Something You Have to Smile About

Sour Patch Kids are perhaps my favorite movie theatre candy of all time. Whenever I went to a movie as a kid, I would always have them with some popcorn and a cherry coke.

Recently, in my escapades of being a little lazy and watching TV, numerous commercials for sour patch kids have come on. The premise of the commercial is simple, first they're sour, then they are sweet. I find these commercials to be brilliant, as they have a small sour patch candy performing a sour ct and redeeming itself with a sweet act.

The video above is probably my favorite of the bunch.

No matter what, this video never ceases to make me smile or laugh. It is a nice remedy to a long day. Not only is it good for a laugh, but it triggers memory of being a kid and that makes me happy on a whole different level.

I can still taste all the flavors even though I have not had the candy is such a long time...

Maybe these commercials are working on me

This is What We Do

Last year, we spent a lot of time going to Karaoke. If there is one thing I can say about Lincoln, its that their Karaoke scene is pretty good. We sort of earned a reputation as the Wesleyan group wherever we go for Karaoke and I put the blame on Josh Grieveldinger for that.

Karaoke is just a great way to get out and have some fun.

Last night was our first time to The Alley. Needless to say, we will be returning to there. This place has a great social atmosphere and a lot of room for what I like to call "Dinger Karaoke" (Josh Grieveldinger turns it more into a dance show than anything).

Rockstar Karaoke only has one show a week there which is on Wednesdays. I know what your thinking. Its the middle of the work week, why would anyone go out on a Wednesday? My answer to that is, this is one of Lincoln's hidden treasures. Karaoke at The Alley will be gold if more people come join us.

This is what we do, and how we unwind from everything going on.

Something I Can't Get Enough Of

This past summer, I took a vacation with Ashlyn and my family to St. Petersburg Florida. My sister lives down there so we are able to really just pop in and stay with her. That is a nice connection to have down there. Two summers ago we made the same trip, but it was cloudy the whole time. This time, it was nothing but sunny. It gave us more of an opportunity to explore the area and be outside.

Heat and humidity, I am a fan of both of those things.

On my iPhone, I have an app calledInstagram, which essentially is just a photoshop app that allows you to publish and share. So on this trip, I was able to take a bunch of great looking photos of things we saw and did.

The above picture was taken on the St. Pete pier. That place is swarmed with Pelicans and other kinds of birds that have no fear of being close to humans. I was able to get a shot of this bird attempting to just cross the street. What you don't see in this picture is the trolley that is waiting for the bird to cross the road. It was quite entertaining.

The photo on the right was another that I took down at Treasure Island, obviously during a sunset. It is times like these when I go down there that I am reminded that I want to be there all the time. How can anyone not appreciate a sunset like that? When I look at this picture, all I can think about is how peaceful the beach is. Laying in the sand and listening to the waves roll in can put me to sleep any night of the week.

After I graduate, I would like to be in Florida. Now that doesn't mean I necessarily want to be in St. Petersburg, but rather somewhere that fits me and my career. And of course, somewhere much closer to the beach than Lincoln, NE.

So This is What I Come Home to...

Ok, I know this isn't a still shot, but I is definitely a short moment I would like to share.

I cracked up over this and I still am. I feel like, know matter who you are, this is going to be funny to you. Every once in a while on YouTube, videos like these strike gold. I'm glad that this one came about, because it is going to go in the hall of fame for Fails.

I promise you will watch this 15 times. Then you will watch it 30 more times.

This was a perfect end to what was a very stressful/busy day. Enjoy

The Serenity of a Grill

It does not take a special occasion to get a group of friends together to just relax. It does not take a reason at all. Something so simple can bring everyone together to just enjoy one another's company for an evening. Tonight, I am proud to say we were able to have that.

About a week ago, my friend Kate Kietzman told me we needed to cook together. This conversation led to her revealing that she had three racks of ribs that needed to be smoked. Done. Tonight we smoked not three, but four racks of rib.

Tonight was my first time using a smoker. I knew how to grill but I did not know the techniques for a good smoked rib. I did a little research, found a rub mix I liked (see below) and went ahead and did it.

One of the best things I realized about smoking food was the waiting. We waited for three hours for the darn things to be done. But within those three hours, we had nice quality time to just hang out, talk and, of course, watch some football. No one had really planned on waiting three hours for food other than myself and Kate, but for some reason it was alright. Why is that?

I believe there is something serene about a grill. It tells people to breathe and relax. Everything sort of gets put on hold when you are cooking out. Those are the times you learn to appreciate most. Those are the times you miss when it is five below zero outside in the middle of January. Those are the times you look back to for comfort.

Letting time cook your food makes you appreciate the time you have to wait for something.

Rib Rub:

1/4 cup sea salt

1/4 cup brown sugar

1/4 cup paprika

3 tablespoons black pepper

1 tablespoon garlic powder

1 teaspoon onion powder

1/2 teaspoon cayenne pepper (Maybe a little more if you like a little more kick)

Recipe from "Street Food Chicago" by chef Mike Baruch

So I started a blog...

Hey everyone. I guess I was persuaded to start a blog by Ashlyn. I never really was interested in blogging until recently. I began to ponder what I could actively blog and I decided that images and sights throughout my day might be interesting.

Personally, I think that people do not take enough time out of their busy days to just stop and appreciate something for what it is.

I love taking pictures of things, and I love looking back to them for the memory.

So today I want to start off by sharing a photo of what I have been up to for the past couple weeks. Yesterday marked our completion of staging the musical "Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat". The rehearsals for it have been incredible. I mean, how can you not be anything but happy and alive after spending hours every night with this story and this music?

The photo I took is during "Benjamin Calypso". This is a great celebration of brotherhood and camaraderie with the characters as well as a celebration with the audience. The cast gets decked out in beach things and throws beach balls into the crowd while other cast members form conga lines. It is fun for everyone involved.

Looking at this photo, though, reminds me of why I love my job in the arts so much. Yeah it is all fun, but it is all a story too, and telling that story in creative ways is exciting.