what is martin?

"I've Got More Rhymes Than The Bible's Got Psalms"

2012-01-13T09:40:00.000-05:00

Wow! That's a lot, right?

This probably one of the most memorable lines from the 1992 House of Pain hit "Jump Around." I'm sure Everlast and his crew had no idea that this song would rise to fame the way it did. After all, it was on the playlist at the "out-of-control party" that Daniel Hillard threw for his son Chris in the hit 1993 cross-dressing nanny movie Mrs. Doubtfire, despite the fact it was forbidden by lame ole Sally Field!

Even though we know that an uphill battle ensued for Robin Williams, there was no uphill battle for House of Pain. The song is still popular and played all over the place, even today.

But have we stopped and thought about how many rhymes Everlast is really claiming to have?

The Bible has 150 Psalms. If we use "Jump Around" as a standard of how many rhymes Everlast might put in one song, we see it contains 55 rhymes in total (excluding the 86 iterations of the word "jump" repeated throughout the song). With the Psalms as the standard to beat, he is just over that mark in about 3 songs.

He is basically saying that he has a reasonable amount of rhymes... perhaps enough for an EP.

It's sort of a weird benchmark. Especially as an Irish dude, who has historically had beef with people like Eminem, Mark Wahlberg, DJ Quik, and even Cypress Hill for a short stint, you think he would shoot for a more impressive self-proclaimed standard.

"Watch out... you guys! / I've got about 3 songs worth of smack to dole out / Who wants it first? / There's not enough for everyone though, so let's / Jump, jump, jump, jump / Jump, jump, jump, jump" etc...

I just think it's weird, especially when you are talking smack for a whole album, and are arguing that you only have enough rhymes to release 1/4 of an album. So not only do you seem lame, but did you have to plagiarize the other 3/4ths of the album to get it to release in time?

Are you a house of pain, or just like, an apartment of pain?

Are you like Arnold Schwarzenegger or are you like Jon Cryer?

Are you Irish, or are you... Welsh?

Well, regardless, I guess you just gotta "jump! jump! jump! jump! jump!"

We Don't Mean to be Prude

2012-01-05T13:03:00.001-05:00

I think that is the problem these days. No one means to be prude.

We place this phrase in front of things we say as a blast shield to protect ourselves from heavy rebuttals from people whom we are calling out for doing inappropriate things. We do this, rather than truly believing it and, in the following case, coming to the defense of those that are exploited.

I just saw an article about how 17-year-old Dakota Fanning was put on the February cover of Cosmopolitan. It has naturally already been the source of much debate between conservative groups, news sources, and liberal entertainment outfits.

New York Magazine writes, "We don't mean to be prude, but isn't she like, 17?"

I don't get why they don't mean to be prude. If you were really concerned that an underage girl was put on the cover of a sex-focused magazine, you would just call them out.

But this way, you coin a cliched phrase, appear to be the good guy who gave one of your contemporaries a quick, just-for-thought jab, and move on. But all you are really saying is, "in our hearts we may really believe this is wrong, but we don't want to seem uncool!"

They went on to finish their epic defense of this girl, who they admit Cosmo dressed in bunny ears in one photo (as if most people don't understand that connotation), with a middle-of-the-road attempt to quickly end the article, move on to the next topic, and not stir the pot.

So... they kind of said something profound? I guess? At least that's what we think now that the phrase "I don't mean to be prude" has become so abused that it just sounds like a good thing to say. But if you think about it, it really doesn't mean anything except, "I am ashamed of walking the hard line and too nervous to own my beliefs."

Maybe if Americans did mean to be prude we would have less teenage girl actresses and singers serving as sex icons to men of all ages and to young girls starving for male attention. Maybe these actresses and singers would be less inclined to grow up and feel like they need to keep pushing the sexual envelope to keep getting the attention they have been conditioned to need.

Maybe if America stopped consuming ad infinitum, and started thinking, caring, and serving ad infinitum, this stuff would work itself out, slowly.

But as long as we keep demanding, taking, wanting, and fighting for everything that is ours, everything that is our right and what we think we deserve, we will never mean to be prude.

And that is a problem.

A Revolution in Gmail Starring Options

2012-01-04T09:42:00.000-05:00

Many of you may have, like me, just noticed Gmails new options for starring email -- even though it came out last Spring. They are called Superstars:

You might be thinking, "sweet, so many ways to keep track of important email!"

And you've already started to get organized. "Orange-star, work related. Red-star, duh, Aaron. Purple-star, parents. Blue-star, my besties!!! Green-star, Groupon reminders. Red-bang (ok, whatever, I mean, I had to hover over the icon to know it was a bang and not an exclamation point but no big) will be allocated for important email chains."

"Now, the orange arrows--" Okay, let me stop you there.

Those aren't arrows. See below:

Hello, it's an orange guillemet. How do you not know that word?

(dictionary.com)

You are clearly missing the logical progression from colored stars to difficult french words that Firefox's spell check doesn't even recognize:

Blue star... yaay! Green star... yay!

ORANGE GUILLEMET.

"Well, Charles de Calonne; if the rich do not agree to pay their fair share of taxes, they shall be beheaded. Oh yes, and please mark any incoming messages you receive from me regarding the Bastille raid with the clever little orange-guillemet Gmail has provided. Au Revoir."

I just think it is maybe a little presumptuous of our friends at Gmail to well, a) think Google Buzz would catch on, but more importantly b) think anyone had any idea what in the world an orange guillemet was.

Maybe it's just me, and, yeah, maybe I was an English major, but I operate in a world of arrows, carrots, pointy parenthesis.

Save the guillemets for Jeopardy.

Blog More

2012-01-03T22:00:00.000-05:00

I'm trying to blog more, or so they say.

But what do you do when there's nothing to say?

Do I still waste your time like this anyways?

Yes?

Sincerely,
Martin

Flatliner

2012-01-02T23:28:00.003-05:00

Today Kristen, Mike, Danielle, Joe, Becka and I went to the Buffalo Wing Factory. If you haven't been there before, it's because you avoid places where Pabst Blue Ribbon is a way of life. If you have been there before, you know about the Flatliner.

The Flatliner is a wing that will kick your butt. It's not flavorful. It's not good. It's just hot for the sake of hot, and then very spicy on top of that. It once caused someone I know to eat napkins.

However, I did not write this to tell you about someone who eats napkins. I wrote this to tell you about someone who eats Flatliners like Chuck Norris would eat Flatliners. No, scratch that. Like how Chuck Norris combined with Jack Bauer and Scarface would eat an alive chicken.

I wrote this to tell you that Joe ate one and managed it like a pro.

Sure, as the wing was initially consumed, he gave some verbal insights that heat and spice sensations were ratcheting up. And yeah, maybe his face turned pink for a few seconds.

But he just downed it. He drank some water, and just handled it. I've never seen someone eat one of those and act like a man so consistently from the initial point of consumption until the end of the meal. Oh, I've seen people get up from the table to leave; but it is usually with ranch dressing cascading from their mouth as they beeline for the bathroom stall.

Some of you might be thinking, oh, well if you really knew about the Flatliner you would know that the real Flatliner challenge involves paying a $10 entry fee and eating 10 wings to get a t-shirt and your name on the wall. And I would tell you that you can pay your mom a $10 entry fee and that Joe didn't need to eat 10.

You know why? Cause Corey from the wall of fame ate 38. There is just something wrong with that, and we don't have time to discuss those matters here. But he ate 38. Your name on the wall would just look so lame. It would look as lame as the name of the lead singer of Foster the People when added this list:

- Jimi Hendrix
- Ronald Reagan
- Clint Eastwood
-

By eating just 1 with such grace and composure, Joe proved to us that he could probably have eaten 10, gotten the t-shirt and his name on the wall anyways, gotten his $10 entry fee back, punched Corey in the face and left the restaurant a hero.

So here's to Joe, consumer of somewhere between 10 and 39 Flatliners and, in my mind, king of the chicken.

Sunday Drive

2012-01-01T12:02:00.000-05:00

Kristen and I live about 9 minutes away from church, door to door. On a normal day, maybe we would see... actually, nothing out of the ordinary. Just a couple cars, perhaps en route to various churches, or people attempting to get fresh produce from Giant (sorry, there is no trendy Trader Joes around here to reference).

But not today.

Today, we were still in our neighborhood and have not been driving for more than 2 minutes before we saw this on the side of the road:

Some crack investigation lead us to the conclusion that the vehicle was parked on the street, was slammed into from behind by probably a drunk or asleep driver early New Years morning, and was sent fishtailing counterclockwise 110 degrees into the lamppost.

I hope everyone was safely tucked into their beds when this occurred. I hope no kids were walking along the road when this happened. I hope no one was hurt.

Now, we haven't been driving for more than 4 more minutes, as we slow to a red light at the intersection of Potomac View Road and Route 7. Across the street, we see another vehicle with an obliterated back end, spun, again, counterclockwise into a pole. A black SUV sits facing us from across the road with a completely smashed front end, looking guilty and stupid. Glass and gasoline have sprayed across all 3 lanes and cops are working to get it cleaned up.

I hope everyone was wearing their seatbelt. I hope no one was walking in the crosswalk. Again, I hope no one was hurt.

As if we hadn't had enough reminders in the 6 minutes we had been driving of how absolutely brainless it is to drive drunk, or sleepy, even when you think you are cool enough or "pro" enough to handle it, there is still yet another situation unfolding.

As we approach Cascades Parkway on Route 7, we look over into the car to the left and the driver has his head tilted backward and is starting at the ceiling. For some reason he hasn't begun to drift into our lane, but we are just watching him, in shock, for at least 4 seconds. He stares at the ceiling, either in complete slumber, or some combination of being hungover and tired.

I lay on the horn for 3-4 seconds, just to make sure he gets what is going on. At first, it was for safety. But since he was jarred awake around the 2 second mark, there was certainly 1-2 seconds worth of horn abuse aimed directly at him. It was the least I could do.

His head rolled forward like a zombie. He looked at his passenger-side mirror and seemed to have some sort of recollection of a horn beeping, but turned his head forward again and kept driving. I'm almost positive he didn't even realize he fell asleep.

By the way, if you see "Golf 84" or "48" or whatever it was on the road, make sure to double check and make sure he isn't catching up on some sleep at 51mph.

2 wrecks, and 1 wreck-to-be on a 9 minute, 5 mile drive to church-- a drive that typically boasts, at worst, someone changing lanes without using a turn signal.

People need to get a clue. Thousands of people are killed each year from idiots who think they are fine to drive and are really tired and/or drunk. You are not the exception to the videos you saw in high school of the crazy drunk driving car wrecks... you know, the one of the guy who drove into oncoming traffic and decapitated an entire family.

It is you.

No one accidentally drives drunk. It's a decision, and a poor one. If you are going to put yourself in a situation where you are going to drop your guard and be prone to wretched decisions, have the maturity and the foresight to transfer your keys to a responsible person before you drink anything.

I'm amazed we haven't laid down stricter laws for drunk driving. I'm amazed that so many people get a couple hours of community service and a couple thousand dollar fine, and move on and do it again. For some people around here, it's pocket change and a minor inconvenience.

Loudoun County offers free cab service on New Years Eve, which is awesome; but the people calling for these cabs aren't the people who crashed the aforementioned vehicles. They are the people who are already mature enough to arrange a safe ride, even if a free cab service wasn't available.

We can set up as many checkpoints as we want (except we really can't since no one has any money these days). We can put as many PSAs on the radio with Sheriff John Bunnell from World's Scariest Police Chases telling us in an enthralling voice that a DUI equals hefty fines and oh no.... POINTS!

But couldn't we skip all this if getting caught while driving under the influence landed you a $50,000 fine and loss of your license for 5 years? Couldn't we skip all this if second offenses always came with a $100,000 fine, 2 year minimum jail sentence, and 10 years without your license?

Do you think we would have such a big problem if a DUI conviction immediately bankrupted you?

What do you think busy, wealthy Americans would do if both their time and their money were jeopardized? Would change at least come with the threat of socially and financially devastating punishments?

Who knows? Maybe the irony would no longer be lost and even the most selfish people would start to agree that driving drunk wasn't even in their best interest.

Maybe you're reading this and thinking I'm being over the top. But ask the family that lost their son, daughter, mom, cousin, or friend, to an accident that could have easily been avoided, and see if they think this sounds over the top.

I guess I was just disappointed to see such cliched and unfortunate situations on the road in such a short period of time on the morning of New Years Day.

What a bad way to bring in the new year.

What a embarrassing way to show the world what you're made of on the one day of the year in which the world wants to know what you're going to do with yourself this year.

Let's do better this year. Let's think of others and put them before ourselves. I know I have so much room to grow in this area. I'm still trying to get better at it.

I just encourage you not to live this year like you can control whether or not it is your last.

You really just... can't.

"Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” You do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”" -- James 4:13-15

The Next Phase

2011-12-27T18:41:00.000-05:00

I'm excited about 2012. Not just because I am interested to see the anticlimax of the Mayan Calendar predictions, but also because of things that are beginning to congeal on the creative front. More info to come. Until then, enjoy spending your gift cards from Christmas and have a reasonable time ringing in another big one.

-m-

Rebecca Black Strikes Back!

2011-07-29T10:24:00.000-04:00

Don't give up on her, world! Rebecca Black is back with a new song that proves to the world that, yeah, maybe the first song wasn't very great, but tons of money and some momentum will get you a song that is decently better... but still not great!

If you are looking for more 14 year old kids hanging out on Friday evenings and driving cars without seatbelts, or 35 year old men rapping about Rebecca Black, you are in the wrong place. This time you'll see a full cast of hair salon ladies, paparazzi, and a crew of dancers that are 4,000% more qualified to be dancing than Rebecca herself!

You may be confused as to what she is doing at 1:14; but have no fear, it is all over at 1:16. Also, do not be confused by the person strumming an electric guitar in the music video. Of course, we all know there is no electric guitar at any point on the recording; but everyone knows, it doesn't matter what genre you are, younger kids just don't know what is going on if it doesn't look like a 4-piece, classic-looking rock band isn't backing her up.

Watch out Miley Cyrus. Remember, Katie Perry chose Rebecca to be in her new video. Not you.

Blog Update

2011-07-28T12:08:00.002-04:00

It is updated.

Subway's Menu Is Just... Horrible

2011-04-29T11:44:00.000-04:00

As if there wasn't enough to complain about Subway (skimping on toppings, over-toasting your sandwich, giving you the nub, 5" end of a bad cut of a footlong loaf of bread, etc...), their menu layout is downright terrifying.

Sure, most people already know what they want to eat at Subway before they walk in the door. But if you're like me and always looking for a bargain, you actually do keep track of things like their sub-of-the-month, along with their infamous and ever-changing (even though they think no one is paying attention) $5 Footlong deals. Sort of like when dollar stores went from being stores where everything was a dollar to stores where everything was a multiple of one dollar.

This is what you see when you walk into most Subway restaurants -- absolute textual and informational anarchy:

What in the world is going on?! There is no start, end, flow, or logic to the menu whatsoever. It looks like sections were pasted together by Ms. Frizzle's elementary school kids on the floor of the bus as they traveled through Barry Bond's cardiovascular system.

Going in order from the text that is most visible to the text that is least visible we see:
- Pizza
- Premium Double Stacked Subs
- Piled High
- Choices
- New Prime Rib
- Extras

I feel like I'm looking at the word bank of a Subway word find.

Now, I'm no organizational guru, nor am I an interior decorator, nor a professional graphic designer, nor do I work at the Container Store; but when I think of how a Subway menu should be laid out, I don't think it should start with Pizza.

Call me crazy, but I think it should read:
- $5 Footlongs
- Other Subs
- Pizza
- Soups
- Sides
- Drinks

I know this new format might be confusing for those of you that were really into Choose Your Own Adventure books, but most of America reads left to right.

Subway, you are lame. Organize your menu.

-m-

New Best Buy Commercial

2011-03-10T15:37:00.002-05:00

Best Buy commercials are typically yawn fests that frustrate me beyond belief. I think they frustrate me most because I don't think Best Buy is ever the best buy. Their commercials are just vehicles used to schmooze technology-inept Americans into services they don't need (ahem... Geek Squad) and products that are most assuredly cheaper online (i.e. their entire stock).

I will confess: we bought our last TV from Best Buy. I'm not saying they don't have deals... occasionally. What I am saying is their ads are obnoxious because I can't stand the thought of millions of technology zombies continuing to be fooled into taking their computers to Geek Squad, even if just one more time, because they don't know how to transfer the files from their old computer to the one that they believe they just best bought.

What's that? No, of course this doesn't have anything to do with the fact that this store once detained me and had Fairfax County Police frisk me because they thought I had put a video game in my pants -- despite having purchased $600 in car stereo equipment only moments before and despite the fact that they didn't have a single camera showing me do it. (By the way, if there are any car stereo thieves reading this... you are too late... one time I parked my car in downtown Atlanta and, well, you know the rest!).

All frisking aside, whoever is making their current commercials is making me laugh. I saw this commercial on TV yesterday and I think it is hilarious:

You got the wrong TV, silly head.

The Sound Of Better Music

2010-12-01T09:18:00.020-05:00

Christmas is just around the corner, and with it, we all do what we can to find the Christmas music we like. But if we're being honest, much of it has become redundant. Do we really need to hear every single artist come out with another version of "Oh Holy Night?" How many actresses-turned-singers doing their wretched version of "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree" will it take before someone takes action?

Well, I'm here to help. Consider this a nudge in a different direction. It might not be perfect, but it's sure to sandblast the mall-grade Christmas music residue that's caked on everyone so far this season.

Key
youtube = listen for free
amazon = 9 times out of 10 cheaper than itunes
itunes = trendier/more likely to have a gift card

A Few Good Albums
The Family Force 5 Christmas Pageant (Family Force 5)
youtube amazon itunes

This album goes where you want it to go, especially if you're one who is particularly tired of the same Christmas music routine. A mix of rock, rap, and programming that will turn those ugly Christmas sweaters into trendy Christmas RVCA hoodies!

Let It Snow Baby... Let It Reindeer (Relient K)

youtube amazon itunes
See what a pop punk Christmas looks like as every lady's (at least vocal) heartthrob, Matt Theissen, and his boys in Relient K dish out the pop Christmas charm. It's cool cause if you don't love pop rock, there's still something on here for you. Just anything but Reba.

Happy Christmas Vol. 4 (Various Artists - including: The Almost, Anberlin, Mae)

youtube amazon itunes
Many of the artists at Tooth and Nail Records bring it home with a new take on some classics, and some originals as well! Who knows, Kenny Vasoli of The Starting Line/Person L might just show up to lend a hand.

Wish Upon A Star (Meaghan Smith)

youtube amazon itunes
If you liked the voice of Zooey Deschanel in the movie Elf, you'll probably appreciate Meaghan Smith. Ironically, Deschanel, who is widely known for her sweet singing voice in the movie, attempted to venture into the music industry, yet boasts no Christmas music outside of the movie. Meaghan, however, is sure to bring a new appreciation to the music your grandparents are still listening to. Just ignore the dumb hat she is wearing on the album cover.

A Few Good Jams
"I Won't Be Home For Christmas" (Blink 182)

"Last Christmas" (Jimmy Eat World)

"Do You Hear What I Hear" (Copeland)
"Carol of the Bells" (August Burns Red) ...and many, many more!

But before you go and blow all of that iTunes gift card, don't forget to download the best jam of all time: "Greatest Time of Year" by Aly and Aj!

A word to the wise: if you're looking for the worst Christmas song of the season, feel free to check out Katy Perry's "White Christmas"! You should especially tune in around 2:00.

Another great option would be to check out Aretha Franklin's rendition of "Angels We Have Heard On High." It is the perfect example of giving a famous artist too much credit outside of her time.

Hope this gets you started, and feel free to leave some other suggestions! You're welcome, America.

In Short: Deluxe Music

2010-11-24T09:53:00.000-05:00

I'm so done with artists that release an "album" and a "deluxe album." I understand that a lot of it is probably driven by their label; but it just sends off this nasty message of "hey, you could download the poor people songs -- or, if you really love us you can download the DELUXE ALBUM that has 3 extra songs and a video of all of our shenanigans in the studio that are only funny to us while we were recording that song of ours that you love!"

I don't want to have to determine how much I love an artist at the point of sale. Their music should dictate that, not the amount of content up for grabs.

In Us We Trust

2010-11-23T10:03:00.005-05:00

In a sermon at Reston Bible Church last Sunday, Mike Minter was talking about American currency and explained how ironic it was that "the very thing we should trust in the least has written on it the very Person we should trust in the most."

And yet we still ignore Him. We are trusting in ourselves and our money more and more, and trusting in God less and less. Soon, He will be a figment of this country's imagination, if He isn't already.

We attempt to run as far away from God as possible, but not so far that we can't still keep the hearty image of "the man upstairs" too far from our minds -- mainly for those times catastrophe strikes and we are humbled to the point where the frailty of life is apparent and we as humans are crying out for purpose and meaning (enter, God).

You might be familiar with Social Cycle Theory, or at least the phrase "history repeats itself." Funny how quickly hate, hurt, and death consume cultures like cancer in a fragile body when God is seen as the barrier to freedom instead of the answer.

Why do we even bother to print the words "In God We Trust" on our money? Why does our Pledge of Allegiance pledge to remain "under God?"

Surely our forefathers would have been smart enough to write "In Us We Trust" on our money, if that was the original intention. They would have elected for us to repeat the words "...one nation, motivated by the power of what we can do for ourselves...," if those were truly the principles upon which this country was founded.

But when disaster strikes, it breaks us, and we are lost, and in our desperation (which is coincidentally the point where we realize we are very, very small in this very large world) we pray, and start calling out to God on the news and in public forums.

And even those who question "how could God let this happen to us?" acknowledge God, even if they don't understand Him.

dc needs a cupcake reality show like bp needs another oil spill

2010-07-15T09:29:00.000-04:00

in order for you to even begin to understand where i'm coming from, i need you to watch the video on the TLC website for "dc cupcake". if you haven't heard of this, it's the new reality show that follows the daily goings ons of our very own georgetown cupcake:

http://tlc.discovery.com/tv/dc-cupcakes/

this video is the epitome of "hey lets script out as much information into an artificial conversation for camera as we possibly can so people are getting information AND enjoying this real, raw behind the scenes footage of the nasty trenches of boutique cupcake production in the slums of georgetown," if there ever was an epitome for such a thing.

i feel like in one 1:28 video, i know i've seen all there is to see, and acquired all original information regarding this cupcake business that there is to see and acquire, period. red velvet cupcakes are their thing, people work there, and as you know, people can be big meanies, and, what? it can get sorta busy from time to time? do we make a reality show for every business that is in a high density area and prone to high traffic?

if so, here are a list of new show ideas:
- "DC Hot Dog" (it's about hot dog vendors on street corners, since they have customers and it is sometimes busy)
- "DC Soccer" (it's about dc united, since they have fans that come to their games and it's sometimes crowded)
- "DC Homeless Guy (it's about a homeless guy, since he is on a crowded street)

i love the part at the beginning where they're all talking about numbers for the day. they're throwing around a LOT of of tradecraft terms, so i wanted to go over it and make sure we're on the same page.

cupcake: a small cake, the size of an individual portion, baked in a cup-shaped mold
dozen: it's just another term for a group of 12 something
chocolate, vanilla, red velvet: these are a few different flavors of cupcake made available for purchase in the store
running low: this is a term that many businesses, including cupcakeries use when supplies have been used up
popular flavor: this term is used to refer to the tastiest of all the cupcakes in the store

the video then cuts to the scene with the 2 owners and andres, the cupcake chef.

owner: "i'll let yasmine know to keep an eye. if we're ever running dangerously low, just tell her to let us kno--"
andres: "tell her to let me know... cause i definitely don't want her screaming at me when they're out of something"

woooooooah! taking leadership, andres! also, who does want someone screaming at them? is this really.... REALLY enough drama to create a tv show about?

i feel like the only thing i could possibly enjoy about this show is those stereotypical joys that anyone feels when they're watching a show in their hometown. "OH MY GOSH! did you see that? that was the corner of k and 11th... i've totally walked around that corner before. i can't believe that the owner of georgetown cupcake just walked there too! i wonder when they were filming."

moving on to later in the promo: "when are we getting red velvets?... we're out!"

whaaaaaaaaat! yasmine! that was your ONE job. did you not read the script... i mean, did you not completely and naturally do your job in front of the cameras? oh gosh. now, instead of doing the one job that you had, and probably would have done on any given day, and caused no drama... well... now that you didn't do your job there's all this drama. the last thing a reality show rookie like georgetown cupcake needs is drama.

i mean, yasmine, why didn't you speak louder? had you not even considered that there might be family members working in the same kitchen? cousins at that. your one mistake might even lead to tears in the kitchen. well, hopefully no one will get that upset--- oh wait, no, unpredictably that did happen.

HEEEEEEEEELLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLLP, georgetown cupcake is crumbling! i need my red velvet cupcakes! after all, its valentines day, and that's their "popular flavor".

ok. i'm going to go ahead and stop here. this is my frustration after only 1 minute and 28 seconds of footage from the show. please, please do not let me see more actual footage when it airs. my mind is blown in that what looks to be the crux of an episode is that someone didn't speak up in the kitchen and now they are out of one of their trims of cupcakes. this happens all the time in life. all the time:

"can i get that prius in red?"
"no sorry we only have it in grey with an obama sticker."

"can i get this house with a deck?"
"no the HOA says no decks."

"can i upgrade to first class?"
"no. just, no."

if you bear through to the second video, again, the only thing they mention is that, it's valentine's day weekend, they sell a lot of cupcakes, and that if people don't tell the kitchen when they're running out, they will be out.

(cue crickets)

we don't need a show about everything. can we please draw a line in the icing, somewhere?

sigh... again, craigslist

2010-07-02T12:11:00.000-04:00

listen, you dumbfaces who post things on craigslist. a few simple reminders:

1) stop posting $600 things for $40 in the title line. you are an idiot. this is not clever. this is a tactic you learned in your junior year of high school marketing class for dummies. this makes the buyer angry.
2) stop posting things for $300 that are only worth $50. just because you put clear tape over fabric that your cat absolutely obliterated with urine does not mean that your $600 Crate and Barrel couch is still worth $300 less than the price you paid for it. hopefully someone will pick it up for free.
3) if you are selling 3 things for $150, $75, $15... please annotate this in your headline, rather than simply listing the product as $15. reference the tone from bullet point 1 for additional information.
4) you are not "letting" anything "go" for $75 when you paid $150 for it 10 years ago. plus you include that it has some scratches and wear, and i appreciate your honesty, but this is still not a deal... not unless it's a Kia.
5) include a picture. have you seen what furniture looks like? do you know what's out there? "couch in great condition-- $150-- serious buyers only" [no picture]." huuuuge sigh. i mean, say i was an after school k-12 tutor and i put up this ad-- "english and science tutor. $55/hour. sorry don't have a scanner or else i'd have included the results of my 2007 public lewdness court case."
6) all caps will not make me buy it more. in fact it makes me think you are way too desperate to get rid of that velour sectional or that 1997 Ford Contour with ****LOW MILES**** (that, for being so amazingly low, are intriguingly not deemed necessary enough to be included in the ad). please write in sentence case, or all lower case, like the rest of america. you are allowed to format with basic html in the ads for a reason. get with the times. fidget with a computer for a bit. learn some other techniques. you know, 400 years ago, if John Smith wasn't adept to new things, who knows how awkward it would have been if he kept asking Pocahontas why she was allowed to eat cow.

thats all for now. i guarantee more will spring up. until then... everyone post immaculate ads with no imperfections so you don't get a bullet point written about you.

-m-

True Transparency: Part 2

2010-03-22T19:18:00.006-04:00

I'm in Charlotte right now, on business, and I thought I'd take this opportunity to note the stark difference between my food consumption on the Dallas trip, highlighted in the last post, and the Charlotte trip.

The first major difference is I'm not eating out on this trip. Already a plus. All the food necessary to provide the following menu for me for 4 full days was acquired for $33 at Food Lion.

-Breakfast-
OJ, Banana, Bowl of Quaker Oatmeal Squares w/ skim milk

-Lunch-
Propel, Smuckers pre-made PB & J sandwiches, Gushers, Apple

-Dinner-
Coke Zero, and either Digorno 200-cal pizza slices or Healthy Choice Chicken/veg/rice

-Snack-
Don't you know it's that cereal again with them there Oatmeal Squares (I typed this with the accent of Bruce from Family Guy in mind)

While this menu selection is a drastic improvement from the menu selections of previous work trips, I understand that it's a little easier to tackle a healthier menu for a four-and-a-half day trip than it is a 20-day trip. Still, I think the juxtaposition of what I ate on these two different trips is mildly, if not extremely entertaining.

-m-

True Transparency

2009-09-04T14:09:00.004-04:00

So as I've been cleaning and purging things from my room, I came across a pile of receipts I saved from my business trip to Dallas. I'm pretty sure I kept every single one. Because I'm that kind of person, I'm going to list, in no particular order, the places that all these receipts are from. This will give you a glimpse at how much you sorta punt on healthy and practical living when you are in a different city, living out of a temporary stay apartment or hotel. Let us never speak of this list again.

And here we go (thank goodness they are in no particular order):

Shell
McDonalds
Sonic
Jack in the Box
Flying Saucer
Panera
Walmart
Chipotle
Baja Fresh
Steak N Shake
Sonic
Sherlock's
Salvation Army
Exxon
Racetrack
Flying Saucer
Blue Mesa Grill
BJ's Restaurant and Brewery
Jamba Juice
Jack in the Box
Taco Bell
Chik-Fil-A
Jack in the Box
Flying Saucer
Big Easy Cajun (which was actually Chinese food... go figure)
Ojedas Restaurant
Taco Bell
Taco Bell
Dalls/Ft Worth Toll Booth
Whataburger
Potbelly
Centennial Quickshop
The Egg and I
Jake's Hamburger
Chaparrito's Tex Mex
Barne's and Noble
Starbucks
Walmart
Chaparrito's Tex Mex
El Fenix
Target
Chipotle
Target
Walmart
McDonald's
Walmart

Sorry mom. I didn't learn. All I know is that I'm suddenly craving a salad.

-m-

Mid-Week Cleaning

2009-09-02T10:17:00.004-04:00

I've been cleaning my room, slowly, over the past couple of mornings before work. When I start cleaning in one area, I start looking at all the other areas of my life with a critical eye. Like, for example, I think this blog needs a facelift. Maybe I'll get to that eventually.

Another thing I've been trying to do is get my computer organized. It sounds geeky, but if you think about it, it makes a lot of sense. We all clean our real rooms -- rooms with real shelves, real drawers, real desktops. Why not clean up our e-room, with e-folders, e-bins, and e-desktops? After all, everyone is raving about how everything is moving to the computer. It's only a matter of time before all your e-pictures, e-cd's, and e-papers get disorganized and dispersed amongst a network of bins, folders, and places, never to be found again.

It's a rather overwhelming endeavor, especially if you're a writer. I can't even count the number of documents I have (most of which are starts to other things that I never finished). Sure, I could "right" click (a courtesy reference for you PC users, even though people with real computers hold control and click for sub-menus) and have the computer tally the amount of word documents I have in my documents folder; but that assumes I have them all in one place, which is the overarching problem I speak of.

Maybe one day I'll get to it all. For now I'll try to navigate the madness by memory of where and when I created and stored things. Right now, about all I can swing is unstarring all my old Gmail starred emails in this meager attempt to create some semblance of order in one area of my e-life.

I will leave you with my favorite starred email I have found so far, from Kayla Gray on April 1st, 2007:

"VPC is looking to do a party at the church to celebrate college students home and end of the youth school year on SUNDAY, JUNE 17th. We are thinking food, inflatables, music and more! I don't know if you have heard of Leeland - but they are playing and you guys could possibly open or something."

That would have been pretty cool huh? Well, it never happened, sadly. But the least I could have done was unstarred it. Get organized, young man!

-m-

i am still alive

2009-08-31T23:46:00.002-04:00

just haven't been writing.

maybe some soon?

don't forsake me, readers.

-m-

it's been a while: let's catch you up to speed!

2009-06-17T16:35:00.005-04:00

i know i've been horrible about updating this blog. sorry. honestly, part of the reason is i've been so busy, and part of it is my ibook might be saying goodbye. it takes an eternity for a photo to load, much less clip together a quick video; then this morning, it crashed, and macs don't crash.. so.. we'll see. since it sorta died, you don't get any pictures until i get home. sorry.

this past week.5, in roughly chronological order:

- watched marley and me... it was good

- got up from tv, opened blinds, ominous clouds

- turned on channel 4, tornado bearing clouds closing in on my exact location

- evacuate my top level apartment and head down to lower level coworker apartment

- watch news, hear hail, rain blowing sideways

- storm passes through with 80mph winds and over 1,200 recorded cloud-to-ground lightning strikes in 5 minutes

- no tornado, but concentrated winds and/or microburst tear roof off nearby apt.

- glad it wasn't my roof

- sleep

- wake up to severe thunderstorms

- drive to work in torrential downpours that were really best described as sporadically flowing faucets

- rains straight for 6 hours

- police reported over 50 water rescues from vehicles due to flash flooding

- got sweet pics of lake overtaking northwest highway

- my car smelled like electricity when all was said in done from all the puddles and standing water i drove through

- worked, slept, worked, slept, had good hamburger at jake's, slept, worked, etc...

- got a pontiac g6 to replace the malibu once i finally got around to going back to the airport enterprise

- multitasked and waited to return at the airport until kristen came into town last friday night

- picked up kristen, and there was much rejoicing

- drove her to denton where she was staying, went to whataburger, visited the folks she used to stay with when interning out here

- went home, woke up, worked, met kristen at the galleria mall where we hung out with some of her friends and it was high school all over again (though that's not really what high school looked like to me, it just seemed like the appropriate thing to say)

- went to jamba juice for the first time, which was conveniently located in the part of the mall where the sun fires through the skylight windows like napalm on a straw village

- had a great dinner at this place that serves vanilla bean ice cream atop a half baked chocolate chip cookie for desert and where the waitresses suggest that their food is not worth taking home (inside joke filler inner: i asked for a to go box and it was a small portion so i asked for a small box. she said they didn't have any so i made a comment like, oh, well maybe it's not worth taking home and then she was like, yeah, it's not, but not in the way that sounded like she agreed the portion was too small to bother, but more like in the way where she thought that the food wasn't worth the hassle)

- went swimming in the pool here at the apartment, slept, woke up

- met kristen for church at Denton Bible Church (where she used to go when she lived here)

- message was tiiight

- had to go to work, but was able to meet up with kristen afterwards for a bit

- went out to dinner at the blue mesa with k and some of my coworkers, including bff and mbc drumming legend greg lopez. it was delicious

- went to bed, woke up, went to work, picked up kristen and sadly took her to her terminal, but not after delicious food consumed at chick-fil-a

- parted ways with the girl

- exchanged cliched, but very meaningful to us text messages about how it had only been a few minutes but we already missed each other so much

- went out to a new place called the flying saucer that night and tried a new beer

- worked, slept, worked, slept, worked (as you can see the days aren't nearly as meaningful without mexican food, tornadoes, or kristen (in no particular order))

- went back to the flying saucer and tried a different beer (fat tire... only found out west!)

- saw the hangover last night and despite a couple choice parts, it as actually really funny

- slept and baaaaaaaam. sigh. here we are

this isn't to say that a bunch of other stuff didn't happen; but because my original post that was more informative and written in traditional paragraph format got erased when my ibook ended its life, i got lazy and didn't want to rewrite the whole thing, nor could i have done it even if i had wanted to. so, until next time!

-m-

why i hate the chevy malibu

2009-06-09T14:02:00.008-04:00

ok so two nights ago i was backing into a spot that was right on the edge of a row of garages that tenants here at our complex are able rent with their apartments. i was backing around a corner and i crunched the back left bumper of my malibu into a pole. the pole was literally positioned half a foot into my parking spot. to add to the madness, it was painted the exact same color as the wall behind it. needless to say it wasn't like i was like, "hey, there's a pole... perhaps i'll keep backing up."

this leads me to why i hate the chevy malibu (and, for the record, i began hating my car immediately following my first post, and had begun hating many aspects of it even before i backed it into a pole):

reason 1: the car is literally 16 feet long 6 feet wide. you can see for yourself at edmunds.com. its nearly the size a police car.
reason 2: the car is that big and it's only got a 4-cylinder engine. it might even be slower than that prius i was originally so worried about. see, that's crazy to me. i would floor the accelerator at a stoplight and it would perform like a minivan carrying 5 adults, a cooler full of drinks, and a red canoe.
reason 3: for as slow and 4-cylidery as it was, it got the gas mileage of a Corvette in the middle of a drag race. the malibu has the same fuel capacity as any standard, mid-size sedan, yet, its tank is half empty in 100 miles.
reason 4: no sooner had i just got done talking about how i liked the newer, sleeker design of this model Malibu had Kristen already referred to it as a Barbie car by name. sigh.
reason 5: it's American -- and don't get me wrong; i'm not hating on American cars for the sake of hating on american cars. it's just that American cars are like PC's. we make them in mass quantity with little accountability or attention paid to their style and functionality. most businesses use them, perpetuating a fake sense of worth, due to the size of the organizations that are blindly consuming them.

ok. so maybe there were a couple good things about it. it did have a sleeker looking interior than most other American cars; and even though it was dubbed a Barbie car, i still think it looked kinda good. however, the cons win. where can i trade this sucka in?!

dallas!

2009-06-08T18:57:00.007-04:00

i'm in dallas, texas and it is hot. i mean, this is to be expected, but i guess i just didn't really understand it until i was on my bed near my window with the ac blasting and could still feel the heat leaking through the closed window in that same way the arctic chill seeps into your bedroom in the winter.

my favorite sight seen thus far (and i'm guessing this might not be as rare around here as one might think) was the lifted, silver toyota tundra iForce v8 pickup truck with the "DON'T F*** WITH TEXAS" license plate frame and the "Vote NObama" bumper sticker proudly plastered to the back tailgate. well pal, you're too little too late with the bumper sticker, but good try. i'll be sure not to f*** with your state. or you for that matter.

my rental car is a 2009 chevy malibu. had it been a 2001 malibu, i'd almost have opted for the red volkswagon beetle, that was also available to me. but its the newer one with the redesigned look, and overall it's pretty nice. not as fast as i'd have hoped - what with the redesign and all; and i got it in a delicious, creamy, beach-lifeguard's-nose, sun repelling white, but it's alright. besides this and the beetle, i could have taken a prius. looking back, saving some money on gas would have been nice; but as soon as i ran through just one hypothetical me-attempting-to-avoid-an-accident-by-accelerating-quickly-out-of-danger scene in my head, i decided to stick with the extra couple possible pounds of torque that the good ole 'merican "muscle" might bring me.

the place we're staying is pretty snazzy. it's a temporary living apartment/condo for people like us in town on business for anywhere from a few weeks up to a year. in some ways it beats a hotel, especially considering we have a full kitchen. though it falls short of a hotel stay in the fact that we don't have hundreds of eager post-high school and college hotel management majors zipping around, tending to every care and desire we might have in order to be promoted out of the graveyard shift at the front desk. you also don't get free continental breakfast, which is tragic if you dwell on the fact that the make-your-own-waffle waffle maker is showing its face more and more on the continental breakfast scene. though this is nothing that a few boxes of cereal and some pop tarts can't fix.

what else? oh yeah. lunch was amazing. went to some place down the street. pretty authentic mexican food. they offered us real mexican coke, made with sugar cane. it so beats our coke, by a longshot. and nothing beats the ice cold glass bottle it came in.

when my check came, i noticed a 10 character long number underneath my total. everything was handwritten, so at first i barely noticed it. thinking again, i figured i should find out what the area code was around here since it was so quickly starting to smell like a phone number. sure enough, later that afternoon, i discovered that the first three digits of the mystery 10 digit script at the bottom of my bill match the local area code. flattering as it may be, i'm definitely already spoken for. oh yeah... and also not overcoming any eligibility restrictions by being being significantly over the age of 16.

anyways, it's been an interesting first 24 hours here in texas. more tomorrow!

-m-

New Bookmark Toolbar Concept for Firefox

2009-05-24T18:10:00.007-04:00

I really like my bookmarks toolbar. It just seems so much easier to me than keeping the list open on the left to navigate through my bookmarks. Even though I have a 24" iMac display, I still have so many bookmarks that they string across the entire screen and even still require a drop down menu on the far right. So I decided to get rid of all the text and just rely on the icons. I highly recommend it. With some themes the icons will not display, so just make sure you're operating in a theme that includes the icons in the bookmarks toolbar. Check it out:

Yay tips!

Attention Mancationers!

2009-04-29T14:11:00.002-04:00

I thought I had lost it or broken it, but today I found the once deemed "lost" footage of the day-long fiasco of us towing my old Jeep off of the Outer Banks. I'm importing it to my computer as we speak. More to come on that later!

R.I.P.

Evite Breakthrough

2009-04-29T11:15:00.009-04:00

So, this is one of the funnier things I've seen on Evite in a while. Troy created an invitation and made the custom header for the 'maybe' responses just read 'no.' Haha. I'm not calling out anyone in particular, or saying this is what these people are doing here. It's just, pretty much everyone at some point has said they might go to something, just because it sounds nicer or keeps you further under the radar, and this just automatically files those responses under a more probable category! Anyways, it made me laugh out loud.

DISCLAIMER: The names and event-suggesting terms have been blurred so that people aren't able to guilt any of the guest list into any sort of +1 scenarios regarding an event that they have not heard and/or know nothing about. Clearly, I have been invited, and Troy invited me. You got it!

New Paper Shredder

2009-04-15T10:59:00.008-04:00

Cost of gas to drive to Craigslist seller's apartment to buy paper shredder: $1.13

Potential net loss when you realize he sold you a malfunctioning paper shredder: $9.00

The look on his face when you send him an email telling him, "Thanks!" and that "Everything works great!" because you unscrewed the whole mechanism and etched out the densely jammed paper between the 2 blades when he sold it because he probably thought it was beyond repair and wanted to pass the problem off on someone else: Priceless

There are some things money won't buy (like $50-$100 paper shredders). For everything else, there's sticking-it-to-the-Craigslist-guy-that-thought-they-were-ripping-you-off-but-then-you-fixed-the-problem-and-won-in-the-end-Card.

College Poetry

2009-04-13T02:45:00.005-04:00

The Tragedy of a Diligent Fellow
by Martin Hansen

There was a time when solicitors
Vehemently sought beautiful Adele
Creeps with sports cars, and bikers with stitched scars
Returning her, early morning with hickeys and bed hair

They, like many, have stood beneath
This simple one ounce frame
Brown suits with boxes, black suits' corsages
Pizza, Chinese, Mormons, and witches

Here I am now, detached from the wall
In a trash bag at the end of the hall
It's not my work ethic, or integrity questioned
Just a shadowy collision between me and Adele.

new project launched!

2009-04-01T04:02:00.008-04:00

hey everyone. just wanted to let you know that i just launched my personal project too famous for me. you can check it out here, or by visiting http://www.myspace.com/toofamousforme. you don't have to have myspace to listen, but if you do, i really hope you'll add me!

the music is mainly just acoustic stuff i've written in the past year or two. anything posted is just a demo from my demo release "first songs". i hope to go into the studio by the summer and put out an EP, but we'll see. i'm just having fun putting out these little diddies in the comfort of my own bedroom, as i see fit.

broken
the most recent song called broken i wrote a few nights ago, as i was reflecting on marriage in particular, and the difficulty i can imagine it being. though the topic seems forlorn, the song goes on to address the hope we can find in God and the amazing ability he has to heal and restore even when we are at our lowest.

check it out, and let me know what you guys think!

i love these old middle school poems i keep finding

2009-03-31T14:47:00.005-04:00

Bleached Grass
by a younger, wiser Martin Hansen

I stumble out of bed,
To go take a shower,

When I look outside,
The grass is bleached with powder,

School must be out!
They guarantee the roads are plowed,

So I go back to bed,
For it was a Saturday.

Quick Thought: Halpert's Highlights

2009-03-05T10:54:00.006-05:00

I just realized something that subconsciously drives me bananas. In the theme song from The Office, it annoys me that Jim uses a highlighter to circle. Highlighters were created to highlight text. Markers were created to circle.

Why Lent?

2009-02-27T18:03:00.002-05:00

Why are you giving something up for lent? Are you? What's lent?

Well, let's start there. For those that don't know, lent is a period of fasting, typically between Ash Wednesday and Easter. People give up something (traditionally, daily meals, with a meal after dark) to remind themselves of how Jesus withstood Satan's temptations (Yes! Even Jesus was tempted). Luke 4 gives an account for the 40 days leading up to Jesus' ministry where Satan tried to lure Christ to do unnecessary things. The Church observes this crucial event leading up to Jesus' ministry by fasting between Ash Wednesday and Easter.

During this time, though, I've found that it almost seems trendy to give something up, like New Years resolutions – take 2. I feel like it's on the brink of being a new piece of religious pop culture, like wearing a cross or sporting a Kabala bracelet. However, I hope it would be more than that to you this season.

It's important to ask why we're giving something up for Lent, if we are. If you skip this step, all you're really doing is making another New Years resolution, only this time with extra accountability from the Man upstairs.

I know for me, I gave up eating out and soda because they are things that I just do all year long, without even having to really think about it. Taking the time to prepare a meal, rather than simply grabbing Wendy's or a burrito at Chiptole (will be sorely missed!), is just what I need to be reminded daily of all the reasons behind this season.

Another thing I'm going to be doing is promising a new behavior to God. I guess it's a variation on taking up exercise, or some other form of self-improvement, as is sometimes a ritual during this time. In my case, I've committed to daily time in the Word. Not necessarily rocket-science. It's more of a mini self-revival than it is putting brand-new behavior into practice; and I think this is equally as cool as giving something up. After all, Christ was choosing a positive behavior against Satan as much as He was disregarding negative behavior.

In the same way Christ's actions in the desert were significant, I believe our actions during Lent are significant. Christ's actions were to honor and obey His Father; ours are to honor and obey Christ, our Savior, who set the perfect example of resisting temptation. 1 Corinthians 10:13 says, "No temptation has seized you except what is common to man [basically, we think our vices have taken control of us, but it's only because we often have a pretty hopeless outlook]. And God is faithful; he will not let you be tempted beyond what you can bear. But when you are tempted, he will also provide a way out so that you can stand up under it."

So yes, you can give up TV, or eating out, or whatever. It's not going to be the thing that you necessarily want to give up; it's probably more along the lines of something that will be most difficult to give up. Whether you're reading this on February 7th, or two days before Easter, it's never too late to give up your temptations to Christ. He hopes that we will trust Him with our difficulties all year round, not just during Lent.

There's nothing saying you have to necessarily give up anything. Actually, I wouldn't if your heart's not going to be in it. It's between you, and hopefully God. Just make sure you understand why Lent is celebrated the way it is. I think it will make for a more meaningful experience, rather than simply a second chance New Years resolution.

Not a sermon, just a blog.

Awesome

2009-02-17T16:54:00.004-05:00

I love Hillsong United. They write great music. Check them out here.

Fall Out Boy Meets Maroon 5?

2009-02-10T10:58:00.004-05:00

So there's a pretty good new band out called The Cab. The jury's still out on whether they'll land in my rotation. They've got a really clean, polished, jazzy sound that reminds me a lot of Maroon 5, yet with very Fall Out Boy-ish guitar and vocal parts (one captive listener, whom I forced this album upon, even threw out the name Rob Thomas during the "hey this band sounds like" game). A lot of this is probably influenced by what I later learned: the album is produced by the guys from Fall Out Boy.

As you begin listening to the album, you'll become suspicious that maybe the singer from The Cab isn't the only one singing on the first track. You will swear it sounds like Patrick from Fall Out Boy and the lead singer of Panic! At the Disco. You will be right.

As you listen on, you'll notice there are some very vibrant musical concepts. The album is, in fact, extremely well-produced.

Sadly, as the album spins on, you'll start to notice that the album doesn't maintain the uniquest of pop-rock musical genius you had originally fallen for. By the time you get towards the last part of the album, you get this vibe that they're trying less and less, and beginning to regurgitate their sound. Maybe I just need to listen to it a few more times through; after all, albums do tend to grow on me over time. But nothing really grabbed me past track 5 or 6.

That said, I think it's still worth your time. I tend to be picky and assumptive sometimes. I do feel that if you like Fall Out Boy or Maroon 5, you might actually dig these guys.

I found the album at Target for $9.99, but you might want to give it a listen on iTunes, or just get the album there.

Holiday Hipsters are back! But do you know how we started?

2009-02-09T15:16:00.007-05:00

Most of you already know about the Holiday Hipsters, but for those who don't, me and a few friends started up this project a couple years ago when I had a spooky sounding guitar riff that I wanted to turn into the "first" ever Halloween song. Matt Walkley had recently moved to the area, and when I heard his uncanny ability to replicate the sound of those freaky little vibrating which dolls, I was intrigued and obliged to befriend him. If you don't know what I'm talking about, just listen to the background of the chorus on the Halloween song on our Myspace page and you will get it. Matt is actually making that sound.

Ben Powell was chillin with us when we began the brainstorming process. I can't remember if Burgos was with us right when we came up with the idea, or met up with us when we got to Ben's house, but it was obvious to us, just based on who Burgos is, that he needed to be a part of this. So we left our friend Shannon's house at like 5pm and went straight back to the studio at Ben's house and wrote and recorded the entire First Halloween Song in 6 hours. When it came time to decide on a name, Burgos just said... "How bout Holiday Hipsters?" And the rest is history.

Now, we've just released our 5th song. In a couple months our songs will be available on iTunes. But, for now, check out the music video for our brand new song, Cupid's Lament, along with some of the promo videos Burgos and I made. Don't forget to become our fan on Facebook!

(click the arrow in the bottom right corner and click HQ to watch in Hi Def)

Promos

found this interesting...

2009-01-31T00:03:00.000-05:00

Major films edited with Final Cut Pro

The Rules of Attraction (2002)
Full Frontal (2002)
The Ring (2002)
Cold Mountain (2003) (Academy Award nominee for Best Editing – Walter Murch)
Intolerable Cruelty (2003)
Open Water (film) (2003)
Napoleon Dynamite (2004)
The Ladykillers (2004)
Sky Captain and the World of Tomorrow (2004)
Super Size Me (2004)
Corpse Bride (2005)
Dreamer: Inspired by a True Story (2005)
Happy Endings (2005)
Ellie Parker (2005)
Jarhead (2005)
Little Manhattan (2005)
Me and You and Everyone We Know (2005)
The Ring Two (2005)
Black Snake Moan (2006)
Letters from Iwo Jima (2006)
Happy Feet (2006)
Zodiac (2007)
The Simpsons Movie (2007)
No Country for Old Men (2007) (Academy Award nominee for Best Editing – Roderick Jaynes)
Reign Over Me (2007)
Youth Without Youth (2007)
Balls of Fury (2007)
Burn After Reading (2008)
The X-Files: I Want to Believe (2008)
The Curious Case of Benjamin Button (2008)
Where the Wild Things Are (2009)

(from wikipedia)

Slow Down

2009-01-12T16:04:00.018-05:00

"We have the idea that God is going to do some exceptional thing— that He is preparing and equipping us for some extraordinary work in the future. But as we grow in His grace we find that God is glorifying Himself here and now, at this very moment. If we have God’s assurance behind us, the most amazing strength becomes ours, and we learn to sing, glorifying Him even in the ordinary days and ways of life."
--Oswald Chambers

So we think that God is going to use us to be Joan of Arcs or Billy Grahams or Bonos and is taking His time to build us up into this powerful megatool that will land somewhere on the outskirts, if not directly in the limelight.

But as we grow and understand God more, and listen in and closer to what He is saying and how He is shaping us through His Word, we begin to realize that while we're are sitting around waiting for a record contract so we can send our songs of hope to hundreds of thousands across America, or waiting for the $100,000 to go to Africa and save orphans, or waiting to build the newest wing to expand our small church property, we might be missing out on the ways God is, and, or wants to use us in the present.

All we really need is to focus on God. If we focus entirely on the end product, or whatever culmination of life goodness we hope to amount to, we miss out on the journey, and all the places God wants to use us along the way.

Jack Johnson wrote a song called Inaudible Melodies. Give it a listen:

I like the part of it that says:

But in the long run we have found
Silent films are full of sound
Inaudibly free
Slow down everyone
You're moving too fast
Frames can't catch you when
You're moving like that

When I think about my life and how busy I can be at times, it is interesting to consider the concept that maybe I'm moving so fast that I fail to hear the sounds of something I have written off as never making sound at all. I focus on forming a band, or trying to get signed, and just trying to and trying to and trying to, that I miss out on the sounds that are audible only to those who care to listen. I started asking myself, "so do you just not care to listen?"

I don't think I want to be that guy -- the guy who blasts through life, always wanting the next thing, never really living, never really thriving, never getting caught on the film that captures the actions of those making a difference for God's people. I need to remember to slow down and ask God how I can sing glory to Him, right now.

As we run down our well-intentioned paths to whatever it is we are fixated on, we have to remember to soak up the intricacies and truths that are there to be absorbed. We have to remember to show God's love and share His promises to the disheartened. We have to embrace the ways in which God is using all of us, in this very moment.

Slow down.

"Everyone should be quick to listen, slow to speak..."
James 1:19

(thanks Kristen for the good find in My Utmost For His Highest)

resolutions smesolutions (free verse)

2009-01-02T00:32:00.003-05:00

my room is a mess
letters unopened
guitar hung up
desk disarrayed
bills exploding
enigmas unfolding
family drama
friends friending
rhymes frustrating
take the day off

new years it is
another one here
promises to keep
another one filled with fear
we give the world the authority
to motivate us morally
so why not change for the good
as a gift for God
and for the betterment of society.

my verses get longer with persistence of the drama
the world is a big place and even bigger if you can't step up
just setup and fed up are those that can't push up
passion in life just quenched by that drive
that reverse drive that says we'll knock one back while our eyes
looking forward think that one day they're matching strides
with a step that has set it's pace towards the prize
through a mind that has let the hope capsize
we're not pressing towards the goal
Paul knows the words
he's got this verse that we like or we don't
but we're still just joining gyms
and singing hymns
and becoming better people
only to people under the steeple
or in the starbucks line
because it's only those times that make us feel fine.

possibly a product of a just a cyclical culture
oh next year i'll do that thing i've been thinking to do
i'll wait for the day when changing is easier
i'll wait for the time when doing the hard thing is easier
i'll wait for the day when someone other than me
can force me to do the things i need to be me
force me to do the things that make me
the person i should be
but til then i'll just wait
wait for the bait
the culture says wait
slow it back down
don't strain yourself
you've had a long day.

well my room's still a mess
i've still got letters unopened
and though my rhymes are a mess
i think it's time to open my letters
one thing at a time
one day at a time
baby steps
where's my list?
I need to resolve my new years.

I can see clearly now...

2008-12-19T00:59:00.010-05:00

So i finally got contacts! Wednesday afternoon I went to Costco and got an eye exam. I haven't had one in over 5 years. I still had the same anxiety that I remember from the first one I took. You know what I'm talking about... that worry that you might not get the best possible prescription possible due to some sort of user error on your part... that feeling that you need to ace a test and the odds aren't in your favor. It's just hard, because you want the best possible eyesight, obviously; but in the end, the ball is in your court, and your court only. Not like there's an optometrist around to help anybody.

"Which is better? This one? Or this one?" she says to me, in a stern, concerned, optometresque tone.

"Well, the second one is brighter than the first, but i don't know if it's sharper," I reply. She says nothing. She moves on.

"How bout this one? Is this better, or this one?"

"Well, the second one seems bolder than the first, but I still can't say it's sharper," still touting that analytical, poetical perspective, courtesy of George Mason University's English department -- namely, Professor Jennifer Atkinson.

This whole process was driving me crazy. I felt like if I failed this, then I would most certainly crash my car into a blurry landscape of deciduous pine trees along Hunter Mill Road on some foggy February night. I felt like I was in a Choose Your Own Adventure book, and most certainly choosing the wrong adventure.... you know... the one that seems fine, but you aren't sure how it stacks up against the other adventures, and in the end, it turns out you get cornered in an alley by 2 unsavory gentlemen that are short on cash, and you much wish you had instead decided to take the fan-powered swamp boat with the Canadian botanist.

The exam ended, and she introduced me to my first pair of contacts ever. Up until this point, I hadn't addressed the reality that at some point during this exam I would have to do something to my eyes that I had never done before: force a foreign object onto the face of my pupils and not blink, at all. Just as difficult to say as it is to do. She put the first one in my right eye for me. I thought it took her a while, though it only took her maybe a minute. Man was I in for a surprise.

She sat me down in front of a mirror and let me go at it for a while. No matter what I did, my eye would keep closing. I mean I would literally pin my upper eyelid to my eyebrow, but as the contact neared my eyeball my eyelid would thrust my finger aside and clamp down on the helpless contact lense like a Venus Flytrap. This lasted at least about 20 minutes until I finally got it in, feeling very watery, blurry, itchy, and sore at this point.

Per the request of the optometrist, I was instructed to now remove the successfully installed contact lense from my right eye, and put it back in. I sadly agreed, as it did make sense; it just made for a difficult afternoon.

Though quicker than the left eye, it must have taken me 20 more minutes to remove the contact from my right eye, and put it back in. By the time I had finished, it looked like someone had rubbed the contents of a vacuum bag into my eyes.

It's been a few days now. This whole time I've been trying to figure out if my eyesite is better or not. It's hard to tell cause I feel like my eyes are still adjusting to these little built-in glasses. The jury's still out on whether or not my prescription actually got better. There's so much new stuff going on in my eyeballs that I can't keep it all straight.

The Pro's are: Once in, contacts are easy; I don't have to remember to bring my glasses everywhere I go; I don't look nerdy; and I can wear sunglasses and see clearly... what a concept!

Con's include: That entire time leading up to "Once in..." Though, I am happy to say I'm getting much faster at it. Also, I've been persistent in trying to determine whether my prescription is better now than the one I had for my glasses. Contacts make it hard to go back and forth quickly. But hopefully I'll get over that whole fear that I "chose the wrong adventure" sooner than later and move on with my life. Is it still too late to take the fan-powered swamp boat? Oh man, what page was that on?

no-da

2008-12-09T12:49:00.007-05:00

there are many slogans you could come up with to support your decision to stop drinking soda. like "no-da," which correlates nicely with "no-duh," but is actually rather stupid, as not drinking soda doesn't really warrant a "no-duh," since some people can completely enjoy soda responsibly, without someone having to accuse them of partaking in the consumption of a beverage that is, to them, a no-brainer to avoid.

regardless, if you haven't quite figured it out just yet (said like matt from relient k in this week the trend at 2:22), i'm currently experiencing caffeine withdrawl. i don't drink coffee, and the thought of waking up and eating a hershey's chocolate bar to get my morning caffeine is uninspiring.

in the past, i have been known to wake up and crack open a mountain dew or coke. this unhealthy consumption of carbonation may or may not have been a contributing factor to my soda fast. but more than that, i just realized it was that time to save a little money, get a little healthier, and stop relying so much on that sweet, carbonated goodness to compliment my meals.

i've done it before, and am most often successful. my relationship with soda is one of love and hate, but really just love. i drink it all the time, when i want to; but when i decide to stop drinking it, i just do.

don't get me wrong - there are still instances where i'm enjoying a cheeseburger or football game and would love nothing more than to pour a tall, cold coca cola classic for myself and close friends. but on the whole, i can put it on the shelf, and call enough enough.

what will i do with my time? well there are many things i have thought to do in light of this developing soda vacuum. i will drink more water for one. scholars maintain that water is good for you, and that the original translation was lost hundreds of years ago. regardless, i flat out love the stuff. you can't keep me away from it!

in addition to drinking more water, i think i'll be playing more guitar, working out, writing a book, and starting a corporation.

yeah, it's happening. maybe you should stop drinking soda too?

theraputic day in gmail

2008-12-05T17:11:00.003-05:00

today i organized my gmail contacts; and during this refreshing process, i also took away everyone's right to format their display name!

i'm aware this is a very rights-stripping, barack obamaesque approach to email. i'm aware that i will soon be criticized over my plans for universal virus protection, and my plans to scale back all the resources we currently have fighting spam oversees, by 2011. but the bottom line was, i got tired of my gchat list looking something like this:

Jake Fielder
marcus watson
rtmichaelson
T Johnson
your mom is stupid

left to their own devices, gmail users will format their display name ridiculously, in any way they like: first and last name, first name only, last name only, first initial only, first initial - last name, email address only - you name it. it was time to simplify. time to not always have to wonder who kathy234234 actually was.

in some ways it was sad to have to move this operation in-house. when outsourced to all my lovely friends, it certainly was an adventure. it was a gateway into everyone's mind, and a window, if you will, into the creativity of those in my contacts list. but, in the end, seeing your creativity was not worth visual stress caused by the formatting inconsistencies.

call it OCD. call it big government. call it crazy. but you're done, and i'm in charge now!

catch-22 at starbucks

2008-11-07T09:28:00.002-05:00

i'm sitting in a parking lot in falls church outside of starbucks and i look in my rearview mirror. i see a lady walking towards me, and i think i understand exactly what is about to go down.

she greets me, with a card in her right hand and her daughter's hand in her left, then hands me the card. the card reads something along the lines of "i have two daughters and no money. please, anything you can give. God bless." i hand her two dollars, she moves on.

i am still sitting in my car, and moments later i witness the same lady approach a woman filling her trunk to the brim with groceries. this woman's trunk was already full, with a half cart to go, as the woman approached.

the grocery lady appeared startled by the inquiry of the poor lady. perhaps it was just an unexpected visit from someone of an unexpected social class at an unexpected location. i couldn't hear any words, but i could see their eyes, and i could see the poor woman's fall away from the grocery lady's as grocery lady denied her help. the poor lady moved on. the grocery lady continued to load her things.

i didn't know how to feel as i watched the grocery lady struggle to find room in that big ole trunk of hers for all her things, as the poor woman walked away. it was easy to judge her. why didn't she pass on a buck, or give her a bag of her groceries? but i knew it would be too easy to buy into that feeling, so i made a conscious effort not to go there. what else was at work here?

maybe the grocery lady had just gotten paid and was buying groceries just so her family could get by for the next two weeks and didn't have anything to spare. maybe there wasn't any real reason she didn't give the poor lady any help. maybe the grocery lady is a jerk. maybe she thinks that the poor bring situations like this on themselves. regardless, it wasn't my place to judge.

so was i right for giving the poor lady money? some would say no - that throwing money around doesn't solve a problem. some would say yes - treat those like Christ would, or, more universally, treat others as you would like to be treated. i tend to treat these situations on a case to case basis. sometimes you can't understand the true weight of a person's situation, circumstances, intentions, whatever, until you speak with them. sometimes you get a good vibe from people. sometimes you get a bad vibe from people.

truth is, i don't know if she was really walking into giant to buy her daughter some food, or if she would later be walking into a salon for a manicure, and had found this to be easier than getting a job. however, i think in the moment, i determined that either way it must really stink to live life like that. to wake up everyday and drag your daughter along to get money from people. whether you need food, or you are too lazy to get a real job and are depending on your daughter to affect people's hearts, at least i know this money will get to that little girl in some way. you're either going to feed her cause she's hungry, or feed her cause you need her to get you things.

situations like this one are admittedly easier to rationalize. the daughter is a cheapshot, but a reality nonetheless. it's a bit harder when there isn't a kid involved, and it's just a random dude that smells like alcohol and is asking you for some money to buy a "sandwich."

God calls us to serve, love, and give. He also calls us to be good stewards of our money. at times it feels like an infinite catch-22. how are we supposed to respond to the poor and the homeless? it's a really tough question. we can't give every single less-fortunate person our money. i don't think that's an effective use of our funds; and it really is just throwing money at the issue.

so what do we do? well, i think it starts by us getting involved more specifically than just passing out a buck or two after its been so long since you last did it that you feel a bit guilty. pass out old jackets in the winter. drive around with bag lunches and dinners on cold nights. i think for the homeless, shelters are a great thing to support. i feel like shelters have to be the best way to provide centralized support for those in need. we know the money is going to the right people, and that those who truly want to help themselves have the opportunity to do so.

beyond that, especially when troubleshooting problems with the poor, it is tough to know what to do. i don't judge the grocery lady. i can't. i don't know her story. odds are, being a grocery shopper in the city with one of the highest median incomes in the nation, she was in a position to help - but maybe not. Lord knows i've been the grocery lady before; and depending on how i interpret need the next time i run into someone begging for money, i might be the grocery lady again.

the deal breaker for me today, was the thought that the poor lady might be walking back to her home tonight with groceries because 10 people were willing to give her a couple bucks, was all i really needed to part with mine.

Follow Up to Election Thoughts

2008-11-07T09:25:00.002-05:00

(written in response to posted comments about this blog on facebook)

Thanks to all who have responded. I respect everyone's opinion. And though I don't feel the need to change my opinion, I will consent, if I didn't imply it overtly enough in my concern for the bashing and propaganda firing from both sides, that there definitely were people voting for McCain that were victims of the bandwagon effect... no doubt.

I apologize to those who may have expected some typical Martinisms with perhaps a humorous slant wrapping it up all nicely in the end. But that's just not the way this one was written. Maybe one will come along sometime in the future =)

I really appreciate the time people have taken to respond though. It feels good knowing there are so many of us that do care about this. I hope that the future president Obama will be touched equally by those on both sides of the fence this term and rule accordingly. I don't think Bush did a good job of that.

Though we live under God's rule, we, the people, are still responsible for the leaders we elect. We, the people, are ultimately responsible to fight for change. Just because I, along with many others, believe that God is in control, doesn't mean that He is necessarily going to change policy for us.

This article in Relevant magazine does an awesome job of providing the perspective that we can't simply rely on electing one man (or one day one woman) to take charge of the fight for morality. That responsibility will always be in our hands, as much as it will be in the hands of our president. It's pretty good. Check it out:

http://relevantmagazine.com/releblog/cameronsqa/first-word-leading-the-charge/

Obama: Thoughts on the Election, Bandwagoners, and General Apathy

2008-11-05T01:57:00.004-05:00

I don't think I ever really fathomed how upset I'd be if Obama won. I think I really only ever chalked up his campaign for president as an amplified book tour. Not that I didn't take him seriously - it's just his campaign felt like a book tour - fueled by Clintonesque baby-kissing charm and general something-up-my-sleeve shadiness.

So he won, and I couldn't help but watch in shock. One moment they don't even seem to have nearly an appropriate amount of votes counted, then all of the sudden an announcement erupts that Obama won. It was just too fast. I wasn't ready to take in that much information. So yeah, shock.

After that, I skipped denial (I mean, how can you deny what you see on the complicated touchscreen election maps? you can't), and just became angry. I became angry that Obama was elected president. Is that okay? I just had to get it out there. I had to say it. I just don't trust him.

What is this change he speaks of? All Obama is doing is filling in blanks. All the things that George Bush wasn't, Obama promises to be. Must have taken a lot of smart people to figure that strategy out! He basically captured the heart of a lot of Americans that really didn't know what to do, so they jumped on the fun, celebrity/media/rockstar-endorsed political bandwagon. He is young, McCain is old; he is a democrat, McCain is from Bush's party.

It's not rocket science, it's the perfect storm, and McCain to many was, I guess, just "more of the same." Well, if experience and a solid leadership capabilities are more of the same, then you must not have really been paying attention to what George Bush was up to. We're people just jumping on that bandwagon too?

Tonight, Americans, well, I should say more specifically, 538 Americans, voted. 338 Americans voted in favor of this generic Obaman concept of "change." Personally, the only change I see on the horizon is a slippery slope to socialism and a gruesome pro-choice bill to be passed.

It just sucked watching Obama's speech and seeing so many people looking into his eyes like he was the Messiah or something. So many people stood there with tears in their eyes, listening to a man deliever empty words, trusting that his student-governmentish, "I promise to put new vending machines in the cafeteria" promises would come true, and believing that his literal promises fell somewhere on the path to freedom. It just made me sad.

That's all. I hope I didn't imply to any of my friends that may have voted for Obama, whom I love and respect, that I think they are unintelligent or crazy. The ones I've talked to have their reasons, and though we differ, at least we have educated ourselves and know why we voted the way we did. I'm just fired up, because my personal belief is the wrong man was chosen for the job.

If you didn't vote, man, was there ever a time to vote! Even if it was for the person I didn't want to win, it's still an important duty. Troy had an interesting notion that they should test people before they are allowed to vote regarding the policies of all candidates. Interesting concept, yet probably ultimately unfeasible.

I think it's maddening that America is so uninformed when it comes to voting. Just look at, for example, the county props for spending and the delegates that you had no idea would be on the ballot. The whole system is messed up. Neither side promotes equal distribution of knowledge. Both Republicans and Democrats do an amazing job of skewing most truth and just doing whatever it takes to win.

How bout giving us all the facts and letting us make an educated political decision? If you are going to accuse the other candidate(s) of voting for horrible bills, you owe us context. You owe the American people the big picture. What other bills were paperclipped to it?

I often feel like this country is drunk at it's wheel and I'm wondering who's going to sober up and take hold of it. Solution to the literal need is important - like finding the right president, and not just settling for a choice between the two guys in Senate with the most money; but just as equally important is the solution to the bigger picture problem - like who the heck is going to start the seemingly impossible revolution to start changing the system?

Will it be you? Or are we just going to keep chanting "yes we can" back to Obama and hope our country finds its way back to the morals and principles it was founded upon?

Hanging With the Freaks and Ghouls

2008-10-30T09:12:00.018-04:00

Halloween is now upon us and it is time to discuss some last minute strategies for Friday's game. Whether you're terrorizing the town with poultry byproducts and toilet paper or supporting the entire dental profession with your large, tartar toting, cavity coercing wicker candy bowl, take a last minute look at the game plan before you get on the field.

For everyone who will be handing out candy this year, make sure to setup your offense by using the good stuff. Sure shots are Reese's, Starburst two-packs, Nerds, and Butterfingers. Jolly Rancher bars are okay because they are delicious; however they are often annoying to break into a pleasantly suckable size.

If you find that you are one who purchases the type of candy to fill all the nooks and crannies of trick-or-treater pillowcases, please be tasteful. Bottlecaps and Sweet Tarts are cute, but don't overdo it. If you are going to be sprucing up the ole candy-bag with a treats resembling three Advil, remember to add Smarties, standard-sized Jolly Ranchers, Tootsie Rolls, and/or Bazooka bubble gum to the mix for good measure.

The amazing thing about Bazooka and some others, is they fall into what I call the "potpourri" candy class. There are certain candies that hold as much worth in their smell as they do in their taste. You see this a lot in the gummy (i.e. Gummie Savers) and taffy (i.e. Now and Later) candy categories. These candies are delicious to some, but should be more specifically used to make the pillowcase as fully sensual as possible.

Now, candy is great, but we all know that Halloween is about more more than just rotting teeth and freakish garb; it's about community. And speaking of community, there is a decent chance that people will be hoodlumming and shenaniganning in yours this Halloween.

Don't be alarmed though; it is simply time to play a little defense. Like if anyone comes up to your house armed with two-dozen eggs, simply open your front door naked, start clucking at them, and begin to chase after them whilst shouting phrases like "Lend me some suga', I ammmm yo neighbor!" or "My name's Sydney and I loooooove scary movies!" Maintaining the cluck is crucial during the chase. You may get hit with an errant egg or two, but it is only because they fear you, and at least they aren't hitting the shutters that your landlord just painted.

Toilet paper is also a concern; yet the easiest way to ward off TPers is by TPing your own house first. This is a fool-proof plan for people living in neighborhoods notorious for TP offenses. Think about it. You can choose your own brand, where you want to put it, and limit the total quantity of paper distributed. Even the slightest TP decor in your yard will ward off pranksters. Nobody wants sloppy seconds when there are fresh properties nearby, even if you did only hit one tree or a few bushes.

If you encounter a TPing already in progress, please refer to the egging defense strategy.

To conclude, it's completely feasible to win tonight's big game. Just keep the cavities coming, the candy delicious, the pranks tasteful, and the prank retaliation nice and naked.

(Revised from a column I submitted to the GMU newspaper Broadside, back in 2005. My column, Sweat the Small Stuff, ran once-a-week during my Senior year.)

Of course, let's not forget the Halloween classic:

Holiday Hipsters - First Halloween Song

Jesus stuff

2008-10-20T11:54:00.003-04:00

many of you know i go to church. it has been a place that has impacted my life in such an amazing way. i know a lot of you already know this, and some of you probably even join me on sunday evenings.

but i realize that some of you didn't grow up going to church. maybe some of you haven't been in a long time cause either you burnt out on it at some point, got disenchanted, or whatever, you name it, i can see how that would be rather easy considering the overall state of the church these days.

i just wanted to encourage you to maybe give it another chance. over the next three weeks especially, we (Frontline - aka my church) are going to be looking at topics that might be of interest to anyone questioning church, in complete disbelief that there is a God or that Jesus was a guy who can forgive the world, mad at the church, pondering their life's purpose, struggling with hurt/pain/difficulties - perhaps any or all of the above.

if this interests you, please know that i'd love for you to join me. Frontline put together this video to sort of preview some of the topics they hope to address:

if you don't feel like you can make the drive to tysons, know that you can also listen in online wherever you're most comfortable. feel free to post or share your thoughts. i'd love to answer any questions you have.

the men's bathroom at the falls church panera

2008-10-20T08:48:00.011-04:00

the men's bathroom at the falls church panera is about as stable an environment as a rainforest.

as you walk in, the first thing you notice is the strong stale stench of urine. the next thing you notice are paper towels. there are paper towels everywhere. they are erupting like popcorn from the tall waste bin, caked like paper mache to the the 70's inspired tile flooring, saturating in the stagnant waters of the old style urinal, and basically just scattered about the place as if they were personally distributed by a paper towel bomber at a wet hands rally.

standing at the urinal, a desperate gentleman deems it socially acceptable, though it is not, to slide by you while you're in the middle of things. you'll feel the stall door open into your back, extending from the back of your head, all the way down your spine to an uncomfortable vertical point on your gluteus maximus. just to your left, a small divider blocks you from the short reach to the sink - not so much as an attempt at to privatize your urination, but more to keep the flush mist from glazing the sink's cool porcelain surface.

the place is dark, and gloomy, and one of those bathrooms where you feel better off leaving without washing your hands. considering the paper towel dispenser presents itself as the bathroom object most likely to harbor hepatitis, it's amazing to see how many paper towels are contrarily in circulation.

if you have to use this restroom, you'll want to spend as little time as you possibly can inside. please, #1 only. #2 you're better off... well. nevermind. and remember to breathe and touch as little as possible.

i mean, it's crazy right? panera. it just seems so modern, and definitely seems to be past the dirty bathroom trend that even modern america used to tolerate. it used to be that you could go into a nice restaurant and still find that their bathroom smelled of toilet sanitizer and had soap dispensers stocked with dishwasher detergent.

times have changed. now we stack our paper towels in wicker baskets atop prim porcelain or granite counters. we put newspapers in reading cases above toilets, and incorporate plants and trendy lighting. we've even got secondary trash receptacles by exits and cleaning checklists for employees to tend, ignore or forge.

panera, it's 2008. clean your $%#$#% bathroom!

bad day

2008-10-17T00:04:00.003-04:00

i woke up feeling a bit out of it. yesterday i hadn't been feeling 100%, and today was no different. it would definitely take more than one hand to count the amount of years its been since i've been like down-and-out sick. i'm usually only afflicted with little things here and there that typically pass within a couple hours. i basically was feeling feverish all day. you know the feeling i'm talking about... where you feel lightheaded and your skin just sort of aches cause it can't make up its mind whether it's hot or cold. it kinda sucked.

it wavered. it came. it went. it didn't last long enough to warrant any delivered soup or someecards. but it was just annoying. and uncomfortable. and i know i'm whining. but this is my blog. and i'm allowed to complain. and write in artsy psuedo sentences. for extra effect.

so, take the blahness, and then layer in a lot of driving back-and-forth throughout the day, which i'm typically game for, except for when i'm feeling feverish. then, top everything off with someone rear-ending me on my way home from work.

ok. nbd you might be saying to yourself. i'm sitting here writing this, aren't i? yes, all things considered, it could be a lot worse. God did give me breath in my lungs this morning, and at least i have a car and a job, and great family and friends to come home to. all that considered, did my day still suck respectively? yes.

the fender bender started eating at me. i kept going back and forth as to whether or not i should file a claim through this guys' insurance. part of me felt like it was selfish of me to require all of this work and rigamrole for a couple scratches and holes in my bumper. on the other hand, its the kind of thing that i knew would bother me whenever i looked at it; plus, if i decide to sell it at any point, namely anytime soon, i'm going to lose money because of something that, to be fair, wasn't there when i left home this morning. so finally later this evening i elected to get it fixed and put in the lengthy call to my insurance company.

let the games begin. it's already been a fiasco with the insurance, with quotes from my claims adjustor like, "i've been doing this job for a long time and have never heard of this guy's insurance company." ...great. well, we'll see what ends up happening with that.

i guess the good thing about bad days though are that these days draw me closer to God. when hardships come, there's just something consistently comforting about God. all the sudden, i feel abandoned, or alone, and He comforts me. its easy to forget about God when things are going smooth. it's easier to pat myself on the back for a job well done. it's not really cool, and it's something i'm working on.

nonetheless, all i felt like i could do when my heart was feeling really dumb today was pray. so i prayed for it all. my car. my health. the weather. sick friends. heartbroken friends. a complicated housing situation. everything.

and that was what i was supposed to do. and i can't say that i all the sudden have amazing perspective and answers to all those prayers, but it was a step in the right direction to put my heart back in the right place. bad days can really derail good character. i'm glad God helped me reconcile some of my anger and restore my heart before the sun finally set... even if it was the sun in hawaii.

good day

2008-10-14T17:45:00.003-04:00

you know how some days just sort of start off on the right note, and end on the right note? today was sort of like that.

first off, the weather was awesome. driving to work this morning, it was just the perfect weather to be wearing a track jacket and shorts and have the windows down. i remember putting my hands out the window later in the day and just thinking about how much it felt like california weather. i miss california.

second, my gas light came on as i was driving home last night. per usual, i ignored it, figuring i'd just fill up the today, cause i had off and i was too tired to stop. well i got called into work today at 7am. i'm driving, and i'm in a hurry to get there on time, and the gas light just goes off, and the gauge starts to climb back up to like 1/8 of a tank. i drove all the way to work and back, and the light still hasn't come back on. whatever you say. i go by the light.

third, i'm about to grill some food with dave and lisa (though, alas, not kristen) and am excited about making a-1 cheeseburgers. yum yum yum.

fourth, i plan to watch arrested development, and go to bed early.

that's my argument for why it was a good day. (minus that one thing).

-m-

the mac attack!

2008-09-13T11:11:00.002-04:00

on wednesday, i officially became a mac user. here is an awkward photo of me and mac:

i did. i sold out. i bought into the trend. i mean, i know i've had my little iBook that amanda colton graciously sold to me at a reasonable price a few months ago; but as far as my main computer goes, i decided to switch to mac also. people ask me why i did it, and my simple response to them is: the train of the future was arriving and i wanted to make sure that i was planted in my seat with my pocketbook on my lap before the temptation arose to be that guy on the platform taking an extra 19 seconds to kiss his pc goodbye, only to have to run after the train, as the conductor leans out the side door screaming "all aboard!" in his 1920's news bulletin voice; you know, like those old movies.

i can't say i'm not scared. but i rest in comfort knowing that i'm not in this journey alone. there are millions of other americans that have said, "hey, you know, i'm also willing to pay a little bit more than i wanted to for a computer that's pretty awesome." plus, this will be great for video editing, which is something i'm really trying to get back into. so here i am, writing this on 24 inches of amazingness. and i'll continue to do so, until pc's dig themselves out of their self-defeating rut.

-m-

recording with scooter

2008-09-11T22:35:00.008-04:00

so its been a long while since i've posted. though, considering that there have, at times, been years in between my posts, this is largely un-catastrophic.

2 weeks ago scooter asked dave and i to help him record a song he had written. for those of you who don't know, scooter, dave and i used to play in a pop punk band called abbott and west. the band broke up in fall of '07 for various reasons. but since then, we have still all been pretty active in writing and now recording some music.

so we packed up all our stuff from the ole practice pad and helped scooter lay down a pretty sweet track titled 'you got me'. we did most of the recording on saturday, august 30th. here are some pics from that session with ben powell, producer/engineer extraordinaire. i'll put the song up as soon as i'm allowed.

getting ready to lay down bass tracks:

tuning up:

the showdown (where're my mics man? i don't have your mics, i swear!):

friends out of obligation:

dave attempting to use futuristic technology:

ben trying to look busy (yeah, guys, you need to tighten up and remember to plug in the fade infiltrator to the megahertz simulator.... yawn.... [gchat noise].. uh woah, hey! ok lets take it from the top):

hey!

in case you're wondering, this is why i like these glasses so much:

like i said. as soon as scooter creates the myspace page for his new project, i'll link to it. the song sounds good.

-m-

net flixeth, and net flixeth away

2008-08-21T16:49:00.005-04:00

so, until now, my netflix experience has been pretty amazing. i mean, as much as i love opening the actual dvd case, seeing my favorite action hero on the cover, and reading the cheesy synopsis that gives away too much information, you just can't beat the cost and the ease of paying and ordering online, and having movies shipped directly to your house. its roughly $15 per month to have 3 dvds cycling in and out of my house at all times. there really is no comparison to netflix when the alternative is driving to blockbuster everytime i want a movie and giving them $5 per dvd.

that said, i was a bit upset when i called customer service today and had a conversation that went something like this:

customer service rep: "hi and thanks for calling netlfix customer service. how can i help you?"

me: "yeah i just had a question about a shipping issue with my account."

customer service rep: "ok, what is the problem?"

me: "well, i just upgraded my account today to get 3 dvds out at a time, mainly cause i needed a movie by friday, and i figured i'd just pay the $3 to upgrade this month instead of paying $5 for one at blockbuster. it made sense cause it said that the new movie would be shipped out today. turns out that wasn't the case."

customer service rep: "ok sir, can you give me your account number?"

[gave it]

customer service rep: "alright, it looks like... yes, ok, it went through today, but its looking like it won't be shipping out until tomorrow."

me: "right. well, that sort of defeats the purpose for me. i ordered it to avoid having to get one from a video store since it said it would be shipped out today. i mean, are you guys able to do anything about that?"

customer service rep: "not really sir. there is no way we can send that out today, at this point."

me: [baiting that i just wanted something in return for my trouble... a free dvd... just a simple sign they cared...] "so, there's no way you guys could like send it in one day, or something?"

customer service rep: "no sir, there is no way we could do that even if we wanted to. i don't even think there is a service that would deliver it that fast."

[really? there is no service that can deliver a package in a day or less? i wanted to tell him that i too agreed that this phenomenon would be a feat of mankind, and that one day it would be an downright honor to live in a nation that could somehow, someway create a streamlined, state-of-the-art transportation device to give us the ability to transport a package from Baltimore, MD to Fairfax, VA in one day or less.]

me: "ahh that kinda sucks, cause thats the whole reason i did this."

customer service rep: [remains silent, and sounds bored]

me: "well, the other thing i wanted to ask is are you guys going to be issuing credits for your shipping problems from last week?"

customer service rep: "yes, sir, we are issuing a 15% discount on next months bill due to our shipping problems from last week."

me: "oh ok, cool. didn't know about that."

[silence]

me: "so yeah, i guess that kinda sucks about the dvd that was supposed to go out today."

customer service rep: "yeah sir, there is nothing i can do about that."

me: "well, i guess if it can't be shipped today then it can't be shipped today." [again, baiting]

customer service rep: "yeah."

me: "alright then. i guess that's it."

customer service rep [all of the sudden upbeat and excited]: "ok sir well thank you for calling netflix customer service and have a nice day!"

wow. poor showing netflix. i'm sorry. i'm just disappointed. you are a brand new company. if you see that a customer is dissatisfied, the line is, "is there anything i can do to help this be a better experience for you?" or "i'm sorry we didn't hold up things on our end, again. can we issue another credit to your account?"

anything like that would have been nice. the comment about there not being a service that could do same day delivery was actually a little crazy. and yes, of course it is, after all, just a dvd, and not really the end of the world if it comes a day late. it just seemed like netflix didn't care at all that there was a problem, or that their website told me something completely inaccurate. and when a company is that new, you sort of would expect them to be willing to do whatever to keep customers happy. especially one that just "upgraded."

weekend

2008-08-04T14:43:00.003-04:00

a prayer

2008-07-31T00:25:00.005-04:00

i keep finding a reason to stay
i'm on to me
will i ever walk away?

Lord give me ideas to run with
give me the soles for my soul
find me a path to the path i'm to walk
teach me the way to speak for Yourself.

teach me innocence again
but award me the wisdom of ages
give me cares freer than pennies
let me soar on reckless ambition alone.

please hold my tingling arm as a i tear off this cast
watch me steadfast as i break from the past
and break free at last
i'm past the passed
at last.

-m-

how God has been working in my life as of late

2008-07-30T01:05:00.007-04:00

ever since i heard the story of solomon, i was always amazed at the fact that when given the option from God to have whatever he wanted, he asked for wisdom. ever since i read that, it just clicked with me, and i sort of adapted it for my own life and began praying that God would continue to make me wise too. although i haven’t always felt like the wisest person around, i have felt the Lord honoring my heart regarding this matter; and at times it has mattered most, i have never felt shortchanged when God needed me to speak into someone’s life, or make a big decision regarding my own. every experience, good or bad, only gives me more perspective and knowledge from which to learn and grow. i’ve still got so much to learn, but He is constantly and consistently sharpening me in so many ways.

this past year i’ve felt like God has been teaching me about various aspects of leadership. i feel like having wisdom, and the ability to really try be a Christ-like leader to my friends, and anyone else i come in contact with for that matter, is only a part of who God made me to be. He also made me to be a musician – and, believe it or not, He pretty much had to remind me of that not too long ago.

last fall, i was really starting to feel the weight of the deteriorating abbott and west situation. something wasn’t clicking, and it was frustrating. i felt like my abilities as a guitarist were sliding because of the low motivation i felt in the band. though, that september, on the Frontline fall retreat, i watched fervently as talented, driven musicians led the body of Christ in worship; they seemed to be filled with joy while doing it. i was immediately drawn to it. towards the end of the trip, i felt God nudging me, telling me to get out of my musical rut and to stop burying the talents He had entrusted me to use for the benefit of His kingdom (matthew 25:14-30).

despite my inferiority complex in playing with musicians that i swore were a million times better than me, i auditioned for frontline worship – not because i necessarily thought i was the best thing ever, but because God called me to, and despite how second-rate i felt, i found great comfort in that.

people would ask me, “do you think you’ll get in?” i always replied that i didn’t know, but it didn’t matter because God told me to go audition using the talents i was given, and if i didn’t get asked to play anywhere, then there was a reason for it. still, it was easy for me to realize that, at the very least, this was just something i could do to show my obedience to God, sort of like abraham and isaac – an act i often forget and ignore.

recently, i have been blessed with such amazing opportunities to lead at the gmu and american gatherings, sunday morning middle school services, and frontline arlington. God called, and i answered, despite my initial fears and hesitations. the ways in which He has been speaking to me are different, yet significantly and almost poetically connected, in that sort of perfect, Holy Spirit kind of way. and because of the Lord’s intervention in my pretty stagnant life, i am learning how to be a better friend and leader to those around me, and have begun to excavate the musician that was sneakily slipping away, almost buried beneath my smug musical complacency.

thank you, Father, for letting me see.

-m-

middle school memoirs

2008-07-29T12:07:00.007-04:00

so i was going through some stuff today in a massive effort to purge my room of all trash, junk and all other visual imperfections. i came across the journal i "kept" while on my school trip to Boston in 7th grade. all original spelling, grammar and punctuation has been left the same to exploit the innocent. my commentary will be denoted in journalistic standard [brackets]:

"Sunday, Boston Trip, 1997

Today we left for BWI then we took the bus (Bonanza Bus) to the Boston "T". After walking 10 stories underground then 1 story up the[n] 5 stories down the 3 more stories down; we arrived a[t] the train. [by the way, at the time, i remember thinking that this was the funniest way ever to describe the Boston subway staircases] We took the red line train to the green line train. At the green line we waited while trains rolled by our stop. Finally, [hey, look at me... good comma use!] it came and we made it to our stop. We walked up to what was about 3 flights of steps and then we walked to the hostel. Upon arrival we just got settled and hung out to about 6:00 when we ate the pizza [that has obviously already been introduced due to the way i referred to it as "the" pizza]. Then Dennis, Whitney, Me, Sarah, Elizabeth, Matt, and Mrs. Rowe Played cards until devotions [Christian school folks... don't go calling Hillary Clinton on me]. After that I took my shower and then pretty much came here and wrote in this Journal. Until tomorrow.
-Martin Hansen [signed like a rockstar or doctor]"

"Monday, Boston Trip, 1997

Today, while it was 96° in D.C. we went to the freedom trail [based on my capitalization, we can only assume this was your generic-type freedom trail, found in just about any city]. We started at the beginning of the river (trail). While the rain came down and the floods came up we rowed along [you follow? this might be hard to really "get". its a metaphor, implying that there was so much water, we needed to practically row in a boat to get anywhere. it was also an allusion to a famous children's Bible song. hope that clears up any confusion regarding these literary techniques]. We went to historic buildings. We went to Quincy Market to eat our lunch. After a while we went to the bunker hill monument [again, found in a city near you]. I walked the flight of 294 steps. Weak and weary we trudged to my favorite place. The USS Constitution. It is a neat boat. Then Dennis, Whitney, and I made a few inside jokes about the ship the ammendment and started our own "incrowd." [hahahaha, the quotes around incrowd seal the deal on that sentence]
-Martin Hansen [again, signed like a doctor who is late for lunch]"

"Tuesday, Boston Trip, 1997

Today we went to the Science Museum [yet, in this instance where generic capitalization would have sufficed, i decided to capitalize as if we were at The One and Only Science Museum Of America]. It was really neat. There was a lot of hands on stuff. Our little group went around. The Leonardo exhibit was neat but got boring after a while. After our lunch by the water we could wander around. One of the things we did was the lightning show. It only lasted about 30 seconds though. Then later we went home.
-Martin Hansen [i know what i was trying to do, but it came out looking more like 'Martin Hanlde']

P.S. The fish in the water at lunch were huge! [wow!]"

---
and this concludes the records i have of my trip to Boston. i guess maybe i just got bored after tuesday? maybe once i had visited the Science Museum, i had seen it all.

well, in case you're dying to know the follow-up story that would follow the last scene, right before the credits roll, "Everyone returned safely from the trip. The USS Constitution remained in their hearts forever. The incrowd soon dissolved after a trip to see the first of the new Star Wars trilogy together at the Courthouse movie theatres in Arlington, VA. Martin would never return to TC Williams to coach football again."

-m-

Life

2008-07-27T16:17:00.001-04:00

Life, its a tiresome game. Shall we play another?
I need to know if it's going to pan out right.
Friends are great, seriously - they all too often marinate this well done steak we call existence;
entertain me with thoughts from heaven.

-m-

August 17th, 2004

el salvador trip letters

2008-07-22T16:30:00.002-04:00

it's been two months and i'm finally getting around to writing my el salvador follow up letters. it's amazing how fast six weeks goes by when you're gone for three of them. i guess that's no excuse. i guess i should stop writing about how i'm not writing them and actually write them.

on a random note... where's my brother? i haven't seen him in 17 days.

ok, i only wrote this blog cause troy got mad that i reposted the link in my gstatus and there was no new information here. apparently i stirred excitement unnecessarily and he now wants 20 seconds of his life back. frankly, i find that selfish.

-m-

an epiphany of mutant proportions!

2008-07-21T00:15:00.006-04:00

oh my gosh! i just figured out something out that has been in the back of my head for so many years about the voice of Shredder from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (tv animated series).

that's right... Shredder, aka Aroko Saki, the Japanese ju jitsu master, was voiced by james avery, the man who plays uncle phil, a large african-american man on the fresh prince of bel-air. maybe that is why our generation is so culturally illiterate. what were the writers thinking? "eh, they're kids, they don't know what a japanese guy sounds like."

well, sirs, now i certainly do.

back home

2008-07-19T16:40:00.007-04:00

2 weeks has passed in sunny florida, and now i am home, in what feels to be a dungeon of a basement room, with papers piled everywhere, a travel bag bursting at the brim with 2 weeks worth of dirty laundry to take care of, contrasting the fresh smell of new clothes from fun cocoa beach surf shops, as they lie beneath a stressed zipper on a 11 year-old nike duffel bag. ahhh home.

the last few days blew by in cocoa beach. i mean, that meal at wendy's that i provided supplementary photography for on my last post seems like forever ago. work stuff picked up, and i'm sure that added to the reason the second half of this past week went by so fast, but maybe it was just cause i was starting to have a lot of fun chillin with the people i work with. we ate a lot of great seafood and hit the beach a couple times, between bouts of thunderstorms, clouds, rainshowers, and jellyfish.

although there wasn't a ton of free time, i just really enjoyed the couple hours i had here and there to lie in the sand, or by the pool. i finished the final third of Irresistible Revolution (probably best to debrief this in a separate post) the first week, and got halfway through an Anne Lamott book that my mom bought me called Traveling Mercies. if you know anything about me and reading, you know something very wrong is going on here. nearly 1 book read in just under 2 weeks? crunk! but i really am enjoying these books, and will hopefully have a chance to summarize them (briefly) one of the next few days.

so, to sort of wrap up the florida trip, i'll post a few pictures here with some captions. after all, a picture is worth a thousand words, and you don't want to read thousands of more words, and i don't want to type them.

good clouds:

bad clouds:

greg, rena, mona, martin

crazy greg, rena, mona, martin

finishing up some last minute shopping at the original ron jon surf shop:

mona, rena, and i in front of my highlander, which i dubbed "the mom suv." the picture is blurry from the camera being 67 degrees all night and then coming out to take photos on a 90 degree morning:

full view of the soccer mom sweetness:

i just wanted to get one of those magnetic soccer balls to put on the trunk door. i think that would have been awesome. its a good thing i wasn't cruisin for chicks while i was there. i think it would have been too easy with a car that screams, "hey, i'm ready to make all the steps in life that you are."

we topped off the week last night with a trip to Carrabbas. man, the food was so good. it was the first time i'd ever been there. got the chicken picci picciu, or something like that. the waitress politely corrected my clever pronunciation. and i thought i had it too! after dinner, we hit up dq, of course. oreo blizzard with chocolate ice cream instead of vanilla. then we went to see The Dark Knight. it was sweeeeeeeeeet. i'd go see it again. and now i hear its at imax. had no idea about that. i might have just waited til i got back. but i really couldn't. i really did want to see heath play joker. he played that character so well - which, sadly, sort of sheds light into how all the hours he logged to research and perfect his role as joker really must have factored into his sleepless nights and his tragic passing. though that is definitely a weird thing to have to think about when you walk away from the movie that you thought he did an amazing job in, i still definitely recommend the movie.

after a short night's sleep, an early rise, a quick drive to orlando, a long wait in a long US airways line, and an extremely short flight back, i arrived safely in dc, and prepared myself for a relaxing afternoon of thoughtless activity in preparation for a full week to come.

well, this completes my memoirs of a florida, but that doesn't mean there won't be more stuff to write about this week! stay tuned for hopefully some insights on these books i've been reading, some thoughts on my el salvador trip, and much, much more!

-m-

wendy's is awesome

2008-07-14T21:43:00.004-04:00

wendy's is awesome. many people know this. not everything is good, but they have a couple hot items, that are frankly, so hot, that their menu blasts the competition. that's right, i'm referring to, yes, the frosty, but in particular, the #6 combo... the spicy chicken sandwich.

today, i was amazed at the sandwichmanship put forth by wendy's staff. they put my sandwich together with tlc, and you can tell.

its a simple concept, but it looks like the floridians get it. i guess the virginians just don't.

-m-

orlando

2008-07-14T11:08:00.009-04:00

saturday i was fortunate enough to get the whole day off! i have 2 good friends in the orlando area - tommy and katie - and the distance from cocoa beach to orlando is akin to the distance from annapolis to dc, so i figured why not head over and check it out. tommy is in winter park (north of orlando) for campus crusade staff training. katie has been coming to orlando every summer to do a ministry internship with campus outreach at disneyworld. both pretty cool reasons to be in florida. so i woke up, and headed to orlando!

if you were a steering wheel, this is what it would have looked like:

orlando, on what i have found to be a fairly typical florida day (though, usually the clouds look a bit more menacing... is this rainy season or something?):

what an awesome dealership to buy a car from (you might have to click for a closer shot):

so first i drove to meet tommy in winter park. allie was in town visiting him, so it was like a double whammy of visitation. i got a little lost due to some confusion with construction and railroad tracks, but was soon reunited with my northern virginia familia away from familia (that's for allie... she's italiash).

we walked all around the bomb little town of winter park. its sort of a cross between fredericksburg and bethesda. if you can imagine the route 95 hotel/fast food section of fredericksburg, and then in a completely different block quaint little downtown bethesda, that's winter park (i realize that fredericksburg actually has both the rest stop feel and the historic downtown on its own, but this was just what i thought of at the time, and based on the specific architecture and layout of downtown winter park, i felt it was closer to the feel of bethesda than old town fredericksburg, so, yeah, that's my reasoning).

naturally, we decided to get some italian food. we were looking for tacos, but the Argentinian woman we found sadly alerted us of the taco deficiency in their humble town. i don't even know if that's pc. do they even eat tacos in Argentina... moooooommmmm?

here is us having some blurry fun in a heavy sprinkle on the sidewalk after an amazing lunch, miraculously served without spillage from our hungover waiter:

well, time was a tickin and i had to drop these bammas. just kidding. but time was up, and i was starting to feel like a 3rd wheel. just kidding. time was just up, but that sounded like the right/funny thing to say. thanks for lunch tommy! on the day went.

at this point i drove on to meet katie who was about 20 mins away. though with disney traffic, better make that 30. ok, it was light traffic. but still.

i parked at wallgreens and katie and i drove to a nearby town called Celebration. if you ignored the link, you didn't realize that Celebration is a disney (sorry, i don't mean to be inconsistent in my capitalization of proper nouns) master-planned community. katie was saying something about how it was in honor of a concept walt disney originally had for epcot center that never came to fruition before his passing. it was definitely a little "too perfect" of a town. one of those quaint little towns modeled after colonial type architecture, with all original restaurants and stores.

though it was a peculiar town, it made for a great place to visit, and a great place to find rocking chairs and a pond to have some conversation next to (sorry to end in a preposition... man, what is getting in to me tonight). here are a few shots from Celebration:

view across the pond in the town center (or centre?):

here is my emo rocking chair in black and white shot:

please notice the little dot in the middle of the still water. yes, that is an alligator hungry for some little kids fishing (again, you may want to click to zoom in for a closer gander)!

later in the evening we met up with one of katie's friends from the program and headed to this offbeat, folksy little Orlandan mom-and-pop type burger/salad place called ruby tuesday. supposedly there's only one in the united states. needless to say, it felt good to do something different, you know? here is a picture of two people who love the song fergalicious:

the day sort of blew by fast. before i knew it we had to call it a night.

after orlando, i headed back to cocoa beach to meet up with greg, my co-worker (also drummer for big church at mclean bible-- perhaps you know him?), to hit up some local music spots. that was tight too. man, what a jam packed day!

all in all orlando was super fun and totally worth it. not that it really matters to most people reading this either way. i just feel like blogs are supposed to have some sort of closure like this.

-m-

it's friday at the beach!

2008-07-11T20:59:00.004-04:00

i'll let the media do the talking:

here's me approving of the great weather and my afternoon off!

here's me sporting my new shorts that i got on sale at aeropostale, emo myspace style. good deal!

the iphone is driving me crazy

2008-07-11T15:43:00.005-04:00

call me jealous. call me poor. call me a purveyor of actually decent cell phone service. call me, an iPhone hater.

my beef is not with iPhone owners, per se. some of my closest friends have already made the mistake, and we're still cool. they have simply been fooled by someone ravenous soul attempting to put a new vowel in the simple, Alexander-Graham-Bell-approved word "phone."

my beef is with Apple. why are they charging so much money for something that does a lot of things sort of okay? its a phone, a camera, an mp3 player, the "internet," and some other stuff. i put the internet in quotes because last time i ran a search for, i don't know, anything on youtube, it only brought up like 3 videos. maybe things have changed in the past several months... maybe. but the iPhone and its various features only really seem dazzling because they have safety in numbers.

on its own, the iPhone camera doesn't really stand a chance. if a Canon digital camera came around to take iPhone camera's lunch money, iPhone camera might grab iPhone video and iPhone internet to back him up. "hey, leave us alone pal.. we may be puny and overrated on our own, but together we are a triumvirate of average bells and whistles."

Canon walks away with his shoulders shrugged. he doesn't really care, he just doesn't have enough time to deal with all of those guys. no... he's not walking away, scared from a battle he doesn't think he can win... it's more like choosing to avoid walking through a certain field of prairie grass because you don't want to have to swat at all the gnats.

ok. lets take a breath. "man, Martin, you're kind of just hating on something pretty harshly. do you have your facts straight?"

well, no. i really haven't researched it. i don't know what the specs are, or if a new model has come out. and if its just the best thing ever, okay, maybe i'll never know. maybe someone can tell me and maybe i'll reconsider. i just get so annoyed with Apple, and their constant effort to make everything so hip, and charge SO MUCH FREAKIN MONEY to do it. it makes me so furious. everything is so expensive. like the $600 price tag on the iPhone when it first came out, and now its down to a balmy $300. iPods and computers are no exception to this trend of arbitrary markups.

if the phone was a $100 extra with my free phone upgrade on Verizon come next term, sure, why not. i'd pay extra for something that looked snazzy and made it so in some scenarios i wouldn't feel the need to carry my camera around with me, and could check my email on the go. but the fact that the iPhone is only on AT&T, costs a lot of money (only to fuel Apple's ego and expectation that people will pay whatever they have to for a product with rounded corners),
and is all the ultra-trendy rave, is enough to keep me away.

i still love you if you buy one. i will gladly apply the "to each his own" proverb and call it a night. but if you are on the fence and debating whether you want to pay over a hundred bucks in cancellation fees with your cell phone service provider, just to pay hundreds more for a phone that tries to be everything, on a cell phone network that isn't everywhere, to buy into all the hype, and tell Apple that they can continue to charge whatever they want for anything, all so you can break your gigantic pocket-unfriendly screen, you might want to consider your options.

i'm from the school of thought, a phone is a phone, a camera is a camera, a computer is a computer. separately, they do amazing things. together, i have yet to see those same amazing things. i understand that the marriage of these pieces of media would be absolutely convenient... but let's do it right first; let's advance the quality of the product and let's fix that price.

long day

2008-07-09T20:57:00.003-04:00

today was a long day. woke up early. got my continental breakfast (which, i'm loving because its free, but lets see how many bagels and slices of cantaloupe i can eat before i go insane and order room service (which, as a side note, is not all that costly at this hotel)). worked. had a great burger for lunch. worked. came up to my room and got frustrated with the ridiculously, teeth grindingly slow internet at this hotel. went to dinner (i'm missing some home cooked meals... although i didn't really make or get any before i came on this trip so i don't know what i'm talking about). played poker with some co-workers. didn't know how to play. lost. but learned. some. came back. crashed on my bed. starting writing this.

needless to say, i'm pretty tired. i wish i could be a little more vivid and descriptive with my recap today, but i'm not feeling very creative tonight. my brain had to work extra hard between work and poker today. time to chill out! i've got some movies with me like there will be blood and the other boleyn girl that i'm going to watch while i'm here. the other boleyn girl started out as a joke between dave and i, because i was mentioning to him one day how i thought the movie announcer sounded like he thought the title was cooler than it really was by the way he was saying it. you know what i mean? you'll see a movie preview, that might look alright, maybe even interesting, intriguing, or just different than a lot of other movie previews you've seen, and then the producers think they came up with the most revolutionary/artsy/emo title you've ever heard of; so they tell the guy doing the preview to just blow everyone's mind by delivering it all suspensefully, saying each word real slow and intense: "the other, boleyn girrrrl." well, i think that's what happened, and i've always thought the title was dumb. so we were going to watch it as a joke, but, its got scarlett johansson in it and i actually want to watch it now.

trying to think of what else? oh yeah, weather's still bad. i wake up to a blue/grey haze over the water. the sun blasted through a little today, but its still muggy. i'm reminded of those "a bad day in Florida beats a good day almost anywhere else" commercials, where 1 cloud covers up the sun for 30 seconds and the two women complain. yeah, its not like that. its more like you'll find the two women inside at the bar most of the day and maybe by the pool for 24 minutes later this afternoon. i'll let you know if that changes.

no pictures for you, sorry. today was pretty uneventful. hopefully more tomorrow!

-m-

can a brotha get a weather forcast around here?

2008-07-07T17:05:00.006-04:00

so one thing i've noticed in this state is that it's impossible to get a simple weather forecast. for example, on weather.com, they have 1 image per day for the 10-day forecast; but since thunderstorms are bound to pop up on any given day, every day has a little picture of a thunderstorm and either the words isolated or scattered thunderstorms written under it. i wish they would just assume we all know that thunderstorms are an inherent part of florida meteorologic culture and display the picture that represents what the weather will mostly be like that day.

i finished my first crossword puzzle ever today. the puzzle itself was pretty hard, and kept my attention the entire flight yesterday, and part of today. ok i cheated a few times. i can't believe how hard those things are. it was the "in training" crossword too. how inglorious. but seriously, how am i supposed to know what a "cremona violin maker" is? i know you can piece tough clues together by getting the answers to the other ones - but then you've got ones with clues like "classic dog handle." well, is it fido or spot? in this case it was spot. i think they purposely choose clues that yield several answers with the same number of letters. its a conspiracy i tell you. it didn't help that i only had a pen too. maybe i'll have better luck next time.

here are some pictures from the beach today. it was a gloomy one, but the sky was still spectacular:

about to go grab some legit food. i haven't had an actual meal meal since i got here yesterday. i'm looking forward to this! word is: seafood. here is an update from the beach earlier today:

-m-

cocoa beach: day 1

2008-07-06T23:35:00.003-04:00

well, here i am, in Cocoa Beach. i must say, this day was really relaxing! i woke up, packed, got to have lunch with my brothers (evan just turned 18!), caught a flight, did a crossword puzzle (well, failed miserably, but at least i tried), rented a silver Toyota Highlander and drove on a warm, breezy Sunday evening down the highway with the windows down and the radio blasting to Cocoa Beach, Florida, where I checked in, got a free cookie, made a delicious lean cuisine in my room, and had a Manhattan or two down by the pool on a starry, ocean-scented night with some co-workers. i think i like this.

have to wake up early tomorrow. meetings all day, but i'm excited to be down here. the people i work with are great. well, i'd write more, but my bed is so comfortable and i am very tired, so, maybe more tomorrow!

-m-

new york city - predictions

2007-08-30T01:20:00.000-04:00

well, tonight i am also up late so i can pack for new york city! tomorrow evening tim, matt, troy and i are going to drive up for the weekend. tim is an actor and he's headed up there to get his headshots done again by some professional dude who needs a loft in nyc to feel like a pro. just kidding Tim =) i'm sure he's good. i'm pretty excited about the trip though. tim just invited us along and then extended his stay by another two nights.

i titled this entry predictions because i'm basically going to tell you all the things we've planned or talked about doing, and then i will post when i return and we'll just have to see how they line up.

so we've talked about doing a number of things. to reference matt's original list sent in an email a few days ago:

Phantom of the Opera
Apple Store NYC
The copper lady, (Statue of Freedom)
j/k about three, i know it's Liberty
Times Square Something
Empire State Building foot race to top, with a jump down race.
Pick up some chicks in Central Park
Bronx Zoo
Comedy Club one night?
Metropolitan Museum of Art
Sony Wonder Technology Lab (kids science museum thing)

so let's look at this list.

phantom? good idea. personally, i might let the guys go to this one and hang back. i know! it's anti-social. but i went into this trip hoping to keep it around $200 (excluding lodging) and lay off the plastic. so, phantom? i'm sure it will be sweet, but i'm sure i can find something else to pass the time. i know new york city is sort of small and growing, but there's got to be some create-your-own pottery place or something where i could keep myself busy. perhaps phantom and i will meet another time.

apple store, sure. though if i could afford anything in there, i could probably afford to get two balcony seats to phantom. but you know, it can't hurt to look.

statue of liberty? yes please. i've been to new york city 2.5 times and never seen it. i know it's like going to the washington monument.. minor stereotypical tourist thrill. but if you're going to be a real american traveler, i think a standard photo of you and the big copper lady is requisite.

times square? yes, please. nothing beats all your favorite stores in a different city! plus there's definitely something to be said for the urban version of stores you typically see in suburbia. for some reason they're just cooler.

empire state building. sure! can't hurt. what good is a picture at the statue of liberty without a picture at the empire state building? Rob, the guy i share an office with would probably kill me (ex-nyc resident and official quasi-hipster). he's been telling me about all the city's secrets and all the good places to go that are non-mainstream. but i don't mind being a total tourist, at least for a little bit on this trip. the last two times i've been, though fun, have been way constricted by time and business.

pick up chicks in central park? well, like i stressed to the guys already, how are we going to do that without a 4 year old kid? hasn't anyone seen big daddy? maybe i should pee on the side of a mcdonalds. maybe?

bronx zoo? no thanks. national zoo has animals too. but i admire the creativity.

comedy club? yes please. enter: martin's unpacking of this suggestion. i think we're going to try and catch a show at the upright citizens brigade theatre. if we catch the sunday night showing right before we head back, there's a high chance amy poehler and horatio sans from snl will be part of the improv cast. that would be sweet. though, where's will ferrell when we need him? we may also check out this show on saturday night that looks to be funny too.

mma - there's no way i'm trying to type that out typo free at this hour. but yes. that would be cool. right there in central park too, so once we find these mysterious and desperate central park chicks, perhaps we can take them to the museum.

sony wonder lab sounds cool, but sounds like one of those things that will get cut from the list. only time will tell.

of course when you're in new york, you gotta eat good too. a lot of that will be happening. rob has bestowed upon me some of his age old dining wisdom. i trust we will be eating right and i will have much to report. troy suggested buddakan, vento and hogs and heifers for places to eat/chill. apparently his last suggestion is like a total blue collar man filled bar by weeknight, and a killer young people hang out on the weekend. i'll believe it when i see it. however, it made the list. fingers crossed t-rex.

i searched desperately for a cool concert to go to, but the only thing i really came across was tommy lee at a place called Rebel. uhh, we'll definitely have to keep looking on that front.

ok, time to pack and go to bed. we'll see what this weekend has in store.

over and out.

martin

cleaning

2007-08-30T01:05:00.000-04:00

well it's been a while since i posted last. i guess that's ok. i've been pretty busy.

why is it 1:06am and i'm still up? well, i must say i've been working pretty hard over the past few weeks to get my room not only clean, but organized and practical so that it can just sorta be maintained. i tend to collect a lot of things and i've been trying to purge these things from my room. it's rather dumb actually. every time i clean my room, i always have at least one giant black garbage bag of trash and junk to get rid of. it makes me wonder what my decision making looks like when it comes to things i decide are a good idea to keep.

sure, like in every room there are things you just can't bring yourself to get rid of... your set of ihop syrup dispensers, the slice can you promised somebody sophomore year of high school you would never get rid of, your 150 pez dispensers. but then there's the other things that you just convinced yourself would be cool at one point, but you'll never touch or use again until the day you debate whether to throw it out or not, like... well, i actually can't think of anything even though i just threw out an entire bag of it. why? probably because it didn't mean anything.

just give me one more year and i'll be able to host clean sweep. until then, you can find me in the trenches of my room trying to clean out stupid pack rattiness from my teenage and college years.

martin

flipped SUV's and letters to the governor

2007-08-03T11:22:00.001-04:00

well a lot has been going on here at work today so i thought i'd take some lunch time to report!

so i'm sitting here talking to Rob, and these fire trucks race by with sirens are blaring out on route 7, per usual here in tysons. for some reason out of all the sirens we've heard since we started sharing an office i chose this time to explain to him how they are really loud and annoying considering we're 10 floors up and indoors. i was about to continue on about how it's interesting that i've never been in the office when anything's happened outside of our window. right before i said that, i looked out and in the corner of my eye i see this white truck flipped over and the aforementioned fire trucks circling it and throwing cones down. within minutes route 7 was blocked off.

sorry the picture is bad. it's my cell phone and it's on like 5x zoom.

anyways, i say "within minutes route 7 was blocked off" cause i think it's funny how firefighters always blast on the scene, engines roaring, sirens blaring, people driving across medians to move out of the way, and then when the get on the scene they sliiiiiiide out from the truck, throw the jacket on, open the back, walk the cones out and drop carefully them one by one.. haha.. i'm sure they know what they're doing, but still, it's just funny to me.

everyone seemed to be ok, but i couldn't really tell how the car got like that. if you look at the picture, the front of the flipped truck is facing us, and the red SUV parked to the left of the fire truck was involved, and it was barely damaged. thoughts?

in other news, right as i got in this morning i also decided to write to governor kaine about these ridiculous fees on the Civil Remedial Bill after reading this article from WTOP.com .

our exchange is as follows:

Governor,

The new Civil Remedial Bill which imposes hefty fines for driving offenses is unconstitutional and wrong. When will we encourage law enforcement to protect and serve rather than be a meter maid for the Commonwealth? There are a billion reasons why this is a mistake (only applies to VA residents, punishment doesn't fit the crime, innocently charged by police officer with reckless driving in one of the thousand ways you can get a "reckless" driving charge).. you name it. As of now, this issue is probably most important to me for the next election, so until you consider new ways to earn money for transportation that doesn't bankrupt the lower-class, I'm afraid I'll be voting for the other guy.

Thank you for your time,
Martin Hansen
----

then his office responded with:

Dear Mr. Hansen :

Governor Kaine has asked me to thank you for and respond to your correspondence regarding abusive driver fees.

We understand and take your concerns seriously. We are monitoring the way these fees are implemented and will continue to work to improve this legislation. When the 2008 General Assembly convenes in January, we will have six months of real world experience and traffic safety data to help us understand the impact of these fees.

These fees are only assessed on Virginia residents. We have an implementation team, made up of executive, legislative and judicial branch experts, that is reviewing this component to determine if there is a way to assess these fees on out-of-state drivers.

Conviction-related abusive driver fees do not apply to the typical traffic violation such as failure to yield, or parking too near a fire hydrant, for example. Abusive driver fees will only apply to convictions for reckless driving, driving on a suspended or revoked license, driving under the influence, or other serious traffic offenses that occur after July 1, 2007. The fees are paid in installments over three years.

Demerit-point-related abusive driver fees apply to drivers who accumulate 8 or more demerit points. Abusive driver fees can not be imposed for demerit points related to offenses committed prior to July 1, 2007. No single traffic violation results in 8 demerits points and attending a driver improvement clinic will reduce the points on a driver's record. Bad drivers who accumulate and keep 8 or more demerit points will be charged a minimum of $100 fee and $75 for each additional demerit point.

Abusive driver fees will be used to address safety and operational issues on the existing highway system, and not to build new highways. Thank you again for your correspondence.

Sincerely,
Pierce R. Homer
Secretary of Transportation
----

things in yellow are all the places i think he thought he was comforting me or making it all better when in reality he is just pissing me off more by making it sound like no big deal.

so then i responded:

I'm aware that you don't intend to do anything until you get a certain time period of results. I think the point is that if you are being unjust, there is no point in waiting a certain period of time to see how well the injustice pays.

I'm also aware that the laws don't apply to someone who someone who fails to yield, but there are many offenses that many people aren't aware constitute as reckless driving, or offenses that are considered "reckless" that even the most defensive of drivers can make from time to time. I think "no-mercy" fees are a slippery slope for revenue.

Laws should be in place to protect and serve motorists and residents of the Commonwealth, not solely to generate revenue and make it impossible for some people to drive.

Thank you for your response and I look forward to the governor's quick and decisive response to this issue.

Martin
----

ahh well, at least i feel better now. on to friday part B!

martin

thursday morning thoughts

2007-07-26T08:00:00.000-04:00

i will say, even as an SUV driver, i appreciated this bumper sticker i saw in our parking garage the other day:

warped tour was awesome yesterday. i'll post pics and write about it soon. for now, enjoy this shot from new found glory!

martin

blood diamonds and jeep drama

2007-07-25T09:21:00.000-04:00

so i've been waiting patiently for my jeep top to arrive since last wednesday night. like clockwork with these sort of things, i log in last night to track my order which should have arrived yesterday to find that my card was declined. Quadratech (and i'm not going to link to their site, cause all that is going to do is make Google think they're more important and give them better ranking in the search results and right now they have yet to amaze me or say they're sorry for what i'm about to explain) declined my credit card for whatever reason and didn't contact me in any way to try and get another form of payment. i just logged in last night (the night after the day it was supposed to have arrived) and it wasn't until then that i realized that absolutely nothing had happened from the time of order to the time it was supposed to have arrived.

super. i've been dodging rainstorms for a week trying to get-by, and for nothing! the dude who i spoke with, was nice and completely un-sales-savvy, and made me lead the entire conversation. we ended up agreeing that it would be shipped today and arrive tomorrow. whatever! i'll believe it when i see it. i'm not even positive this guy had plans to put my order through. it sounded more like he was concerned with whether or not he'd find the an ace of spades in the game of solitaire he had to have been playing.

anyways, i've been enjoying the beginning of my day off. i slept til 9. which was nice, and was able to watch a movie last night because i could sleep in. i watched blood diamond.

the movie was so good. i liked it because i felt like it did a good job of calling up some issues on the topic of conflict diamonds. i think they succeeded in portraying to a very unaware american nation how little we actually seem to know and care about problems in the world like this.

a pretty powerful quote came from the reporter Maddy Bowen, "You might catch a minute of this on CNN somewhere between sports and weather," referring to a refugee camp they came across that was holding millions of displaced African families. seriously, if you haven't seen the movie, or especially been to Africa, that quote still can't mean the same thing. there's just something about seeing the hell some of these people face in their life here on earth to understand how impactful an entire countryside filled with refugee tents really is.

sure, blood diamond is laced with major political themes. if you have to have a gigantic rock to commemorate your engagement, you might want to stay away from this one. it is the super-size me of the diamond industry.

at the same time, good, because how else is our diamond blinded country going to notice the world we're ignoring unless we tape it to the insides of people's eyelids... aka television?

i don't mean to rant... well, yeah i guess i do. it is my blog after all. i think what i do mean to say, is that people need to pay more attention to the whole world, and not just our world.

off to warped tour i go! but not without some quality elevation burger first.

martin

finding the truth in fiction

2007-07-20T07:06:00.000-04:00

here is a conversation i had with a friend yesterday. sometimes it's hard to know what the right answer is in life. sometimes we just need to ask questions. i've tried to omit spoilers

11:39
Rebes: so, one of my friends read the harry potter book already cause some one hacked in and posted it online
and he told me ___ ____!!!

me: when does it come out again?

Rebes: and she ______ my ________ _________!!!
tomorrow

me: haha he's probably messing with you

Rebes: i dunno

11:40
me: is it harry's gf?

Rebes: harry doesnt' have a gf
but it's ___ __ ___’s ____ ________
i love ____! ____ were hysterical
sorry, didn't mean to ruin it for you =p

11:41
me: good thing it's not ___ ______

Rebes: haha, how come?

11:42
___ _____, i believe

me: i have no idea

11:43
Rebes: have no idea why it's good that they don't ____ ____ ______?

me: yeah

11:44
Rebes: ok then
haha
sigh, at least i won't be angry now when i read it
got the anger/disappointment now
and shall hopefully be able to enjoy the book

11:45
me: i'm going to get it tomorrow and read it

11:46
Rebes: don't lie to me
=p

[here’s the real turning point]

11:47
me: there is no harry potter

Rebes: but there is!!
there is harry potter!

me: how can you be sure?

Rebes: i'll let you borrow my copies!!

me: why do bad things happen?

11:48
Rebes: because of voldemort
duh

me: why are there things in life that don't require sorcery?
i can't live in a world without it

Rebes: cause there are muggles
duh
without sorcery?

11:49
well martin, i think you should, you know, give it a try
i'd love to talk through things you don't get

11:50
it can be overwhelming, i had a lot of questions too
like why she stinking ______ ___ ____!!!!
grr

me: God is a she?

Rebes: (serenity now)
=p

11:51
me: what is serenity now
besides a seinfeld episode

Rebes: me calming myself
to explain
haha

11:52
me: oh haha

11:53
Rebes: ah well, i'ts bummer to know all of this stuff
and kind of a bummer that there's no longer any mystery in harry potter to anticipate
life goes on though
there are other joys
haha

me: is harry potter a young book or an old book?

Rebes: what do you mean?

11:55
me: well some people say that jk rowling wrote the book in the last 7,000 years, while some people maintain it's been billions of years in the making. how can we know what's the true answer is?

11:56
Rebes: ...
you didn't let it die did you

me: of course not
i wanna keep going

Rebes: just read them, and you'll understand

11:57
i'll give you a piece of candy!
two pieces?

11:58
me: well i'm interested in learning more
maybe sometime you could take me to a book signing or something

Rebes: sweet!
i'll even let you borrow my copy
haha

11:59
me: it's just, i've been burned by fantasy authors in the past, and i'm just unsure as to why this one is any different, you know?

Rebes: i think you'll find it truly enriching
hahaha
oh man, you do this well

me: how do you know that the fantasy author you choose is the one?

Rebes: haha, well, i have an answer for that for jesus, but not for harry potter

12:01
I can't answer all of your questions martin, but i think your interest is wonderful, and please, let me know if you need any encouragement along the way

12:03
are we done playing?

me: fine
i suppose i'm satisfied

a pretty good wednesday!

2007-07-18T23:01:00.002-04:00

tonight was a crazy busy night, filled with many surprises and random occurrences.

let's start. well, how bout first with Recap Martin's iPod Selections of the Day! today, i was just listening to songs that started with the letter F. i started at "FL" in order to find the Frontline talk on giving (excellent by the way... and if you are trying to listen to something interesting at work, by all means, here are part 1 and part 2 titled "more or less") that i was trying to listen to. from there, it was all downhill.
flake - jack johnson
flake acoustic -jack johnson
flamboyant - big l (a song by an artist i never listen to that i got from the itunes apple students facebook group. now all these songs just litter my shuffle...huge mistake)
flashdance... what a feeling (irene cara... another itunes facebook group delight)
a flat- staind
flat top - goo goo dolls
flavor of the week - american hi-fi
flo - smashmouth
flossin' at lawson - bs 2000
flower tattoo - w's

you get the idea. i quickly got tired of hearing 2-3 versions of the same song (acoustic, live, duplicates due to compilations and actual albums uploaded) so i stopped listening to music altogether.

after work i went to meet up with my friend robbie for dinner. first, a little backstory:

when i bought my jeep, the seller said that the top was on it's way out. naturally, i assumed this meant, proceed with caution, but you've still got a lot of life left. well, sure enough, last week, dave and i are putting it on before a rainstorm after church and part of the front seam tears along the top of the windshield as we attach it. i thought i had solved this problem with a little tape 2 nights ago.

apparently not. i was on the highway driving to the olive garden to meet robbie and all the sudden... BAM! -- the seam along the windshield tore and the front half of the top (the part that covers the driver and passenger) flung backwards. luckily it was still attached along the center roll bar, so it really just looked liked i had a ghetto version of the jeep sunrider top... but perhaps not to those who saw the front strip of vinyl shatter and fling through the air, followed by the huge tan canvas top.

no harm no foul though. got to dinner -- well, actually i dropped the jeep off next door right beforehand at best buy to have my cd player installed while we ate. i put the top down completely so as to avoid the roofing problem for a while.

dinner was great. catching up with robbie was great. i used to work under him last year. he was the director of the youth group i helped out at. we got together to catch up and catching up we did.

after dinner i got my jeep back from best buy and christened the new cd player with the new Muse cd. hopped into wal-mart really quick, swapped alarm clocks for one that's louder (i have this ridiculous problem where i can't hear the two alarm clocks that i set on both sides of my head... do they make ones for musicians?), got some propel and some haribo gummy bears and i was set for a beautiful night ride home with the top off.

i got almost all the way back and realized i had promised my dad i'd drop by and pick up a few things that i had stored over there. U-turn!

i mainly only had two things to get. a pair of speakers, and a toaster that i had in a box (we are in desperate need of a replacement). man o man did i get more than i bargained for. i ended up bringing home the stuff i came for, along with a stereo receive, turntable, a vcr, and a briefcase full of fireworks. that's another story for another time though.

i think the most important thing i found in my boxes of junk, were these stacks of cd's i totally forgot about. my friend Tom had given me a huge bag of old cd's he didn't want anymore that he was just going to throw out when we moved out of the fairfax house. naturally my pack-rattish self agreed to give them a home, so i just put them away. i was going to use them for some sort of art project cause many of them, i thought, were scratched, though i also thought it would be a waste to just get rid of such a perfect snapshot of our high school and early college days, musically speaking that is.

regardless, i was able to salvage some albums of mine that had gotten mixed up with those... ones i swore i'd lost forever. it was great to be reunited with Dookie after so long.

what DIDN'T i find in that CD bag?

old cd's...

cd-roms for windows 95.

free cd's... (notice the progression of AOL's desperation)

lastly, what old box of stuff is complete without...

that's right! pogs! gooood times. it really was a gold mine.

well, i got the car packed up and headed home. put my bikini top on the jeep and we'll hope for the best with these thunderstorms predicted towards the end of the week. it's a jeep... it'll survive!

to top the night off, as i was walking around to the backyard i stabbed my foot on this nasty little weed that is growing on our back path. it's got thorns like woah. i think it's something like this. i literally have a small puncture wound on my foot from it.

well, i'm up way too late. but there is my wednesday, and i will say, it was most enjoyable!

Martin

the door is pretty stubborn

2007-07-16T22:56:00.000-04:00

ok so i'm slacking slightly. but i'm doing a lot better than i was. i think i went something like 6 months without an entry... i don't know. this is better, no doubt.

so i was at burger king yesterday with my friend Sara (with no "H"... i know having the H or having no H is all the rave these days) and we stumbled upon this pretty hilarious sign on the door:

haha, it still makes me laugh, even just sitting here by myself writing this. it reminds me obviously of only one thing.

so i was listening to stroke 9 today. man whatever happened to them? at first i enjoyed it. it was like a trip back to late high school/early college. and then i got bored of the vacation. i think partly cause i was stressed trying to finish a project at work that took me most of the day, and the songs started sounding the same.

and now it's time for a new feature i'm calling Recap Martin's iPod Selections of the Day!
- stroke 9 (nasty little thoughts)
- sum 41 (does this look infected?)
- ac/dc (back in black)
- incubus (make yourself)

and then there's always the couple hours during the day where i just sit there with my headphones on, but i'm not listening to anything. honestly, i don't know why i do this. i'm either lazy or just want to give off the impression that i'm in my own little world. either way, i sit like this for at least an hour a day.

ok, off to bed for now. so far, i've done nothing i planned on doing tonight. except go running and eat a good meal. though who can argue with that?

night,
martin

last night's show in frederick

2007-07-13T08:39:00.000-04:00

our show last night went really well. we didn't get on the road until 5:30, really. considering all the traffic it's amazing we got to frederick by 6:50. the show went really well. i think we were received well, considering it was a bunch of screamo bands. our good friends aneirin played. they rocked as well.

there's just something awesome about the Christian hardcore scene. it's like a passion about faith and a reliance on God that stands out among the different Christian genres. even though we don't play hardcore music (really... though, our perspectives might be different), i feel like there is a lot to learn about the passion and mission of those behind it. it's a cool thing.

unfortunately i don't have any pics of the other bands, as i didn't even take these (liz, one of our photographers did). however, here are some shots from the show!

back in business?

2007-07-13T00:29:00.001-04:00

well, a co-worker has inspired me to give the frequent blog posting thing another shot. he is very diligent with his blogs and it's actually pretty cool. he explains his purposes for being so good about blogging, and i thought it was actually really cool.

so i told myself, just find one thing to write about per day. it doesn't have to be profound. it doesn't have to be long. it doesn't have to be capitalized correctly (you know me and my lowercases). and, oh yeah, it doesn't have to be long. i like that one.

so tonight i'm just writing about how i'm going to start blogging again.

also, i tried the big n' tasty at mcdonald's tonight for the first time (no mayo or pickles, of course!). kinda crazy. it was like a quarter pounder with lettuce and tomato - so i felt like i was sort of eating healthy. though this fallible logic infers that something as minuscule as turning on an extra light while reading might causing me to feel better about giving a Harry Potter book a chance.

it's just not reality.

on that note, it's bed time!
martin

a universal truth

2007-03-13T01:19:00.000-04:00

i understand what you mean. you're talking to the king of nostalgia. i often think about my life through college, and how i have already started to miss it. i definitely understand the feeling of "i guess thats just the way things are now." i don't think i've ever fully understood the meaning of 'its all downhill from here' until now. it seems life accelerates with every year. hopefully for me i'll be able to take a photo, or write at least one more journal entry before it disappears.

life happens the way it does for a reason. there is a reason people meet. there is a reason people date. there is a reason everyone is where they are now. bask in the joy of the Father and His plan, and know that He is in control of the relationships we are currently pouring into. keep seeking Him, and He will make his intentions clear. (or not!) but either way, you'll never be forsaken if you trust.

there's my vague, nostalgicish reply. i'm glad you enjoyed mexico. it really was one of the best things i've ever done in my life.

really.

martin

-an excerpt from a letter to a friend-

2007-03-07T01:50:00.000-05:00

its been such a long day. sometimes i wonder if this is what the next (x) years will be like. with music, music, media endeavors, friends, music, and bible study/church taking up all of my free time, its no wonder i'm always busy/tired after throwing in another 45 hours a week at a job!

despite my overtaxed schedule, i suppose i need to continue to press on! in fact, "I've got my eye on the goal, where God is beckoning us onward—to Jesus. I'm off and running, and I'm not turning back." (phil 3:14). perhaps that's a bit of an easier said than done type thing. nonetheless, i gotta try.

the holiday hipster track is complete. and it is 2am, and i have to wake up at 6:30am, and i am done now.

2007-02-27T00:31:00.000-05:00

life is hard.