Norseman kNowledge

China

2012-02-05T15:12:00.006-06:00

I feel I haven't been on here nearly as much as I use to be. I had the opportunity to go to China for work for 2 weeks back in November. It was a great experience and eye opening. Here is China through my camera. Only a small portion of the 1100 pictures I took.

West Lake in Hangzhou, China

Torrey Pines State Park through my camera

2012-01-13T20:41:00.005-06:00

The zoo through my camera

2011-12-13T22:19:00.004-06:00

We learned it from someone

From my camera's viewpoint

2011-12-05T21:52:00.004-06:00

WHOA. Where has the time gone?

2011-11-21T21:11:00.002-06:00

Hello! I haven't posted on here in months and not sure why. I have a list of blogs I have been meaning to write. What has been going on with me.

I bought a couple of new toys:
Kindle. I have really enjoyed it, took it on a trip to China. I was not looking for anything fancy, just something that holds books. So far I have read a few books on it. My first was Robin Hood (it was a free download). Wow is that old English difficult to understand, but I got through it.
I also bought a new camera. first and foremost for my trip to China, but have tested it at the beach and the zoo among other places around town. I will post pictures of all those locations soon.

I just got back from 2 weeks in China. I was there for work, got some sight seeing in but mostly worked. It was quite a life changing experience. I have several stories I will share soon.

Ok I am back...

A Hard Ticket Home - David Housewright

2011-09-18T23:37:00.003-05:00

Recently I finished a book I had been wanting to read for a while. It was very tough to find. My mom had to go to a small bookstore to find a copy. Not sure why it was so difficult but it was. The book is, A Hard Ticket Home by David Housewright.

The book follows an ex cop who is asked to do a favor. McKenzie is asked to track down a couple's daughter who ran away and hadn't been heard from since. McKenzie quickly dives into the case and finds that the run away doesn't associate with the best people in society. Will he find her before she herself is hurt? Will he get hurt asking too many questions? Read and find out.

I found this book to be a great read. I strongly recommend if you like action thrillers.

Where were you?

2011-09-11T09:30:00.003-05:00

Today marks 10 years since the world changed for so many people. I know exactly where I was. I had just graduated from college, living at my parent's. I woke up about 10 minutes after the first plane hit the World Trade Center. I turned on the TV, flipped around and found that every channel was covering the what was originally thought to be an accident. I went to the basement to find my dad, on the computer, this was when the internet wasn't a place to find news yet. I turned on his TV in the other room and we stood watching the coverage. Then the 2nd plane hit and that quickly the world changed, America was under attack.
Fast forward to today, seeing families reading the names of those who perished on that day is so difficult to watch. To see a little girl read her dad's name and then mention she never had a chance to meet him for she was in her mom's belly. She thanked him for wanting to have her. A generation of kids will never get to meet the special people in their lives. But their memories will live on through stories, pictures and just knowing someone is looking down on them and pushing them through the journey of life.

God Bless and cherish everyday you have. Tell those close to you that you love them.

Weekend Projects

2011-08-14T17:06:00.004-05:00

In the last month I have been filling my need of finding my happy place, that's right, I have been spending time at Home Depot. I have loved to build stuff since I was a kid, I still have a step stool I built when I was about 8 from some scrap pieces of wood my dad gave me. Yeah it isn't the best step stool, the supports aren't even square to the step, but it is where it all started. I still have the end table I built in 8th Grade, the stereo cabinet I built in 9th grade. Last month my project was a bar. I drew up the plans, went to Home Depot bought my supplies and material, had them cut the panels, and did the rest my self with just a few tools.

Before

After

With the scrap trim I made a wine bottle stand.

More projects to come.

Night Prey

2011-08-11T23:31:00.005-05:00

This past weekend I finished another one of John Sandford's Prey series books, Night Prey. I have been reading John Sandford for a few years now, he is such a good story teller of mysteries. In this book, Lucas Davenport, after leaving the Minneapolis force, is recruited back to the force and is thrown right in a case of a crazed killer. Will he find out who the killer is? Will he be hurt? Read and find out.

Air and Space Museum

2011-08-06T18:37:00.006-05:00

A couple of weekends I ago I ventured over to the Air and Space Museum. It was pretty interesting place.

One of the last Back to the Future Deloreans is on loan for a month. I heard angels singing.

My eyes are as cool as ice.

It is a family museum.

My latest reads.

2011-07-24T10:31:00.004-05:00

Looking at my blog, I realized that I had not reviewed two of the latest books I have read. The first was by William Kent Krueger, Boundary Waters. This is the 2nd in the series following Cork O'Connor, a Native American former Sherrif in Northern Minnesota. In Boundary Waters, Cork once again is pulled in to a case, despite the fact he is no longer in law enforcement. He soon realizes his life is endanger and the lives of those around him. Will he survive and how?

Do you know who Red Green is? If not, you should. He is a Canadian, Mr. Fix-It. He hosts a show on PBS, mostly in reruns, but always funny. Red is the president of the Possum Lodge, where men can go to be men and discuss men problems and how to fix them, typically with the handy man's secret weapon, Duct Tape. In Red's book, How to do Everything from a man who should know, Red shares his ideas of how to solve all of life's problems. I was laughing often while reading this book.

Some examples:
how to tell if you have a problem Teenager?
- The other kids come home in an orange school bus with flashing red lights. Your son comes home in a black-and-white with flashing blue lights
- All of the mail your son receives comes in the form of registered letters.
- He receives cards on Father's day.

How to change oil using Physics.
How to check your marital status.

How to tell if you are too focused on your job?
-You are making significantly more money than you did when you started working for the company.
- The boss knows you by your first name.
- Your boss told you an extremely personal secret, and now you can't help but notice how much the receptionist's baby looks like him.
- When you're handed your paycheque (as quoted), you say thank you.

How to wire up a laser to cut the lawn.

It is even a spiritual book with The Handyman's Prayer.

This book was so funny. I love Red Green. His trademark saying "If the women don't find you handsome, they should at least find you handy"

2011-07-09T12:58:00.004-05:00

Last Saturday, my parents and I went to the San Diego Zoo Safari Park. It was a hot day in San Diego, mid 90s. The park is pretty cool, it isn't like a zoo where the animals come to you, you have to go to the animals. They have a tram tour which is part of the admission. You can choose to get a closer experience, but with each package it costs more money. It was a fun day.

Scripps Aquarium

2011-07-01T18:32:00.005-05:00

More tourist sight seeing

Being a tourist

2011-06-28T23:16:00.007-05:00

Now that I have lived in southern CA for a couple of months and getting more and more comfortable with my job, it is time to tour the area and play tour guide. Saturday, my parents and I went to Sea World.

The new Turtle Reef exhibit

Pilot whale

Cirque de la Mer

My favorite show

"Shamu Rocks"

The shows were all very interesting. Every time I see a Sea World show I want to see more. Most of the exhibits are great, but that day the Shark Encounter exhibit should have been skipped. We walked through the entrance and off to the right was a big pool with sharks. Then we got into a line that seemed to never move. It wound back and forth 3 times and finally we get to the exhibit with sharks swimming over visitor's heads. The reason for the hot, sweaty and claustrophobic path, the moving sidewalk wasn't working and of course people thought that meant you could stand there as long as you wanted looking at the sharks swimming over you. Courtesy at its finest. All in all though it was a fun day, got a little burnt, but worth it. Am contemplating if I have more guests it might be wise for me to get a season pass.

Movie weekend

2011-06-13T21:26:00.003-05:00

It was a movie weekend for me. I have long been a fan of Joel and Ethan Coen, own most of their movies. I had yet to see their rendition of movie True Grit. Once again the Coen brother's do not dissapoint with this remake of a John Wayne movie. I had heard press reports when the movie was in filming, the Coens' cast Matt Damon, and they told him not to watch the original in his preparation for the film. I like their style of story telling it isn't for everyone, but I enjoy it.

After a drama I popped in Megamind. I had seen it several months ago and had to watch it again. So many funny lines it in. Great for all ages.

The Benefits of living in Southern California

2011-06-08T21:23:00.002-05:00

Loving life in Southern California. I get to see this whenever I want.

Ikea table before:

Ikea table after: (I like the look, the material could use some improvement)

Monkeewrench - P.J. Tracy

2011-06-05T21:57:00.005-05:00

I finally finished Monkeewrench by P.J. Tracy. It took me over a month to read a book that could be read in a weekend if focused. It wasn't that it wasn't a good book, it really was, but when I started the book and when I finished a lot has happened as I referenced in my last blog post. Moving 2000 miles away can put a damper on any pre made life plans.

Monkeewrench is written by a mother and daughter. The main character is a police detective in Minneapolis who is called in on a case of a serial murdered working in Minneapolis. This isn't just any killer, they are filling a script and looking for payback. Can detective Leo Magozzi figure out who the killer is before they strike again? Read it and find out.

Where have I been?

2011-05-30T11:10:00.006-05:00

Looking at my last blog post, I haven't written anything since the beginning of April, whoa, there has been a lot that has happened in my life since then. I moved here:
I accepted a new job the beginning of April, loaded up my car with necessities and drove 2000 miles to my new home by the ocean. I knew it was beautiful in Southern CA, but after visiting the beach, not sure I wanted to leave. It was a whirlwind process, I accepted the job and 2 weeks later I started.

Before I left for CA, I discovered these delicious treats at Trader Joe's. They are so GOOD! Like most things at Trader Joe's they aren't cheap so that helps me ration them.

The New Cool – Neal Bascomb

2011-04-08T13:40:00.003-05:00

I mentioned the book The New Cool in a previous blog post. I finished the book last week. WOW, it was a great read. The book is about FIRST and the trial and tribulations teams of high school kids go through during the 6 week build season and at the regionals that they attend. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) works with leading industry companies to generate funds to provide kids from Elementary school to High school with education in Science and Technology. The author and his staff follow several different teams with different demographics, an engineering magnet high school in Goleta, CA, a team in Michigan and a team in New York City. What is so cool about FIRST is that it brings together kids from several different backgrounds. The team in Goleta had students from the theater, others from the band, surfers, whites, Asians, the basketball star, and the intellectuals. Michigan was comprised of kids with direct ties to the auto industry and the New York City team had kids who use to travel from the projects across town taking several different forms of transportation just to go to a school where they could thrive. That is what FIRST is about, bringing students and mentors together from different backgrounds in a common goal to build life long memories.

During the 2009 season the game was called Lunacy. All FIRST teams are informed of the game simultaneously and then given 6 weeks to build a robot that they deem best would compete in that game. In this particular game teams traveled around the 27’ x 54’ field trying to gather lunar balls and shoot them into opponent’s trailers. The games are fast and intense, a game lasts 2 minutes and 15 seconds and there are 6 teams on the field at a time. 3 robots (each school builds their own robot, up to 120 lbs) comprise the red alliance, 3 teams comprise the blue alliance.

The team from Goleta decided to design something very elaborate and machined all of their own parts. Some students wrote the code to control the robot, others worked a lathe and drill press. Others worked on the electrical components. The team put in lots of long hours in the 6 weeks. The team from Michigan was fortunate to have access to the General Motors testing ground and several GM engineers and their tools to design and build their robot.

What is cool about FIRST is that teams’ partner with industry mentors to help them in their design and building. What isn’t as cool is teams resources vary drastically differently depending on their location. But that teaches them that life isn’t always fair. Someone will be smarter, faster, have more people, have more money or more resources then you. You just have to do your best with the resources and knowledge that are around you. Even with this disparity, FIRST isn’t about every team for themselves, they promote “Gracious Professionalism” where teams share ideas, skills and knowledge during the build season and regional competition.

I finished my first season of coaching a FIRST team and have to say it was a blast. I had a small team so we had to think smarter and build a robot that was functional over elaborate. We succeeded at that. FIRST allows kids a hands on experience in engineering and more importantly teaches them skills in time management, there is a deadline with no extensions and troubleshooting and things will go wrong.

I think this book would be a great read for anyone, with or without robotics or engineering of interest. There are some technical parts in the book but for the most part the book is about building teams and learning how to mesh different ideas for the better of the group.

To watch matches online here is a link to different regionals around the country. The Nationals are in late April in St. Louis, MO.

Running Blind - Lee Child

2011-03-21T21:50:00.003-05:00

Last week I finished another book in the Reacher series by Lee Child, Running Blind. I thought the book was pretty good. One thing though with reading a series with a repeating character is it seems like the books start to flow together. Here is the main character he gets in trouble, finds himself in the wrong spot, will he get out? Dun Dun Dun... That seems like the same plot from the last book and the one before that.

An experience to remember at a FIRST Robotics competition

2011-03-14T19:02:00.001-05:00

This last weekend I had quite the experience. I got to hang out with a bunch of extremely smart and innovative high school students as the team I coached participated in a FIRST Robotics regional competition. If you are not familiar with FIRST, (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) an international organization founded 20 years ago by Dean Kamen (inventor of the Segway) and Woodie Flowers. The goal of the program is to introduce kids to science and engineering careers, from elementary school with Lego leagues through high school age kids with 120 lb metal robots. The organization gets sponsorships (Big $$$) from many of the major industry leading companies and several smaller companies support local teams. It is not a cheap activity but what is great is these companies are willing to donate a lot of money to try and get the kids of today be their employees of tomorrow. I was mentioning to my team a story I heard just a couple of weeks ago. The average age of the engineers when Man landed on the moon was about 26 years old, just 7 years prior Kennedy was giving his speech at Rice University with a goal to build a rocket that would take man to the moon, that put those engineers at about 17-19 years old, roughly the same age as some of the kids competing.

In the beginning of January there was a kickoff event where teams around the world were informed of this year’s game. Each year the game changes and a new wrinkle is added. In years past, they had to kick a soccer ball into a net, or carry a ball around a track, shoot a ball into a basket, this year’s game was to place 3 different shaped inner tubes on a wall. We were given 6 weeks of build time and a budget. Each team plays the same game and after seeing each of the robots at my regional, each attacked the task differently. That was the interesting part, with resources and ideas teams were only limited by their own minds and hands. What I think is cool about FIRST is that it prides itself on two trademarked philosophies:

Gracious Professionalism. “It's a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community… fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions… learn and compete like crazy, but treat one another with respect and kindness in the process. They avoid treating anyone like losers. No chest thumping tough talk, but no sticky-sweet platitudes either. Knowledge, competition, and empathy are comfortably blended.”

And

Coopertition “is displaying unqualified kindness and respect in the face of fierce competition…founded on the concept and a philosophy that teams can and should help and cooperate with each other even as they compete… involves learning from teammates. It is teaching teammates. It is learning from mentors. And it is managing and being managed… means competing always, but assisting and enabling others when you can.”

These two theories could be applied to a lot of things and would probably make the world a better place.

As far as the competition went we did pretty well all things considered. This was my first year of being a coach, we had 3 students (some have 40+), and only 6 weeks. We built a robot that was simple but functional. Several of the teams had claw mechanisms and were able to build a mini bot that was able to climb a 10’ tall pole at the end of the game for bonus points. The field is 54’ x 27’ with 18 pegs on each end of the field at varying heights from just under 3’ to 9’5” with varying point values. Our robot was able to reach the lowest and highest pegs. We uncrated our robot on Thursday; several teams still had plenty of work to do when they opened their crate. We got a few practice rounds in on Thursday, the competition started Friday. A match is 2 minutes and 15 seconds long, the first 15 is in autonomous mode (robot does predetermined task) the last 2 minutes are driver controlled. Friday, we were in 8 matches, each match there are 2 alliances, red vs. blue. An alliance is made up of 3 robots, so 3 robots vs. 3 robots. The alliances change each match. We ended Friday 4-4. We then had 3 matches Saturday morning where we went 1-2. Then just before lunch on Saturday the top 8 teams got to pick their 2 alliance teams, we were selected 8^th overall by the 8^th seed. Of the 40 teams, 24 would move on to the main tournament. We lost our 2 matches against the #1 seed who picked the #2 seed as one of their partners. They eventually went on to win the regional and earned a spot in St. Louis at the National Championships in April. We were over matched, but it was more about the experience and the whole process than just winning and losing.

The highlights/lowlights:
One of kids got his picture taken with Dean Kamen. I was coming down from the stands and saw two of my members walking back to the pit area and one had this huge smile on his face, I asked him, what was up? He showed me his camera. He was pretty excited. I think it was a great experience, with some frustration of things not working the way they did in practice, and long BUSY days, with very little time to rest all weekend. What put me out of my element is some of the larger teams had several of their students in the crowd with their costumes, mascots and their cheers. They would yell their team number or different sayings. What I observed is the more successful teams are constructed of kids who are friends and have several different interests outside of robotics, their teams have turned robotics into a social club. They think about this stuff all the time and tinker with different materials and parts to see how they work. My team is a work in progress, but have to start somewhere.

I strongly recommend going to the FIRST website and seeing if a regional is happening in your area. They are open to the public and lots of fun for all ages. If you want to read a cool book see the previous blog post about “The New Cool”

The New Cool - Neal Bascomb

2011-03-01T20:45:00.002-06:00

Been waiting 2 months for this book to come out. It came out today.

What the Dog Saw - Malcolm Gladwell

2011-02-23T14:32:00.004-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I finished my 4th Malcolm Gladwell book. I have to say of the 4 I have read, this was not my favorite, probably 4th place. Although I have to say his last book Outliers could possibly be one of the best books I have ever read. If you are not familiar with Gladwell's work, he writes about why things are the way they are, not just what we are lead to believe, he goes deeper. In this book it is a compliation of several articles he has written over the last several years. One article compares pro football scouts trying to figure out who will be the best Pro quarterback with schools trying to figure out who will make a good teacher. You wouldn't think those two have anything in common, when really they do. There is no way of saying a guy will be a bust or Superbowl champ ($%&^, do I have to pay someone because I mentioned the word S....bowl?) Just like their is no test that a person will be a good or bad teacher. Schools try to fix the problem by cutting budgets when really they need to cut bad teachers. The book is interesting, several of the chapters got long and boring, where others were very interesting. I won't judge him based on this book considering my thoughts on Outliers. He is worth a read.

Currently reading.

One Year +

2011-02-04T15:50:00.003-06:00

Where does time go? It has already been a year since I first started my blog. Sure many of you have far more blog posts than I do in a years time, but sometimes my mind keeps running but never enough to think, hey I should blog about that.

I am currently pretty busy coaching HS kids. I am getting a crash course with my team. I grew up playing sports, but this activity is a whole new world for me, part Engineering, part Electrical, part Programming. The Engineering and Electrical I can handle my own, programming is another story. I am part of the FIRST organization trying to encourage high school kids to pursue careers in Science and Technology. Our season is short, only 6 weeks, we have 2 left. It has been fun, but it seems like a lot of work for me.

A real friendship of Grumpy Old Men

2011-01-23T09:12:00.002-06:00

With one liner after another, Grumpy Old Men, is a classic comedy. The movie setting is Wabasha, MN; a small town in Southern Minnesota where everyone knows your name and the town’s business. Two lifelong neighbors and friends, John Gustafson a.k.a “Putz” (Jack Lemmon) and Max Goldman a.k.a “Moron” (Walter Matthau) zing each other as they go about life during a Minnesota winter. John and Max are crusty old men, in every sense of the phrase. Both of their passions, starting all way back to when they were kids is ice fishing. They, like most Minnesotans, take up temporary residencies in ice shacks spread out around the lake as they try to catch the elusive “big one”. Max and John have gone through the rollercoaster of friendship since they were kids but in the end they are friends. They have fought over this and that, including a woman and that is no different today when Ariel Truax (Ann Margret) moves into the neighborhood. She adds a whole new wrinkle to their friendship and energy into them. I love this movie, not just because it was filmed and centered around small town Minnesota, but for this message, its one liners and story line.

I mentioned the one liners. Here are some from IMDB:

Max Goldman: Good morning, dickhead.
John Gustafson: Hello, moron.

Grandpa Gustafson: Looks like Chuck's taking old one-eye to the optometrist.

Max Goldman: Do me a favor. Put your lip over your head... and swallow.

Grandpa Gustafson: Kids; Can't live with them, can't shoot them.

Max Goldman: When I had an ulcer, I was farting razor blades.

Max Goldman: Hey dickhead you win the lottery?

John Gustafson: [Bragging about his sexual escapades] I've laid more pipe in this town than Wabasha Plumbing.

Max Goldman: Hey, watch your mouth you dumb friggin' Swede.

John Gustafson: We did the horizontal mambo.

Ariel Truax: Gay or straight?
John Gustafson: Huh?
Ariel Truax: Heterosexual or homosexual?
John Gustafson: Geez Louise!
Ariel Truax: Well, it's a perfectly legitimate question.
John Gustafson: Well, maybe in California, but here in Minnesota... Who-ho-ho-ho!

Max Goldman: You mean the low-life, ass-wipe, egg-sucker John Gustafson?

Weatherman: Cold enough for ya? Brrrrrrr!
Max Goldman: Oh, shut up, fatass!

Max Goldman: John! John! Are you dead?
John Gustafson: Not yet. But I don't want to die looking at your ugly face.

Grandpa Gustafson: [speaking of Ariel] Did you mount her?
John Gustafson: [disgusted] Oh, Dad!
Grandpa Gustafson: Wait, wait. Has she got big thighs?
John Gustafson: [thinking] No.
Grandpa Gustafson: No!? Then what's the problem?

The outtakes at the end are even funnier. These town actors are classic comedians. I think we have some today but not like Lemmon and Matthau. If you haven’t seen Grumpy Old Men, or it has been awhile, I really suggest you watch. It is such a good movie and great laughs too.

*Interesting fact #1. I was in Hollywood back in the spring of ’98 and was walking down the Hollywood Walk of Fame when Walter Matthau was being enshrined in front of Grauman’s Chinese Theater.

*Interesting face #2. One of the kids in a picture of Max and John from when they were 10 y/o, I went to elementary school with.

Movie Tuesday

2011-01-13T13:32:00.003-06:00

As Tuesday has become a really bad TV night, I took the opportunity to watch a couple of movies now out on DVD, RedBox makes it even better. The first movie was "The Social Network". I am sure many of you saw the previews for the movie and most probably saw it, if you haven't it is about the founding of Facebook. Either loosely or exactly. I thought it was a really good movie, some parts don't seem realistic but then again I wasn't in the room during the depositions. I have seen Mark Zuckerberg interviewed a few times, be it on 60 Minutes or elsewhere and thought he is a nervous, twitchy guy, so the deposition scenes seem not believeable but maybe they are. If you haven't seen The Social Network, you should. It is pretty good.

The second movie I watched was "The Town" with Ben Affleck. The movie is centered around the townies of Charlestown, Massachusetts. The city is made up of the family run business that is handed down from father to son, that business being hustling and Armour car/bank robberies. Affleck just like his ancestors is taught the family business. He and his crew go around Charlestown and rob banks. Things change when they take a hostage. If you like action, lots of bullets and a good story, this is a good movie for you to see.

American Assassin - Vince Flynn

2011-01-02T11:43:00.005-06:00

I have been reading Vince Flynn books for a number of years. For a while I was reading several books a year to get up to date of his telling of the life of Mitch Rapp, he releases a new book every October, as far as I can tell. A couple of years ago I was up to date on his older books and now can't wait for October to come around so that I can read his latest. He has written 12 books, his latest American Assassin, is a prequel to his other 11. His main character's name is Mitch Rapp. Mitch works for a behind closed door group of the CIA, he takes care of business, in common terms, he assassinates bad guys. When readers were first introduced to Rapp in, Term Limits, we got a brief biography of who he was, where he came from but we are left wanting more. As you progress through the series you get more and more tidbits of information but never the whole story, that is until American Assassin. In this book Vince Flynn doesn't give you all of Rapp's background, he does give you a good overview of who Rapp is and what he stands for. I am typically not a fan of prequels, I am already invested in the story that now I have to go back and jog my memory of what happened when and why. I think back to the Star Wars series. As viewers we were invested in the original 3 and then George Lucas adds a new 3 and the original 3 are now 4,5, and 6 in the series. American Assassin is not like that, Flynn gives you just enough information that it entices you to want more. I can't wait for next October.

Now reading:

12 Memories of Christmas

2010-12-26T21:48:00.013-06:00

With Christmas over I thought it would be nice to have a recap of the holidays to the tune of 12 Days of Christmas.

Twelve kids in the picture

Eleven o’clock Church service on TV

Ten items on my plate
(My favorite side dishes: Green Bean Casserole & Scalloped Corn)

Nine Swedish Meatballs eaten
(My dad makes delicious Swedish Meatballs)

Eight o’clock Elf Showing

Seven sweets eaten
(and if you believe that…)

Six bottles of wine
(3 of mine, 3 purchased)

Five books shared

Four Krumkake eaten

Three Nerf darts flying

Two servings of Lutefisk

and Only one broken dish

It was a good Christmas overall.

Holiday Blues

2010-12-20T11:14:00.003-06:00

I love this time of year. It is such a joyous time with family, friends, good food and the real meaning of why we celebrate the Birth of Jesus. There is the other side that can really give a person the blues; it is really a costly time of year. With the buying of gifts, food/treats, driving from this place to that place, where do those funds come from? It can also be a sad time for those who have lost loved ones during the last year or maybe even longer. It is the first Christmas without that person or the first Christmas after a break up, the first Christmas after other losses. I myself had a case of the blues recently, it might have been brought on by 17”+ of snow in 24 hrs or maybe just who to buy gifts for, what to buy, how much to spend, do I have the funds? Luckily I could answer yes to all those questions. Answering yes and probably more so the treats I made helped me get passed it. I also do think of how joyous it is for those who get to celebrate their 1^st Christmas with a new family, new child, and new friends. I think this time of year is great but when we are forced fed Christmas way back in early November and some places October it can be draining. I was listening to the radio today and they were talking about Christmas music and how dreadful most of the songs are that we hear time after time for a couple of months. There should be a law, no Christmas music until after Thanksgiving. Any Seconds?

This time of year really is about the people we are with. Do you get a case of the Holiday blues this time of year? How do you get over it? Worst Christmas song?

Part of what helped me get over the Holiday Blues:

Peanut Brittle

Peanut Butter Blossoms
The red and white striped are Candy Cane kisses

6 Dozen blossoms

Saltine Toffee Bars

Peanut Butter Crispies

Enlightening

2010-12-17T13:00:00.009-06:00

This blog post was going to be a different topic but I will save that for another day, probably this weekend.

This morning I had the opportunity to sit down with a group of people and discuss strengths and talents. I am not sure if you have heard of Tom Rath's book Strengths Finder?

Many companies and a lot of different industries are using this book and its tied in assessment to help their employees really maximize their skills so that they can be the best employee they can be. So the premise of the book is that after reading it you take an online assessment, the online assessment then gives you 5 adjectives that describe who you are. The thing about the adjectives though is they are not your typical everyday verbiage so you really need to read in the back of the book to learn what they mean. What is even better is to sit down with someone after you take the assessment who is trained in analyzing your results, I did that today. It is so strange when you speak with someone about you and they know who you are based on 5 words. It isn't like a psychic where they read off of your body movements or your story and get a picture of who is trying to reach you, who you are is written down before we even sat down.

My five results were: Maximizer, Achiever, Intellection, Adaptability, and Learner.
Maximizer: is someone who is believes in excellence not average, polishes the pearl until it shines, strives to get the most out of everything. (Check).
Achiever: need for achievement, gets a lot done, keeps lists. (Check)
Intellection: Likes to think, Mental hum is a constant in life, thrives on mental activity. (Check)
Adaptability: expects detours, flexible, lives in the moment. (Check)
and Lastly,
Learner: Gets bored easily (no I do not have A.D.D.) just need stimulation, Loves to learn and is a sponge. (Check)
In general I think I knew this about me but to have it written down in better words than my mind can process is useful. Did I mention that we did it over breakfast (@ Good Earth)?

Watermelon Wahoo (Watermelon, pineapple, apple)

Good Earth Huevos (so good)

There have been surveys down by Gallup of over 1.7 million people and 400 companies that only about 12% (number is decreasing each year) of people who actually bring their best talents to their job. Only 12%? So that means 88% are just doing a job that pays the bills (hopefully). Even with the popularity of Strengths Finder many companies still focus on an employees weakness instead of capitalizing on their strengths. We as people can achieve far more focusing on our strengths than trying to improve on our weaknesses. For instance, a company may have a whole bunch of people that are really good at finishing projects but no one is really good at getting them started. So the company says to their employees you all need to get better at getting a project started not knowing that they would gain far more bringing in someone who is a starter and maximizing their skills at starting projects and then have the people who are good at completing projects take over. I relate it to a baseball team. They have position players, utility players and pitchers. The position players excel at one or a couple of positions, the utility players are versatile and the pitchers are starters, middle relief or closers. The team isn't having a good game if a position or utility player has to pitch. Starters don't close out the game and closers don't start games. But would a company see that insight?

So how do you apply your talents to your job or life?

Tis the Season

2010-12-08T19:26:00.007-06:00

Tis the season for Christmas movies. There are so many classic Christmas movies. There always seems to be one on TV during the holidays and even if they just played it I always seem to find my self watching it again. Some of my favorites:

Both the cartoon and Jim Carrey versions

1 & 2 Only

The original

not for the acting but for the fact it was shot in Minnesota

Am I missing any?

Touching Speech

2010-12-05T13:41:00.001-06:00

Have you seen the speech by Jim Valvano at the '93 ESPN ESPY Awards? Jim Valvano, more recognized as Jimmy V was dying of cancer, he passed away 2 months after he gave this speech. Just the other day ESPN replayed the speech to celebrate Jimmy V week and draw awareness and raise money for cancer research. Cancer just like most people has affected my family directly. If you haven't been with someone who has cancer consider yourself lucky. I can watch this speech over and over again, so inspiring. I love the part where he makes a comment that some guy in the back is telling him he only only has 30 seconds left before they go to commercial.

Don't Give Up, Don't Ever Give Up!

Teams or Players?

2010-12-02T10:29:00.001-06:00

I am in no means a fan of professional basketball, sure I watch bits and pieces of a game but I will not plan a night around a pro basketball game. I think the quality of professional basketball has gone downhill quickly over the last 10+ years. So many of the players should have spent more time in college honing their skills but the money, fame and well money and fame are too enticing for them to pass up. This blog post really isn’t about basketball or any other sport really, it is about sports in general. Seeing all these stories on Sportscenter and other sports show talking about LeBron James return to Cleveland tonight as a visitor, Cleveland area being his home town and where he spent the first part of his professional career. Last summer when he did the ridiculous special on ESPN and stated he was “taking his talents to South Beach” the city of Cleveland was in an uproar burning his jerseys and anything else LeBron James related completely turning their back on him. I am in no way saying what he did was cool, it was really a %&*$ way of announcing his free will to go where ever he wants, but these people turned that quickly on a guy. He didn’t do anything illegal, he just made what he thought was in his and his families best interest.

Now to what this post is really about, my question is always, are you a fan of a team or of players? I am both. I have teams that I follow and no matter who is on it I will follow them, and I like certain players on other teams that don’t play for my team, I still like to watch them. One example is Brett Favre. I am a Vikings fan, when Favre played on the Packers I still liked to watch him play football. The over used cliché of being a gunslinger is fun to watch. Sure he will throw interceptions and have incompletions but to me that shows he is trying to win the game and that is the point of sports, taken from Herm Edwards “HELLO, you play to win the game”. I also love the Minnesota Twins and anything University of Minnesota Golden Gophers. I want those teams to be good and I have favorite players over the years but there is always turn over from year to year. I may think that was a dumb trade or stupid not to resign that guy but it is a business and I don’t run the team. That is why I love college athletics; it is guys playing sports because they love to play the sport. Most will never play another play after they graduate, but yet they still play.

So I often wonder are people fans of teams or players? If you are a fan of a team then it shouldn’t matter who is on the team, if you are a fan of a player then it doesn’t matter what team he plays for. Why do fans feel that a player is obligated to stay with a team for their entire career? You aren’t obligated to your company for your entire career.

Lets gain some perspective on sports, they are fun to watch and often times take us away from everyday troubles but in the end they are just what they are set to do, they are entertainment for a few hours. I hope for Cleveland’s sake tonight that they boo LeBron to the ends of the Earth but don’t make any physical threats or anything else illegal. As a fan you paid good money (is there bad money?) enjoy the product on the field instead of getting into the soap opera behind the scenes.

Now Reading

2010-11-29T14:15:00.002-06:00

Iron Lake – William Kent Krueger

2010-11-28T09:30:00.002-06:00

Recently I finished Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger. I was recommended this book when I was at Barnes & Noble looking for a couple of other books. I think I wrote about that several months ago. I had gone into Barnes & Noble looking to continue the Prey Series by John Sandford and Reacher series by Lee Child. When I asked an employee if by chance they had the next book in the Sandford series in back, she said that they didn’t, and then proceeded to ask me what other books I read. After that brief questioning she referred me to several different authors, one being William Kent Krueger. He is a Minnesota author who writes about Minnesota scenes.

Iron Lake is based in northern Minnesota on and near an Indian Reservation. Cork O’Connor, the former sheriff of Aurora gets involved in a case that he has no jurisdiction investigating. He feels that because of his past experience of being sheriff and him being of “the people” that he can’t help but want to figure out what is going on. Part of his frustration is his deep feeling that he was ousted as Sheriff by some small town politics. Just like big city politics, small town politics have their dark side and people who will step on anyone to get to the top. In his investigation, skeletons are brought out of the closet and whoever wants those skeletons to stay locked up will do whatever is necessary to silence those investigating. O’Connor is determined to find out what is going on in his town and by who, but doing this may cost him his life.

I will definitely read Krueger again.

Norseman's Favorite Things

2010-11-24T08:17:00.009-06:00

I have been hearing and seeing all these promotions for Oprah's Favorite things show, she gives away cruises and cars to Ipads and food. Even though she is a global icon she is being used by the product. She looks good by giving away some free items, the company gets great advertising that they could never think about generating. Here are a few of my favorite things:
* There is no give away from this guy though

My new Merrell slip on Mocs. I have several family members that swear by their Merrells, I had yet to experience. I now know why they love them.

Big 10 Subs. So good.

I have been buying these soy candle refills for years. They are from Lee Seed Candles

This Egg Muffin dish can make an egg for a Fried egg sandwich in 40 seconds. It is made by Nordic Ware

Polo Cologne

Hot Chocolate

2010-11-19T11:34:00.002-06:00

I am not a coffee fan but give me some Hot Chocolate and I will be your friend for life. Tis the season for red cups.

Movember

2010-11-15T20:05:00.009-06:00

Did you look at your calendar this month? Does it say Movember? Probably not. Movember (combination of Moustache and November) is a growing monthly holiday where men all over the world are growing moustaches to bring awareness and money to Men's health issues. Movember, is said to have started in Australia, then moved to the UK and is making its way around the United States. The cause hits close to home so anything I can do to draw awareness to those issues I will do. As men we like to think we are invincible and only go to the doctor when the appendage is cut off or all feeling has completely left and with some prodding from loved ones do we see a doctor.

Here are some famous moustaches. It is a trend that should be brought back, but not just anyone can rock the moustache. It takes great confidence in ones self.

Name that Famous Moustaches:
1.
2.

3.
4.
5.
6.
7.

Winter Prey - John Sandford

2010-11-09T15:39:00.003-06:00

A couple of weeks ago I finished reading the 5th book in John Sandford's Prey Series, Winter Prey. The plot of the story is very disturbing and you want to think that it is all fiction but sad thing is these things are happening all over the world everyday.

Currently I am just over 1/2 way through Iron Lake by William Kent Krueger. He is another Minnesota author writing Minnesota fiction. After I finished Iron Lake, I am going to read Vince Flynn's new book American Assassin. I went to a book signing on the 1st and can't wait to read his latest book.

If My Calculations are correct... When this baby hits 88 miles per hour, you're going to see some serious $%&#!

2010-11-05T18:06:00.005-05:00

HALLOWEEN 2010

For the last several years some friends my mine host an annual Halloween Party. Being that most of my friends are married with kids, get togethers can be canceled at the last minute. Last year's party was one of those events, one of the kids was sick. I had the costume ready to go and knew I wanted to still use it so I used it this year.

It won best costume. Yeah! Creativity put to good use. I personally like costumes that involve some of your own creativity of putting together. Anyone can go to a store and purchase something that comes in a bag. The costumes were good this year, one friend was Handy Manny, another MacGruber, the Informant, Kelly Kapowski & Zack Morris (although it could have been the porn version, his wig didn't get blonde enough). Of course we had the Nun, Priest and Witch, Ron Burgundy showed up, as did Minnie Mouse. It is fun for just one night to act out your inner persona.

Election Day

2010-11-02T13:59:00.007-05:00

Have you done your civic duty as an United States citizen yet? It is your responsibility to get out and vote if you want your voice to be heard. No matter what side of the aisle you represent ~~honestly I do care what side you represent~~, get out and vote.

I love Local

2010-10-30T08:40:00.007-05:00

Last week I had the opportunity to attend a professional organizations monthly meeting. I have been on the periphery of the group for several months but had yet to attend a monthly meeting. I decided this month would be my first. It was more the location than anything plus the email said Free Samples (well not free, had to pay to attend). I love local/region companies that make products I enjoy. Be it an author, food, beverages, or other product. I am not a snob thinking only Minnesota companies make good products but I do like to shop locally.

Now to the event. It was held at Summit Brewery. The 31st largest brewery in the country, founded in 1986. Summit is sold in 13 states with most market share in Minnesota, most of that the Twin Cities (Minneapolis & St. Paul) metro area. It is a brewery that sees the big 3 and says we don't want to be like them. They don't want to saturate the market with more lite/light beers. They create beers they enjoy and through that beers they think their customers will like. They aren't trying to please everyone. The speaker for the event was the founder of Summit, Mark Stutrud. He spoke about how Summit develops their product, the less scientific way. I was really intrigued to hear his speech being that I am a home brewer. I spoke with him after the event mentioning my home brewing and telling him how interested I was to hear how the big brewery make beer. After he spoke he gave us a tour of the facility. Thinking it would be a large building it really isn't, it was a well planned out facility. Enough space to do what they need to do to make good Beer. It was a great event.

The kettles for brewing

Imperial Pumpkin Porter
This is so new they are just now sampling it around the area

Do you have regional favorites?

Now Reading

2010-10-26T11:03:00.001-05:00

Small Town Treats

2010-10-25T19:53:00.005-05:00

The last time I went and visited my grandma we stopped in this small town bakery my dad had stopped by once before and bought some freshly baked bread. This is one of those bakeries I have probably passed hundreds of times and didn't think twice. It is one of those places that has very limited hours, the locals have their table and their menu item. It is bakery/small diner. We walked in and my eyes got wide with all the freshly baked treats. We got some Cinnamon Crisp bread, English Toffee cookies and apple fritters. They were all delicious. I could never live in a small town but driving through and stopping for a bit is always nice.

Where did good TV go?

2010-10-20T19:58:00.006-05:00

Have you been disappointed by what is on TV lately, well not even so much lately but the last several years? I have. Sure there are several good shows on TV now, but there are a lot more bad ones then there are good ones.

	Good TV	Bad TV
Drama	Mad Men, CSI, Parenthood, Criminal Minds, Law & Order	The CW
Comedy	The Office, Two and a Half Men, Big Bang Theory, Modern Family, How I met your Mother, The Simpsons, Spongebob Squarepants	Rules of Engagement, Mike & Molly
Game Show/(Faux) Reality	Amazing Race, Dirty Jobs, The First 48, Diners, Drive Inns and Dives, Man vs. Food	Jersey Shore, Teen Mom, 16 & Pregnant, Super 16, VH1, 19 Kids and Counting, Sister Wives
Can’t Turn the channel	Dog the Bounty Hunter, Billy the Exterminator, Parking Wars, Shows on Hoarding (although it drives me nuts)

I have thought about writing this blog for a while. TV just isn’t what it use to be. Sure as a society we have evolved and have changed what is ok to say and do on TV, but that doesn’t mean quality has to suffer. This blog really hit home the other week when I was with some friends and their children. Being single without any children I had an idea of what kids were watching but needed to ask the experts. Some of my friends’ kids are at an age where they can hold a pretty good conversation with you so I asked some questions. I asked them what cartoons they are watching. Their response: Dinosaur Train, Diego, Dora, Super Why, Sid the Science Kid, just to name a few.

Me: Do you know who Tom & Jerry are?
Kids: No
Me: Bugs Bunny, Yosemite Sam, Road Runner, Wile E Coyote?
Kids: No
Me: Flintstones?
Kids: No
Me: Scooby Do?
Kids: Yes
Me: Jetsons?
Kids: No

I am sure many of you that are reading this know exactly the quality of cartoons your kids are watching, it isn’t what we grew up with. The shows we grew up with were quality shows; good writing, good acting, good voiceovers. Today it is all about the merchandising. Get the kids sucked in and then make all their money on anything the studio can slap their characters face on. I think I heard once that Blue’s Clues use to run the same show 5 days in a row. Sure it is supposed to be about learning, but how dumb are they treating kids that they can’t air multiple shows in a week?

Prime Time TV has also gone the way of today’s cartoons. They are reproducing shows and plots that may have worked in the past; today, add some sex/spice and new camera angles and put the same show back on TV. I am sure it is difficult to think of new shows and new concepts, but I think it is more of a sign of lack of creativity by re introducing shows, (Hawaii 5-0, 90210 just to name a couple) then a sign of creativity. Why do shows like Modern Family and Mad Men work? It is because they have good writing and are willing to push the envelope. Sure there is a difference between network and cable television, but there are a lot of funny people in this world with good ideas. Don’t get me started on most shows on MTV and Vh1. Why do they promote teenage pregnancy, golden spoon teenagers and Bret Michaels? I am not saying that networks are responsible for raising children, parents are, but they sure as hell should step up and say we don’t promote the activities of the shows we air. Instead parents are left to be the bad guy. No you can’t have a several hundred thousand dollar 16^th birthday party, I don’t condone you having unprotected sex with your partner, I don’t have the money to help you raise your kid, Yes you will graduate from High School with your class.

I think back to my childhood and the shows that I enjoyed. Wonder Years, Happy Days (re runs), Home Improvement, Roseanne, The Cosby Show, Cheers, Who’s the Boss, Growing Pains, Tom & Jerry, The Flintstones, Warner Bros Cartoons. Thinking back to TGIF on ABC with Family Matters, Full House, Perfect Strangers, Boy Meets World, and Different Strokes. Ever get mad when the network pulls a show you really like? One of mine was Boston Common.

Just writing this blog I want to run out and get the DVD box sets of these shows. It brings back a great time in my life and good television. I think with the passing of this era there is no going back.

What shows do you have to watch or can’t stand? Favorite show growing up? What show were you mad when the network didn’t give it a chance? Come on I want to read your comments.

Once in awhile, spoil yourself

2010-10-18T21:52:00.003-05:00

I find myself spending so much time in my life thinking about others, I sometimes forget about taking care of myself. I try to do that whenever something good happens to me or like you do with kids, I was good at the doctor. Today was that day I was good at the doctor, well dentist. I don’t mind going to the dentist, sure it isn’t at the top of my list or anywhere close to the top 20 but I don’t mind it. I have gone to the same dentist all of my life. When I was younger, I couldn’t stand going to the dentist; I had the biggest fear of them jabbing things in my mouth and then wonder why I gag. I remember as a kid I screamed and cried so much in the chair they had to end the appointment and I told my mom I was never going back ever again. I think she made a comment about having my teeth rot; that was ok by me. I would rather have that then ever go back to the dentist. Of course 6 months would go by and there I was back in the chair having things jabbed in my mouth as they cleaned my teeth. Then there was the fluoride treatment. I don’t know about you, even though that stuff was flavored and was worn in a mouth guard type device, I couldn’t stand it. And here I was a hockey player who wore a mouth guard without even questioning. As I got older and could hold a conversation with people, my dentist and I would talk about hockey, his son played too. It seemed like we would spend more time talking about hockey then he would examining my teeth. That was ok by me, and considering my teeth have been relatively healthy all my life, ok by him. I use to have the worst anxiety when it came to my dentist appointments. I would try to think of any way to have to change the appointment, but when it was my turn I was always there. Sitting in the waiting room, trying to distract myself from what was going to happen. I would sit in the chair, the hygienist would do their thing and I was done. What was there to worry about? Nothing. Luckily I haven’t had any major work done, knock on teeth. Fast forward to today. I go in for my regular appointment, chat up the hygienist as she cleans my teeth, and then I am done. I decided I was a good boy at the dentist so I am going to spoil myself with some sushi. It has been a while since I have had it, so that is what I did. It was delicious. I think I am a person who doesn’t spoil myself enough. I know I am going to make a generalization, but most women do it through retail therapy, or so they say is the reason. I think there are people who do it too much and when it comes to a major occasion where they should the specialness is lost.

How and when do you spoil yourself?

Flashback Friday

2010-10-15T11:02:00.003-05:00

Reminiscing of the days when I played hockey. Typically after practice or games I would get a snack, it was usually Hot Tamales or Skittles.

What is your favorite candy? Mine isn't Hot Tamales but I do enjoy them.

Italian Pasta Salad

2010-10-13T15:25:00.003-05:00

Saturday I went to some friend's for a house warming party. I decided to bring an Italian Pasta salad. It is delicious.

- Box of Shell or Rontini noodles (Cooked and drained)
- 1/2 - 2/3 cups of Paul Newman's Light Italian Dressing
- Crumbled Feta Cheese
- 1 Avocado (Diced)
- 1 Cucumber (Diced)
- 1/2 package Spinach leaves (Washed and Drained)

Combine, chill and serve.

Gorgeous in Minneapolis

2010-10-09T08:13:00.006-05:00

Yesterday my dad asked me if I wanted to go golfing? Yes I do. The weather has been absolutely gorgeous lately here in Minneapolis. When talks of building an outdoor stadium for the Minnesota Twins, people complained it is cold in Minnesota in October and November. This year the Twins only had 1.5 games canceled because of the weather. They opened the playoffs last week against the Yankees to blue sky and high 70s weather. Gorgeous. Yesterday, golfing it was in the mid 80s, sunny and the fall colors were amazing. We don't take it for granted though, last year this week we had a trace of snow.

Opening Hole

Yum

2010-10-05T15:06:00.003-05:00

My new go to snack.

What is yours?

Always by my Side – Jim Nantz

2010-09-29T21:42:00.002-05:00

As I write yet another book review, to tell you the truth I really don’t read that much. I always am reading a book or two, but I definitely do not sit down and read a book straight through. They usually take me several weeks to a month or more to finish. The latest book I read, I purchased for $3 when I was looking through the books at Big Lots. If you are not familiar with Jim Nantz, he is the voice behind pretty much every major sport on CBS. He covers the Final Four, the Masters, and the Superbowl when CBS airs it, just to name a few. He does football games, he does golf, he could probably make a chess match seem like it is something you can’t turn your eyes away from. The book Always by my Side is about his career as a broadcaster but it is more about the relationships, more specifically the one with his father.

Jim Nantz grew up with his sister to parents born during the depression. His dad did whatever he had to do to take care of his family. If the company he was working for wanted him to relocate, he did what he had to do. Nantz, a good high school athlete found himself with a golf scholarship to the University of Houston, where he became friends with three future PGA golfers. His career didn’t take off the way he had hoped on the course, but with some guidance from his father and support from his golf coach his passion of covering golf instead of playing it took off. As a youth he had followed the careers, not of the athletes but of the sportscasters. He would listen to their style of telling a story and the way they covered the game. With some prodding he found himself asking to assist commentators when they came to Houston. With his dad in his ear he asked for assistance and guidance. His dad always provided him with sound advice. At the time Jim may not have seen it as such, but he would listen to his dad. As his star was rising, Nantz was thinking how he could bring his dad along for the ride. His dream was for his dad to travel to all the different events he covered when he finally got hired by the CBS network. Here he was at the mountaintop of his career when life threw him a curveball, his dad was diagnosed with Alzheimer’s. This is when the book changes direction. The books original objective was to tell the story of 60 days in spring as Nantz went from covering the Superbowl (in his adopted hometown of Houston), to the Final Four and finishing off with the tournament of all golf tournaments the Masters.

This book is very touching, it tells the story of relationships I think we all want in our lives. From those in our immediate family to those that are built through an initial friendship. Someone who always is there with good advice, someone who listens, and someone who knows when you are up and when you are down. This book brings sports and relationships together. This isn’t just a book about sports, the relationship formed are around sports, but it is about finding something you enjoy and the bond it offers between people.

Always Looking Up – Michael J. Fox

2010-09-24T10:24:00.002-05:00

Who played Alex P. Keaton? Mike Flaherty? Scott Howard and Marty McFly?

I have had a love for Michael J Fox’s acting skills for as long as I can remember. I loved Family Ties and Spin City, Teen Wolf, Back to the Future I-III (possibly my favorite movies) and recently saw The Secret to my Success. His abilities to play characters you want to like is superb. When I first heard he was writing a book I had to read it. Yes I am slightly behind the times, I just finished his book Always Looking Up.

In the book Fox divides the book up into 4 parts; Work, Politics, Faith and Family.

In the section about his work, he talks about how he started acting and the support he got from his family. His career and then his being forced to retire when he could no longer hide his symptoms of Parkinson’s disease.

In the section about Politics, he talks about how he got into Politics and the fight he continues to fight for stem cell research. No matter what your moral opinion is of stem cell research, I have a strong respect for him when it comes to his fight to try and help save someone else from what he is going through. He isn’t someone who sits on the sidelines and waits for a cure. He isn’t someone who sits on the sidelines and allows others to do the work. He is someone who gets out and talks to people, smart people who know about research. He talks to politicians, he talks to others suffering with incurable diseases. He wants to know their situation and how his research can help them. He gets his hands dirty trying to help others.

In his section about Faith, he talks about his upbringing and his non religious views. He is someone who has a desire to learn about religion and talks to several different clergy about religion and how it affects our lives. He is a spiritual man who knows there is something else out there that is good, he just isn’t sure what it is yet. “Optimism + Information = Hope”.

Lastly in Family, he talks about his family, his childhood and as an adult. The love from his parents and siblings, the love from his wife and kids. Trying to pass on the things he enjoyed as a kid to his kids. Trying to live every moment as if he didn’t have Parkinson’s, sometimes more difficult then he wishes.

I really enjoyed this book. I think it is inspirational, if someone who has a debilitating disease like Parkinson’s, Cancer or a para or quadriplegic can do things, why as a healthy human being can’t I?

If it weren't for the Stadium

2010-09-22T10:40:00.006-05:00

Back on the 11th of September I got to attend my first Gopher (University of Minnesota) football game at the new TCF Stadium, well it isn't new anymore it is a year old. After playing in the "big inflatable toilet" also called the Metrodome, for 26 years they finally brought football back on campus last season. The stadium is a gorgeous horseshoe shape with the open end looking down in the distance to downtown Minneapolis. The product on the field is not the best, if it weren't for the stadium it would have been a bad first visit. The Gophers lost to South Dakota. It was nice to see some close college friends again and relive some moments from our college days.

Walking down University Ave towards the Stadium

The Band is on the field

Team coming out of the locker room

Navy jumpers

Coin Flip

Tripwire - Lee Child

2010-09-13T19:26:00.004-05:00

Over the weekend I finished Lee Child’s third book in the Jack Reacher series, Tripwire. In Tripwire, Jack Reacher has found himself in Florida living a relatively anonymous life digging swimming pools under a fake name, this was until a private detective tracked him down. Reacher denies knowing Jack Reacher and is now part of the story when he finds the private detective dead. The investigation takes him to New York unbeknownst (did I really just use unbeknownst?) to him, his past is now his present. Who was this private detective, who was he working for, and why was he trying to find Jack Reacher? Reacher finds himself in something bigger then himself, will he live, can those around him be trusted, who are the bad guys?

I found this book to be well written. Lee Child does a really good job at describing the horrible personalities of the antagonists in the story. This being the 3^rd book in the series, I am questioning how does a guy, Reacher, always find himself in these predicaments?

Flashback Friday... Initial release

2010-09-10T09:53:00.005-05:00

Ever have a moment where you think back to when you were younger and crave a food item from those years? Mine was Goober Grape. What's that you say? You don't know what Goober Grape is? Well it is only the best Peanut Butter and Grape spread known to man. I put it up next to man's creation of the wheel. Sure you can have a jar of Peanut Butter and a jar of Grape jelly, what is better, You can have those in 1 jar, yes folks that's right, 1 jar, with peanut butter and grape jelly. You may think that the grape and the peanut don't get along when combined in one jar, you would be wrong, just look at how happy they are on the jar. A perfect union. Yum.

look at that beautiful star pattern.

What is your childhood go to food item/product?

Fried Zucchini

2010-09-03T11:41:00.005-05:00

I have enjoyed eating restaurant fried zucchini but had yet to make it myself, that was until the other day. Not really going by a recipe just put some flour in a bag and breadcrumb with Parmesan cheese. Dipped the sliced zucchini in egg then coated them in the dry mix and fried them. They were ok, the breading tasted too much like fried chicken batter.

Do you have a good and easy batter for skillet frying?

Not your College Ramen

2010-08-30T21:33:00.005-05:00

I can honestly say I have never had an issue with Ramen Noodles. I know it is the staple of most college age kids and young adults and once they have some money they stop eating it. Personally I have never stopped eating it. It is noodles and seasoning, nothing wrong with that. I like to doctor it up a bit when I can. The other day I added some shrimp cooked in garlic butter, and a sprinkle of parsley. It was delicious.

Guy's Weekend

2010-08-24T15:28:00.005-05:00

I hang out with a group of 7 other guys. Each year we do our best to all take one weekend to get away from life just for a bit and have some male bonding time. This year 6 of us made a trip to Northwestern Wisconsin for a little fun, little sun, a little water time, some brews and food. It was a great weekend, from taking the 4 wheelers out on the trails, playing in the rapid water, badminton tournament, and good company. I think it is a sign of our age. As we get older our accomodations have changed. When we started, a tent and fire were sufficient. This year, although we were staying in someone's house, we had running water, full kitchen, electricity, hot tub, beds, and lots of really good homemade food.

Some soft of metaphor of life, a trapped canoe (not ours)

Soaring Eagle

DQ

2010-08-15T19:52:00.009-05:00

If you knew me you would know I love DQ. I am a huge fan of the Blizzard. This month's Blizzard of the month is

Oreo Brownie Earthquake, DELICIOUS!!!

A little sweet but oh so Good!

Oreo cookies, fudge brownie pieces, hot fudge and marshmallow blended with creamy vanilla soft serve.

Caramel Apple Hefeweizen

2010-08-12T21:03:00.003-05:00

I am just getting around to blogging about this, last Saturday I bottled by Caramel Apple Hefeweizen. The process started back at the end of May, it probably has been ready for a month or more just hadn't gotten around to bottling it. Bottling is an easy process but extremely time consuming. Sanitize all the equipment, including bottles (which I run through the dishwasher without soap on the sanitize function). Then I run the bottles through a sanitizing rinse that I use for all the other equipment just to make sure no soap got in during the dish washing cleaning. Time to bottle after getting priming sugar ready and it has cooled. Rack the beer into the bottling bucket, bottle the beer, cap the beer, clean all the equipment again. I am not complaining, I choose this hobby, just time consuming.
I was able to convert 5 gallons to 44 (12 oz) bottles.

Hazing done right

2010-08-09T11:58:00.003-05:00

Over the last several years there have been several tragic stories of hazing gone bad. High school athletes, Frats and Sororities forcing pledges to drink too much alcohol to violence, that isn't hazing those are crimes. I like the hazing of professional sports. Force rookies to do stuff that is demeaning only to their ego not to their health. From carrying other player's equipment, taping players to goal posts, baseball pitchers wearing little girl backpacks full of gum, mints, sunflower seeds, and funny haircuts. This last week the Denver Broncos veterans made an example of their new rookie quarterback, Tim Tebow, he got the Friar Tuck cut at the barber shop. Tim took it as a right of passage to this fraternity. It didn't hurt him physically only gave people some laughs. Other rookies, Dez Bryant, think they don't have to go through the process and should be granted a free ticket to the party.