From on top of a hill in my sleep.

Spectacular...

"I know everyone would want me to say that I'm not afraid to be alone.

I'm gonna live, I'm alright.

I'm gonna die, it's alright, I'm O.K.

That's some dream."

With a little help from my friends.

I'm in lesbians with you.

This first sentences has nothing to do with the rest of the post, but let me just say how happy I am that Scott Pilgrim vs. The World was released on blu-ray and DVD last week. That is all.

I admit, it had been long time since I was able to head to Grand Rapids and just relax. A LONG time, indeed. I couldn't tell you why this is. I've been busy, yes, but so has every other person on this planet. I've had time to go to Owosso and back on more than one occasion (under-exaggerated). Even East Lansing has had my presence felt (over-exaggerated). BUT, none-the-less, one of my favorite places in the great state of Miiiiiiiichigan has been neglected. After this weekend, the only rationalization I can come up with is every time I visit this city, I find it harder and harder to leave. When I say "I find it harder to leave" I mean "I never want to leave." And this has a everything to do with the people I see when I'm there. Meagen (not Megan) and Michael (not Megan) have always been very gracious hosts, and the last few days had been no exception. Twice, after a long day of work for both, they were able to hang out, watch some movies, listen to some good music, and even chat until the wee-hours of the night (sorry about that, Meg).

Anyway, the couple at 420 Rosewood were having a Thanksgiving potluck and had invited the toast of the town to come and share in the festivities. It took three tables, 18 chairs and place settings, dozens of candles, and a steaming hot kitchen, but I'm happy to report the evening was a success. Every dish that was brought was delicious and the collection of different personalities meshed extremely well. The highlight of the night was reading the "what are you thankful for" cards that every filled out as they entered the building. The answers ranged from the very short - beer and friends - to the unnecessarily long - (mine) - to the extremely sexual and borderline racist - (insert AMAZING Josh or Katrina comment). By the way, if it wasn't clear, I'm in full support of the latter comments. Much laughter was had, some to the point of tears. I believe this crowd would be extremely receptive toward the game of Things.

Table 1

Table 2

Table 3

All good things must come to an end, though. For me, that was close to midnight. Most of the guests had already left, while the remaining decided to continue the fun times at a local watering-hole. After helping pack my computer, Mike, our pal Kevin, and I stayed at the house for a short while longer just talking about this and that. I swear I ended up saying goodbye about 3 separate times before taking another seat and talking some more. Like I said before, I didn't want to leave. A reoccurring pattern when in Grand Rapids. I finally made my way on I-96 and got into Flint around 2am. I was NOT looking forward to working at 6. I can't function on 3 hours of sleep like I used to.

Ever wonder what hot candle wax feels like?

That girl is strong!

Let me just say I find myself very lucky to have such generous and loving friends. I know I've repeated this sentiment many times, but I feel it can never be overstated. I think of myself as a happy-going type of person. But honestly, I'm just a reflection of the people in my life. It's how they approach life and how they feel that makes me go. And when you're in a home filled with so much love, it's hard to do anything other than smile.

What would you do if I sang out of tune?

Turning off the lights in Flint-town,
B

My last Will & Testament.

Well...more so a small portion of a testament. In fact, there's really nothing that involves a Will right now. At all.

Why so grim? Listen, life is a beautiful thing, but so unpredictable. So I figure, why not take this random time to post something that will be a last request. This means to hold true from the moment this entry is published to the time I take my last breath. Don't worry, it's nothing serious. In fact, I aim for this to provide the exact opposite reaction. At my funeral, I hope - nay, DEMAND - that you play "Always Look on the Bright Side of Life."

Wait...let me rewind for a second. I don't mean to throw up a red flag or worry anyone. To my knowledge, I'm pretty damn healthy. I don't see anything horrible happening to me in the near future, and I hope nothing does. In fact, everything the last few months has been amazing, so hopefully more of the same is in the cards. But, regardless of what I said about this not being serious...it's serious. YOU, whomever you may be, MUST PLAY THIS SONG! It's perfect. A last F-U to all that think life is to be taken so serious all of the time. Plus, I figure it'd be good to get a few smiles and laughs from the grave. Not a bad plan, ey? BOOM!

So, remember, YOU - whether it's Meg, or Rhett, or Brad, or (insert name), or (insert name), or... - if my life is to be extinguished in a fantastical, Final Destination-type accident or with my eyes closed resting peacefully, THIS SONG HAS TO BE PLAYED!

That is all. Enjoy.


(Still whistling),
B

How to recognize...

...different types of trees from quite a long distance away.

Number 1: The larch. The larch. The. Larch.

You know, voting is an important right. I mean, how much extra work do you have to do if you DON'T vote on the 5-star scale of Netflix? Who wants to manually choose their movies? It's so much easier abiding by Netflix suggestions.

Ladies and gents, let's give a round of applause to Meagen Spillane for providing the opening paragraph to this post. The ol' bait-and-switch. Brilliant!

Did you know that all of last month I only blogged a grand total of 3 times!? This simply will not do. I know I said I wasn't going to force anything this time, but I averaged below 1 post per week. Not cool. We'll see how THIS month goes.

Speaking of, welcome to November! The evenings are falling below freezing, the leaves have all but left the branches they once inhabited, and I'm still wearing t-shirts to run errands. Some people never learn...

Halloween was last weekend and, by all accounts, was a...screaming...success. Hahaaaaaaa. (Shakes head). The reason I say this isn't because I went from door to door collecting obscene amounts of cavity crunch, but because the party at Brad and Colleen's had a great turnout and was a blast. The pictures are online and can be observed HERE.

On Monday, the carpet cleaning finally happened at the house. A second cleaning was recommended and took place early the next morning. By tomorrow everything should be completely dry and ready for the moving. Dear readers, you have no idea how excited I am. Now, this is by no means going to happen in one day. People are busy and, because I will be living about 10 minutes away from my parent's house, I can take my time. In fact, we probably won't even touch anything until Saturday. I still need to set up an appointment with Comcast and change my incoming mail. Still, a pretty exciting process. Oh yeah, and Ikea on Friday. WOOOOOO!

Making a list.

I'd be remiss if I were to go an entire post without mentioning a bit of music or film. At the wedding of the year that took place a month ago, the song that played everybody off and ended the night was "Piano Man" by Billy Joel. This has special meaning to a lot of the attendees because of a popular watering hole by SVSU called The Pub. In fact, there were a few Pub favorites that found their way through the speakers thanks to DJ Tee-Bo. Anyway, "Piano Man" is, was, and probably always will be their sing-along; But for me, that distinction goes to "Tiny Dancer" by Elton John. Every time I hear that track, at the very least, there is some humming involved. I'm not saying it's my favorite song, by any means. It's just a record that, if I hear it, I'll listen all the way through. The same can be said for "Alison" by Elvis Costello. I know we all have one of those, so what is yours?

He's a Sir, you know.

Life has been extremely busy the last few weeks. That's looking to continue into at least next weekend, where some pals (one mentioned at the beginning of this post) are having a Thanksgiving potluck at their home in Grand Rapids. I feel like I should probably learn to make something amazing. I hope Bradley Thibaut is willing to teach.

I feel like there's something else I need to say, but I can't think of it right now. Oh well. I hope that means I'll be blogging again in the very near future. Looks like I'm on pace to break October's post-to-week ratio.

A man named Truth,

B

Who wants to dance?

Just press play.

The intention of this post is to get you off your ass and start a dance party for one, two, or however many of you there are in the room at the time. If you can't dance to the song above, then I feel sorry for you and your broken rhythm bones - yes, plural, because anything less normally results in one jumping up, feeling the music, and getting funky. I hope you've enjoyed this stress reliever. Now back to your regularly scheduled...what was it you were doing?

Hold a hand for cover from harm,

B

You're being such a non-pillow right now!

Liz, James, & Kimiko.

I'll be honest with you, I couldn't think of a better title than the one I posted before, so I just finished the quote. Damn, I love 30 Rock.

Last weekend Michigan State went into a hostile Ann Arbor and thoroughly dismantled the Wolverines in a game that I thought was going to be a close, high scoring affair. However, the Spartans did a great job of containing Denard Robinson to the point where they forced him to beat them with his arm. He's an amazing athlete, but his passing skills (especially under duress) aren't there yet, and it showed. Sloppy throws in the red zone and miscues in the middle of the field cost him and MSU went on to win 34-17. Now it's no secret I've always been a HUGE State fan, but it even surprised me how gracious and honest most U of M fans were about this game. Trust me, I've had to hear it MANY times prior to the last few years. Growing up it was very annoying, especially since I was never one to "talk trash." And, being a MSU fan (in football terms, at least), you don't put much faith in the score until the clock runs out. But this year was different. I heard and read a lot of, "We were outplayed, plain and simple" and that was it. No excuses this time around. No real anger. No resentment. Just the realization that Michigan State finally has a stable program in place and may be beginning to dismantle the "little brother" stigma that was so graciously given to them by Mike Hart. Either way, like I say every year prior, "Good game." We'll see what happens next year.

Paul Bunyan still resides in East Lansing.

I finally got around to putting pictures of Eric and Andrea's wedding weekend up. You can check them out by visiting my facebook page or, if you're already a friend, by clicking here. I can't emphasize enough how much fun that entire weekend was. Seriously, folks. It was that good.

In some house news, the big painting work is just about finished and the next major thing is going to be getting the carpet professionally cleaned. We're hoping this might happen some time next week and, after that, we'll see where everything is at in terms of moving in.

Yesterday, All City Chess Club finally released their first track after what seemed like months since the announcement of said group was made public. The "I'm Beaming (Remix)" doesn't disappoint and contains verses from Lupe, The Cool Kids, B.o.B, Asher Roth, Diggy, Blu, Charles Hamilton, and Dosage. It clocks in at nearly 8 mins. long and is a pretty solid debut. Can't wait for the rest (or at LEAST a new Lupe album).

Have I mentioned how much I love having 30 Rock and The Office available on Netflix instant streaming? The answer is "a lot."

How about we end with some words of wisdom?

Thanks, Philosoraptor...

Fader,

B

Java Jones wisdom.

Mmmmm...breakfast pastries.

It was a brisk Saturday morning, just hours away from the the wedding all of us had driven up north to attend. Tradition has it the groom can't see his bride on the day-of until she walks down the aisle, so Eric stayed in our condo the previous night. He had suggested Java Jones for some breakfast and we all agreed. Everybody cleaned up and drove the half-mile it took to get to the middle of Elk Rapids' business district where the coffee house was located. After 9 separate drink, croissant, cinnamon roll, oatmeal, and (insert any other delicious, homemade breakfast comfort food) orders had been placed and fulfilled, we all sat around a collection of square tables. As the conversation jumped from topic to topic we found ourselves talking about how great it would be if we all moved up to this area eventually. Dreams of starting up our own businesses, who would be in charge of what, having kids grow up with each other, and more started flowing from our mouths. Brad then chimed in with, "Is this what it's going to be like when we're retired? Just sitting in a coffee shop hanging out - because this is awesome." We all laughed, signifying unanimous agreement. What a future that would be, huh?

I was thinking about this from Saturday morning until right now. What if everything worked out perfectly? We all end up doing well for ourselves and in, say, 30 years decide to move to the quiet town of Elk Rapids, set up a small business or two that we all have a hand in, and proceed to live out our lives surrounded by caring friends and great conversations in the local coffee shops?

Realistically this probably won't happen. I'm not saying we all won't have great lives or won't be successful, just the whole moving to one spot and setting up shop. No, that was more of a fantasy of what could be. However, in that moment, it was perfect. On a day where we already had two great friend's futures in mind, and in the midst of everything that was being talked about, that one statement made us forget about any worries or problems we may have had. For just a few minutes we had already moved to Elk Rapids. Ryan had set up his golf course with Josh as the local "pro", Colleen has her corner bakery, Rich and Rob converted an old office building into a small concert venue, Brad was doing janitorial work for everyone, and, as was routine by now, we all were meeting at Java Jones for some breakfast and reminiscing.

Funny how even the simplest statements can paint such a vivid picture.

Congratulations Andrea and Eric,
B

P.S. - In this fictitious scenario, I would be able to do my editing work from anywhere, so by choice I would be residing in Northern Michigan. Can't have any plot holes, can we.

P.S.S. - There aren't enough superlatives to describe how great the wedding/reception was. Wubble-U, Oh, Wubble-U.

When it all comes together.

I'm extremely lucky and am fully aware of this. For some unexplained reason life just has a way of working itself out. Let me just say It's amazing to feel, if only for a moment, as if all of your troubles have evaporated into the atmosphere. Having a clear mind is one of those simple luxuries that some might take for granted. Don't. It's too therapeutic.

Also, do yourself a favor and listen to one of your favorite songs late at night. Chances are you'll catch something you never noticed in the previous "x" amount of times you've played it. Just one more thing that puts a smile on your face.

Like a dime dropped from the top of the Empire State Building,
B

On the banks of the Red Cedar...

I'm a week late with this, but did anyone SEE the end of the MICHIGAN STATE - NOTRE DAME GAME!? Who fakes a field goal in OT for the win!? Apparently Mark Dantonio does - and then suffers a heart attack less than a hour after the game concludes. Crazy. Luckily he was let out of the hospital yesterday and is projected to make a full recovery. Whew. Let's take a look, shall we?

THE VIDEO THAT WAS TO FOLLOW HAS BEEN DELETED DUE TO REPEATED COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENTS MADE BY THE ACCOUNT ASSOCIATED WITH IT. SUFFICE IT TO SAY, SAID CLIP WAS A VERY ENTERTAINING RECAP OF THE LAST PLAY OF THE FOOTBALL GAME. A SHAME YOU WON'T BE ABLE TO SEE IT. REGARDLESS, I HOPE YOU CONTINUE TO ENJOY THE CAPTION BELOW. THANK YOU.

Little Giants!? Somewhere, Rick Moranis is smiling.

That was a hell of a game to watch live. I couldn't imagine what the place was like. Then again...I have been lucky enough to be witness to a few amazing comebacks in Spartan stadium. On second thought, I have a pretty good idea of how the people were. Haha.

Time for a life update! Work has basically been me watching and logging footage for the past week and a half. I'm not going to lie, I'm really excited to start this baby.

Later tonight I'll be heading to Lansing to see some friends play at Mac's Bar. It also happens to be their homecoming show which makes it a double bonus: 1. Seeing friends and 2. Them being able to sleep in their own beds again.

Home, indeed.

By this time next week I'll be in Elk Rapids, MI getting ready to celebrate the marriage of Andrea Bednarski and Eric Strong. For the one time I've been there, I can say I absolutely love the area. Once again, hopefully the weather cooperates. But hey, a weekend in Northern Michigan sounds just fine to me.

I'm looking forward to this.

And one more piece of news...

I'd say that in about 2 or 3 weeks everything should be set for me to move into a house I'm going to be renting/sitting. It's in Swartz Creek and happens to be the same house my Uncle, Aunt, and cousin used to live in before moving out to California. Needless to say, I'm actually looking VERY forward to it. Now...in terms of furnishing it...

Odd blood,

B

September 20

You know, I think it's about time I start titling these blog entries. I stuck with the date thing mainly because that's what I was used to - force of habit. Keeping track of dates isn't nearly as important to me as it was before. OK, it's decided. Next post will be the beginning of the title era - hopefully something witty and original. Hahaha...I'm neither of those things. (Sad trombone)

I'm on another music kick. I mean, I'm always doing something that involves music, but every now and then I'll get into a phase of really LISTENING to it and deciding why I really do like/dislike something. In an earlier post I talked about finding meaning in songs and enjoy the challenge of interpretation. Looking back, I probably should have emphasized that's not the only thing that will draw me to a certain artist/band. Hell, probably over half of the stuff I listen to is pretty cut and dry - it's just executed a bit differently. Chromeo is a good example. Their new album came out a couple weeks ago and, even though I enjoy Fancy Footwork more, it's something that I can pop in and have a good time with. Not much thought to it, just funk. Ohhhh yeaaaahhhhhh.

On top of catchy beats, storytelling is HUGE. If you can paint a picture with words and draw me in as a listener, then my hat is off to you. Ben Nichols is someone who does this on a regular basis. Ben is the lead singer of an alt-country band named Lucero that hails from Tennessee. The opening track on their latest album is called "Smoke" and is a beautiful, 5-and-a-half minute love story. Two hard-living strangers meet at a bar and decide to take a chance on one another. Simple concept and built up perfecting in this song. In his own gritty way and with a whiskey-and-cigarette washed voice, Ben romanticizes about this chance encounter and gives you a clear look at these characters without even mentioning a name. If "A Girl In Port" by Okkervil River was one of the most tragic songs I've ever listened to, this is one of the most - for lack of a better term - romantic. Just using the fragment "unknown and beautiful" in the chorus was enough to do it for me. So good.

"Unknown and beautiful." Come on, you KNOW it's a great line.

And then there's the complete opposite type of music I'll listen to: ambient/electronic. I mean, this ranges from Justice to Hammock to LCD Soundsystem to Amiina. Usually there's little-to-no lyrics associated with it and is just something you can play to relax or start a dance party.

In summation: Music is great, but great music is really great. Wait...that was terrible.

"Life is one grand, sweet song, so start the music."
- Ronald Reagan

RONALD REAGAN!? REALLY? Oh well, it fits.

Oh, 1950's.

They bolted out into the streets,

B

September 17

"Don't you dare speak for someone you don't know.

They'll feel it in the back of their throat.
We know I can't construct a poem
'cause words, like girls, get bored and run.
C'est la vie - I say "I've got so many better things."
I've got nothing; You should see me.
I smoke myself to sleep...

and blame postmodern things. I can't relate,
like summer camp and coastal states.
Like alcohol and coffee beans,
dance floors and magazines.
I think its safe to say I've only got myself to blame,
but boys in swooping haircuts are bringing me down,
taking pictures of themselves.

And so I walk the web in search of love
but always seem to end up stuck.
I'm finding flaws in everyone.
I've reached the point where all I want
is to sleep around in hopes that I will catch back up.
We are parallel lines; We’re running in circles
we're never meant to cross.

I'm at a loss, you were my tangerine,
my pussycat, my trampoline.
Now all's I get are wincing cheeks
and dog problems. I signed a lease
thinking my heart belonged at 93rd and Park.
Instead I broke a girl’s heart
and flew back to Phoenix to finish the year as it started.

Can you hear me?
Are you listening?
This is the sound of my heart breaking.
And I hope it's entertaining
'cause for me it’s a bitch.
Was it worth it
when you slept with him?
Did you get it all out of your system?

I am a man...
Holding it all...
I couldn’t breath...
Coming across...
I didn’t know...
I couldn’t give up.

B - is for believing you'd always be here for me.
E - is for everything; Even when we see it though.
C - C is for seeing through you; You are a fake. Which brings me to
A - because, because you always run away.

I never finish phrases; I misspell;
Open arms are prison cells.
When I said, "I hate what I've become."
I lied; I hated who I was.
So when you start to wonder 'bout the pain in my throat,
well, don't you ever - no never, ever - speak for someone you don't know."

- The Format "Dog Problems"

How about some visuals?

Good songwriting plus creative execution equals candy for my ears. And now...time for a Zingerman's townie brownie. Mmmmmm.

I like brownies,

B

September 16

This is something I wouldn't mind owning in the near future. Just thought I'd share.

Are you cussing with me?

To better understand it, check out this link. Now that that's settled, let's find out about you. How has your day been? If you need to get anything off of your chest and, you know, vent a little, feel free. I mean, I figure if you can't talk to anyone else about it, why not talk to the luminescent warm of your computer screen? Then again, if you are talking to an inanimate object - in this instance, me - then maybe you should get out more. No offense - I enjoy the company, but c'mon now. You're better than that. What? That's all I have. The rest is up to you. Go and be happy.

Do the twist in the twisting outfit,

B

September 14

Today's dilemma seems to be I want to write, but I don't know what to write about. I have no direction at this very moment; None what-so-ever. Maybe if I keep typing something interesting will come up.

Novel just started playing on my iTunes playlist. This particular song has a real triumphant, euphoric melody that accompanies his lyrics. Tracks like this are a lot of fun to listen to.

Wow...and it happens to be followed by a song that is the exact opposite in terms of optimism and wonderment. In fact, The Streets' "Dry Your Eyes" is probably one of the most depressing songs I've ever listened to. It's about the dissolution of a relationship and the trouble our protagonist has in dealing with what has just happened. Every movement/word/reaction is described in such detail that you can't help but feel heartbroken for this guy when all is said and done. Kudos, Mike Skinner.

A great, great, great concept album.

Sorry about today. Somethings you have it and sometimes you don't.

You really got a hold on me,

B

September 13

I love this in so many ways.

A constant factor in pieces of art that "awe" me is simplicity or the illusion of it. More often than not I find myself going, "Why didn't I think of that?" Hopefully one of these days I'll beat someone to the punch.

September 10

"Boys will be boys and girls have those eyes that will cut you to ribbons sometimes."

Have you ever looked at someone who instantly shot right through your being and you felt like you've known each other forever? Me neither. But I plan on this happening at some point. A desperate fool or a hopeless romantic . I really, really hope I'm the latter.

You know why I was adamant over the fact that 500 Days of Summer was one of the best and most underrated films of last year? Because I was that character.

I know what it's like to hope

and find

and live

and forget

and lose

and obsess

and deal

and accept

and move on

and restore

and hope again.

Completely ruined or a hopeless romantic? Definitely option 2.

Great soundtrack, by the way.

DAMN IT! See what happens when it's 2:30am and there are no signs of fatigue in sight? I don't even know where that all came from. Haha.

Well, this is definitely becoming a more personal blog now, isn't it? Took long enough.

Let's end on a high note. That announcement concerning work I mentioned yesterday lasted all of 24 hours. As of earlier today, I am the active editor of a documentary that's been 3+ years in the making. This means, if all goes well, by the turn of the new year I'll have my first feature film editing credit. To potentially have a life accomplishment met in the next 6 months is something I haven't completely wrapped my head around yet. For now, I need to take it step by step and do my best to finish this project.

It's an exciting opportunity, that's for sure. Best of all, I'll be able to do this from home.

Step one: Go over the hours and hours of archived footage, take notes, and learn this story from the ground up. I'm not exaggerating when I say this will take at least 2 weeks. I'm also not exaggerating when I say this smile hasn't left my face all day.

Recently I read something that made more sense to me than I thought it would at first. It had to do with "learning how to trust life". I pride myself in being a fairly logical thinking person, but I realize there are things that just can't be explained. The more I reflected on the last few years, the more I realized how, for some reason, I never felt panicked or even that worried. Something in the back of my mind always calmed me down, but it was something that I couldn't put into words until a week ago. Trust life. It's almost too simple, but it can't be described any other way. Funny; All it took for me to get it was 25 years and "an unromantic blog entry."

Her words, not mine,

B