Beautiful Boy

Yes, I know I haven't been blogging a lot lately. And to be honest, it will probably be a while before I do so again. Reason? We had our first child last week. While it's the most exciting thing to ever happen, it's also the hardest. When they say that you won't get a lot of sleep, they weren't exaggerating. When someone needs to eat every 3 hours, and it takes about an hour and a half to change and feed him, well, you can do the math...
I wouldn't change it for the world right now. While getting peed on isn't top on my list of favorite things, when he laughs at it, I can't help but smile. Thankfully, he looks more like his mother so he can at least get a date when he gets to high school.
One thing that I've noticed, is that your circle of friends changes when you have a kid. Like when you get married, you lose some of your single friends and start hanging out with married couples more. And when you have a kid, you drop off some of your couple friends in exchange for couples with kids. And because almost ALL of my friends are happy and content bachelors, I need to make some new friends (kids optional). However, that doesn't mean I'll be limiting my time with Mike, Drew, Steve or Victor while they're in town. To be honest, some people with kids are downright odd (trust me, you known the type). I'll explore that creature in a later blog post.
Well, baby boy needs some attention. I'll let you know more about our adventures as they happen.

Bo's Nose Knows

But Bo Jackson cannot help me find a new cologne. I spend almost an hour at Nordstroms and Macys trying to find a new cologne for the Fall. I walked out of both stores empty handed. Oh well, I guess I'll stick with what I got for the time being.

On a sidenote, it literally hit me this week that I'll never be a legit uncle. Sure, Kristen's niece and nephew are, but that's really because it's through marriage. But being an only child means that I'll never be directly related to someone like that. I have lots of cousins, but no brother or sister. As I write that, it feels somewhat lonely. Especially since I haven't always been the closest Michael or Crystal since we were kids. But as you can see by the picture to the left, Michael and me can have some pretty awesome times too.

We did a LINK activity at work this week and it really got me thinking about the role I play in my family. It used to be such a defined role - the oldest. Being the oldest (also the 1st male) in my family was a HUGE thing. Most of my family (especially my grandmother) showed lots a favoritism towards me. I could do no wrong. I played that role up. I always made sure to always be "the good one", I never got in trouble. And when I did get in trouble I always made sure to spin it off to be someone else's fault. But over the years I think that created a gap between my cousins and me. It was a semi-competion. And in the end, I never lost. Because I made sure that whatever I had, was what we were competing for.
Looking back now, I should have spend more time connecting with them, and less time being the cooler, older one. I can't even remember the last time I called up one of them for coffee. I went to Italy with my Aunt and Uncle who live in Colorado, but I don't make a decent effort to call people who live 5 minutes away...
When my grandmother passed away a few years ago, there was a void in my family that has never been  replaced. I doubt it ever will be. My aunt Sue took on the role for a while, but she passed away shortly after. I feel like I should have stepped up more after that, but I never did. Instead, I distanced myself further from them. Why? Great question. I have no idea. Maybe it was because I wanted to play chess while everyone else was stuck on checkers. I felt like I outgrew my family. I far exceeded everyone from an education standpoint (with the exception of my dad's mother who was a U of M professor). And somehow that made me feel (and still does) a little stuck up. While I may not be talking about political policy or classic literature with my family, I certainly can talk about warm coffee and the weather. And I need to commit to doing that more often.

Back to the Crib

I literally put together a crib today. I'm looking at it now. I sort of want to sleep in it. Nevermind the fact that I'm a grown ass man that won't fit.

But as I was building this massive structure, I thought to myself "Where are all my zany friends to help"? I've seen enough TV to know that one of two things happens when you assemble a crib:
1. I throw caution to the wind and disregard the telephone book sized instructions and make something that looks nothing like a crib. Or...
2. A group of my nutty friends come over and it's an all night bonding experience. We talk about the days before marriage, who got with which girl in high school, and we all come to some sort of epiphany at the end of it all. Well guess what? None of that happened. TV has lied to me once again. Instead, I put that crib together like a boss. But there were no shenanigans, no tomfoolery, no skullduggery.

I read a really good blog by Jill Mader that talked about how TV has diluted her perception of friendships. But how about how TV has completely ruined my perception of life was supposed to be like?
I wrote a while back about how my early childhood shows tainted my vision of love. I never met my Winnie Cooper, Topanga, Dina Alexander or Joey Potter. Yes, I met a great woman, but I searched and searched for those archetypes of women for a long time. There's a piece of me who still wants to be Vanilla Ice in Cool as Ice - roll into a small town on my motorcycle and woo some small town girl who has no perception of the inner city. Find me one person who doesn't want an Elliot Reid, Lana Lang or a Robin Scherbatsky. You won't find a one.

But enough about that. Sidenote time.
- I am totally in LOVE with the song Lost by Frank Ocean. I play it in my head as I walk around work, the gym and while in my car. If you look closely at me at work (with my headphones in) I am usually bobbing out to this. In fact, I'm blasting it right this second.
- Being sick is for the birds. I have a nasty summer cold that I can't seem to shake.
- I recently read The Art Of Racing In The Rain. The book should be called "the art of not buying this book EVER".
- I am still giddy over my pen purchases a few weeks ago. They are totes.
- How oh how have I never thought to make a rap song/album called "Rapscallion"?

Consider the source

Advice. It comes in all shapes, sizes, and forms. Most times it's not even good or sound. Take me for example. In my personal life, my advice is usually the worst possible thing you can listen to.

For instance: I have a friend. For the sake of this story, we will call that friend Darrel. While in high school, he was having some trouble with his girlfriend. Instead of saying something like "Actually, what you said may have actually hurt her. You should call her up and apologize". My response was "Oh you were totally in the right. That girl is psycho. We should go out and forget about her".
Long story short, we ended up running from the police through the Dinkytown train yard, spending 20 minutes in the Mississippi river, getting a hunk of cheese thrown at us by a group of hobos, and Darrel lost his wallet and house keys. Looking back now, that was one of the funniest stories I tell at parties. But Darrel lost a really good girl because of my advice. By the time he got around to apologizing to her, her response was literally "You obviously weren't THAT sorry because you spent all night out with Jon B". I wonder how many times those words have been uttered by other significant partners...?

Since I've gotten older (and hopefully wiser), I think my advice has finally caught up. The reason for thinking this is because DeJean got into Georgetown University. DeJean was someone I met when he was in 9th grade while I taught at his school. He was literally one of the most thugged out kids there. But he had a part of him that was out of this world unique. We related quickly, talked about rap and graffiti, and formed a pretty good bond. After teaching at the school we stayed in touch (mostly through email) and I would give him advice and tips on people to meet with when he finally decided that college was something that he wanted to do. Needless to say his "family" had no way to pay for school so we spent a lot of time talking about grants and scholarships. He applied to a lot of places and eventually got accepted to Georgetown. He is also getting a full ride. I hooked him up with a UPS job out there so he'll have some spending money. He sent me an email the other day talking about the change of scenery. He's even going to have a study program with one of my favorite people on the earth, Michael Eric Dyson. I told him for all the work I put in, he needs to go to West Baltimore and take some famous Wire-Spot pictures for me. He said he left the ghetto to go out there, and has no interest to go take pictures in one. I admire him for that.

Sidenotes!
-It's the 46th street block party today. Hopefully it doesn't rain
-Just reread The Old Man and the Sea. Such a great book
-Drew gets home soon. If I'm in town, I'll have to throw it down with him. Forces will collide if Mike Boo is in town the same week. That's like what happens when you cross rays in Ghostbusters. If Steve Dahl gets in the mix, you have the formula for a legendary weekend.
-Twitter takes up a lot of my time

Pens like whoa

Since about 7th grade, I've been on the never-ending search for the best pen. It's probably one of the nerdiest things that exist in my life. Ponce de Leon had his fountain of youth, I have my fountain pens. I can safely say that I've never found "the one". I used to think pens were strictly for writing notes and such. But then in middle school, I got introduced to Prismacolors while sketching (funny how so many things today stem directly from my graffiti stage). 

After I found out about the awesomeness of the Prismas, I was destined to find the best pen for every day activities. I will say that I have found the best work pen. It's the Zebra brand. I can't live without it. My whole day gets thrown off when I lose them bouncing back and forth between meetings!

But recently, I've been looking for the best pen for journaling. Mostly, I've been using a fancy calligraphy pen that I found at an antique shop, but it's not very adaptable. It's great for when I'm laying in bed or sitting in the loft, but not for when I'm on a biking trip. I need one that I can travel easily with.

So I ventured out yesterday, and I think I actually found some! I have a very easy criteria for these pens: 1. Be comfortable. 2. Don't bleed through the pages. 3. Write with an ink flow that cascades. You see, my handwriting is sometimes sketch when I'm going fast, and I need a pen that can keep up. I'll let you know the updates of the 4 I bought (I know you must be dying with anticipation). I also found out a brand from Japan that I had to special order. According to a work peer, it contains ink that isn't available in the US! 

Sidenotes:

- The only thing she gotta make for dinner is the reservations. Classic Sir Michael line.

- I love this weekend. 3 big art fairs + my bike + a little ambition = dopeness.

- I love Twitter more and more each day

- What would life be like without wasabi? I don't know, but I don't want a life like that. 

- Reading books that I'm not even 75% loving is difficult.

- Got a text from the old gang asking "You down for making a comeback album"? Sure it was a joke, but now that I reflect on it, I might actually be down for making another record. But this time I would actually hook up with legit musicians and find an actual studio. I wonder what kind of appetite the Twin Cities would have for another rap album...? Slim to none.  

When Life Gives You Lemons

When life gives you lemons, sell them things to me. I'm a sucker for a lemonade stand. I'll always overpay too. I'm ok with that.
When Drew and I were in 9th grade, we were walking home from an adventure that involved spray paint and and a bridge. We were a little parched and came upon some kinds selling lemonade. We obviously stopped. The drinks were $.25, and I only had a $10. I hooked the kids up and didn't ask for change. As we were walking away, Drew looks over at me and asks a very simple question: "Do you think those kids have any idea that two dope graffiti heads just bought lemonade from them"?
It sparked a long conversation about how we pass by people all day long and have interactions with them, but do they really know what we do in our spare time? Especially if our spare time included climbing under bridges and into train yards? No way.
So we more or less decided that any time we pass by a lemonade stand, we would stop and get some. I've tried as much as I could to adhere to that. Take today for instance. I was driving along Grand Ave. on the South side and saw some kids getting their lemonade hustle on. I had to stop. It seems like lemonade prices haven't changed with inflation at all. Still, $.25 for a glass.
So if you see me wandering down the street and are in a quick need of a quarter, put up a makeshift lemonade stand, and I'm in.

Sidenotes:
-Don't break the Sunday truce. It's been around as long as the game itself
-Uptown art fair next weekend. Boom shakalaka
-3 times this month, someone has told me I look like Adam Levine. I guess that's a good thing
-I love baseball. I could play baseball all day and night if I could. It's that joyous boy in me that keeps trying to get out
-The Olympics are in full swing. I have no interest in 90% of those sports for the 3 years in between, but come the 4th year, I'm hooked

Drunk Downloading

*Disclaimer* Ok, we can all agree that drunk driving is a horrible thing to do. In fact, it's probably one of the most selfish and potentially destructive things we can do as humans. Please do not think I'm making a direct comparison. Thanks.

I found that drinking a bottle of wine and jumping on Itunes is a horrible, yet entertaining act. For instance, when I get that "Itunes receipt" notification, I always question if that's what happened. I can directly relate the most questionable songs on my Ipod to that. Take Lisa Loeb's Stay. I'm not going to lie and say it isn't a great song, but after a glass or two, that song becomes epic. And it needs to be downloaded ASAP. And what about Wilson Phillip's Hold On. Wow. Not even going to try and explain why that was playing at such a loud volume. Sorry neighbors.
But take my word for it. Don't drink and download. It's an epidemic. So next time you're feeling a little Paula Abdul and Rush, Rush, just ask yourself "What would Jon do"? Ok, not going to fib, I'd probably download it too.

Give up the goods

Not that you really care, or that this is even a relevant topic, but I am severely craving some Mexican food. I ran down to the Marquette food trucks today in search of a taco, but there were none to be had! Hola Arepa had a line like 60 people deep, and I don't have time for that!
I'm on a journey quest for some chimichurri and cilantro. So step up or step off.

*stomach growling*

Roman Holiday

Kristen and I went to see Roman Holiday at the Guthrie last night. Going into it, I had a lot of mixed feelings. I've heard it's below average, and that it was great. I actually thought it was very well done. It's hard taking a classic Hepburn movie and turning it into a song and dance show, but I think they did a great job at it. It get's 4 out of 7 (Jon) B's! I don't know enough about theatre to critic it beyond that. Sorry stage nerds, but that's all you'll get out of me.

Afterwards, we got to see the Target sponsored (whoop! whoop!) fireworks. Hot damn, they were good.

As we strolled along the Stone Arch bridge after dusk, and the heat  and humidity were climbing, I couldn't help to reflect on our trip to Italy. And yes, seeing Roman Holiday probably spawned most of the wandering thoughts. I don't know if I could ever live in Italy for the rest of my life, but I could certainly try. If I ever won the lottery, you would all know. Why? Because all of a sudden I would disappear like a baby daddy on Maury. I would buy a villa in Tuscany and Provence, locate a very old typewriter* and write short stories for the rest of my life.
Each day would be exactly the same. Wake up, have some breakfast, read the paper, go for a run and/or bike ride along the vineyards, write through lunch and enjoy a different dinner each night alongside a Brunello di Montalcino or Cortes du Rhone, and cap it off with an episode of The Wire. What a life. Of course there would be some variances (market day, trips to London, gelato stops, etc...). But I couldn't think of a more pleasant way to spend the rest of my life. And in fact, that would be how I would love to bring up my children. My wife may have a different idea of how to spend the next 80 years though (FYI, I plan to live to 110).

*On a side note, how awesome are typewriters?? There is something so therapeutic to the nostalgic sounds of the keys and ribbon fluttering about like trained bees hitting the paper. I absolutely love it. If I could blog from a typewriter, I would. You'd catch me in a coffee shop noisily striking down these random thoughts!

2nd Side note. I can't stop listening to James Brown these days. I literally find myself dancing away at my desk here, when I should be writing. I just two stepped my way down the hall as Give It Up or Turn It Loose came on.

3rd Side note. My new thing is going to be telling people that I'm a "retired baseball player". Did I actually play for MLB? No way, but my high school career should serve as enough foundation for that statement. And I did almost try out for the Twins. And by almost, I mean I filled out the pre-waiver form online. If Steve Dahl can say he is a retired athlete, I can get away with this general statement.

4th Side note. I'm slowly but surely making progress on both books. One will be about a grown ass man who decides to take a high-school-esq summer vacation and work part time at a coffee shop with other high schoolers. The second is still around the guy who travels to San Francisco to jump off the Golden Gate. Two very different ends of the humor spectrum. And to be honest, writing both at the same time causes some theme challenges.....

I need to re watch The Sandlot. I fancy myself a bit of a Yeah-Yeah, while Kristen thinks I'm a little more Squints Palledorous.

So a friend of mine got me a super nice hardcover version of Sun Tzu's Art of War. I remember reading the book back in high school, but I don't think I fully understood it at the time. I reread it over the weekend, and it made much more sense as an adult. One quote really stood out to me "Reinforce success and starve failure". The more and more I think about it, I can really apply that at work. While the book was written from the point of view of war, it has SO many applicable points of view that can be applied to the workplace. Something more for me to noodle over in the coming days....

On a serious note, the whole tragedy in Colorado really has me bugged out. There are so many instances where we feel safe and secure as a society, and all it takes is one individual to disrupt the entire matrix. I don't think I'll be able to go into a theater in the next few weeks and not think about that. It is an absolute tragedy and my thoughts go out to the families and individuals affected.

On a happier note, if you google "Lego Wire Parody", be prepared to be EXTREMELY entertained. It is hilarious. I love anything associated with The Wire.

Lines and Out

I dislike lines. Pretty much lines of any sort. If someone were to say "yo Jon, what do you want to get rid of"? I would be all like "Lines". Traffic, lines to check out, lines in tic tac toe. All of them equally a waste of time. I understand that lines are a necessity of organized society, but that doesn't stop me from pondering what they would be like while I'm standing in them.

On another note, Target softball starts on Monday. You could say I'm pretty jazzed about it.

Rocky Mountain High

I love Colorado. Not enough to live there, but I LOVE to be there. I just got back from a great trip of hiking, biking and climbing (lots of words ending with ing).
Every time I go there, it brings out the grizzly in me. I literally want to live in the mountains and catch/trap/pick my own food. As I told my wife this, she just laughs. "You're the first person to order Duck confit and fois gras, there is no way you're going to eat wild rabbit for a week". I guess she has a point.
With that said, there's something very inherantly caveman-ish with hiking through the vast wilderness. There are places I stood and thought to myself "I might be the only person who's ever stood here". It's one of the most peaceful and breathtaking places I've ever been.
On a very sad note, my heart does go out to the people invovled with the Waldo Canyon Fire. We were hiking through there on Saturday, and by Wednesday, the same place was overtaken with fire. I couldn't imagine losing my house or life in such a way....

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There's a few songs that always get played. Some songs you skip through on the old ipod, but some songs  get the nonstop play. So I decided to look through my itunes library and see which ones get the most plays. I was actually surprised. Escpecially since I go through musical waves. For instance, this week it's all about Action Bronson. But two weeks ago, I had a lot of De La Soul playing.
So here are my top played songs according to my itunes library:
1. Fast Car by Tracy Chapman. No question that this is probably one of my all time favorite songs. It was one of the first songs I ever tried to play on the guitar. To this day, I still can't play it though....or any other song for that matter.
2. Blister in the Sun by the Violent Phemmes. I loved this song when I was in high school. It was one of the few non-rap songs I had on most mixtapes.
3. Best of Burden by The Rolling Stones. Such a good tune. I really can't say much more. Normally when this comes on, I gotta play it all the way through.
4. Silent Treatment by The Roots. Single handedly, my favorite song of all time. During my middle to high school years, I don't think there was ever a time where I didn't play this song and think about the new girl I had a crush on. I remember very vividly playing this as I sat in my room drawing graffiti sketches of her name. Looking back now, I can probably understand why they gave me the silent treatment! But damn this song has such a cool feel to it. Do You Want More!?!?! is probably one of my top three albums of all time. Overall, the whole thing is just classic.
5. Lovin' It by Little Brother. Little Brother is by far and away my most favorite group since 2004. The remind me of a newer Tribe Called Quest. I used to play this jam all the time on the way to college. This was pre-day song almost every day in 2005.
6. Tan Leather by Action Bronson. Anyone who can rap about "Bone marrow roasted/spread it on the rosemary bread lightly toasted/drizzle with the vinaigrette" is solid in my book. He is absolutely my new favorite rapper.
7. Wild Side by Lou Reed. Again, this was one of those songs that I used to play a ton as a kid. I loved it when Tribe sampled the song for theirs. It's just got one of those good song stories and a great rhythm.
8. Stay by Lisa Loeb. Nah, just kidding. It's actually Charlie Chaplin by Asher Roth. I play this song a lot when it's just one of those good days. Nice weather, nice morning, nice breeze.

For Score and Ten Years Ago....Indeed

For those who know me, know that I am a die hard Wire fan. But what most people don't know, is that I never saw an episode on HBO. I only got hooked after someone gave me Season 1 on DVD. I was too busy wrapped up in The Sopranos to take on a new show. But I REALLY wish I had.
It was ten years ago that The Wire came into our homes and gave us (especially us in Minneapolis) a look into what dystopia Baltimore was. From the corners, to the port, to the schools, to the newspapers, The Wire told all sides of a seemingly uniformed story.
I only have four problems with the entire series:


1. Ziggy. I can't pinpoint why, but I really disliked almost everything with Zig. Maybe it was because we all had that friend when we were growing up that consistently dragged us into things we shouldn't be drug into, but he was  my least favorite person on the entire series. He was The Wire's Jar Jar Binks. 
2. Omar getting shot. It seemed so anticlimactic. But at the end of the day, it actually fit really well into the whole season. But as my all time favorite character, I had to be upset he got banked. 
3. I wish we would have gotten more story on the Sun folks. In season 2, I felt like we really got a vision to the dock workers, but I never feel like we fully got that from the newspaper. 
4. More Avon. Avon was part of the reason I got hooked. I felt somewhat sorry for Wee Bay and Avon as they were pretty non-existant the latter part of the series. And I Wee Bay's kid was another one of those annoying characters. I just wished we could have seen more of a clash between Avon and Marlo during the last season. 


I love to intergect random Wire quotes into my daily life. I will leave you with some of my most common and favorite:
-Sheeeeeeeeeeiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiittttttttt
-Can't break the Sunday truce
-Either do it or don't. But I got some place to be
-Indeed
-You ain't got any Honey Nut?
-Money be green
-Stricly a suit and tie
-Where is Wallace? (I mostly use this when I lose my keys or phone)


Can I be honest? Of course I can. I am totally infatuated with Kate Upton. Not in a crazy way, but wowzers. That woman is a show stopper. If she was like "yo Jon, wanna get some cheese fries"? I might have to. Kristen has Eric, I have Kate I guess. 

Wanna be like Mike

You know that Dos Equis guy? The one that has labeled himself "The most interesting person in the world"? Apparently, that man has never met Mike Boo.
We all have that friend. The one who always is in the thick of things. The type of person who starts a story out with "It was a random Wednesday, and I decided to buy a sailboat". That guy for me is Mike Boo. I sometimes forget how much cooler Minneapolis was when Mike lived here. He moved out to San Francisco a few years ago. And yep, you guessed it, it was a spur of the moment kind of thing. I talked to the guy on a Saturday, and he was like "Swing by my going away party this Friday. I'm leaving for San Francisco on Monday".
But that's how life was like with Mike. I have to admit, he is probably the leading contributing factor to my incisive randomness.
If someone was like "Yo Jon. Which one of your friends will end up working at a top notch brewery in San Francisco and will be dope on the bike"? I would have to say Mike.
Mike also introduced me to fixed gears. All it took was a full day ride around San Francisco, and I was hooked. I doubt I could ever go back. Wow, that last sentence made me sound like some kind of hipster.
But when Mike does come back to Minneapolis, it's like no time passed at all. Sure, we've grown up a little bit, but there's a part of me that always wants to go jump into a train yard or abandoned building.
I really do love the picture here. It was taken in high school. For a while, this picture was pasted all over Minneapolis. I couldn't walk around Powderhorn without seeing this picture on a garbage can or stop sign. Rumor has it, there's still a few floating around....

What is up North?

If you live in Minnesota, you've heard the term "Up North" more than a few times throughout your life. But what exactly is "Up North"? Most people would characterize is as any place more than a half hour north of Minneapolis. And to some extent, they would be correct.
But for me, it's something different. While yes, technically, it is north of where I am now, it's more about a sense of place. A place where most of my daily cares don't exist. A place where that inner caveman can sort of thrive. There's something innately naturalistic to catch your dinner, fry it on the shore, and eat it. And P.S., I would die as a caveman. Yes I can catch the fish, but when it comes to pulling and cutting out bones, I'm horrible. I'm worse than a color blind kid trying to solve a rubics cube. I can't tell you how many fish bones I get stuck in my teeth. But that's another story.
Every time I go up north, time moves so much slower. So much more relaxed. The wind carries different sounds and smells, and sometimes I get lost in it all. Reading a book on my couch is a much shorter hour than reading on a dock. I got through two books this past weekend. I can't recall the last time I've done that. It felt really good.
Could I ever live up north all year, or camp in the wilderness for more than a month? Probably not. But I'd be lying if I said I never wanted to try. If I had an escape route, I would love to go hang out in the Rockies for a month. Just to see if I could. Speaking of that, I think I'll go biking through the mountains next month. Just to see if I can.
As I write this, It's really just a distraction from going to the gym. I know I need to go, but I'm not looking forward to spending the next hour and a half wearing out my shoulders.....
So with that all said, happy Memorial day.

 

That Straight Cray

I couldn't find an image that best represented cray. I mostly came up with cray fish, and cray fish ain't cray. I'm just sayin'....

I really forgot how good old school Dr. Dre was. I was walking through the skyway today and heard someone blasting Nuthin' But A G Thang. What a good song. I really have nothing of relevance to say beyond that. But hot diggity, I love me some D-R-E. 

That New Blog Smell

Do you smell that? Do you? It's that new blog smell. I love it. It's so fresh and new. It's like a mix between peppermint, lavender, coffee and mint.

Anywho, welcome to the new blog. Here, you'll find all kinds of randomness. From my late night shenanigans, to Minnesota sports, to fitness, to my crazy obsession with The Wire and cheese fries (and yes, sometimes together).

Why a new blog do you ask? Mostly because I've grown up (at least on the outside). As I was reflecting on my previous blog, it went 5 strong years. I loved it. It had all kinds of awesome stories about my life. The downside? People I actually respect started reading it. Those created awkward moments when interacting with them at a social setting. Getting asked about late nights in train yards by your mentor is not a good look. So I thought I could tailor this blog to a more normalized audience.

So a little bit about me: I love to blog, write and read. If you subscribe to this, be warned. Actually, the free time to blog isn't always there, so I try to post something weekly. I love to be active. Sometimes that means running around Minneapolis, or climbing rocks, or in some instances, climbing bridges over the river. I love to eat new food and drink red wine. I have an odd obsession with The Wire. I love rap music. I love any reference to late 80's/early 90's pop culture (being an 80's baby myself). But the most important thing is that I'm completely random. Post 5 might be about ninja turtles and post 11 might be about me being chased by a hobo. There is no rhyme nor reason to my stream of conciseness.

With that, I leave you to the rest of your day. Thanks for spending those last 2 minutes with me.