I have been and still am incredibly busy, I will make a sweet awesome blog about Colorado and moving sometime in the next 2 weeks. Meanwhile, enjoy this photo of our camping group at our amazing campsite at Moraine Park in Rocky Mountain National Park.
Thanks for understanding
YaBoy
Josh
Tuesday August 5, 2014. Pretty standard day, I watched the Phantom Menace. The worst Star Wars by a long shot. Very little action, poor acting at time, & of course, Jar Jar Binks. Yikes.
On Wednesday the 6th of August I started my morning with a workout. Then headed over to the dentist to get my third crown. This time not gold, so my net worth unfortunately did not go up. Later in the afternoon I headed to work. On my drive I saw spidey was having a joyous day, but was looking a bit thin. I hadn't seen him catch any bugs lately to eat, and quite honestly, I am not sure if he had eaten in a long while. As I began to pick up speed, I realized that spidey was desperate. He must be starving. He had strung a web from his usual side mirror spot, to about half way down my door, enlarging his catch area. He decided to travel a ways down the new web he strung, and I began to pick up speed on the road. I instantly knew this was trouble. That was when he broke off from his large web, and was just hanging on by a thread. He flew through the air, going up and down, up and down, still grasping to his one strand of web. Spidey was flying through the air, and I couldn't keep my eyes off of his body. I just stared at him, thinking, if I slow down now, I will hold up traffic, but the spider I have come to know the last 3 weeks will be safe. Then it was too late. Spidey took flight and was gone. Never to be seen or heard of again. This was by far the saddest day of summer.
Later than night I had a meeting with a lax team, potentially doing some HS coaching this spring. Interesting.... and I watched Episode 2: Attack of the Clones. A movie that was about 100 times better than the Phantom Menace, but still not as good as the original 3 films.
Thursday August 7th was a simple work day, that ended with me playing in the final men's league game of the summer. A good turnout and some quality lax, but I was eager to see Rachel, so I left a bit early and drove straight to Chicago for the night. Rachel and I were both pretty tired so we called it a night shortly after I arrived around 10:45pm.
On Friday August 8th, I was to have my own day in the city of Chicago. Rachel had to unfortunately work, so I started my morning by watching a French foreign film titled The Intouchables and highly recommend it to everyone. The basis of the film is an underprivileged man is applying to jobs just to get some type of paper signed that says he applied. He applies to help take care of a paralyzed man, not even wanting the job, and ends up getting it. The rest of the movie is the building of a great relationship between these 2 men. Great heart felt film. Afterwards I got a little workout in while watching the first hour of 2001: A Space Odyssey, a Stanley Kubrick film that is very very odd. Around 11am I put on my hiking boots, grabbed my camera, and headed out on a 2.6 mile adventure to the heart of the city to meet Rachel for lunch. On my walk over, I took some decent photos and felt like I was back in Europe, photographing any cool looking building or statue. Great memories there. Right before crossing the Chicago River I heard someone call out, "Maluta?" I looked up and there was a friend from college, Napier (pronounced Naper). I had not seen this gentlemen in probably at least 3 years, and found out that he is living in the city and working downtown. What a small world, and good to catch up for a minute. I met Rachel outside her building and we walked over to Millennium Park to have lunch. She snagged some dipping sauces from the lunch room that we enjoyed with some pasta from the night before. We walked around the area and rested in the shade of some trees, enjoying our time together. After about 50 minutes she had to head back and I walked her back and then journeyed the 2.6 miles home, snapping more photos along the way.
After watching another hour of 2001: A Space Odyssey, Rachel's brother and mom arrived and I chatted with them for a bit. Then we took a cab to Howl at the Moon, a dueling piano bar in downtown that I had actually passed on my walk home. We got there pretty early, so we got into the bar and had plenty of choices on where to sit. We were meeting her cousin Amanda there for a party she had won. Luckily, the party and happy hour came with a free buffet and 2 $1 dollar drinks. I ended up enjoying multiple trips to the buffet appetizer line and dined on pulled pork sandwiches, diced up fruit, and some spicy mac & cheese. Although I am pretty sure that spicy mac ended up giving me a little tummy ache that stuck with me the whole night. Rachel eventually got off of work and came over for the party around 6pm.
The Howl at the Moon Bar was super cool and a great atmosphere. All of the musicians who rotated between instruments were super talented, playing guitar, drums, fiddle, singing, and of course piano. The best part of the night by far was when one of the girl musicians busted out the rap / song Look at Me Now by Chris Brown. Here is a video of the now famous girl, Karmin, singing it. I think the girl at Howl at the Moon did an even better job! It was sick! Oh and Rachel she needs to learn this, and I can't wait for it to happen! I would love to see her rap this just like Gambino, and I know she can! When Happy Hour ended around 9pm, we stayed and chatted with another cousin of Rachel's for a bit, then took a cab home with her mom & brother. Once home, I loaded up 2001: A Space Odyseey and watched the last 45 minutes, which was basically just one big trip, and the movie ended. Very strange movie, not sure how I felt about it, but I guess it was pretty great for the 1960s, making it one of the greatest Sci-Fi movies ever. Although I am pretty sure you have to be baked to enjoy it.
Musicians playing at the dueling piano bar, Howl at the Moon
Just like that it was the morning of Saturday August 9th and I was headed back to Naperville to work. After work, I got home and watched the final Star Wars movie, Revenge of the Sith with Beth. This was by far the best movie of the new 3, and ranks pretty close with the original 3. There was so much action, and I loved the character transitions. Anakin becomes Vader and other characters change as well. Great movie!
Afterwards I headed to Manhattan to attend a party at my cousin John's. It was also my first time at his new place, which he has already been at for 2 years. I need to be a better cousin! I had probably 2 or 3 plates of delicious food, from Italian beef to chicken to beans. The party was nice and I was able to pick up a bunch of camping gear from my Uncle John as well. I got a ton of stuff from him and also a ton of knowledge over the past few weeks, so I thank him and my Aunt Chris greatly for all of that! I decided to leave the party after a few hours and headed the short 5 miles down the road to Rachel's, where steak fajitas were being made for dinner. They were delicious, and we were both very tired, so called it an early night again. Are we getting old or what? Going to bed earlier on the weekends... ahh.
On Sunday August 10th I headed home after hanging out for a bit, then cleaned my car inside and out. Mid clean, I decided to buzz my head down to 1/8 of an inch. Just like the old days in grade/middle school. Washing the outside and completely cleaning the inside as well. It was then that I discovered after having this car for 3 years, that there are sweet hidden compartments in my trunk. Check it out. Amazing.
I spent the rest of the day getting excited for my trip coming up, and packed and ordered some more equipment online.
Monday August 11th started with a workout, a trip to the bank, and then a stop at Dicks Sporting Goods, where I ended up purchasing 3 outdoor mess kits, as well as 2 pairs of running shorts. The running shorts are amazingly light, rest above the knee, shoutout to John who bought a pair the week before, and even have mesh inside so I don't have to wear underwear. I bought one blue nike pair and one orange Under Armour pair, both seem amazing. I think it is funny that I am starting to enjoy all of these things that I felt I used to make fun of when I was younger.... Camping, hiking boots, wool socks, short shorts, and the list goes on. Your interests and tastes surely change as you get older. Wow.
Before
After
The packing and compactness of mess kits still impress me. Just take a look above at how much fits into 3 little pots initially. I had soup for dinner in preparation for Colorado, aka there was nothing else to eat, and I ended the night with an ice cream cone and watching the movie Vertigo. An amazing Alfred Hitchcock movie. Perhaps his best. 5/5 for sure. I highly suggest watching this as well.
Also RIP Robin Williams, shouldn't have gone out the way he did, but he was a great actor and comedian. Will surely watch many of his films in the near future.
That is all for this week. I won't be blogging next week as I will be a mile high in Rocky Mountain National Park. Look forward to hearing about potentially 3 concerts and a week of camping in Rocky Mountain and Colorado Springs. The future holds climbing mountains, cutting down stuff with a machete and chopping wood with an ax.
Enjoy the weeks!
Josh
The past week was a busy one.
On Tuesday the 29th of July I had a late night. First getting a bonfire going with Squid, burning the last bag board, & getting some s'mores cooking up in preparation for our weekend ahead. After this bon fire we finally watched Pain and Gain with the Rock and Mark Wahlberg. A movie we have been saying we should watch for the past 3 months. It was pretty good, deserving 4/5 stars since it included a guy's head getting crushed in with weights off the end of a bench bar, although not nearly as much weightlifting as I expected or wanted. After this I was in a movie mood so decided to stay up until about 2 am watching Equilibrium, a Christian Bale film which was set in a futuristic dystopia. It was an ehh okay movie. I would probably give it 2.5 / 5 stars.
Wednesday July 30th began with the return of Spidey, bigger than ever, as I thought he originally had fallen off somewhere. Happy Birthday Brian. That evening on the way home from work, Beth and I both stopped to get gas for $3.27 when everywhere else around was $3.65... what a steal. We had not eaten dinner yet and had a coupon so we stopped to check out this new place called Buffalo Wings & Rings. It turned out to be incredible! There were taps on the tables, and Wednesday night was $1 chicken tender night and wow were the tenders big and juicy. Not only that, but they were not shy with their sauce (what up squid). A plentiful amount of Bourbon BBQ sauce drenched my 5 tenders I ordered, to go along with a Sam Adam's Summer Ale on tap, as well as Onion Rings & Mozzarella sticks. Beth got 3 wings for herself as well. A tasty meal which Squid picked up the bill for. Thanks sister! And Buffalo Wings & Rings, nice job, I will definitely be back one of the days during the week for your amazing specials. Mmm wings & rings. That night I loaded up the movie Rescue Dawn with Christian Bale, a film set during the Vietnam War & entails Bale's survival of a camp that he becomes imprisoned in after crashing his plane. Great story line and plot, as well as character development, I give it 5/5.
On Thursday July 31st, I got my tires rotated on my car, watched another Christian Bale film, Empire of the Sun. At first I thought he wasn't in it, but then recalled the movie was from 1987 and he was the child in the film. He even had the same facial expressions he has today Another war movie, set during WWII with a great story line as well about a young boy who wants to be a pilot while being imprisoned in Japan. 5/5. After Men's League I stayed up late trying to put the full Benet/Hinsdale Lax game on youtube, but Youtube sucks and took away my ability to upload videos over 15 minutes because of a copyright thing with music so that was unsuccessful. Stupid greedy music companies. I stayed up extra late packing my back for Michigan and making 4 CDs for the trip. 3 full of "College Jams" and then a new music CD I made for Rachel to add to her collection!
After heading to bed around 3 am I woke up at 7am to start packing the car for a trip to South Haven, Michigan on August 1st. Happy Birthday John. Beth and I drove over and picked up Rachel at her parent's house in New Lenox. After seeing some renovations being made at the house, we stopped by Jewel and picked up a Mix-a-Rita pack, a Shandy Summer pack, food, & other goodies for the trip up to the Trailer. We listened to the CD I had made for the trip and the ride up was a breeze, hitting barely any traffic. Before we got the Trailer we were sure to hit up Sherman's Ice Cream shop, best in town and in Michigan. We picked up a 1/2 gallon of Blue Moon ice cream for $7.25 to enjoy for the whole weekend instead of going back later to buy 2 cones for the same price. Shout out to YaBoy John for getting us hooked on that blue moon ice cream. We once shared a walk down the pier eating our Blue Moons together. A magical moment in Holland forever kept in memory.
When we got to South Haven, we headed down to the beach right away. The new stairs there are very nice, but I still prefer a little adventure and danger in my life and would rather the old stairs still be the only stairs. The water in Lake Michigan was very calm, Beth and I swam out a ways and had an enjoyable time in both water and sand. We headed back up The Trailer around 5pm and waited 2 hours for my roommate and best friend from college Nolan and my other friend Cam to arrive. We listened to classic Trailer tunes like Trampled by Turtles and Deer Tick while waiting.
I got the coals hot on the grill and then welcomed the boys as they arrived. I grilled up Cheddar Bacon Burgers and Beer Brats. Nolan and I each had probably 2 burgers and 2 brats, very filling. After dinner, we got the bon fire going and listened to all 3 College Jam Cds I made. Bringing back great memories from college and times in both Powell, Estes 205, & College View North. We all had a great time telling stories around the fire and remembering old times we used to have back in the day (3 years out already, wow). We also set up Beth's Tiki torches we had got for her party and they were super cool, adding a luminous glow around yard and trailer. We dined with some blue moon ice cream cones, as well as s'mores around the camp fire. We discovered that we should all make a band named Didgeridoo. And our first hit single would be DidgeridooYou. It's a project in the works, but it is going to be instrumental to the music world when it happens.
After midnight, we grabbed a torch and headed down to the beach. I felt like we were traveling around by torch light way back in the day. As we hung out in the darkness on the beach, looking up at the stars and talking some more, Rachel and I began to wrestle and try to throw each other in the water. Well more of her trying to throw me in and me trying to escape, but it was so fun and we laughed and giggled like little kids having a lovely time. We got back to the trailer after an hour or two and talked a little bit more before heading to bed around 2:45 am. Successful night.
The new morning, Saturday August 2nd, we woke up around 9 and cooked a sausage pizza for breakfast. After this we headed down to the beach for some fun times. We started off with some lacrosse and some swimming. Then Nolan and I began to make a couple of sand castles, which turned into us digging holes. The holes got so big and actually combined into 1 big hole that we decided to bury each other in them. With the help of Cam, Rachel, & Beth, Nolan and I were buried up to our heads. While at the beach we also practiced some handstands, Cam was the best out of all of us, skipped some stones, and even did some yoga. Videos of these to come at a later time!
Around 2 pm we headed back up to The Trailer and Cam & Nolan had to leave. A short visit, but an amazing time with college friends that brought back many memories of us just raiding and jamming every day at college. Loved it.
Potential album covers for the DidgerdooYou hit album:
For dinner that night I grilled up some cheddar brats and we watched The Secret Life of Walter Mitty which was an awesome film. 5/5 for the adventure and traveling life that I so desire! There is a fantastic memorable quote that I someday hope to live by. When a photographer for Life magazine is about to take a photo of the majestic Ghost Cat, he stops and looks at it not in the lens, and lets the moment pass without taking the picture. He then says this when Walter asks if he is going to take the photo, "If I like a moment, for me, personally, I don't like to have the distraction of the camera. I just want to stay in it." An inspirational quote that I hope one day to abide by, since I take way too many photos and videos... always.. After this Rachel, Beth, & I headed down to the beach for the sunset which was very pretty. We came back up, had a small bon fire & ate some s'mores then went inside to watched Star Wars. The first Star Wars, so one of the original good ones!
Sunday August 3rd began how the day before ended. With some Star Wars. We finished watching the first movie, then put on Star Wars: The Empire Strikes Back. After finishing both movies we headed down to the beach for our final day. The beach was very crowded this time, but the water still very calm. I did a bunch of lacrosse tricks, which I was very frustrated while doing, and a Luta Lax Session 4 will be coming out soon. Rachel and I went on a walk down the beach to end the day. We headed back up and packed our bags, saying goodbye to the Trailer, hopefully not for the last time.
On the ride home, we hit a bunch of traffic, in Indiana, the worst state to exist, and it took us about 3 1/2 hours to get to Rachel's place in Chicago. She was nice enough to order us some chinese food for dinner which was super hot and delicious. That night, we put on Star Wars: Return of the Jedi on the big screen, which was incredibly larger and clearer than the 15" tv we were watching on in Michigan. After the movie, Beth and I drove back to Naperville and both had incredible fortunes from our Chinese fortune cookies. Mine was, "The only good is knowledge and the only evil is ignorance." With lucky #30. Beth's was some Journalism Newspaper chinese symbol thing and had lucky #19. Insane!
Also, Spidey survived the trip out to Michigan, and the trip home. What a trooper. Look at him basking in all his glory. Next stop for him is the Rocky Mountains. Long Live Spidey! LLS!
Monday August 4th started off fantastic. I drove over to Auntie Wanda's in Downers Grove for a delicious feast of a breakfast like usual. Beth was there and my Aunt Ruth stopped by as well. Bob and Jane, some distant relatives also stopped by and Bob made a good point about how you can always learn new things from watching others or working with them. I like this motto, always learning. I went to work and that night started my workouts. I decided to attempt to get 33 workouts in in the next 11 days. 3 a days have begun. I watched Out of the Furnace, the final movie of my Christian Bale kick. This movie looked amazing in the previews, but the first hour was rather boring, although the last hour was very good. I give it a 4/5.
That is the end to an amazing week with old friends. Many videos to be made, but not sure I will have time before Colorado in 11 days.
Learn something new!
YaBoy is out!
Josh