Tom Whittaker's Blog

Tonight Brooke was sent home. I am not surprised. I personally think Jason deserved to be in the bottom 2 and go home.

For Brooke, she is a much better studio artist than a live performer. She is more of a song-writer singer, than a pop star. She is more Carly Simon, than Kelly Clarkson.

I will miss her. She was a class act and went with grace, dignity and more self-awareness than most of us would have in the same situation.

I received an email from Apple today letting me know iTunes turned 5. Now, it is tacky to send out your own birthday email...it makes it look like you just want gifts, but the email did get me thinking at the gym this AM about how iTunes has changed music for me.

I have been an iTuner for about 2 years now and I love it. Why you ask?

Let me start out by saying I am a pretty big Neil Diamond fan. Yes, it is true. I know some of you are thinking lame, but I am sorry, but for some reason the man speaks to me. With songs like America, Sweet Caroline, Heartlight, Hello and You Don't Bring Me Flowers, how can you not love the man. Oh and I am not the only one my age who loves, so does my co-worker Becki. She confessed the other day.

“Life is full of beauty. Notice it. Notice the bumble bee, the small child, and the smiling faces. Smell the rain, and feel the wind. Live your life to the fullest potential, and fight for your dreams.”

— Ashley Smith

A few people have asked me how I am doing with my diet and challenge to lose 36 pounds by my 36th birthday...well, um. Ah, well. You see, I didn't. Um. Okay, I did not do great on my challenge last week. I admit that. I fell into bad habits skipping the gym and not eating the healthiest of options. That is bad news and I am a bit disappointed in myself.

http://view.break.com/494245 - Watch more free videos

These trees are on the south side of our house and are beautiful this time of year when they flower. I love how they look and they smell amazing. They are flowering fruitless crab apple trees. They attract a lot of birds too, which is nice when looking out our kitchen window.

Tulips. And lots of them.

Facebook has been very interesting recently. I go through phases where I find it useless and boring, but this week it was very interesting. I connected and chatted with four people from my past. It is that part of Facebook that I like the most. It often brings people back into your life that you never expected to hear from again.

...so here is where I am at.

“I told her I ain’t so sure about this place it’s hard to play a gig in this town and keep a straight face seems like everyone here’s got a plan it’s kind of like nashville with a tan, but, every thing's gonna be all right rockabye, rockabye every thing's gonna be all right rockabye, rockabye”

— Lyrics from Shawn Mullins’s 1998 song Lullaby

Last night Dale and I went to see the Laramie Project, which is a play that depicts the story of Matthew Shephard's beating and subsequent death as told those characters based on residents of Laramie, WY. The play was at one of the smaller theatres at the Buell Theatre complex.

“Laughter & tears are both responses to frustration & exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.”

I have been working on my laptop since about 7 AM this morning. It has been in front of the TV and included some breaks for breakfast, lunch and dinner...not to mention a lot of moments where I watched a bit more TV than worked.

Dear Mother Nature:

It's snowing - what the deuce? Are you kidding me? Hello! Screw you too! Either turn on the Sun or I stop recycling.

Your Friend,

Tom

P.S. - I am sorry for the tone of this letter, but I watched a lot of Family Guy today and it seems Stewie is (like Dale has said it would) starting to rub off on me. But really, snow and it is almost May. Why?

This past week I have not been sleeping well. I keep waking up throughout the night. My work wife, Becki thinks it may be sympathy pains since she is pregnant and experiencing the same problem. It seems the baby is a kicker at night.

Yesterday on the drive home from work I found myself a bit exhausted and almost like I was coming down with something. You know, achy, tired, headache...add in stuffy and fever and I would have been a NyQuil ad.

I came home at 5:15 PM and ate dinner that Dale had so kindly prepared. I then lied down on the couch around 6:00 PM to take a little nap. Dale work me at 11 PM to go to bed. I changed, brushed my teeth, took out my contacts and went right to sleep. I woke up at 7 AM this morning feeling much better.

I guess my body decided to catch up on the sleep I had been missing during the week. I am a firm believer in listening to your body. If you body says you are tired, you should probably sleep. If you body says you are hungry, you should probably eat. If your body says you need new shoes, you should probably go shopping. Well, you get the picture.

Dale is very proud of our yard and he should be...it is beautiful and he worked very hard to make that happen. Dale gets very excited when he sees his favorite flowers, plants and trees start to bloom. Here are two I photographed this weekend.

She is not a runner like her sister, Zoe...but she is just as cute and when she finds a bone or stick it is a fight to drag it away from her.

You know the weather has changed because our girl, Zoe is back in the yard and going wild.

Although our backyard is small due to the pond and lots of plants, Zoe makes the most the grass and loves to do laps back and forth. It is a joy to watch. The pictures do not do the speed and intensity she generates justice.

Tonight on American Idol Carly was sent packing. The rocker chic sang her last tune on the show.

America did not necessarily get the bottom 2 right tonight with Syesha and Carly. I think Syesha did not deserve to be there as she was the best last night and continues to surprise every week. She has shown huge improvement. Carly was good last night. If I had to pick anyone to leave it would be Jason.

I did predict Carly in the bottom 3, but not her going home. However, I am no that sad, as I thought it would be Brooke. I like Brooke a lot, so I am glad she is staying another week. Even though she struggles she is good in the studio (I know it is a live performance show) and I like her music.

I predicted this as the top 5 a few weeks back:

1. Brooke
2. David C.
3. Carly
4. Michael
5. David A.

Okay, I am wrong since 2 are already gone. I think the top 5 will end up in this order.

1. David C.
2. David A.
3. Syesha
4. Jason
5. Brooke

It will come down to the Davids and hopefully the 12 year old David A. does not win, even though it will make Dale happy.

What does everyone else think will be the order of the Top 5.

Today the entire Marketing and Events Department from the Denver Botanic Gardens came to Indigio and provided the entire company lunch as a thank you for Indigio's support of their recent redesign.

It was an amazing way to thank Indigio and all the staff was so appreciative. The gang from Denver Botanic Gardens went as far as to serve everyone lunch, so they could personally thank everyone. They are such an amazing group and are wonderful to have as clients. They are truly a class act.

Dale and I sat with the Denver Botanic Gardens Team while they ate and this was the first time we met many of them, so it was nice. Often with a new group of people you look for things to talk about. Usually it is Colorado, weather and small talk like that. Today that was not the case and was a lot more fun. We ended up all talking about trash TV.

You know, trashy TV shows we all watch, but never admit to anyone. Shows like the Hills, Tela Tequila's A Shot at Love, Rock of Love, My Super Sweet 16, Pimp by Ride, Big Brother, etc. It was great fun and everyone had a lot of fun with the discussion. It was silly, but so human. We all watch those shows...otherwise why would they keep getting renewed each season. It was fun to see a group of people so comfortable with each other that they could joke, he honest and have fun.

My thanks to Robin, Doris and the whole Team at the Gardens for a wonderful and enjoyable afternoon.

This morning on the radio they briefly were talking about the Olympics and China. As we all know there has been a lot of press, deserving so recently about China's treatment of the Tibetan people. Of course since China is hosting the Olympics this year there is an automatic association and tension now surrounding the event. Even the torch lighting has plagued by controversy.

So it got me thinking about the Olympics and the spirit they represent. Do people think it is fair for the Olympics to allow their event be hosted by a country that does not follow based human rights for people? Does that matter to the Olympics? Should it?

I personally do not know the answer. I personally hate to see an event that represents countries coming together to unite and present their best athletes be so plagued by controversy. It is tough. I also hate to see anyone people oppress and not allowed to be free and decide their own leadership. It is tough.

What does everyone else think?

Sorry for no update last week on Idol kids. I was too busy working. Le sigh!

Last night I decided to take today off from work. I needed a mix of a mental health day (opportunity to unwind a bit after a few busy weeks at work) and to catch up on some house chores. Since today was the first day in weeks I did not have back to back meetings, I figured today was a good day.

1. The return of sandals. I hate shoes and I especially hate socks. I wear shoes and socks just to be socially accepted and because my feet are not that pretty. If I could wear sandals everyday, everywhere and whenever I wanted - I probably would.
2. The switch from hot chai tea lattes to iced chai tea lattes at Starbucks. Personally, I prefer my chai tea iced, but in the Fall/Winter the need for something hot makes me switch. I hold off as long as I can. I also recommend light ice when ordering, as if you do not, Starbucks so kindly gives you 3/4th of a cup of ice and 1/4th of a cup of actual chai tea.
3. The blooming of the flowers and plants in our yard. I hate our backyard in the Winter, mostly because it is so beautiful, relaxing and a retreat in the Summer. Right now things are starting to take off. Some of my favorites are starting to see life like our Weeping Pussy Willow tree and Magnolia bush.
4. The sound of the Ice Cream Man. Although we rarely ever utilized his services, it is always fun to hear him coming. We saw on ice cream truck yesterday, so it seems official - it is Spring. The ice cream man always reminds me of childhood and the excitement you feel when you hear those bells.
5. The return of our neighbors. No, they did not leave in the Winter...but it does seem like we all hibernate. We rarely see any of our neighbors from November through March, unless we drive by each other. Once the daffodils bloom, it seems like the neighbors wipe the sleep from their eyes and step outdoors for a hello.
6. Breaking out the leashes. We are bad parents. We rarely walk our dogs between November and March due to the temperatures and weather. They are restricted to getting their exercise at doggie-daycare. Once the weather breaks, they get a lot more evening walks during the week and more play on the weekend.
7. Elvira goes topless. No, she is not some chick we know or a slutty neighbor, even though that would make a better story. She is the Mini Cooper convertible we purchased last Fall and this Spring she has grown to become on of my favorite past times. I never saw myself as a "convertible guy" but I love her. I love having the top down and the sun against my small (but ever growing) bald spot. The wind in your hair is so addictive and I do not know how I lived without her.
8. Breakfast, lunch and dinner on the patio. I love when Dale and I get to sit on our back patio and eat. It is nice to be able to dine outside and it is especially wonderful when Dale uses the grille. I am not allowed to use the grille as it hates me and has tried to burn my eyebrows several times.
9. Having a life during the week. With the later sunset, it finally feels like you can have a life again Monday through Thursday. In the Winter it gets dark so early, so it feels like all you do is work and go home. This time of year, it feels like you can actually do things after work.
10. Sleeping with the windows open. I personally love fresh air. Heat and air-conditioning can be so stuffy. I love the air at night, the sound of our pond and the cool Spring breeze that you get for the next few months before you need air conditioning. We slept last night with all the bedroom windows open and it was heavenly.

1. Sneezing, watery eyes and a sore throat. Yes, I suffer from allergies or hay fever as some call it. I am allergic to the dust and dander in the grass and trees. When Dale cuts the lawn, my options are 1) close all the windows and hide inside, 2) go grocery shopping or 3) rip out my eyes. I usually go with options 1 and 2.
2. Yard work. Although Dale handles 80% of this, every so often he gets fed up with me and makes me pitch in. I try to hold to my "I do the inside" and "You do the outside" rule, but that only lasts so long. I am not a yard work kind of guy. Firstly, my allergies do not help, but most of all it is hard work and usually in the hot sun. Not fun. Speaking of that...I am heading outside in the next few minutes to clean out our pond for Spring.
   

So what are your favorite things about Spring? What brings you happiness this time of year?

Today Dale and I decided to make the most of the amazing weather and head to the Denver Botanic Gardens. We felt it was a nice way to kick off Spring, plus see the opening of their latest exhibit, Urban Nature.
The Gardens are already coming to life and the Spring flowers were spectacular, as was the art panels sprinkled throughout the Gardens. It made for a wonderful afternoon.

Mike Minton got a new toy at the Mammoth Game last night...giant Incredible Giant Hulk like hands that are for fighting and beer drinking. Funny.

Lots of flowers and a new web site. Today Indigio proudly launched a new site for the Denver Botanic Gardens. Check it out at http://www.botanicgardens.org/.

Well, I am now on the 14th day of my diet, goal to be healthier and challenge to myself to lose 36 pounds by my 36th birthday.

Week one I did great losing 7 pounds.

Week two is always the biggest struggle for me in any past diet and I usually end up not losing any weight in week 2. Knowing this, I set a low goal of us 2 pounds this week. I am happy to report that I did in fact lose weight this week and actually lost the 2 pounds, bringing my total to 9 pounds. That means I have hit 25% of my goal. Yeah!

My goal this week is 3 more pounds. My thanks to everyone, especially Dale, who has been supportive. A special thanks to my friend John who is joining my challenge and is trying to lose 18 pounds by June 22nd. Good luck John.

Dale and I joined our neighbors this AM to see the movie 21.
Overall it was a good movie. Far from great cinema, but very enjoyable for $5 each. The cast was believable, the storyline was good and the past of the movie worked.

For those of you unaware, 21 is the story of a group of MIT wiz kids who hit Las Vegas on weekends to count cards playing blackjack.
The movie is based on the book, Bringing Down the House, but the book took place at a time before most casinos used computers to track players by face recognition. The movie goes with the assumption that wearing disguises to hit the same hotel could exist today.
But still, if you are looking for a good movie, that is neither deep or involves a ton of killing - this is a safe bet.

Always enjoyable.

Dale and I had a nice dinner tonight with our neighbors Sam and AnJanette. Salad, pizza, good friends and great conversation. A nice evening.

Since I had spumoni with dinner, I was good and skipped the chai tea latte in favor of steamed apple juice when we all went for coffee. Yes, steamed apple juice...the sign that my diet and old age are getting the best of me.

Am I the only one suffering from social media fatigue?

The bulk of my day today was spent reviewing the new site for the Denver Botanic Gardens that Indigio is building. It is going live on Monday afternoon, so I wanted to do one final review of the entire site. With 120 pages, it took a little bit of time, but I found a few minor issues here are there that need to be corrected.

Okay, the results show. Why do we need to have a full recap of what we watched last night. I am tired of every show using 1/2 of it's time showing footage we have just watched.

Inspiration week. The Idols sing songs that inspire. Not the best week. I think the past two weeks were stronger.

There has been a lot of press the past few days on China's handling of the passing of the Olympic torch around the world, especially in London, England. I felt this cartoon summed it up perfectly. I follow the blog The Rut which created it.

I have never been a person that liked exercise...in any form. I am especially someone who hates people at the gym at 5:00 AM who are happy to be there. Okay, hate is not the right word. Despise. Yes, that is better. I want to take something and hurt those people...real bad. I want them to feel the pain I am feeling or at least express the same hatred I feel for dragging my ass out of bad to workout. I know, not the nicest sentiment, but honestly, please no smiles at the gym and not before 7 AM.

When I was a kid I watched a lot of TV...especially on Saturday mornings, weekdays, Sundays, days it rained, holidays...okay, I watched a lot of TV. In a world before DVRs, TV also meant commercials. Here are some funny ones I fondly remember from my childhood.

It remember these commercials like it was yesterday, but have no memories of Chiffon margarine. I came from a Land O' Lakes butter family, so maybe that is why. We did not eat margarine. Dale makes me now.



I used to love this commercial. My family never used a dry cleaner when we were kids, but it made me want to. We used Tide too. I wanted Calgon.



Remember when answering machines came out. I remember wanting this tape. We never got it. I remember how big our first answering machine was. So funny looking back now.



When micromachines became popular I was too old, but I loved the fast-talking commercials and used to try to imitate.



Growing up, I liked these commercials and Wendy's seemed fancy to me. We lived close to McDonalds and Burger King, so Wendy's was a drive. Somehow I equated a longer drive to mean fancy. Not sure why. I remember sometimes my parents would get Wendy's drive-thru and then take us to the Albany airport to watch planes take off and land. I used to love it. Okay, I was a weird kid.



Any you can remember from your childhood. For those older readers like Dale, do you remember any radio commercials you liked. Just kidding Dale!

With advertising as creepy as this, is it no wonder Tab never became the leading cola. Be a mindsticker, what the hell is that supposed to be? The love the A.M radio musical stylings in the background.

You have to see this. Get through the first 1/2 of the video and then it is amazing. This is some kid in Paris.


http://view.break.com/483094 - Watch more free videos

I can't believe how much the chain moves.

• I reduced the sizes of my lunch and dinner portions.
• I increased the frequency of my eating, trying to eat six times throughout the day to keep my metabolism high.
• I increased the numbers of fruits and vegetables in my meals.
• I drank more water.
• I made sure to start the day with a good breakfast.
• I selected healthier options when available, for example I selected an egg white omelette rather than just an omelette.
• I worked out three times last week.
• I tried to be more active when I can, for example I selected parking spaces further away so I got in some extra steps.

Nice temperatures, warm sun....ah, the perfect Sunday. This morning I even had 4 robins playing in the waterfall of our pond. It does not get more perfect than that.

What's on the agenda for today?

Quickly picking up/cleaning the house
Walking the dogs
Grocery shopping
A little yard work
Taking Elvira for a drive with her top down
Enjoying the beautiful weather

It is already 9:45 AM and I have already made dinner for the week. Yeah me.

Although the Rockies did not have their best outing (and lost)...it was still a lot of fun tonight going to the game. The Rockies are now 1-4, but it is still early in the season.

I think Dale and I will get some tickets for some nice lazy Sunday, summer games. My favorite time for baseball.

My favorite part tonight, as always was the people. Not matter where you sit, you always have those die-hard fans that are so much fun to watch.

My thanks to Tim Higgins for the tickets.

Hi Laurie!

Here was my top 5 for American Idol as of this week:

1. Michael Johns
2. David Cook
3. Carly Smithson
4. Brooke White
5. David Archuletta

Okay, I went back and listened to the last 4 performances of my top 5 favorites on American Idol using their studio versions on iTunes.
I have to say Brooke and Carly's studio versions are amazing. I would buy their CDs. The same with David Cook. I think Michael is not as strong as I have felt. It made me switch Brooke and Michael in my mind.

1. Brooke White (+3)
2. David Cook (even)
3. Carly Smithson (even)
4. Michael Johns (-3)
5. David Archuletta (even)

1. David Cook
2. David Archuletta
3. Carly Smithson
4. Michael Johns
5. Brooke White

Tonight we are headed to a Rockies Game with some fellow Indigians. It should be fun. Although most people find baseball slow, I find it relaxing. Plus there is always the added thrill of getting hit with a foul ball to make the night interesting. I think I may have some peanuts tonight. I like me the peanuts.

I Drive All Night by Cyndi Lauper. I don't know why. I woke up with it in my head and it has been there ever since. I drove all night, just to get to you.

Music using ONLY sounds from Windows XP and 98! Actually a very catchy tune.

This is a fairly interesting and profound video. Icame across it on Youtube. It says Every day: so many opportunities to connect. What if you took just one?

This video is from 2001 and when Steve Jobs first introduced the iPod. It is funny it has been 7 years already. I know it changed music for me. How?

I never buy whole CDs anymore; I not just download the songs I like
I listen to more music than even
At $0.99 I am more willing to explore new music.

Thanks Steve.

If you want the total experience, visit the project site: http://www.c71123.com/daily_photo/

Yesterday was my free day on my diet, but honestly I worked so hard all week, I felt too guilty to get too crazy.



Dinner was going to be tough. We took Dale's sister, Donna and her daughter, Mikayla to dinner at the Olive Garden to celebrate Donna's birthday. Now, I love me the Olive Garden, so this was going to be hard. I love the Zuppa Toscana soup which is cream based, the alfredo sauce for my breadsticks and the Chicken Scampi, which is another cream sauce. This is all fattening. So I held strong. I did the cream based soup (I am only human), skipped the alfredo sauce and selected a angel hair with just tomatoes and olive oil, which was one of their healthy options. I even passed on desert. I did great.