Archive for March, 2011
Blog updates
March 31, 2011
So, over the past several weeks (if you haven’t noticed), there have been significant updates made on our blog. I suppose that now’s as good a time as any to draw attention to them.
- First of all, the layout/theme has been completely revamped. (in the words of Mr. Dodson) wehllllp, ohhhviously! Which includes a Featured Posts banner above. (Again)wehllllp, ohhhviously!
- We’ve implemented Google FriendConnect off to the right (as most of you Blogspot bloggers are familiar with). So, please, “Join” the site off to the right. It’ll take you 3.2 seconds. Do it… Do it, do it, do it!!!
- Also, I’ve thrown in an About Us blurb out the right. I’ve found that when I visit a blog for the first time, wanna know the basics about the blogger first and foremost. The About page itself has (finally) been updated. We hadn’t touched it since we launched in 2009, and a lot has changed since.
- I’ve created a Video Gallery page that has all of the videos we’ve used in our posts. It’s fun to go back and watch a clip or two. That’s available up at the top. (As an added bonus, there’s a new video in there that hasn’t been posted on the blog. It’s music video I made back in 2004 about me and my friends)
- And the final feature we have, is mentioned in the conversation below:
Luis: Oh, and we have a new polls plugin that we can use to run polls if we want to.
Natalia: Oh okay… so like “poll” dancing, got it.
Maybe you didn’t laugh, but I sure did.
Ode to April Fool’s
March 31, 2011
Truth be told, I’ve never been too much a fan of April Fool’s Day. The idea of being tricked and made a FOOL just wasn’t appealing… for some reason.
But, there has been one April Fool’s Day that I will forever remember. (Seeing how this post is about April Fool’s Day, and/or that you may personally know Cody & Larkin, I know you know how this all ends up).
Four years ago, it was General Conference weekend (as it happens to be this weekend), and our friends Cody & Larkin had gone out of town. The rumor mill was churning and everyone knew that Cody was set to propose to Larkin that weekend. So you can imagine our surprise when they returned sad and distant.
Here’s how things went down:
No, I’m not a fan of April Fool’s Day, but each April First, I will undoubtedly remember that Sunday evening back in 2007, with some sort of goofy smile. Good times.
Have a good (and SAFE) April Fool’s Day tomorrow!
If you’re interested in watching the complete episode (which includes more about Cody & Larkin’s relationship, and a hilarious proposal re-enactment where Billy plays Cody, Larkin, Larkin’s mom, and Larkin’s dad) here it is.
Nuggets & Pebbles
March 30, 2011
Natalia has a tendency of sometimes getting grossed out by my oddities. This was one of those moments.
I decided to have this combo for dinner tonight:
Mind you, I didn’t eat them at the same time. I had some nuggets, was still hungry, and decided on a bowl of pebbles.
I looked at what I was eating and said, “What am I… Five!?”
Natalia: For the record, I had neither of these disgusting things. I woke up yesterday with a sore throat, which hasn’t gone away. My angel/friend Suzy offered to bring me some soup for dinner tonight and it was absolutely delicious (not to mention nutritious). She had brought enough for both me and Luis, but I decided to be selfish and keep Luis’ portion for my lunch tomorrow.
The Value of… Guy Friends
March 30, 2011
Yesterday, I read this very enlightening blog post about the importance of women needing other women in their lives: as friends, as support, as inspiration– all of which I am in complete agreement. As I was reading the post though, I was thinking about how women don’t corner the market on needing each other.
Here’s part of my (lengthy) response:
Luis: On that same vein, I also believe that men need other men. Maybe not for the same exact reasons women need women, but for me, there’s something awesome about bonding and connecting with “the guys”. Being in Las Vegas, and not having a circle of guy friends like I had in Provo has been pretty difficult.
It’s true, and it’s not something I like to bring out in the open very much. But the lack of real friends here has been quite rough on me.
- I miss being constantly pestered by Spencer
- I miss hanging out with Brent and Kelvin in the UVU cafeteria
- I miss playing Smash with Cody, Billy, and Daniel
- I miss the various eating-outings (specifically at Chili’s)
- I miss the EFY trips with my high school buddies
Don’t get me at all wrong… I love Natalia, and I absolutely love the little life we’ve built. Being apart from friends has given us an opportunity to grow together, and lean on each other in a way that we would have never had if we’d stayed in Provo. She’s my rock– my everything.
But, I’ve always thrived on the friendships around me. It’s a necessity for me. It’s part of the reason I created Toaster Strudel Tuesday back in my singles ward. It’s why I’ve loved pouring hours of my personal time into producing THE PLACE. It’s part of who and what I am.
And yes, there are a handful of people in here in Vegas that we are somewhat close to, which I SO appreciate, but not having that Buddy friendship hasn’t been easy for me. I often feel like I don’t fit in with other guys at church. I don’t have a great job that supports my family.. I don’t like sports.. I didn’t serve a mission.. I don’t play basketball.. I will be staying at home taking care of our child.. It’s hard to feel like I have a place.
Which brings me to the 2nd half of my reply:
Luis: Sometimes, it seems, this need for guy-bonding is overlooked when it comes to Mormon culture. Women are encouraged to befriend and support one another (Visiting teaching). In my ward, there’s a RS activity about every month where the women get together, no kids, no husbands, no men– and connect.
In the year I’ve lived here, there’s only been 1 EQ activity, and wives and kids were included. The only thing there is for men to do together is basketball on a Wednesday night– but if you don’t play or aren’t a fan of sports, where does that leave you!?
Outside of that, it doesn’t seem men are ever encouraged to interact with each other.
Is that not the truth? Aren’t male-to-male relationships within Mormon culture treated differently than female-to-female?
Am I envious of the organized interaction women get to have with one another both inside (Visiting teaching, Relief Society) and outside (Mommy play groups, “lunch with the girls”) of the church? … I’m kind of embarrassed to admit it, but yes.
The bottom line: friendship is vital to our human existence. For some, the need for friendship can be tiny, and for others, it can be quite a lofty necessity… but we all need Friends.. male, or female, single, or married, parents or childless.
OTX: Ugly Betty
March 29, 2011
I recognize that most of our readers haven’t ever seen Ugly Betty much less, are actually fans. But since it is one of Natalia’s and my favorite TV shows (and is special to us as a couple because we have always watched it together), I decided to start off the whole Opening Titles Examined feature with it.
Starting about 20 years ago, opening titles started getting shorter and shorter. The standard opening for a 30-minute show was around 45 seconds, and for a 60-minute show, about 1 minute. Nowadays, openings are as short as 12, 6, or even 3 seconds. The opening titles for Ugly Betty have always been 12 seconds. Here it is:
Though I love the theme music, and its style… the dang thing is way too short. I want more! I am grateful it wasn’t 6, or even 3 seconds though. Throughout its 4 seasons, the titles never changed, (which, I’m not a fan of).
How difficult would it have been to make something like THIS (the video below) into a fun title sequence?
AUDIO: What to blog about?
March 28, 2011
I’ve been really wanting to do another audio post, but I’m not sure we have any ideas. Against Natalia’s suggestion that this clip was stupid and lame, I decided to just post it anyway:
Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser.
As you can see… I may, or may NOT have some secret fascination with other people’s blogs. Whose? You’ll never know. … ;)
Natalia: For the record, I had every intention of naming names, but Luis kept covering up my mouth and yelling, “Nooooooooo!”
Any ideas as to what we can Audio (or Video) blog about?
heaven on a plate
March 28, 2011
I haven’t been one for craving sweets lately. But when we went to Claim Jumper on Friday night, I just had to have their Warm English Toffee Cake. A rich brown sugar & date cake nestled in warm toffee sauce with homemade whipped cream and vanilla bean ice cream. Simply put, it was heaven on a plate. So much so, that I gobbled it all up before I thought about taking a picture.
I grew up in a home where table manners were a big deal. You never, ever, ever licked your plate (I always get on Luis’ case when he tries to do it at home). But man oh man was I tempted to pick up this bad boy at the restaurant to lick that delicious sauce off the plate. Don’t worry, I didn’t do it… but I wanted to… really badly.
Luis: Who said I liked to lick my plate? I don’t like to lick my plate! Licking your plate is so uncivilized. I don’t like my plate. I didn’t do it… You didn’t see me do it… Can’t prove anything!!!!!! 0:)
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