Marching, frolicking, and football

My friend Claire works as a physical trainer at Sycamore High School in Pleasantview, about 30 minutes north of my house. As part of her job, she has to be on the sideline at all War Eagle football games, leaving her fall Friday nights completely booked. Kind of a sucky way to spend the greatest season of the year, right?

So, I've decided that I'm going to be a SHS super fan this year. I've gone to both home games so far this season, and it has been quite the experience getting back to high school athletics.

Now I love watching football, and there have been some great plays made in those two games; but my favorite part, as with all amateur skirmishes, is all the extra little things that make a sporting event an event.

There's the fans, obviously, including the over-invested parents, students who are just there because there's nothing else to do in Pleasantview on a Friday night, and the people you're not sure why they're even there (like me). Each of these groups serve a distinct purpose in creating the classic small town high school atmosphere.

Next are the cheerleaders. Over time I have become somewhat of a connoisseur of high school cheerleaders, and the War Eagle Cheer Team is actually quite effective in today's terms. They have energy, they can do a bit of tumbling and gymnastics, and they've got rhythm. That's all I ask for at this point, as my standards have become progressively lower as more and more of the best cheerleaders are choosing sports and dance instead. Not that that's a bad thing, just an observation.

And finally, my favorite piece of the puzzle: the marching band. Maybe it's because I had three sisters and dozens of friends who participated in the band, but I think the band can make or break the whole experience. Needless to say, the Sycamore band is something to behold.

They have performed the same disco medley at both half times, and I have to give them credit for having the guts to go out there for how obviously unprepared they were last week. I think my favorite part is when the flag girls twirl replica Civil War muskets while playing "Play That Funky Music". This week, the band was much better musically, but their flag girls were probably the worst I have ever seen. So incredibly awful it can't be described, so I won't even try.

This week's halftime show also featured the opposing team's band, a school I never did catch the name of. These guys were more of a frolicking band than a marching band, playing music that featured multiple solos and movements. Their presentation included some of the best flag twirling I have ever seen, switching between brightly colored banners and sequined batons like pros.

All in all, it was one of the starkest contrasts I've ever seen. And the other school went first. It was like U2 opening for Milli Vanilli. Definitely worth the drive out there, and definitely a fun enough experience to keep me coming back.

And it's finally looking like it's going to cool down in Tennessee, and you know what that means: sweatshirts and stocking caps. Yay!

Is this really necessary?

It is becoming easier and easier to achieve your 15 minutes of fame these days, or at least to get the sensation of those 15 minutes without actually making any real impact.

Enter the iReporters. CNN.com began a project at some point in the last year that allows every day people to report the news as they see it. This has led to some "awesome" "stories", like the video of the online astrologer in a tanktop during the California earthquake a couple months ago.

And apparently now it's no longer good enough to get a poll to find out how the public is reacting to politics; the poll is augmented by and sometimes foregone for the personal views of anyone who thinks their opinion is worthy of the internet. This results in a bunch of extremist crazies submitting back-and-forth attacks and going nowhere.

Is all this self-expression really necessary? Really?

Then again, I'm writing my opinion in the same medium...

Since when did Penn Jillette's opinion matter?

This was the first thought that ran through my head when I saw this article on cnn.com this evening:

Penn Jillette: U.S. doesn't need a great leader

And then I read the article and, surprisingly, he had some good things to say. He presents his point in a very self-deprecating way, the gist of it being candidates are all talking about how much they're going to do for us and how that's not what makes a good president.

I couldn't agree more. The presidential race seems more and more about what the candidates are going to do for you, how they're going to make your life better, how they're going to put more money in your pocket. All these promises sound great, even if we all know that very few of them will actually come true. Who wouldn't want universal healthcare? Lower gas prices? Increased governemtn aid programs? Etc, etc, etc...

But is a system of handouts and free passes really best for the future of the country? Will universal healthcare really improve the health of the country, or will it just create a greater gap between the haves and the have-nots, with long waits and poor care at government facilities juxtaposed against the sterile, segregated, private hospitals?

I'm not saying that is how universal healthcare would end up, but it is just one example of the kind of issue that I think people can get blindly excited about without thinking past the immediate benefit. And it is these voters who can't see past the present, acting on what sounds good and will benefit them now rather what is best for the future of this nation, that scare me the most in this election. They will get distracted by flashy smiles, puffed-up rhetoric, and reformation-era plans from both parties and will miss the issues that matter most to our long-term survival.

I generally think picking a candidate is going to come down to the lesser of two (or three) evils; there will always be things to disagree on. I just hope I can decide this election's lesser evil before November rolls around.

I could write pages and pages on how I think the current generation is spoon-fed too much, how we are being babied by our parents well into our 20s, how we are given such a false sense of entitlement to the luxuries of life that we can't comprehend what it means to sacrifice. And it's becoming more and more apparent to me the older I get. But that'd be a book in and of itself, so I'll leave that alone. For now.

Stryker's Most Wanted

Can I just say how much I'm looking forward to fall? I've decided it is far and away my favorite season (especially when it's in MN, but that's another story). I can't wait to start layering. Granted I try to get away with this during the dog days of summer too, but it's just not the same. Not even close. Bring on the 40s, I say!

I am beginning to see the fruits of my labor more and more at work. One important aspect of my job is to kind of a perpetual audit of every use of our songs, whether that's comparing album sales units to what the label has paid, making sure we get paid the right rate on a ringtone sale, or contacting people who use our songs without paying in order to collect what the money that rightfully belongs to our clients.

This is generally a long process, and it can take months and years to resolve a single issue. While I have seen these issues come and go over the last year, I am starting to find a groove in the whole process and, in turn, am resolving issues more consistently and efficiently. It's one of my favorite feelings at work when I get a check for one of our writers they wouldn't have seen if not for my efforts.

In order to spur this process along and keep the outstanding issues fresh in my mind, I have created a list and taped it to my office door titled "Stryker's Most Wanted" (Yes, my work nickname is Stryker... long story, but it's on my business cards now so it's gonna stick). And today I got to cross an item off for the first time. Hopefully by the end of the week I can get another one off. Just one of the little things that make it all worth while.


Apparently some of my friends have banded together for a birthday present for me. I have no idea what it is, but I'm more than mildly intrigued by what it is. Guess I'll find out soon enough.

Enough chatting about nothing; I'm going to get back to one of the greatest films ever made, The Godfather Part II. Soo good....

Putting the "Labor" in Labor Day Weekend

Ah, what a weekend.

A couple days after I bought my house, my dad and I realized I was going to need to do some siding work. Well, three months later, it's finally done.

I spent most of the last three days working on my house (and, consequently, my tan). With a lot of help from my friends (I owe Lee more than the free food from this weekend), we were able to replace the siding on the front and right sides of the house. Here's a bit of before and after fun:

Before


Between


After


Before



After (I've got one more piece to put in above the french doors, that's what that line is)


Before


After


Before


Between

After




So, as you can see, we've made quite a bit of progress. On tap for this week is renting a power washer and cleaning off the whole house so I can paint it next weekend. Current color of choice is going to be something in the olive green family, likely a shade lighter than my kitchen and with white trim. I can't imagine what it's going to look like when I'm done with that... crazy.

Additionally, I had a fun little discovery this weekend too. I was taking the exterior insulation off of the interior of my family room (if you don't know what I'm taking about, look back at the pictures of the interior siding that came with the house), fully expecting to find plywood behind it. Instead, I found this:



They're vertical planks that look like they are original with the house. The picture doesn't really do justice to the potential this wall has. Where I had planned on putting sheetrock, I will now be at least trying to stain and preserve the wall as a fun little diversion from the rest of the house.

And finally, nature is now enjoying the fruits of my labor:



Precious.

Progress and Plants

Well, just one plant actually: Robert Plant.

I got to see Plant and Allsion Krauss perform Saturday night at the Somet, and they did not disappoint. They played for two hours and it felt like 10 minutes, the music was just so well done. That all came after seeing The Dark Knight in IMAX that morning (so incredibly good, I kind of want to go see it again this week). That's what I call a great day!

Here's pictures of my bathroom vanity and my project of yesterday










Operation: Closet Clean Up

Here's what the laundry room/my walk-in closet used to look like:



And this is what my room looked like:



Then, this happened:



And then, this:



Leaving this:



Also, my room closet has been reorganized, starting with this:

It's been a long time coming...

...It's going to be a long time gone.

6 weeks later, and I'm not sure where to start.

First, I'm in! Tim and I moved in the second weekend of June, so I guess it's been 5 weeks now. During that time I have worked on finishing up the kitchen and hallway, and have now moved into the hall bathroom for a quick face lift. Here's where we stand today:

Kitchen

Here's the installed dishwasher. The drawers are now on the cabinets too, but I don't have a picture of that yet. You can also see the sink I installed.


The aforementioned sink installation. One of my finest moments.


Wainscoating is up in the kitchen and dining room, and I got this great dining table at Southeastern Salvage. Also note the new light.


Wainscoating under the breakfast bar.


My new range! It still looks like this a month after installation; I've been putting off installing the other wall cabinets for some reason.


Note the finished wainscoating, as well as the new light (which I'm still not sure I'm thrilled about...)


The new fridge


This is what the trim looks like around the hall bedroom doors


This picture is both to show you the new trim in the hall and to give you a frame of reference for the next picture...

Hall Bathroom


This is what the bathroom looks like now! This was my project for this past weekend. I still need to do trim and install the the vanity, but we're getting close.





My Bathroom


Here's the other project from tonight. We now have a mirror in the house.

Rest of the house


Bookshelves built and temporarily housed in the living room


Tim's room


Laundry


My bedroom


New furniture in the living room

All right, that about does it! Now that we have cable and internet hooked up, I will hopefully have an easier time finding time to update this thing... I guess we'll see.