also...

there are way too many details involved in planning a wedding. right now the current concerns are florist, organist, suits, hotel rooms. i'm seriously starting to reconsider my decision not to go to vegas and get married by elvis.

new city

i love living at the beach.

that is all.

gopher sex

what happens when you mix four 20-something women and four bottles of cheap wine?

discussions about gopher sex.

schizophrenic weather

this is one of the few things i dislike about living in virginia. march and april weather. i hate how it can be 40 degrees one day and then 80 degrees the next. it might rain, it might not, who knows? i tried to store some winter clothes and ended up having to drag them all back out because it had gotten cold again. on saturday we'd planned a trip to play putt-putt and froze the whole time.

but today is one of the 80 degree days, so there's not too much to complain about for the time being.

i particularly like the part about how "the dog started it"

MASON, Ohio -- Police say an Ohio man accused of barking at a police dog has been charged with a misdemeanor.

A Mason police report says 25-year-old Ryan James Stephens, of Mason, was charged with teasing a police dog in the Cincinnati suburb.

Officer Bradley Walker wrote that he heard the dog barking uncontrollably while Walker was investigating a car crash at a pub early Sunday morning. The report says Stephens was making barking noises and hissing at the K9 dog that was inside the police car.

 Walker reported that Stephens said "the dog started it" when asked why he was harassing the animal. The officer said Stephens appeared highly intoxicated.

back in the land of the living

i survived ocs. it's taken me a good two weeks to begin to feel like a normal human being again. i got 7 weeks of working in a recruiting office before my next school, then it's off to the beach for more training. it's really going to be quite the hardship, this whole having to live at the beach from memorial day to labor day. such a hard life...

luke 2:8-14

And there were in the same country shepherds abiding in the field, keeping watch over their flock by night. And, lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them, and the glory of the Lord shone round about them: and they were sore afraid. And the angel said unto them, "Fear not: for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy, which shall be to all people. For unto you is born this day in the city of David a Saviour, which is Christ the Lord. And this shall be a sign unto you; Ye shall find the babe wrapped in swaddling clothes, lying in a manger." And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God, and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men." 

Merry Christmas.

favorite christmas book

"and lo, the angel of the Lord came upon them..."
  "shazaaammmm!"
"what?"
  "with a vengeance in darkness, the mighty marvel!"
"gladys, i don't know what you're talking about."
  "the mighty marvel in wonder comics."
"no, this is the angel of the Lord."
  "out of nowhere, right? in the black night, right?"
"well, yes, in a way."
  "shazaaammmm!"

[the best christmas pageant ever]

thoughts on OCS

officer candidate school so far can be best summed up in the words of the immortal clark w. griswold:

"hallelujah, holy shit. where's the tylenol?"

the final countdown

i leave for military training in exactly 2 1/2 days.

hoo boy.

happy election day

my dad spent the morning giving his employees their year-to-date tax totals as an election day incentive to vote against liberals. awesome.

double double, toil and trouble

went to a rock concert last night. saw james bond, a lumberjack, superman, and a giant chicken singing along to queen.

i love halloween.

and we wonder why he's still a bachelor?

danny: "isn't being a groomsman kind of like being a pall bearer?"

new job

i'm working for my dad again. i think this will be good preparation for the navy. i work with all men, i'm surrounded by machinery, everything is covered in a layer of dirt and grease, and belching is a prolific occurrence.

the perfect man

i've figured out who he is.

the looks of henry cavill, the voice of josh turner, the brain of winston churchill, the politics of ronald reagan, and the personality of jim halpert.

now the trick is to find this elusive creature...

i have a problem

me: "i have 90 history books from grad school and college...i need an intervention."
john: "you don't need an intervention. you need a card catalog."

i have seen my future and it is freezing

me: "how cold does it get in newport in the winter?"
dad: "pretty cold. and you'll be stationed out on the Point."
mary: "oooooh. that sounds cold AND windy."

sigh...

did i miss the four horsemen?

this morning i signed my mother up for facebook.

the world as i know it has ceased to exist.

beautiful things

the world is full of beautiful things
butterfly wings, fairy tale kings
and each new day undoubtedly brings
still more beautiful things

the world abounds with many delights
magical sights, fanciful flights
and those who dream on beautiful nights
dream of beautiful things...






i've always found this song to be very haunting, yet at the same time it manages to ignite my imagination in ways few things do.

listening to it makes me see starry skies, hear wind, and feel magic.

take me out to the ball game

tonight i went to the ballpark and had chicken tenders, french fries, beer, and funnel cake.

lots and lots of funnel cake.

i love baseball. any sport that centers this much around food has got to be good.



tonight was my second nationals game of the season, and it was stunningly less impressive than the first (which happened to be last night...yes, i went to see two major league baseball games in as many days...i love baseball). last night dunn hit three home runs, one of which was a triple, and they won 7 to 6 against the padres. awesome game and extremely entertaining. especially since my group included two british guys, one of whom was visiting from england and hadn't ever seen baseball before. he was fascinated with how laid back everything was. i guess compared to european premier league soccer, it is pretty chill. so the game was great. tonight however...they lost something like 7 to 1. sadly, the fluke winning streak (2 games) seems to be over and we're back to the nats that we all know and love.

one of these days this town is going to get a team that doesn't suck overall (redskins, nats, wizards) and doesn't choke in the playoffs (caps...blame it on the russians).