April 10th, 2009
I’ve been fortunate enough to have met some of my favorite authors and musicians. I’ve met Billy Corgan, Chuck Palahniuk, David Sedaris (twice!), and just last night Augusten Burroughs. I love getting to see and actually talk to these people. They’re always really nice and accomodating – signing your books, chatting with you for a few minutes, sometimes taking pictures with people, etc.
My problem is that I always seem to freeze up when it comes to having something to say to them when I get to the front of the line. I don’t know if it’s some kind of star-struck thing. I don’t think it is. I think that mostly it’s that I tell myself that there’s nothing I could possibly say to them that they haven’t heard before. And I know that’s not necessarily true, but what could I say in my minute or two of seeing them that would be worthy of their listening? I can never come up with anything at the time. Maybe I should start thinking about this stuff beforehand and write it down so I don’t forget and freeze up.
I always think of something as soon as I’m leaving though. Like last night, I should have asked – indeed, wanted to ask – what advice he would give aspiring writers. But I failed.
Well, next month I get to meet a couple more of my favorite authors, Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child and I’ll be sure to make sure I have my question written down so I don’t forget it this time.
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April 6th, 2009
In no particular order:
- Finding out my cousin didn’t like Forrest Gump, and in fact doesn’t like Tom Hanks.
- Finding out my friend has never played Clue.
- Witnessing two people get kicked out of a college classroom.
- Completely understanding the implementation of OAuth.
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April 2nd, 2009
Yesterday the NC House tentatively passed a bill that would ban smoking in businesses that serves or employs anyone under the age of 18. While it’s not a 100% ban, it’s one step closer to a smoke-free NC. The final vote is scheduled for today, and if it passes, then it will move to the Senate.
The opposition to the bill doesn’t even sense to me. Someone said in the debate on the bill that “if you ban smoking, you should also ban fast food because that can cause obesity.” That argument fails completely on it’s relation to smoking. Sure fast food isn’t good for us, but if you eat fast food in public, I don’t get fatter because of that. If you smoke in public, then I am directly affected.
Similarly, a lady on the news last night was angry because, “It’s a personal choice. Everyone should be able to choose.” Does that apply to me? If I choose to not want to get lung cancer from your secondhand smoke, what choice do I have? Your choice to smoke ceases to be strictly personal when you do it outside of your own home, directly affecting my health.
If it were up to me (and I’m aware that my view is very extremist) I’d charge everyone who smokes in public with negligent homicide.
Go here -> http://www.capitolconnect.com/smokefreenc/ to contact the NC legislators and let them know we want a smoke free North Carolina.
Tags: Anti-Smoking, ban smoking, smoke free nc
Posted in Anti-Smoking, Causes | 3 Comments »
February 16th, 2009
If you’re interested in hearing the big band jazz ensemble in which I play trumpet (The Route 55 Jazz Orchestra), here are the mp3’s from our 2008 Winter concert.
Route 55 Jazz Orchestra – 2008 Winter Concert
Let me know what you think!
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January 20th, 2009
For the first time in quite a while, it snowed here in Raleigh. Its not something that happens too frequently, so when it does, it’s a big deal. I went out this morning and took some pictures. Here they are for your visual stimulation.
Tags: Photos, snow
Posted in Photos | 4 Comments »
January 13th, 2009
On January 13, 2008 I saw my 1000th movie, The Brothers Solomon. Today, January 13th, 2009, I saw my 1130th movie, Friday the 13th Part VI: Jason Lives. If you do that math, that’s 130 unique movies seen in the last 366 days (2008 was a leap year); a new movie every 2.8 days. Admittedly, I tend to accumulate things in a more marathon fashion rather than a regular viewing schedule. It’s not uncommon for me to get three or four movies at once from Blockbuster and watch them the same day, or go to see all 14 movies in the theater in six days.
You may be saying to yourself, “That’s incredibly sad. Don’t you have anything better to do with your time?” We can’t all have noble and philanthropic baby-seal-saving and homeless-shelter-building hobbies like you. My only regret is that movie watching is an incredibly passive hobby to have. Maybe in the future I’ll start offsetting my time spent movie watching with beach volleyball or croquet.
Tags: hobbies, movies
Posted in Uncategorized | 2 Comments »
January 12th, 2009
Tags: tweets, twitter
Posted in Uncategorized | 1 Comment »
December 9th, 2008
Is it just me or does the governor of Illinois, Rod Blagojevich have an uncanny resemblance to Steve Carell?
Posted in Uncategorized | 4 Comments »
November 16th, 2008
My wife and I wanted to have a Futurama wedding cake for our wedding, so we contacted a local bakery, Edible Art, and had them take a crack at it. I highly recommend Edible Art if you’re in within a few hours of Raleigh, NC. We never got to see any sketches or anything before the reception, so we were a bit nervous about what it would look like. But it turned out that they did a completely amazing job! They even delivered it the three hours to the reception. Here are a few pictures of the cake.
Posted in Uncategorized | 3 Comments »
November 1st, 2008
Here are the pictures from our honeymoon on the island of Moorea in French Polynesia. Moorea is said by many to be the most beautiful island in the world. From what I’ve seen of the world so far, I think I’d tend to agree. You can enjoy the pictures and see for yourself though.
Posted in Travel | 1 Comment »