I knew it!

I always suspected my fruit watch TV and drank beer while slept. This is a pretty unusual blog - Bent Objects.

Tempted By The Fruit

I stumbled upon this great photo by Mark Laita. Reminds me of Adam & Eve and the tale of the serpent. It is truly a stunning photo.

Candy Memories

I was just flipping through the channels and saw a show that shows how candy is made. Featured: candy buttons. Am I the only one who loved these? I know you ended up eating a lot of paper, but they were fun.

Any other favorite candies from your childhood?

Pizza, Weather & Movies At Your Fingertips from Google

Now this may be something everyone is using and heard of but me, but I just came across this a few weeks ago and figured I would share. Google has a great feature where you can get info just by sending a text message. So I've used this a few times lately and it is great. You can get an answer to most questions by sending Google a text message (sms). To do it, simply send a message to 466453 (G-O-O-G-L-E).

Here are some example of what you can do:

• definition zenith (returns the definition of zenith)
• weather 80202 (returns the weather conditions for the zip code 80202)
• score Colorado Rockies (returns the score for the Colorado Rockies game)
• movies 80005 (returns list of movies playing, you choose the movie and it returns movie times)
• translate hello in german (returns the word hello in german, 'hallo')
• stock goog (returns stock quote for 'GOOG')
• 5 gallons in liters (returns conversion results)

There are a lot of other cool things that you can do with it. For more information, and an interactive demo check out Google's web page on the subject here.

Now some really cool ones:

• pizza 80202 (returns pizza parlors in/near zip 80202)
• aa 2111 (returns flight status for American Airlines flight 2111)
• price ipod player 40gb (returns product pricing for an ipod 40gb nan0 of $124.50 and where product can be purchased)
• Madonna birthday (returns date of Madonna birthday 8/16/1958)

Now remember, text message rates apply - so if you are charged per text or your plan is limited be careful.
And why not just use my mobile browser? I hate to say it, but this is 1,000 times quicker. Thanks Google.

Who Doesn't Like Hugs?

Visit www.freehugscampaign.org for more information. Fairly interesting.

This kid is pretty damn funny

Bo Burnham is only seventeen, and is probably one of the funniest comedic singers I have ever heard. Check out his myspace at www.myspace.com/boburnham . More videos of him at www.youtube.com/user/boburnham

YouTube Gets Personal

YouTube launched a new beta this week, which allows you to customize your homepage. It still has the same look and feel, but allows you to move the modules around on the page, so you can keep what is most important on top where you want it. I have two favorite modules I can now keep on top.

The first is recommendations, in which YouTube provides you an algorithmically-selected set of videos based on your viewing history. I personally find to think this is too scientific. I like to think magical fairies watch the videos I liked in the past and then pull videos off the shelf to upload them to my homepage. It just sounds warmer.

The second is subscriptions. I subscribe to all things Marie Digby. She is an amazing singer I am stalking, so I like to know what she has done in an instant. Is stalking illegal?

The goal with all of this is to gauge people’s interest in having a YouTube. What I like best about the beta is that YouTube, along with many other social networking sites, has accepted that everyone is an individual and cannot create a single homepage for all users. Everyone interacts with a social networking sites differently, so why not let us decide where we want each module. This way, we can click and scroll less. A win/win. We set up the homepage the way we like and we spend more time on YouTube.

Check out the beta by clicking this link.

This is how my friend Sara sees Heaven

Obi-Konobe? This is funny.

Star Wars according to a 3 year old.

It's Like When You Spin In Circles...

...when you are a kid so you get all dizzy and fall down.

T.G.I. Fridays Has Some New Competition

Inappropriate & Tasteless

Okay, this is a bit inappropriate and a bit tasteless (no pun intended), but aren't inappropriate and tasteless fun sometimes.

This would never air on American TV.

Is it weird?

That I took today off and spent about 4 hours working on odds, ends, emails, answering IMs, phone calls from staff, etc. For some reason, it never seems like work. Maybe that is the sign that you like your job a lot and the people you work with.

The Last of the Great Entertainers

Last night Dale and I went to the Pepsi Center to see the last of the great entertainers, Billy Joel. He put on a fairly amazing concert and played for 2 1/2 hours straight. He played all of his old hits, which I love and did everyone at the Pepsi Center. The fans loved him.

What I loved best about the show was not just the music, but how he truly entertains. Most concerts today are just about special effects and music. The singer never talks to the group about themselves, the songs or anything.

Billy's Take On Special Effects:

"Well folks those are the special effects. The piano faces this way. The piano faces that way. Just trying to keep the ticket prices down."

Honestly, the piano would spin slowly from time to time so he faced left for 1/2 the show and right for the other half. Throw in some lighting and that was it. Him, the band and a piano. It was great.

Billy's Take on Music Today:

"The music industry is in the shitter."

He is right.

What I really found funny was that Billy treats his concerts as if he goes to concerts and even makes fun of himself.

Billy's Comments Throughout the Show:

"Good evening, I am Billy Joel's father. Billy couldn't make it. He is at home combing his hair." He laughs. "I know you are all thinking, oh my God. Look how old Billy Joel is. What happened to all his hair? Look at him!"

"Thank you for buying tickets to tonight's show. I need the money. My car insurance is expensive."

"If you are going to go to the bathroom, wait until the next song. It is a good song to go have a pee break."

"This song was written for my first ex-wife. Yes, they all get songs and they all divorce me."

It was a fun concert, but it was great to see the old Billy (and when I say old, I mean former) back. The Billy full of life. The funny Billy. The Billy who makes great music.

For me, Billy is like comfort food for me. He makes me feel good. He reminds me of great times, like the first time I heard Piano Man drunk in a bar with all my friends. He reminds me of my Mom, who loved his music. He reminds me of New York and where I came from. He reminds me of that anyone can be someone.

Best of all, Dale who does not like concerts, does not really follow music and who does not know many of Billy Joel's songs - loved the show too.

Thanks Billy. Sing us the song, your the piano man, sing us a song tonight!

I Love Brilliant Advertising

Leap Day Is A Bust

Okay, it is now almost 9:30 AM and Leap Day has been a complete bust so far.

What is with this holiday this year? Has everyone lost their Leap Day spirit? What is next, no Arbor Day?

Here is how the day has gone wrong so far:

• I ran downstairs in my pajamas this morning and there were NO gifts under the Leap Day tree. Way to go Dale!
• I turned on the TV and could not find the Leap Day Parade on any of the major networks. Maybe Bravo or Oxygen is carrying it this year?
• I checked the backyard and the Leap Day Frog did not leave me any eggs or other goodies with candy inside.
• None of the neighbors have their Leap Day flags up. What the hell? Don't they care about the holidays?
• For some reason, Dale has NOT started on cooking the traditional Leap Day Dinner of frog legs and tator tots. They day is going to be ruined.
• For some reason the banks, schools and Post Office are still open. Hello! Don't we take these days off???

All I have to say, is when I get dressed up tonight in my Leap Frog costume and go door to door, the neighbors better have candy for me.

Happy Leap Day! For what ever it is worse. I hope you are at least doing something Leap Day-ish where you are.

We are headed to see Billy Joel in concert tonight

I will let you know how the concert is tomorrow. I am excited. The Piano Man rocks!

In-Flight Movies & Head Bobbing

I am emailing this entry from my Blackberry plane from Newark to Denver. I will plan to send once we land.

The first movie today was Mr. Magorium's Wonder Emporium. I love Natalie Portman and like Dustin Hoffman but passed the Willy Wonka-esque tale in favor of sleep. I woke up at the credits, but the movie looked stupid to me from previews so I think I probably made the right decision.

I did watch the second movie which was Dan in Real Life with Steve Carrell. I love him and had wanted to see this movie even though I did not do well in theaters or with critics. The movie was great. Carrell was brilliant in a more serious role of a loving, but flawed father who is widowed and is raising three daughters. The movie centers on him finding love again but with an unexpected person. His brother's new girlfriend Marie. The only criticism I saw in the movie was the casting of Marie. She was played by Juliette Binoche (not sure of spelling, sorry) and did not have the right chemistry with Carrell if you ask me. Carrell did however have great chemistry with the three young actresses who played his daughters. The movie was worth watching and I am glad I did.

On a side note, my travel companion Laura Ling has been asleep the entire flight. Her head has honestly been bobbing as she drifts in and out of sleep. It is truly funny to watch (sorry Laura). I know I do the exact same thing, so that is why it is funny.

Okay time to land and head to work.

Sometimes You Can Go Home

One of my favorite things about the company I work, Indigio, is that on occasion I have the opportunity to interact and meet with clients. Although this is usually handled by two brilliant Indigians, Becki Dilworth our Vice President of Client Services and Laura Ling our Director of Client Services, every once in a while I get to take off my operations hat (which I do love) and get to talk to clients about strategy, goals and growing their online channel. This week was one of those opportunities. I got to go back to my marketing roots and spend a few days at Avis Budget Group in New Jersey.

For those who do not know, Avis Budget Group, in particular Budget Truck Rental holds a special place in my heart since it is my former stomping ground and was my home before I came to Indigio. I was at Budget Truck Rental for nearly five years as a Revenue Manager and eventually the Internet Marketing Manager. It was in that role of Internet Marketing Manager that I first had the opportunity to work with Indigio on http://www.budgettruck.com/ and grow my knowledge of Internet marketing. My love of online marketing and crush on Indigio, eventually lead to me to change companies and make Indigio my new home.

However, in many ways, it feels like I have never left Budget Truck Rental since for the past two years I have remained actively involved in Avis Budget Group. I realize that most people never get this opportunity and I realize how fortunate I am. Usually when you leave a company your relationship with that company ends. All the work you did for that company becomes a distant memory. For me, this did not happen as I was allowed to remain an influence on http://www.budgetruck.com/ through my work at Indigio. For that, I am thankful.

I am also thankful for the Marketing Teams at Budget Truck Rental and Budget Rent A Car as they always treat Indigio as a partner in their online success, not simply a vendor. They look to Indigio for not only tactical support, but also strategic support. It is great to see a company, like Avis Budget Group embrace another company, like Indigio and make us feel like a part of the Team. It truly makes our jobs so much more rewarding.

“There’s nothing half so pleasant as coming home again.” - Margaret Elizabeth Sangster

But it was us, baby, who were the lucky ones

Tonight I headed into NYC to see the Broadway musical Rent. For regular readers of my blog, you will know I am a lover of Rent. Tonight was not the best cast, but you could tell for most of the cast, they were living their dream and that was very touching. Since the show is closing June 1, 2008, this was probably my last opportunity to see the show. That made it especially touching to me, as Rent was the first Broadway musical I ever saw and started me on my path of loving musicals.

Even through overall the cast was not the best, there were two actors who amazed me tonight:

Tamyra Gray, from Season 1 of American Idol fame was in the lead role of Mimi. I have seen the show 30+ times (yes, I am a musical queen, okay) and even saw the show with the original cast, which in the role of Mimi was Daphne Rubin-Vega, who I adore. No disrespect to Daphne, but Tamyra was superb and stole the show. She was the best Mimi I have ever seen, as she truly brought the sexuality and damage of Mimi to life. I was amazed as I did not think Tamyra, who seemed squeaky-clean to this point, could pull off the character.

Justin Johnston appeared as Angel. This is a very difficult role as the actor appears in drag most of the show and represents the heart and glue of the entire cast. I have never heard or seen Justin before, but he brought a lot more personality to Angel than I have seen in other productions. Usually, Angel is sweet, caring and soulful. This time, she/he was all those things, but also funny too. It was a great addition to the character. I was extremely impressed.

So I must bid farewell to Rent and understand its' time has come. To quote Maureen from the show:

You always said how lucky you were that we were all friends. But it was us, baby, who were the lucky ones.

I am lucky to have seen Rent so many times and found the passion in its' message. Thank you Jonathan Larson. You were a genius taken too early from the world.

Sometimes New Is Not So Great

I am in New Jersey. Yes, I New Jersey. Now, I know New Jersey gets a bad wrap. Believe me, I have even said a few less than kind remarks of the State, as I am from New York and New Yorkers mock New Jersey. It is something we are required to do. Not sure why.

Well, since I now live in Colorado, I guess I can now say some nice things about New Jersey. I am here visiting clients and I realize how much of the history of the East coast I miss. Now Colorado has history, but it is not like the East Coast.

Today on the way to dinner we drove past George Washington's Headquarters (photo above) during the Revolutionary War. We also saw a statue dedicated in his honor (photo above). It is amazing how such strong history is wrapped all around you while you are here - from the statues to the houses to the parks.
History is everywhere and I miss that now that I have moved West. I miss the rich history and the fact that everything is not so new.

Another Hilarious & Inappropriate Video

This video is Jimmy Kimmels's response to Sarah Silverman and Matt Damon's video. If you did not see that original video, check that out too because they are so damn funny and you will not be disappointed. I now have all new respect for Jimmy Kimmel.

Thanks to John Hill. I found the new video on this blog this AM.

My Opinion of Tonight's Oscars

I need quiet for the next 6 hours!

I will be working for the next 6 hours. I am behind on way too much stuff at work and I am travelling this week to a client in New Jersey, so I need to fit about 60 hours worth of work into 6 hours.

So please be considerate and be quiet. I do not need any distractions. So my apologies to:

Dale - You are free to go crazy in an orgy of home shows on HGTV and TLC.

Millie and Zoe - please scratch your own bellies as Daddy needs to work.

My Twitter Friends - no interesting tweets, please!

Fellow Bloggers - no blog postings from anyone for the next 6 hours.

Rihanna - I am sorry, but I must stop the music and cannot listen to your infectious tunes.

Girl Scout Cookies in the Pantry - you will have to wait until 6:00 PM.

Sun & Warm Weather - I curse you the most, as I crave to be outside.

Elvira - sorry girl, but no topless trips today.

Great New Word Game

Check out TweetWords. It is a great game that combines the fun of word play games like Scrabble and your addiction of Twitter. However, you do not have to be on Twitter or a tweeter to play.

For those unfamiliar with Twitter it is a micro-blogging site that I compare to instant messaging to hundreds or thousands of people all at once.

For those of you unfamiliar with Scrabble, where the hell have you been? You know how to find this blog, but never heard of Scrabble - really? Please stop reading and go to Target and find the game Scrabble. You need to start at square one. The game TweetWords is too advanced for you, sorry.

So back to TweetWords. The basic premise of the game is that each week you are given a challenge to create words. It may be nouns or in the case of this week, it is creating the longest word. Using the basic per letter scoring similar to Scrabble, where each letter has a point value you try to create your five best words each day.

It sounds easy right? Well, the part with Twitter comes in that makes it more challenging. The more popular your word is in the Twitter public time line, the more bonus points you receive. So the more often other people are tweeting a word you enter, the higher your score. For example, “twitter” itself is always a popular word in the Twitter public time line so that would not give a lot of points for the length of a word or the value of each letter, but would give points based on popularity. However, a word like “zygodactylous” would score huge for length and the value of each letter with a “Z” and two “Ys”, but would not be something people commonly tweet about, so it would not score much there.

So who is the mastermind behind this fun game? That is the best part, it was created by one of my genius co-workers at Indigio, Ryan Hadley. He is a Systems Administrator/IT Specialist in our IT Department. He did the whole thing in his spare time based on his love of games and fascination with Twitter. Please do Ryan a solid and check it out. If you like it, play it and share the love by passing it along to your friends.

One of my favorite blogs - Faces in Places

It is a photographic collection of faces found in everyday places. For some reason it just makes me happy, which I know quite honestly will surprise most people, as I am not the "I like happy pictures" kind of guy.

It is fun to see how faces exist, unplanned, all around us. You should all check out Faces in Places. I subscribe to almost 100 blogs (I know crazy, huh), but this is truly one of of the blogs I am excited to see each day, so that says a lot.

My Favorite Song of the Week

Haunted by Sinead O'Connor & Shane MacGowan. This song is truly an exceptional duet. The tenderness of Sinead's voice and the hardness of Shane's voice are amazing together. They create an contradiction, but an incredible balance in a way. Worth a listen.

Plants, Vita-Mix, Tortillas & Over-Sized Sundaes, Oh My.

Dale and I had a nice evening. We joined our friends Mike & Erin who treated us to the Home & Garden Show and dinner.

Now, I like the Home & Garden Show, but Dale LIKES the Home & Garden Show, so we was in heaven as was Erin. Mike and I were both a little overwhelmed after the first 10 rows of cooking pans, mulch and vita-mix. 10 more rows of the same thing was a bit painful, but they set up pretty gardens with plants and water features, so that made it worthwhile. Mike & Erin will soon be landscaping at their new house, so it was good inspiration.

Best of all Dale and I found the vendor that sells lemon white chocolate bread that we love.

After the 12 mile walk at the show, we headed to dinner at BD's Mongolian BBQ. Dale and I love us the mongolian barbecue and it has tortillas and lets us tell our favorite tortilla story about our friend Glenda's family thinking tortillas were heated napkins. The only bad part of BDs is that is can be a bit loud and crowded, but the food is always great. Tonight was no different, we treated ourselves to some over-sized sundaes, so it was all good.

It was a great evening and it is always nice to spend time with Mike & Erin.

I Think The Post Office Likes Me Again

For two weeks in a row my Entertainment Weekly magazine has shown up early on Friday, not the typical Saturday or even worse the dreaded Monday.

Thank you fine folks at the United Postal System, I appreciate your kindness.

Still one of the best songs of all-time

I was listening to Paradise by the Dashboard Light and reminded that it is still one of the best songs ever.

Oops

A Fruedian slip from TV anchor person.

Hug and Hold Onto Everyone You Love

A friend of mine posted on her blog tonight that her sister-in-law passed away today.

It is always hard to hear of such tragedy, especially of a father now being left to raise three boys. It makes you think of your own family, friends and loved ones and makes you want to go hug and hold onto everyone you love. It makes you never want to miss an opportunity to tell those you love, that you love them.

My prayers are with my friend Kath and her family tonight.

My New Favorite Saying...

...is:

It's on like Donkey Kong.

I don't know why I find it funny, but I do. I started saying it the other night and it seems to annoy Dale, but in a fun way. Dale may say otherwise, but I secretly suspect he finds it funny too.

I suggest everyone try to use it at least once per day and if you can say it around Dale, it will be even more fun.

Damn You Gummie Rebellion

Gummie Rebellion
Originally uploaded by DarthLen

Darth Vader: Give yourself to the Dark Side. It is the only way you can save your friends. Yes, your thoughts betray you. Your feelings for them are strong. Especially for... the green gummie. So, you have a twin sister. Your feelings have now betrayed her, too. Obi-Wan was wise to hide her from me. Now his failure is complete. If you will not turn to the Dark Side... then perhaps she will... yum. Your sister is delicious.

This Is How My Head Feels Right Now

If I worked here...

...I would kill myself. Dale had an appointment for a physical today. Getting Dale to visit the Doctor is near impossible so I figured I'd better come too.

This place is so mismanaged.

#1 - One man has been waiting for a cab for 45 minutes. He finally just asked the receptionist to call again and she said, "Oh I forgot to call for you. That is why they are not here yet. My bad!" My bad? No crap. The poor man is 80 and looks very unhappy.

#2 - Some other guy has been waiting an hour. His appointment was at 2:15 PM. He just asked the same receptionist what the delay was for. She said, "Delay? Delay for what? Who are you?". He explained who he was, that his appointment was an hour ago and that SHE checked him in. She said, "Oh, here is your chart. I forgot to put it back there so a nurse knows you are here.". No sorry, no nothing. Poor guy.

#3 - I think one of the Doctors is fixing the copier right now.

#4 - The woman who does the billing has come up front not once, not twice, it three times to scold the two receptionists for not using the right color folders, stapling on the right and my favorite - putting a copy of someone's insurance card in the wrong patient file. You can tell she wants to kick the asses of both receptionists.

#5 - The copier is broken again. I hope they call another Doctor to fix it.

#6 - One Doctor just came out pissed because the receptionists keep paging her and her pager while she is at her desk four feet away.

#7 - Nope the nurses are now fixing the copier.

#8 - The billing woman is back. A lot of discussions about super bills versus bills. I bet super bills fight crimes.

This place is crazy.

Get out of what?

Reasons Why the UPS Store Is Such Damn Fun

We went to the UPS Store tonight so my friend Rob could send his newly purchased skis back home rather than take on the plane with a change over in Chicago.

So oddly enough the UPS Store proved to be more entertaining than the movie we went to see. Why you ask?

#1 - The clerk took the skis, boxed them up and had them ready to ship before ever offering a price. What if Rob said $60 was too high and did not want to ship? Could you imagine if he said, no thanks, please unpack them and remove the 6,000,000 Styrofoam peanuts from the box. Not a good practice if you ask me.

#2 - The man who sat in his car for 10 minutes in the parking lot talking on his cell and came in after us spent all his time drumming his fingers on his box letting us all know how annoyed he was too wait. He honestly did this for 10 minutes straight. My advice: well, Chatty Kathy, if you came in when you got there, you would have been in line before us.

#3 - The place also makes copies and the woman in there when we first arrived kept struggling with the copier. She left her papers on the counter at one point, so out of boredom I looked at them and I kid you not, they were all about alien abduction. The includes aerial maps of abduction scenes in Colorado, plus a letter that started with the sentence, "When I was abducted...". The woman did not look overly crazy, but I am now wondering if she was making something as a joke or if she believes she was actually abducted. I am also now curious if all people who wear yellow Crocs are also victims of alien abductions, since this is what she wore.

#4 - The staff at the UPS Store lacks common sense other than the packaging without first providing a price. On the counter next to all the pens they have a little bamboo plant. On the plant pot there is a note that reads, "I am not a pen...please don't pull me!" and it made me laugh. I laughed enough to take a few pictures with my camera phone. Now, if you keep the plant next to the pens and people are thinking it is a jar of pens, rather than post a note on it, why not move the plant somewhere else. Perhaps to the back counter. Perhaps away from the pens. To take the time to tell people in a note that it is not a pen seems so funny to me. I included the poor quality camera phone pictures.

So the UPS Store is obviously the place to work as you get to meet people who do not like to wait in line, people paranoid of alien abductions and people who confuse pens with bamboo.

Jump Past Jumper

Dale, our friends, Rob & Scott and I went to see the movie Jumper late this afternoon. The movie star's Hayden Christensen of Star Wars fame and Samuel L. Jackson, of, well everyone movie made in the last 10 years, fame. We went in the movie every optimistic, as it has a fairly cool premise.

The basic plot is the story a young man with a genetic anomaly that allows him to teleport himself anywhere. He discovers this gift has existed for centuries and finds himself in a war that has been raging for thousands of years between "Jumpers" and those who have sworn to kill them, "Paladins."

Now, this moving is what I would call underwhelming (I know that is not a word, but it is the right description). The reason why?

• The movie did not offer much of a back story on "Jumpers" or "Paladins"...apparently they just are in a war as Paladins feel it is morally wrong for Jumpers to exist.
• Hayden Christensen is pretty, but not much of an actor and actually sometimes he did not even look that pretty.
• Samuel L. Jackson really is in every movie and with creepy white hair it did not help him in this one. Why does he say yes to ever role offered?
• Diane Lane appeared in the movie but her storyline made no sense and it seems like she filmed a lot of story, but only 6 minutes made it in the movie. Did she lose a bet with someone to appear in this?
• The movie was poorly edited and "jumped" to an ending that made no sense. The movie just seemed to stop (I was in a way thankful, but overall disappointed).
• The teleporting premise is intriguing enough to hold our interest, but the screenwriters never make anything of it, letting the story get increasingly pointless.

So do yourself a favor and just wait for it on DVD or on cable some day when you are bored. If you do not expect much, it will just be a pleasant waste of 88 minutes. Sorry folks.

Happy President's Day

I hope everyone has a great President's Day and takes a few minutes to honor these great men in U.S. history.

Truth will ultimately prevail where there is pains to bring it to light.
- George Washington

The best thing about the future is that it comes one day at a time.
-Abraham Lincoln

Associate yourself with men of good quality if you esteem your own reputation. It is better be alone than in bad company.
- George Washington

Every man is said to have his peculiar ambition. Whether it be true or not, I can say for one that I have no other so great as that of being truly esteemed of my fellow men, by rendering myself worthy of their esteem.
-Abraham Lincoln


It is better to offer no excuse than a bad one.
- George Washington

I do the very best I know how - the very best I can; and I mean to keep on doing so until the end.
-Abraham Lincoln


The foolish and wicked practice of profane cursing and swearing is a vice so mean and low that every person of sense and character detests and despises it.

- George Washington

If you look for the bad in people expecting to find it, you surely will.
-Abraham Lincoln

My Boys

I thought that since I blog about them, everyone would like to see a picture of my friends Rob & Scott.

They are very dear to me. They are always there when I need someone to listen. They were the two that truly helped me deal with my Mom's passing. They understand and love me - faults and all.

Unfortunately, my Mom only had the opportunity to meet Rob and Scott when she was sick with cancer. It worried her a lot that I was single and did not have anyone to share my life with at that point. I had not met Dale yet. My sister, Rachel and my Dad were always very close. Closer to each other than I was to either of them. My Mom knew the cancer would eventually take her life. She worried I would drift from my Sister and Dad once she was gone. My Mom was the glue that held us together. She worried where I would end up. She worried I would be alone.

However, when she met Rob and Scott she instantly felt a bond with them. She even told me that with friends like Rob and Scott she did not need to worry because she knew with them in my life, I would never be alone. I am thankful they were able to bring her that peace. I think it truly helped her.

I also believe that in some way, my Mom lead Dale to me. I know she is the person she hoped for me to find. The person she would be proud I share my life.

Picture Perfect Day

This past Friday, Dale and I took the day off from work (I know shocking, but I did answer email throughout the day) and headed to Estes Park with our friends Rob & Scott.

The weather was beautiful and it was a nice leisurely day of shopping, pizza and spending time with great friends. It was a great day!

Love & Surprises: Valentine's Day Recap

I have been a little behind in my blogging and wanted to give everyone an update on Valentine's Day.

Of course, I had a wonderful Valentine's Day because Dale is in my life and he makes every holiday, day, hour, minute, event and moment wonderful. He always make me feel loved and for that I am blessed.

This year, Dale kicked off the holiday on February 13th with beautiful tulips delivered to me at work. They were beautiful and I am a sucker for flowers. Tulips are also one of my favorites especially this time of year as they remind me that Spring will eventually arrive.

On Valentine's Day, Dale gave me my gift in the morning before we headed out to work, which was Margaet Cho tickets. She is coming to Denver in May and I love her. She is one of my favorite comedians and I could not think of a better gift than spending an evening with Dale laughing. The perfect gift.

That afternoon our friends, Rob and Scott arrived from NYC. Now Valentine's Day is not just about romance, it is about love and all types of loves. I love Rob and Scott as they are my dearest friends, so what better way to celebrate the holiday than with our loving friends. So for dinner, we headed to Bloom which is mine and Dale's favorite restaurant for a nice dinner. It was a splendid dinner that featured some of my favorite things calamari, lobster bisque, ahi tuna and flour-less chocolate cake. If you have not been to Bloom at Flatirons, you are missing out. It is excellent.

Unfortunately, Dale's favorite waiter, Matthew was not working. We always ask to sit in Matthew's section. He is an excellent waiter, gives unparalleled service and for a 30% gratuity flirts shamelessly with Dale, even though he is straight. I am just teasing. He always remembers Dale and I (mostly Dale) and always makes sure we are taken care of (mostly Dale).

So as you can see, it was a great Valentine's Day filled with the love of the man I love and great friends.

Oh and for those wondering what Dale received from me for Valentine's Day - love and a few surprises. The surprises - tropical flowers delivered to the office, a hat from Banana Republic, a polo shirt for Banana Republic, some candies and chocolates.

I hope everyone else had a nice day too.

The Truth About Most Business Hours

business hours
Originally uploaded by mandy_m

Honestly, this is how most businesses should list their hours of operation as it seems to be the reality in many cases.

Definitely, Maybe...I Say Yes to this Love Story, Mystery

This morning Dale and I went to the movies and saw Definitely, Maybe. If you are thinking chick flick, you are right (we are gay men, duh and Ryan Reynolds is hot).

Overall, I loved the movie as it is a story that reminds you that love is complicated, but when right it can be wonderful. For me it was very similar to Love Actually or Notting Hill, which makes sense since it is from the same film makers.

With that said, I will warn you, it is not your typical American movie. The pacing is something you see more in a British film than American film. It is a film that is more character driven than plot driven. It is a film that is warm and loving, but some may confuse this with corny.

Before you rush to see the film, you should know, Dale did not love the movie. He liked it, but found the pacing to be a little slow and the storyline a little complicated. So I would give it 4 out of 5 stars and Dale probably more like 3 out of 5 stars.

Go see this movie, if:

• you liked the film Love Actually
• you find British films enjoyable(even though this movie is 100% American)
• you love stories about love
• you find children who are 11 and the wisest person in the film endearing
• you love Ryan Reynolds and forgive him for National Lampoon's Van Wilder & Blade: Trinity

Here is the basic plot:

The movie opens with Will Hayes (Ryan Reynolds) receiving divorce papers from his wife to sign at his advertising office in New York City. He picks up his 11-year-old daughter, Maya (Abigail Breslin) at school who asks him to tell the story about how he met her mother and how they really fell in love. Will tells Maya the story of meeting her mother as a bedtime story in the form of a puzzle with the names changed so she must figure out which of the three loves of his life became his wife and her mother.

His story begins in 1992 when Will moves to New York City from Madison, Wisconsin, to work on the Clinton presidential campaign. He must leave behind his first love Emily (Elizabeth Banks) who is his college sweetheart. In New York, he meets his second love, April (Isla Fisher) at the campaign office. His third love is Summer (Rachel Weisz) a journalist who writes for the 'New Yorker' magazine.

Maya begins to understand that love is not so simple, but she is able to put all the pieces of his three love stories together and solves the puzzle.

Here is the trailer:

I hate obeying signs too

Originally uploaded by Sameli

What do people do with too much time?

Bleeding
Originally uploaded by bayat

Well I blog. Others make their finger die.

Seeking An Explanation

Can someone please explain to me why people would have Christmas lights up this far into February?

I can understand being too lazy to take them down, but shouldn't that laziness also apply to their ability to turn them on each night.

We saw two houses tonight with their Christmas lights up and on tonight on the way home. Weird.

One of the greatest photos...

clavahead.com
Originally uploaded by solanaher

...ever taken. I love that someone spray painted the hands and camera on this wall - brilliant.

I have deep admiration for whoever did this

I have deep admiration for whoever did this
Originally uploaded by melita_dennett

...and yes some people just have a wicked sense of humor.

The Face of Evil

bunny2
Originally uploaded by Monichan_Monichan

To understand why check out - http://twwhit72.blogspot.com/search?q=bunny

Aren't kids so damn cute?

Here's what I think of these dresses.
Originally uploaded by lalagirl

The answer: Not so much. I bet this kid is in a gang now.

Barbie Soup

barbie soup
Originally uploaded by sfbamaboy

Personally I find two things to be entertaining in people:

1. Lots of spare time
2. A wicked sense of humor

The person who staged this photo must be both.

If this song does not get you tapping your foot...

...you are dead inside.

A Valentine for those Single

For those of you who do not like Valentine's Day or are single and see the holiday as a gimmick from Hallmark, I can relate. I was there once too. For all of you, I wish you a Happy Valentine's Day because everyone should celebrate love, but I have provided you this photo that I know is what you are hoping for today.

Happy Valentine's Day!

I am a human barometer

There is a part of me that loves these early mornings when I wake up at 2:30 AM and can't get back to sleep. The last few times it was minutes before it started to snow (today it started to snow at 2:36 AM) and I wake up with an enormous migraine. It is like I am a human barometer land can tell when the low and high pressure changes. The headache goes away after about 15 minutes, but by then I am wide awake.

I know Dale hates it that I get up and do not go back to sleep. He worries. It is just hard for me to go back to sleep once my mind kicks in on things I need to do that day.

Today, I have been working for 2 hours and was able to get caught up on a bunch of emails from yesterday, plus I got my to-do list of 47 things down to 35, which makes me happy.

I will be exhausted around 2 PM, but my friends Rob and Scott will be at our house today for a 5-day visit (pending weather and flights to DIA), so that will perk me up. We are all headed to Bloom at Flatirons for dinner tonight, so lobster salad and flour-less chocolate cake will give me something to focus.

Plus it is Valentine's Day, so that means I can eat chocolate and cookies and NOT feel bad about it.

Morning everyone! Time to go wake up Dale and get moving so we can get to work in all the snow, as you know the commute will suck. Bad day for florists to have to deliver flowers.

Tweet #1,000 - Meaningful. Thankfully.

I sent my 1,000th tweet today from Twitter. I did not realize I was that close and thankfully I sent something meaningful, rather than just something stupid, useless and random like most of my tweets. Here was #1000:

TomWhittaker I received beautiful v-day flowers from my honey today. Yeah me! about 5 hours ago from Netvibes

As an example of random and my usual tweets, here is tweet #999:

TomWhittaker I notice sometimes people who are bald and a lot deeper in their thoughts than those with full heads of hair. about 7 hours ago from TinyTwitter.

I started using Twitter in November 2007, so I average about 250 tweets per month. I find it interesting and enjoy following people in my industry. I learn a lot. If you are not on Twitter, give it a try.

Happy Valentine's Day, Dale!

Thank you for the love, joy, friendship, caring, fun, comfort and smiles you bring to my life each and every day. I love you!