End of week ramblings 2/27/09

In a word... Ug.  It's been a rough week, sickness has been sweeping the HIC household.  And it's all this guy's fault:

It's name: Streptococcus.  It's nickname: Bastard.  I haven't had strep since high school, and it kicked my @$$.  Nothing in the lungs, but man it left my throat swollen and my sinuses were so clogged, it felt my head was in a vice.  Suck x 10.  The girls have been doing ok and took great care of me.  Jelly Belly's are the cure for any ailment, and they knew it.  As well as a truckload of antihistamines.

Even with the sickness, I managed to squeak in a 4 hr MTB ride with El Hefe' & Ruggedy Andy on Sunday morning.  I noticed that climbing 4 miles of a rocky trail is a lot easier than riding down 4 miles of rocky trail with no suspension.  A tip of the hat to the folx at Fox for making a kick butt shock.  A wag of the finger to my brain for realizing that afterward.  Damn hindsight...  Also, unfortunately due to a camera not being on hand, the latest entry to "The Scab Journal" will go undocumented - Jeff took a bit of air, and took an unscheduled rest atop a cactus.  Immediately after, it looked something like this:

Bottle, pouty face and all.  Unfortunately, his - and Andy's crash last summer - means I'm next.  Not looking forward to that.

Wedding stuff is coming together real quick - we must be kicking butt too because any book we pick up is putting is way ahead of schedule for our date.  Ang & I had some fun playing around with who will wear what:

Pasty-pale white skin goes with white tuxedo, right?

And now something of no relevance whatsoever...  In homage of the chimpanzee who went after that old lady in the NE last week, here's a video of a monkey washing a cat:

This of course, right before the cat was ripped to shreds after refusing to be blow dried.

Last Friday of the month, so watch the streets for Critical Mass, or better yet - JOIN!

Happy Friday.  -H

Sick

Feeling about a 4 out of 10 today.  Got a Dr's appointment at 8:45 though, and already back home.  Bad thing though, it's strep...  mixed with sever sinus congestion...  and it ain't nice.  It feels exactly like this looks:

And that ain't pretty no matter how you look at it.  Along with some over-the-counter stuff, there's really only one thing that can cure sickness...

That's the one vice I have when I'm sick - Jelly Belly's.  Sours or the Island Punch...  maybe blueberry too, and juicy pear.  F-You buttered popcorn!!

Time to get some sleep and chillax and let the meds do their thing.  Yay drugs!

End of week ramblings 2/20/09

Oh Happy Friday!!!  It was a short week for me, but a hellova crazy one.  Let's start here:

The judicial system was dealt a low blow late yesterday...

I received my first jury summons in the mail.  It's a little strange to me that it says "State Of Colorado" but the postmark says Albuquerque, NM.  Figure THAT out!!!

YO-bama dropped by for a visit this week to give us workin'/non-workin'/middle-class/normal (pick one) folk some cash, and to check out the musuem's 465 solar panels.  Greenergy... that's what I'm calling it - patent pending...

Meanwhile a bit further north, one of my favorite NoCo singletrack trails was burning.

Bobcat Ridge Natural Space is actually owned by the City of Fort Collins, and was purchased as a part of a public lands reclamation deal in 2000 after another fire tore thru the area.  As of Thursday afternoon had burned 52 acres and was about 70% contained.  Hopefully it will be all wrapped up and ready to ride this weekend - it's supposed to be in the high 50's and El Hefe is biting at the bit to test ride a new 29'er.  Giggidy!!

In other news...  You know what's wrong with television right now?  VH1.  Now some may argue that MTV is worse, but nothing is as bad right now.  The whole damn network is spin-off's of spin-off's.  I Love New York-Real Chance-Flavor Flav-Bret Michaels-different "C list" celebrity-Charm School-Herpes Of Love...  It's the most repulsive thing on tv.  IT'S NOT EVEN ENTERTAINING!!!!  It's a bunch of binge drinkers at a frat party with cameras.  But finally, someone is speaking out about it besides me.

The Onion - Saying the things we're all thinking...  If Wolf Blitzer, Bill O'Reiley, Jon Stewart and Anderson Cooper got in a brawl like that...  Oh man, that would be awesome.  You know they talk sh!t about each other off camera anyway.

Have a skank-free weekend...  or don't.  -H

Randomness

Some folks just suck as parents.



Damn, if there was only am attachment so you wouldn't have to hold on to the stroller... How are you gonna drive your segway, and hold on to your $5 soy macchiato now?

End of week ramblings 2/13/09

1st - I don't believe in the whole Friday the 13th hubbub.  What happens, happens.  You stub your toe?  Black cat cross your path?  Beat that damn cat and ice up your foot.  That superstitious stuff doesn't fly here...  knocking on wood.

2nd - Happy Early Awkward lastminute shopping-diamonds are too expensive-ending up with chocolates-hoping that was enough-getting too drunk at dinner-passing out on the couch-Valentines Day.  Hopefully it won't be that great of a night for ya.  I did get you a card though...

We're in a recession, it's about fiscal responsibility people.  Some folks say that Valentine's is one of those made-up-for-money greeting card company holidays.  Like we're only supposed to really enjoy our loved one's company one night out of the entire year.  Couldn't be farther from the truth - I'll need a ride home on St. Patty's Day, and the drive home, via Taco Bell of course, is time well spent.

Recap time...

A-Rod's a juicer - SHOCK!!!  A professional baseball player took "performance enhancing drugs"????  One of the biggest and best in the game, the guy that's on the posters in your kid's room, is a cheat.  Gotta admit, he deserves all the flack he's getting and then some.  How many SI covers has he been on, and his last one will be:

It's a long fall from grace A-Hole, er... A-Rod.  Man, it's a good thing I gave up on professional sports a long time ago cause I'd really hate to give a sh!t about this guy.

Good news for the last true sportsmen/sportsmen, of the winter variety anyway.  The 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver start in just 364 days in the Great White North.  Curling, Biathalon, Skeleton and all the other totally obscure winter sports (hockey, skiing, snowboard) are coming back.  And in an attempt to market toward a younger audience, Snowboarding Parallel Giant Slalom and Snowboard Cross will make their debut with guaranteed badass crashes.  Whenever an Olympics is coming around, the host city always parades around the mascots, most of which never make any sense and have names that I can't pronounce:

I'm noticing a strong resemblance to the large, hairy, yeti-like fellow in the center:

Angie & I are hoping to honeymoon in Vancouver well after the wedding and Olympics in Spring next year.  Only been there once and managed to get lost on bike.  It's a hellova awesome city to get lost in though.

Pic by istargazer

Speaking of Weddingpalooza '09 - we've picked a location.  It may look familiar to many of you:

Maybe not that specific room, or that many people, but definitely that many margaritas...  The Agave Room at The Rio Grande in FTC is where we'll be throwing the party of all parties, after the quickest ceremony you've ever seen.  Keep an eye out for save the dates!

Before I split, here's one more card celebrating the upcoming President's Day holiday,

When you care enough... to hit send.  Happy Friday.  -H

Fun With Kids

Honestly, what's the fun of having kids if you can't prank them once in a while?  Here's a couple fun examples.

#1 - What's possibly more fun than going to Disneyland?  Not going at ALL!!!

No lines, no insane temperatures, and all the fun of the real thing at a fraction of the price, and of the fun.  Disneyland... who needs it?  

#2 - Who wants free stuff?  You know who has the best free stuff?  The dentist!!  Every time you visit you get a lesson on flossing and proper oral hygiene, hot-diggity-DAMN!!  Not to mention the top notch drugs.

It's your lucky day friends, I'm feeling generous...  Sealants and whitening trays on me!  

#3 - The pet that ran off.

"Don't cry honey, it's gonna be okay...  Daddy put up 'Missing' signs for Punkin..."

"You know why Punkin left honey?  Cause you didn't keep your room clean like Mommy asked.  But if you do your homework right now, AND finish your dinner, she just may come home."  When kids aren't looking take cat out of closet.

When all else fails, nothing beats Spongebob and a giant bowl of cereal on Saturday Morning, or an afternoon bike ride.

End of week ramblings 2/6/09

A pretty mellow week, but first lets start with something bicycle related.  Look who showed up this week:

My new Swobo Sanchez showed up on my doorstep.  It's a fixed gear, which is the most stripped-down kind of bike out there.  Just one gear, chain, cranks, frame, seat & wheels - that's about it.  It's "fixed" because there is no free-wheel action, the pedals are always moving, and the only way to slow is down is to use your legs to slow the momentum - a great leg workout.  There's one thing missing:

It sounds a bit freaky at first and it a bit strange to get used to, and if you forget to keep you legs moving, you just may take a trip over the bars.  Josh has one that I rode a bunch of times while doing the UAR last summer and I got to love it.  Swing by and give it a shot sometime, but bring a helmet - or not.  There's also an ER nearby.  

There a cool program in Denver that allows folks to get fit while they perform a little "sweat equity" to earn a bike of their own. Check out the story from CBS4 HERE.

Big sports week...  Steelers won the Super Bowl - I only watch football once a year, and many are saying this was one of the best bowls ever; I wouldn't know.  I'm too busy watching the commercials.  Here's my #1 pick from this year.

That sh!t is the bee's knees.

I posted earlier this week about Michael Phelps getting caught smoking a bong.  I still think it's a little naive of him to be thinking that going to a college house party and not figuring that someone would have a camera phone.  I'm not pissed or upset about it.  Was it a stupid mistake - yea.  Should be be punished - no.  When it comes down to it, he's just a normal guy under the world's biggest microscope.  I think he's unbelievably talented, and incredibly lucky to have the support of his sponsors.  He fessed up, and apologized.  Let's leave him be, wish him best of luck at World's in Rome this summer, and simply hope we'll see him in 2012 in London.

One the homefront, Angie and I are busy at work laying out the logistics for our part of Weddingfest '09.  Weddingfest includes: Duke & Shelli, El Hefe' & Shanaynay, us and anyone else we don't know of yet.  I'm not gonna lie - it's freaking me out a bit, but Angie keeps me level and just tells me "Don't think too much about it.  Go on a ride!"  Thanks babe!  Quite a busy summer in the works, I'm just looking forward to the parties and the afterglow.

I'll wrap up this week in a quote from 30 Rock.  It's an homage to the onslaught of formal wear headed in my direction this summer:

Liz: "Jack, why are you wearing a tux?"

Jack: "It's after six.  What am I, a farmer?"

God Bless Tina Fey.  Happy Friday.  -H

Phelps + Marijuana = 2nd fastest 400 Freestyle EVER!

Come on man...!



Really...?

You've been in the public eye for a couple months, been in half of the commercials on TV, won 8 gold medals, been on every possible morning, daytime, evening & late-night interview/sketch show/news program, and for whatever reason thought it'd be a great idea to smoke a bowl at someone's house you might have had Chem 101 with FULLY KNOWING that everyone has a damn camera on their phone these days...

Really...?

You don't have a private house in the backwoods of Maryland, with an indoor pool shaped like your crooked nose, where you can live privately, IN SOLITUDE IF YOU SO WISH, possibly even grow and smoke your own weed without anyone ever knowing, all of which you bought and paid for in ca$h from the hundreds of millions of dollars of endorsement deals you have/had...

Really...?

Now, I've been known to puff the ganj a bit in my day... But I remembered to take off my gold medals before I did, and also close the doors & windows - it was the paranoia thing, didn't want anyone to see or take pictures of me smoking. Get the story from the London Times HERE...