with a full stomach and tired eyes.  I still managed to watched the Tigers win another pitching duel against the Indians, though.  Yet another shutout win.

Speaking of Detroit sports, they announced early this morning that Chuck Daly had passed away.  Like I have said before, I was very young when he coached the Pistons to consecutive championships in '89-'90 but I know about the teams and have seen the games on replay.  I'm sure they were running a tribute all day on SportsCenter, but for any local sports fan, it's a sad day.

Lastly, I was able to power my computer on again, only to have it shut off on me 15 minutes later.  Yup, something's dead wrong here.

I'd love to relax for a day,

B

May 8

Today was a great day.  Got up early and left the house around 8:20-ish with the parents to head to State.  We ended up getting there with plenty of time to spare for all of the various ceremonies.  First we stopped by the Breslin Center to pick up Tori's Honors College stole and have some breakfast.  I'll be honest, the breakfast was lacking, but I guess the fact that they had a number of students and family that needed to be fed could have factored into that.  Next we went around MSU's campus and took some pictures (we'll get back to that one).  Then it was off to another building where a little celebration was being held for all of the Communicative Sciences and Disorders grads.  We had some cake and punch, chatted for a second, and left right away to get back to the Breslin Center for the "interlude to the actual commencement."  This included an honorary degree and speech by Desmond Tutu (which was amazing).  That lasted for about an hour then there was a little intermission.  During this period Tori headed back on down to the floor where everyone was getting lined up and a few of her friends arrived in East Lansing.  It's always a good feeling to have friends come to see you graduate.  Forgot to mention, while we were out earlier, my Grandparents got to the Breslin early to get seats.

Commencement started around 3:30 and lasted until 5:45.  Some more speeches - some better than others - and honorary degrees were given out.  This time around, everything was geared toward the Communications field.  I also realized something...MSU has a ton of students that graduate every year.  There will be 2 more ceremonies being help on Saturday and Sunday at various times to finish off the class of 2009.  Wow.  Anyway, nothing too exciting followed.  We were eagerly anticipating the calling of my sister's name while a ton of the other kids were being called up.  Funny story...we got to see Goran Suton get his degree today.  Everyone was trying to pass the time when, out of nowhere, the entire crowd started to cheer.  I looked down and noticed a giant individual walking up to the podium, and then his name was called.  Haha.  He's going to be missed on the basketball team, for sure.  More time passes and, finally, it's Tori's program's turn.  We saw her get up from her seat and stand in line, but she was soon lost when the line turned (she's not very tall).  We spotted her again when the line was weeded down to 3 people ahead of her.  When he name was called, everyone let out a big cheer (or gigantic yell, in my case) and Tori acknowledged her fans.  More time passed, the students officially became MSU alumni, and we headed on out to Outback (with more pictures being taken in-between).

Basically...Outback was amazing because we were all hungry.  Family and friends out to eat is a can't beat situation, especially when you just finished 4 successful years of college.  Cards and presents were given out, food was consumed, and we left.  I can bet that Tori will be having a fun time tonight.  Haha.

Not to end on a F(*&# ANNOYING note, but let me shine some more light upon the pictures comment from before.  I've been having problems with my computer ever since I had it "fixed" the first time.  Even after I JUST took it in to the Apple store yesterday, I was having problems with it.  Well, I managed to get it turned on when I got back from State (a miracle in it's own right) and just as I finished uploading the pictures from today...black screen.  No burning this time.  No smell.  Just a click and a black screen...again.  I tried restarting it multiple times to no avail.  Basically, I'm pretty pissed off right now.  I'm going to leave it unplugged for the night and when I get back from SVSU tomorrow night, I'll try the same process over again.  If it still won't come on, I'm calling and complaining to the Novi Apple store.  This is just ridiculous.  At this rate, I'll never be able to finish any new projects let alone get more time to test new techniques out in After Effects or Illustrator.  Like I said...it BETTER turn on tomorrow.

Let me say one more thing...I've had to open my machine up every single time I want to turn it on.  Hold down the button behind the fan, wait 10 seconds, and let it go.  Sometimes it worked, sometimes it didn't...and this was all yesterday.

I really do hate to end on a sour note because, like I said, today was awesome.  So I won't.  If my computer doesn't work, oh well.  I'll take it back, tell them to FIX IT, and won't leave until we turn it off and on at least 52 times with no problems.  And I won't pay for it.  Thank YOU!!!

Congrats again, Tori: Bachelors Degree in Communicative Sciences and Disorders with HIGH HONORS!!!  WOOO!!!

Hope you enjoy the camera,

B

May 7

Remember when I said "real quick one" yesterday? Well I meant it for today...but I have a feeling that that's a lie as well. We'll see how this post goes. If it's too long...I apologize.

Nothing exciting happened today besides me finally getting my G5 back in working order. The guy that helped me this time was a good man and explained what had happened. Basically I needed to press a button. Hahaha. So yeah, that's cool. But let's rewind. I got out of work early so as to do all of my running around. Florist first, then Twelve Oaks for computer help and food, then over to Great Lakes Crossing where I was looking for clothing a season too late. Then back to my place where I finished eating some dinner and am now watching the Red Wings game. We're tied 1-1 with 6:21 left in the first period.

Donnell was kind enough to join me on my mid-Michigan journey. Had some good talks concerning everything, especially music.

I'm just happy I can FINALLY finish up a project and get to backing up everything else on this bad boy. I'll be grabbing another hard drive on Saturday.

Big things going on this weekend, though. Tomorrow Tori will be graduating from MSU. We're all extremely proud of her here and are looking forward to seeing her walk. It sounds like we're heading out early to make it to some honors ceremony, then to the actual commencement, then back to Tori's where we're meeting up with a few of her friends to go out to eat for dinner. Basically, it's going to be a long day, but an important one. I'll hopefully have some pictures to post later.

Saturday my pals from SVSU are graduating, including one Josh Hockin, Ryan Trevithick, and Eric Strong. Again, an awesome day and 3 guys I've very proud of.

Sunday I may actually get to relax, but we'll see. I really need to get working on another project. It never ends...but I love it.

You know, one of the main things I missed about not having my G5 operating correctly was not being able to listen to any of my music. I missed that, and am happy to be doing it now.

Hammock makes me smile,
B

May 6

A real quick one for tonight. I got into work and found that no audio had been recorded from the night before, which, in turn, meant I'd be rushing like a mad hound to get all of our commercials out in time. Somehow it all went pretty smooth, sans the process of recording all of the audio. I left work around six - only and hour after I was supposed to - and met up with my Mom and Grandma for some Ruby Tuesdays. After that, I stopped by the Cage to chat with Brandon for a bit. Come to find out he's on the Gmail chat every once and a while, so I gave him my Spencer Production name. On slow days, it'll help to pass the time. Hell, chatting with Meagen has been a blast. She hears my vents in real time. WOOO!!! Surprisingly, I didn't get on iChat/AIM at all today. Hmmm.

The Tigers/White Sox game was postponed tonight; the Capitals and Penguins are in OT, tied 2-2; and the Celtics are - unfortunately - dominating the Magic, 81-59. Slow sports day...besides all the talk about Brett Favre potentially coming back AGAIN with the Minnesota Vikings. Haha...wow.

Still haven't finished Benjamin Button. Mark my words, I will very soon. Very soon.

I can't stand Eddie House,

B

May 5

You know what, I'm going to round up. The past two days I've worked a total of 24 hours. I love it. You know what else I love...being so busy that I haven't even had the chance to take my computer back to the shop. I've been typing these blog entries on my laptop for close to a week and it's getting a little old. I've also determined that I need to get to Ikea and H&M in the next couple days; And by next couple of days I mean tomorrow or Thursday...

While I was working I got to watch the first innings of the Tigers' game which we ended up winning in a shutout, 9-0. My man Curtis Granderson hit ANOTHER home run which gives him a total of 9 for the season - which also leads the team. Cabrera rounded the bases as well. That guy eats babies, I swear. As I type this the Wings are losing 0-1 at the start of the 2nd period. That better change in the next 40 minutes of play. While I'm on this Detroit sports kick, I came across a funny rumor today. Slam! wrote a small article that claimed a source close to Rasheed Wallace was told that if he didn't get a contract worth at least $8 million to play next year he was going to retire. If this is true (and this is a big if) maybe he should have tried to "play" during the last month of the season - especially the playoffs. Let's see...how many points did you score in game 4 against the Cavs? Zero? 0-7 from the field and 0-2 in free throws. Yeah, you go get that contract, Sheed.

I'm done venting for now. I picked up Benjamin Button and am excited to start it. Rhett told me about a video on TED where they talked about the making of a whole new CGI facial tracking and mapping technique that was developed for this movie. As soon as I watched it I knew I had to get it. Wow.

I love me some orange juice,

B

May 4

I just got back from work around 10:39PM. That's 10AM to 10PM PLUS!!! WOOO!!! Created two new spots tonight. Here's the thing...didn't get any of the locations or audio plugged in. The next couple of days should be interesting. I did find out that I get cable on my office TV though. I watched the Tigers' game while I was finishing up in AE tonight. Also, I found out Gmail is fantastic. I'll probably be talking to Meg a bit more often online, now. Well, I'm going to try getting some shut-eye soon. Going into work early. Yea...

Also, here's a nice equation I made up: Rhett + Press-Pass = Witnessing 2 hat-tricks = Awesome.

Come fly with me,

B

May 3

The Good: Justin Verlander looked like the 2006 version of himself again today, pitching 7 innings, allowing 2 hits, 1 run, and striking out 11! The Tigers ended up winning 3-1 thanks to a Brandon Inge HR and Curtis Granderson's hitting.  Now...if we could just do something about Dontrelle Willis...

The Bad: The Red Wings went to triple overtime against the Ducks and proceeded to lose it not even 2 minutes in. The worst part is we had a golden opportunity in the first OT with a power play, but still couldn't capitalize. Pretty sure we out shot Anaheim by close to 20 shots, too. Hopefully we can whoop on them the next 3 games.

The Eh: I worked my day at Best Buy this week. The difference was after the restructuring, I'm now "Merch/Media." My new job is to (Rhett, you'd like this) do all of the stocking and tasking for Media. I don't sell anymore. I don't talk to any customers. I stay in the background and task for a few hours a week (although today it was 8). It was easy and boring, but I'll keep it up for the discount. No skin off my back, especially since I changed my availability to JUST be Saturday's now. Haha. If it end up I only work once every few weeks...I'll be totally down. So, to summarize, no more talking to customers (unless someone I know heads up) but time ends up dragging. It's...eh...

The Rest: I got about 3 hours of sleep last night. When I got back home I watched a few Detroit sports games and the Nuggets beat the Mavs. I'm about to jump in the shower and call it a night. Tomorrow starts my first full week going solo at Spencer. I almost don't want to look at what emails await me in the morning...

And so it is just like you said it would be,

B

May 2

The only thing that you need to know about today is that it was spent recharging the batteries and getting ready for a 5:30am wake up tomorrow morning. NOT looking forward to that one bit. Also, the Bulls and Celtics game 7 was nowhere near as exciting as the hype that was building around it. Celtics won...so that sucks. Haha. Oh well, hopefully they'll lose to the Magic in the next round. 5:30am. ARGH!!! So lame.

Banksy be my hero,

B

May 1

Friday, Friday, Friday. It was a good day...until early in the morning when my computer died again. Not joking here, people. I will be taking it back to Novi and NOT paying for any other repairs. It's funny, but things started going haywire AFTER I got it "fixed." I'm pretty sure it's the power source again. And here's the kicker, I did exactly what the Mac specialist who worked on my G5 told me to do. I had been running the machine withOUT the mount in it for the few days it was operating correctly. The 2 hard drives are still sitting in their static-free plastic bag with all of the information (hopefully) intact.

Other than THAT exciting news...today was pretty much par for the course. Realized I need to make a trip to H&M and Ikea sometime sooner. Hopefully before next Friday. Sister is graduating from State, so I'll be busy all day long. Probably should tell someone I won't be able to come in then. Haha.

I was very tired tonight, and here I am still up. Just finished watching one of the Netflix films that was sent during the week: Blindness. Very good film. I recommend it and kind of want to read the book now.

Rhett made it out to D.C. alright, so that's hella cool. As he said, "texting causes me to...die" so I'm happy he waited to respond until he was done driving.

I talked with a great friend of mine today and found he'd been through a rough couple of weeks. It's always tough losing family, even when you expect it (and even more when you don't). In his case, both happened. If anyone deserves some good news, it's him. Karma, man. Some great things will be coming your way.

My sympathies go out to Josh Fordham,

B