Therhineland

Recon

Wowzeeners.

What a Crocs.

FIRE update.

Pop corn.

I have a penchant.... for big-ass fires...

Not again...

Expect it.

Fun with emailing late at night...

Zuchini Breakfast (aka "I suck for not posting in a long time")

HNT/Bionic Man

ATTACK KITTEN!

Would you...?

Best (soon to be) Birthday EVER!

MMMMmmmm Morel Mushrooms...

Medical School sometimes reminds me of preschool...

Tornado.

Random Picture 7

Random Picture 6

Random Picture 5

What the hell is my problem?

Amazing...

Random Picture 4

Random Picture 3

Random Picture 2

Random Picture 1

Score One For Spring.

Three strikes, but not yet out!

Futbol

I've got it!

CAW-CAW!

Spring Break Broke?

Mmmmmm Blood.

3 Things that are AWESOME (and suck balls at the same time)...

Back in Grey

Ace in the Hole

Squash Me

Double J Hoe Down.

SPLORK!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Quickie...

School kinda blows...

Holy 1" of snow on the ground.

50 things...

CDL Test...

4 Things

Optimus Keyboard

Monkey Steals the Peach -- seriously WTF?

Black Eyed Peas - Cali to New York

pharm what?

MUSICBATTLEDOS

A sizzling success

So sassified

A-HOLE

I love candy.

B-A-T-T-L-E

Ridiculous

Ha!

It's cold

Oh the weather outside is... AMAZING

What a day...

Love for my Flents...

Do it.

HOT WINE

Vin

If it's 7°

A piece of my sanity...

Country roads take me home...

WHOOWEE!

SONOFAB....

80s Extraordinaire.

2010-08-01T20:18:00.000-05:00

2008-04-27T22:11:00.002-05:00

So yeah. No excuses here. It's been OVER A YEAR! Wow. I wonder how timed passed that quickly and I failed to update the blog. Anyhow, I'm going to get back in it for a myriad of reasons; the primary being that I've decided to move to PORTLAND (aka, the Promised Land) for my residency. With my family all back in Iowa, this is a great way to keep them updated with pictures, words, etc.

That said, since my last post (eons ago) I've purchased a new camera (Canon 40D), matched for residency in Portland, bought a house in Portland, and built my dream commuter bike. I've also won several Ultimate tournaments, lost a close friend in an accident, and had lots of diabetes related changes in my life.

I won't go into details tonight, but as I have no more medical school requirements until GRADUATION!! on May 16th, I'll start flushing out the details tomorrow with plenty of words, and many pictures. If anybody is still reading this blog, thanks for sticking with me. Hopefully the stories and pictures to come will keep you informed and/or impress some ideas onto your minds!

Who knows, maybe I'll even pick up Flash and learn it when I have time/money/sanity!?

2006-11-17T09:19:00.000-06:00

As Waz has always said, anyone wearing Crocs is no friend of mine. As if these:

You think this many colors is crazy? You should see the dumbass lady at work that mixes and matches.

weren't bad enough, I have witnessed something even more disgustingly awful than this open-toed abhorrence of a shoe. Last night on surgery we had a 7 hour add-on case. Pretending staying at the hospital until 1:30 AM weren't enough, someone was rocking DRESS CROCS. That's right. Cheap navy blue plastic bottoms with holes the size of nickels in the soles for all sorts of body fluid to flow straight into on the bottom, and cheap brown leather up top. It's a style that is so amazing it's almost the new mullet.

They call this the islander? I heard it just beat out "butt-loaf".

2006-11-13T20:34:00.000-06:00

2006-11-07T23:15:00.000-06:00

So the big fire came and went... and I just got out of the hospital. Ha. Not really! But the fire was big and exciting... emphasis on the BIG! Even though it was almost 1.5 weeks ago, I wouldn't be suprised if it were still burning! Some pictures...

Pre-fire log splitting.

These logs are NO joke!

Lighting the fire (using a propane flame-thrower, of course)

En Fuego!

More Fire...

Other than big fires, I'm in the middle of my 2nd week of surgery... and thus far all I have to say is... the only cool things about an OR are surgeons who listen to nothing but Led Zeppelin and anesthesiologists. That's it.

2006-10-24T00:28:00.000-05:00

2006-10-15T23:05:00.000-05:00

So... this Saturday was the first day off in a while... unfortunately, Iowa lost to Indiana... they suck, therefore, we also suck. However, I did not waste my whole Saturday moping. Rather, Carey and I headed out to Brent's to built the LARGEST bonfire Johnson County has ever seen. "Why", you ask? Well, this year is the 2nd annual Thanksgiving cookout celebration--meaning HUGE fire, 5-7 fried turkeys, several geese, a smoked ham, and lots of camaraderie! This is quite the undertaking, and building an impressive fire is the most important part... I think we pulled it off....

Brent's old-school CJ-7, built for hauling a ton (literally) of wood, and 4 people!

One of the more formidable logs...

Teamwork.

By our best estimation, 25 feet in diameter, and 20 feet high. Not bad for 3 med students! Brent, Carey, me, from top to bottom.

2006-10-05T00:10:00.000-05:00

So I've dropped the ball... again... but here's a short run down of happenings. 3rd year of med school is intense... I am 15 weeks into rotations. I love them, but they are phenomenally taxing in every way.
Currently I trudging through internal medicine at the VA hospital, and every day is filled with interesting patients... wait, make that old men with heart disease, lung disease, and/or prostate disease. The diseases are definitely not glamorous, so it is very fortunate for me that many of the old fellers have a good heart and many stories to tell! Makes the time go a little bit faster.
Other than that, I've had little time off. This past weekend I took a good chunk of my vacation time and headed out to Long Island, NY for my cousin's wedding. It was amazing! I am always impressed by how differently wedding are conducted in different parts of the world, and even more amazed by how they can differ so greatly within our country! Make sure you all check out the photos that his AWESOME photographer took! Hopefully the next update will be sooner and more exciting!

Roberto Falck - blog: Tracy and Justin in Port Jefferson

2006-08-30T22:38:00.000-05:00

Well... You can expect it. There's a good post in the works... just keep your eyes open!

2006-07-24T23:28:00.000-05:00

So Katie just sent me an email I decided to send her EARLY one morning. I guess I might have still been pretty tired...

SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO... I have NO idea what the heck I just did I guess
I fell asleep anep aslepp and now I'm alwake or what... but who knows!
Anyhow... I guess I'm hust what my balls off now... so who knows WHO the
frick is going on or what... but I do know this much... I'm going to bed
from NOW until 7:30... so whoever is tired better feel like waking up
until then... UNLESS of course that is you--in which case I'll be waking up
WHENEVER I GET A CALL from you

For the record, I thought I was actually making sense when I typed this, but now I have NOOOO idea what the hell I was trying to say. Awesome.

2006-07-24T14:08:00.000-05:00

Well this post is a day overdue refried version of all the things I had running through my head to post last night to recap all of the things I have been up to since my last update June 23rd (which was a long time ago, thanks Chris). That was a confusing sentence. Confusing sentence, confusing person. Anyway, here we go.

June 8th-Took USMLE Step 1, an exam which all medical students take. It is an 8 hour, 350 question beast of an exam that we all sweat b/c it supposedly covers 2 years of information and residencies use this information as part of the screening process... so it's kind of important! After taking the exam, I sweated the results (b/c I was sure I had failed), until this past Wednesday, when I found out I had passed! Yeehaw!

June 26th- On the 26th I started my FIRST rotation of my 3rd year! It was Family Medicine for 4 weeks in Cedar Rapids. I felt like I learned a ton and met a lot of really nice staff and really unique, interesting patients, but the redundancy of lots of patients with diabetes, hypertension, depression, and in need of physical exams nearly drove me batty. I like Family Practice, but I don't know if there are enough "interestingly different" patients to keep my attention up. We'll see--but like I said... I did learn a lot, and I got to do a lot of cutting and stitching.

July 15th- IOWA GAMES! More pictures to come from this event, but in short, our ultimate frisbee team took SECOND PLACE overall... This was a ROUGH day... 7 games spanning from 9-5:30 on a 100+ degree day... truly an event of survival! More to come!

July 22nd- This past Saturday I climbed up on my roof with my father and 2 other fellas to make a one day shingleathon. 5:30 start, 12:30 finish for a 13 square tear off and replace... not too bad--and NICE to have done!

Today marks the educational day between my family practice rotation (which I just finished) and my Community Based Practice module in Waterloo, which I start tomorrow... Hopefully I will start doing MUCH better about keeping this beast updated! Until then... cheers!

2006-06-23T00:48:00.000-05:00

Well well well... I'm officially a bionic man. After 16 years of giving 6-8 (or more) shots a day for my diabetes, I have officially made the switch over to the insulin pump.

What can I say... only have to inject a needle into my body once every 3 days, instead of the norm! We'll take it (for now!) Updates forthcoming... but excitement at present!

2006-05-31T22:52:00.000-05:00

I think my cat has rabies.

2006-05-23T22:41:00.000-05:00

So here's a quick one for you... If I came up to you in a store, and asked you if you would like me to make dinner for you, and had these

on the top of my cart, would you accept or decline?
Well, if you declined, then you missed out on a beautiful Talapia dish.

And some mushrooms... just sauteed, but quite enjoyable!

Even though I'm busting my ass non-stop to study for boards, I have to respect my stomach. Just under 25 minutes and I had a phenom dish, and enough for lunch tomorrow. Cheap seafood! Sweet! Cooking is the best skill you can teach anyone. For about 7 dollars I made two complete meals low in fat, high in taste.

Other than my food fetish, the kitty is now called Gracie... in other news, my hunting buddy Ken informed my that my golden retriever pup will be born ~November 15th! Get excited! Perfect timing to work her in the spring, summer, and have her ready for waterfowl/pheasant next season.

2006-05-21T23:28:00.000-05:00

So... I've never really been a big birthday get excited kinda guy... because I've never really had big birthdays... HOWEVER... Katie's mom just got me the BEST EARLY BIRTHDAY present ever! It's a KITTEN! I'm very, very excited... the animal lover in me is just blossoming with happiness... But I need a name for HER... any suggestions? Back to BOARDS studying! Much love!

2006-05-08T01:17:00.000-05:00

Okay... so I'm back. It's been awhile... yes, I know. I also know some of you probably haven't noticed. School/life/everything has been crazy, but I'm trying to dedicate some time to keeping the updates coming! So.. let's make this one a good one! This weekend I was paid a visit by the lovely Ms. Katie...

and in between lawn work, bus driving, and studying, we found some time to get out and hunt the elusive, yet delectable, Morel mushroom. I have some friends who wonder "what is so great about Iowa?"... now... I have lots of canned responses, but one you just can't beat is the lovely fungal lifeforms.
So after donning the proper hunting apparel (which is anything, so long as it looks crazy enough to keep people from asking questions about your mushrooms)...

Worried that it was late in the season, I was hesistant to take the lovely Ms. Katie, who had never hunted before, for fear we would not find anything. Alas, after merely an hour of hunting, we had an excellent mittfull for this time in the year.

After displaying the proper quick soak technique...

And a little necessary posturing to brag to the parents about the find...

The little puppies were dropped into a bath of olive oil for some frying, and were then devoured. Which leads me to this point--we've got it good in Iowa;) Oh... and it's good to be back!

2006-04-24T08:27:00.000-05:00

Medical School sometimes reminds me of preschool... Let me tell you why. Today I just got an email from one of our class facilitators about a project for death and dying. WELL... turns out we are supposed to fill out this survey about deaths we have seen... etc... Now, I'm sorry, but if you haven't dealt with death in an appropriate manner by 25-30 years of age, chances are you really aren't going to get much of a better grasp on it. Anyhow, my answers turned out to be pretty funny (but true), so I thought I should throw up a screen shot!

2006-04-16T12:56:00.000-05:00

So... if you hadn't heard... we got hit by a tornado Thursday night. Our house was spared--which was fortunate when you consider the funnel cloud was right over our house and buildings 200 yards away were demolished. Weather is impressive.

2006-04-13T00:31:00.000-05:00

2006-04-11T01:44:00.000-05:00

2006-04-07T00:57:00.000-05:00

2006-04-07T00:56:00.000-05:00

What the hell is my problem? I told myself I was going to be in bed by 11:30 tonight because I am "sick"... and now it's 12:54. Amazing.

2006-04-05T18:44:00.001-05:00

So this dude has a bet with his girlfriend he can't reach 2,000,000 unique visitors to his site. Could be the most hilarious online bet ever. Check it out.

http://www.helpwinmybet.com/

2006-03-30T01:22:00.000-06:00

2006-03-29T01:33:00.000-06:00

2006-03-27T21:21:00.000-06:00

2006-03-26T23:06:00.000-06:00

So... my friend recently pointed out to me after perusing my hard drive that I have a LOT of random ass pictures... so I decided I'm going to post them... with no explanation... I'll try to put up at LEAST one every day, more if I get belly laughs while looking at them (for instance, I'll pretend like I'm NOT the guy in the front row of this pic all painted up)...

2006-03-21T01:12:00.000-06:00

It's spring. There is 1/2" of freshly fallen snow on the ground... with more on the way! I L-O-V-E Iowa.

2006-03-17T09:55:00.000-06:00

HOLA! This morning marks the return from the Mexico 2006 trip--and let me say one thing--good times! The trip was amazing... weather, food, clubs... pretty much the only thing missing was diving--but it would have been a lot to cram into one trip... here are some pics from the trip:

Of course... food shot. The condiments at Tacos De Los Arcos=Hot as HELL!

The aqueducto at the beautiful NH Krystal Vallarta.

The vacation was overall pretty much your average beach vacation, with the exception of one wild day of boat/bus/foot travel. We decided (against my better judgement) to do a one day booze cruise. We set out from the marina at 10AM the morning of the cruise... the ocean was calm, the alcohol was flowing, and things seemed right in order. The trip was touted as all you can drink, with a snorkel stop (the only reason I went really), lunch on a beach, and then a horseback ride in Quimixto. Well... not but 2 hours and several drinks into the trip, we started realizing how broke as hell the cruise was. Our "snorkel trip" ended up being 5 minutes in some murky ass sand-bottom lagoon with nothing to see. After a few more drinks on the boat, it was time for "lunch" on the beach. I ordered a burrito, thinking it would be enough food to satiate my EXTREME hunger... however, what I got was 3 tiny tortillas with 1 oz. of meat in them, onion salad, and no drink. At this point, the 3 guys I went with and I were ready to call it quits at any means necessary (especially since there were still 6 hours slated to drive around in a broke ass boat with terrible drinks and idiots for company)... well, until we found out a taxi ride back to the city from this remote place was 250 dollars! So improvise we did!

We got a water taxi (think tiny boat on open ocean) to take us back to the boat, (from which we stole a bunch of Coronas), and for 5 dollars a person we got an "I'm going to die at any moment" ride to the nearest shore close to a bus stop. After ordering a couple Corona's from the locals, we caught the next bus, and cruised down the mountain side and breakneck speeds, dodging cars, trucks, and other busses. One more 50 cent bus ride later, we were back to the hotel, and saved ourselves 4 hours! Not only that, but the 4 other escapees were some of the most fun people we met on the trip!

Moral of the story? Don't go on booze cruises. Let the people who run them go out of business.

Hitting the open ocean in a dinghy.

The Escapees.

She'll be coming down the mountain...

2006-03-06T23:02:00.000-06:00

Well... the soccer game was won 5-2, but not without a cost. It was an all around great game that should have finished 5-nil, but we got a bit lazy at the end. To end the 1st half, I took a shot off my leg, and almost scored off the rebound... but it was the end of the half. Darn. We're in the elite 8 out of more than 75 starting teams! Hooha!

2006-03-03T02:12:00.000-06:00

I just realized why the Good Lord gave me diabetes--he knew I could probably survive a nuclear holocaust were I not limited in some fashion. Bam! Then there went my beta cells. And now the world in guaranteed human free in case of nuclear disaster.

2006-02-25T15:43:00.000-06:00

This morning I woke up at 5:30, slipped into some camo, and met Dave and his dad at the crow roost I found last night. After the 2,000 or so crows woke up and started to head out of town, we followed them to the.... LANDFILL! We got permission from a neighbor to hunt her land (right next to the dump), and let's just say we CLEANED HOUSE! The lady was so happy because there was "finally solitude for an afternoon"! We absolutely loved it, and Dave's dad is just hilarious! Good morning, good shooting, beautiful way to start a day!

2006-02-24T21:38:00.000-06:00

Well... after plenty of recent bitching and whining about not going anywhere for a break... we've had a major break breakthrough. Last night we (we being classmated Waz, Tim, Dustin, and I) found non-stop tickets from CHICAGO to Puerto Vallarta, MEXICO for around 300 dollars. Today we took care of accomodations, and now I'm planning on spending 7 days and 6 nights south of the border in less than two weeks! Plans are currently to drive to Chi-City Thursday night, hop on a plane at 8:15 Friday morning, skip classes, and be on the beach in MX by 1! Not shabby! I'm rather excited, and with any luck, I'll get to also spend some time under water and see some rays (manta rays, that is!) Yeehaw!

2006-02-21T22:36:00.000-06:00

Well... all I've got to say is I'm back. Back to giving blood. After a forced one year hiatus after taking a trip overseas, I am once again a blood donor. I forgot how much fun it is to sit down in that chair, have a large needle inserted in your arm for 10 minutes, and then get up feeling lightheaded and hungry as hell! But for real, after I'm done giving blood, the best sight EVER is the guy or gal working the food and juice station. HOO DOGGY! V8 and string cheese, here I come!

2006-02-15T23:53:00.000-06:00

In collaboration with NBC Olympics

2006 Torino Games Total Medal Count - http://www.nbcolympics.com/medals/1599000/detail.html

Pretty much my obsession this time of year, every 4 years. I love the Olympics.

2006-02-15T19:42:00.000-06:00

1. Medical school, which means someday I'll actually have a job doing what I love (but I'm busy as hell, and feel like I'm spinning my wheels. Did I mention I'm ALWAYS in class?)

2. I've been growing a beard, and I'm starting to look like Grizzly Adams (but I'll have to shave it tomorrow before I go see my first patient of the year, for fear of scaring the hell out of them).

3. It's snowing and it's beautiful (but I'm going to have to get up at 5 in order to clear it all, de-ice the sidewalks, and still make it to class).

Today is one of those days you just feel worthless. I need to kick back and listen to Dylan or something. Damn.

2006-02-09T13:06:00.000-06:00

Well, well, well... I've felt rather negligent the last couple days, so I'm back in full force to update the world on my whereabouts. Friday came and went. I think it is safe to now say that the WORST semester of my 18 odd years of education is now DONE. It's true it was a long week, but it is also true that it went fairly well, and is now over. The crow hunting was fun to get out, but we found out quickly where the crows ARE NOT. Our best take of the day was corn:

Anyhow, got back in from the fields at about 5, and then it was off to the pirate bar crawl. Due to poor planning on MY part, I have no pictures from the crawl--yet. It was outrageous... pretty much 130 people going from bar to bar and getting rocked. Not bad!

Saturday morning was the OFFICIAL start of my boredom, as well had a week off, so I spend about 6 hours trekking around public land in the surrounding 30 mile radius. Lots of goodness to be seen, the only downer was when it's 28°, it's hard to stay out TOO long comfortably... but some good pics, nonetheless, and LOTS of fresh air.

On Sunday eve, I ventured over to Andy's house, where we watched the Super Bowl on his new 52" plasma in HD... knocks my 32" HD LCD out of the water, but hey, he has a J-O-B. Glad the Steelers won, but an overall boring game. After the game, I picked up a 3rd year who was doing an internship in my hometown, and gave him a ride home. True to nature, I was harrassed by the cops, who pulled us over, took our licenses, and tryed to prove we were drinking or something.
Officer "what are those cans between your legs?"
Us "Oh, it's just the villanous DIET COKE".
Too bad for him he chose to harrass 23 and 27 year old med students, one who is a Mormon, and hasn't ever drank. Good work coppers, it's investigative work like that that makes my hometown the meth capital of the nation.

Monday and Tuesday were spent mostly playing in the woods at my parents, getting plans together to build my sister planters for her house, and then installing a new bathroom fan/vent for her. The coolest thing ever happened when I stumbled across a box that had been covered with spray in attic insulation! It was full of magazines and newspapers about the space race, all of which were date in 1969! Not a bad find, maybe we'll have to see if they have any "Ebay value".

Anyhow, I'm presently relaxing in the IC after a nice swim, and really have nothing on the agenda.... makes for a slightly boring day, but hey. You'll have that! More later!

2006-02-02T09:55:00.000-06:00

Well... it's officially the Thursday of finals week. This means that I have successfully sludged my way through Pathology comp final Monday, Microbiology comp Wednesday, and have only an 87 question Pharm comp tomorrow. Only? Hah. Anyhow, I've been holding out all week on my Ace in the Hole--the LAW LIBRARY. If you can get past the fact that a lot of the jack wads in this building are future DOCTOR SUE-ers, they've got these great carrolans in the basement that are super comfy and quiet. It's a high yield learning zone for a lowly 2nd year med student... Anyhow, at least they've got wireless, and I've got a warm, quiet study spot for the next 14 hours. Sweet.

2006-01-31T18:43:00.000-06:00

Lights... camera... action...

2006-01-31T18:41:00.000-06:00

...then out of control...

2006-01-31T18:40:00.001-06:00

DJ LOC (my partner) before we rocked UNI this weekend... small setup--small party

2006-01-31T18:40:00.000-06:00

...shit starts getting a little crazy...

2006-01-31T18:35:00.000-06:00

So... let's talk about SQUASH for a bit. I love it. I'll eat it hot. I'll eat it cold. Hell, I might even pull it out of the garden, slice it open, and devour the innards out of the tough skinned, yet sweet centered vegetable that God has so gloriously blessed us with abundance here in the Midwest. Much like Alan Greenspan blew my loan interest out of the F*&#ing water today, squash blows my heart out of my f*$#ing chest. I love you, acorn squash. This dinner is to you.

2006-01-30T17:07:00.000-06:00

All I have to say is Path--DONE. Little scared walking out, because I was fairly certain that I didn't get the required 60% to pass the course. Thoughts of another year's tuition and a wasted year turned out to be premature as I did indeed pass. Translation? One final down for this week... two left (the one Friday being the most intimidating). Regardless, I'm now sitting in the downtown House of Aromas, listening to Jack Johnson, and tiredly pushing through microbiology notes. Gotta start kicking ass.... UGH.

2006-01-28T01:01:00.000-06:00

So today was a crappy day... I woke up late and missed my path small group. The stupid part of it is that I didn't even remember I had it, being the week before finals and all... so then I had to waste 3 hours making it up by writing a detailed email explaining all of the pathology cases. Awesome work Thomas, especially considering I'm supposed to be studying for Monday's Path final ALL day today. Then there was some light in my day. Fed-Ex man came, bringing my beautiful new flintlock muzzleloader and some maxi-balls for it. Not 10 minutes later, UPS man shows up with the sling. Here's a picture of the whole kit. I can hardly wait to have some time off to sight it in and enjoy being out of doors. Shortly after this hole rigamarole, I decided to bike. It was 58° and sunny, so I rode for an hour. Problem with this? Yes. Then studying was impossible, because I had severe spring fever, and instead of scratching the itch, the bike ride made it 10x worse. So finally the day ends with me being cooped up in the house, and then the library, and then House of Aromas studying until 1:07 in the AM. Great. I guess there was one more highlight--Weiss-man did some SICK cooking, and made us a great dinner! Thanks Weiss-man!

2006-01-26T21:12:00.000-06:00

Quick one before I go sell my soul to the library for the rest of the night (ugh). Forgot to announce that the Shockas III made it past first round play at the U's Indoor Tourney. We dook down our counterparts 8-nil. Pretty good showing to get some polish down! Next game isn't til February (they were really nice scheduling us through our finals week and break week). Aight... time to go cram Pharmacology Phacts into my head... SONOFABISCUIT.

2006-01-26T01:01:00.000-06:00

So... next week is the culmination of our 26 (??) week semester of medical school. Next week we have COMPREHENSIVE exams in Pathology, Microbiology, and Pharmacology on M, W, F, respectively. So life is sucking until Friday, at which point we will have a MASSIVE bar crawl--GOOD TIMES.
However, even in these dark times, I have a little light to get me through. That is the Lyman Great Plains Flintlock Muzzleloader! WOO HOO! I'm ordering me one, and then it's on like DAVY CROCKETT!

2006-01-20T14:47:00.000-06:00

2006-01-18T23:47:00.000-06:00

Ahhhhhhhhhh... the beautiful amalgam... tonight was beef jerky night at the TAD house... Dusty bought 4 pounds of meat, a bunch of seasonings, and brought his dehydrator back with him. This is the start... corn syrup, brown sugar, onion and garlic powder, salt. We continued by adding liquid smoke, teriyaki sauce, pepper, and OJ. Marinating for 24 hour, then hitting the DH tomorrow. It smells AMAZING.

2006-01-18T23:45:00.000-06:00

Dusty and me mixing sh*t up in the kitchen... where's the 3rd member of the tad house? Holding the camera. Arg.

2006-01-17T00:03:00.000-06:00

50 Things to Accomplish In Life

Here they are, in no particular order...

1. Graduate medical school.
2. Find a job I absolutely love, in an interesting field (yeah, who wouldn't want this... I guess I still have to include it).
3. Spend AT LEAST 7 years of my life doing mission work, for no pay.
4. Steal something really noteworthy. Like art or jewels ;) (I know, this looks great after the mission work thing)
5. Travel to Antarctica. Do research. Find fossils.
6. Have a family… not large, but enough kids to be crazy busy with them.
7. Join the national rugby team.
8. Make a horror movie.
9. Buy land. Preferrably 80 acres.
10. Build a house on aforementioned land. Have an underground tunnel to garage/guest house.
11. Encourage my kids to follow their dreams.
12. Genetically engineer a disease resistant banana cultivar.
13. Float down the Mississippi on a tube. The ENTIRE Mississippi.
14. Swim with the top 5 most deadly sharks in the world. One off the list, 4 left.
15. Invent a martial art… how funny would that be.
16. Swim the English Channel. Twice.
17. Live to see a space elevator. And then go up in it. Twice.
18. BASE dive off of the Empire State Building.
19. Be cured of diabetes (then do 16, 21, 5).
20. Give someone an idea that will change the world.
21. Climb Mt. Denali.
22. Make a biodiesel car.
23. Write a video game (dorky, I know, but how sweet would that be??)
24. Write a novel that is so good/confusing that it makes everyone think they have to read it, but it’s so good/confusing they don’t really get it. (Kurt V., anyone)?
25. Create a perpetual motion machine…machine…machine…machine…machine…machine…
26. Track and kill a mountain lion is Marshalltown (yeah, they’re back in town)… Skin it and make a carpet.
27. Dive the great barrier reef.
28. Walk across Africa.
29. Solar power my house.
30. Teach someone a skill that makes their life better.
31. Pass the Good Word on to as many people as I can… and always be an example.
32. Own a hydrogen car.
33. Drive a bus to the tip of South America—become totally fluent in Spanish along the way.
34. Discover treasure. Preferrably underwater.
35. Spend 2 months trekking the Brazilian rainforest.
36. Build a massive saltwater tank into my home… complete with tide machine and lunar lighting.
37. Build a log cabin with my own hands (and an axe, some nails, and a hammer).
38. Train the most amazing hunting dog man has ever known.
39. Bicycle across Australia.
40. Win the Scripp’s Spelling Bee on ESPN. Those little bastards got nothing on me. I wouldn’t pass out.
41. Drive trucks on the ice road in Canada, and live to tell about it.
42. Get certified in pyrotechnics.
43. Build a wind turbine on my land. Put it with 29, and take my house off the grid.
44. Train a messenger pidgeon.
45. Foil an assassination attempt. Yeah… probably never happen, but how cool would THAT be.
46. Help map underwater caves in Florida… or at least get certified and dive them.
47. Grow plants in outer space… almost got this one going 3 years ago… but it will happen.
48. Raise poison tree frogs (that I get from number 35)
49. Take a submarine to the bottom of the ocean.
50. Live as long and happy a life as I can, and have the balls to call it quits when the old diabetes catches me up. ;)

I tag:
Laurie
trueborn
auburn
n.missy
meghan

2006-01-16T15:01:00.000-06:00

So... here's some instant trivia... What do I look like after taking an hour and a half driving test in a large ass vehicle to get my license? Wait... add in that I didn't have nearly enough time to prepare, and I was completely pulling answers to the examiner's questions out of my ass...

Answer:

Oye. Anyhow, I'm officially official to drive large vehicles. SWEET! Other than that, not many new happenings in life. Unfortunately, I'm in the last 3 hectic weeks of our semester. Exams this Wed, next Mon, then the Mon, Wed, Fri of the following week. The end is in site though--FINALLY.

2006-01-16T14:53:00.000-06:00

Okay. So I got tagged. Here we go.

Four jobs you have had:
Construction worker/roofer
Vending Machine Filler/Repairman
Detassling
Researching etiology and prevention of diabetic vascular and neural disorders

Four movies you could watch over and over:
Dead Presidents
Braveheart
Swing Kids
Amistad

Four places you've lived:
Marshalltown, IA
Mtsensk, Russia
Brade, Denmark
Azacualpa, Honduras

Four TV shows you love to watch:
Desparate Housewives
Grey's Anatomy
Pimp My Ride
American Chopper

Four places you've been on vacation:
Ambergris Caye, Belize
Philipsburg, St. Maarten
Maui, Hawaii, US
Blackduck, Minnesota

Four of your favorite foods:
Cottage Cheese and Peaches
Garlic Pizza from Santarpio's (Boston)
Lamb from Santarpio's (Boston)
Orange Goose

Four places you'd rather be right now:
Mexico
Denmark
La Jolla
Alaska

Four sites I visit daily:
My school email
slashdot.org
news.bbc.co.uk
Random blog sites

Four people who get tagged by me:
ANYONE WHO HASN'T DONE THIS YET (I don't want to re-tag!!)

2006-01-12T02:00:00.000-06:00

So... let's just say Artemy Lebedev is cranking out another sweet design project... only this one is very functional... I guarantee you are ALL going to want one... could it really be coming out Feb. 1st?

http://www.artlebedev.com/portfolio/optimus/

2006-01-10T00:41:00.000-06:00

Seriously... if I was ever grappling with some martial artist... I'm pretty sure I'd see this one coming. And I'd have to counter with a potato sack to the face.

2006-01-10T00:37:00.000-06:00

From back when most people didn't know (or like) BEP.

[Verse One]
As soon as A La stepped off (the floor)
People started hollerin (for more)
Beggin us to bless 'em with an (encore)
You know the Peas they game to that (for sure)
No matter what the coast we, be on
Pacific or Atlantic we, stay strong
Foreign or domestically, we conquer
all obstacles professionally and rock on
And that's exactly how we made it rock (made it rock)
We turn this on and then we make it hot (make it hot)
We also known to cause a state of shock (state of shock)
We start at 2 then go to 10 o'clock (10 o'clock)
10 o'clock the next day that is (day that is)
No matter what city or state that is (state that is)
Don't ask no questions, that's the way that is (way that is)
Don't ask no questions, that's the way that is

[Chorus - 4x]
Back, back, back, back, and forth
from Ca-li to New York

[Verse Two: Pos]
Introduce Posdonus y'all ('Nus y'all)
Sticky like cous-cous y'all (cous y'all)
Be the words that I ap-ply (ap-ply)
My peeps mass, karma N.Y. (N.Y)
Check it out, you see you other emcees, sound like brother
emcees
Raised by the same pop and mother emcees
While I got a lot of brand in my name, I'm recognizable
Leavin me the cash amount, that's quite sizable
Rich in that english that's broke as hell
That's why my niggaz in the hood understand me so well
Its the modern rap type talk
used to walk, all over your ears
You hear the thump, this track pumps like, well order
Some others fell short of the line of finish
You didn't practice harder at the scrimmage
Now my image is the golden cup
My career is dirty compared to yours, it's all washed up

[Chorus - 4x]
Back, back, back, back, and forth
from Ca-li to New York

[Verse Three: Dove]
We, we, we, we regulate and cross plates, destruct ya
Toss coins to distract it and we bust ya
Minds blow bigger than tempers out in Russia
Cuss like a sailor, make you shame like thelya
Stitch a verse tailored to fit
Spray paintin' your spit
on the deco we art, spread apart
I raid mo' tracks than flicks in "Beat Street"
with kicks until the sole/Soul wear out, never that!
We weather that, you light in the ass and feather that
Heavy like black leather coats, you pleather that
Last dick on the line, we way ahead of that
Squeezin like Freddie Foxx, and his two glocks
Rocks don't impress niggaz who speak to God
We get jams to make a tuna melt
Held down by the BEP, we strictly, new getty
Two-fifty up in front of the mic, so what it look like?

[Chorus to fade]
Back, back, back, back, and forth
from Ca-li to New York

2006-01-08T19:18:00.000-06:00

I'm so bored right now. I should be studying for the pharm exam tomorrow, but instead I'm doing stupid crap like renaming my hard disk "Skittles". Eh...

2006-01-08T16:35:00.000-06:00

So this afternoon was music battle DOS at the TAD House. There was a CLEAR winner.

Willie Nelson - Always On My Mind
Tori Amos - Cornflake Girl
Gordon Lightfoot - Wreck of the Edmund Fitzgerald
Jamiroquai - Cosmic Girl
Statler Bros. - Flowers on The Wall
Jan Arden - Insensitive
Sarah McLoughlan - Blackbird
Marc Anthony - You Sang To Me
Natalie Imbrouglia - Smoke
Sugar Hill Gang - Apache
Ween - Japanese Cowboy
T-Pain - I'm In Love With a Stripper Remix Feat. Mike Jones
Bishop – You Know You’re Ghetto
Taj Mahal – Fishing Blues
Eddie Vedder – Throw Your Arms Around Andy’s Ass
Neil Diamond – Brother Love’s Traveling Salvation Show

"AN-DEE" songs in PINK MC HORSEPONY songs in white

2006-01-08T16:07:00.002-06:00

Well, since Laurie gets to go to St. Maarten in Aug, I thought I'd put some pictures of (in addition to the ones I added in Aug) to make her jealous until then... ;)

2006-01-08T16:07:00.001-06:00

A big (and bigger) bugger of a shark. No cages involved.

2006-01-08T16:07:00.000-06:00

Who can see the octopus?

2006-01-08T16:06:00.000-06:00

A little bugger of a gecko.

2006-01-07T20:05:00.000-06:00

I get one week off in Feb. What do I want to do? Dive. What will I actually do? Probably nothing, I have no money. Oh well... a picture from Maui to make everyone else feel my pain.

2006-01-07T19:59:00.000-06:00

Looks like it!

2006-01-07T02:20:00.000-06:00

Tonight for dinner? Creole chicken with candied pineapples over rice with beans. I think I need to stop cooking on the weekends so that I don't miss it during the week! But it was fun. In another realm, wtf! It's 1:55... I coulda sworn it was just 11. Went to the producers tonight.... ehhhhh. It was okay. Best part? Realizing the pidgeon named "Adolph" was the only all white one... oh Will Ferrell.

2006-01-06T17:00:00.000-06:00

Exactly one year to the big date.

2006-01-06T01:10:00.000-06:00

I heard something bad.
You don't love diabetics.
Simply foolishness.

2006-01-05T22:41:00.000-06:00

Man. I'm satisfied. It's not often that I can just sit down and say, "Damn. I feel great", and really, truly mean it from the top of my head to the bottom of my... bowels. I'm sitting here in HOA (House of Aromas, best student run coffee shop--ever), after a fruitful night of studying, and just finished devouring the best burrito in the world. How do I know it's the best? It was from Panchero's. If you don't know about Panchero's, it is DEFINITELY something you need to try. It is amazing the flavor a little Iowa City start-up can deliver... check it out! (www.pancheros.com). To prepare you for your burrito, here's what you need to know. Order a burrito, steak, to go (the wrapper keeps it warmer and helps hold a nice little shape until you eat it). Then get the following:

Rice
Both kinds of beans (1/2 black, 1/2 pinto)
Steak
Cheese
Hot Sauce
Pico de gallo
2 LARGE scoops Jalepenos (where the hell is the n-ya)
Guacamole
Sour Cream

$6.93 and a few minutes later you are full, satisfied, and the world is right.

2006-01-01T22:14:00.000-06:00

So let's talk for a minute about two things. One is my favorite. The other is one of my least favorite. First, my fav. Wikipedia.org. One amazing website. Basically the premise is that this online encyclopedia is an "open source" encyclopedia... if you know something, you can write a new article about it, or edit an existing one. Result: an awesomely comprehensive and detailed (but not too much so) resource that I use about 3 times per day. Which brings about my least favorite thing. While messing around on the internet, I locate the Wikipedia page for University Heights, Iowa; a little community within Iowa City limits. Sounds quaint until you find what is going on in this little shit-hound shell of a city. The 946 residents that call University Heights home are residents of a city that refuses to call itself Iowa City proper; however, it is surrounded on all sides by it, has no hospitals, businesses, gas stations, community centres, or fire department. The only thing is has is a police force of 2 full time "officers" and 5 reserves. These sheisters of a higher degree like to sit on the one highly traveled road into Iowa City (Melrose Ave.) and give every passing vehicle hell if the dirty little bloodhounds so much as sniff money to be made along the order of fines. Let me share some stories.
1. I'm traveling to visit my girlfriend in the hospital the day after she's had a major surgery about 3 years ago. I come around the corner going 29mph (in a 25 limit). Look behind me, and see lights. 40 dollars and 3 years later, I'm still saying "what the fuck" and openly challenging the officer to an ultimate fighting match (pussy).

2. Coming into town about 2 years ago for my med school interview, I'm being very obedient to the speed limit (22mph, which is pissing the hell out of the people behind me), when I again get pulled over, this time from the side. The officer comes up to my car, and says "do you know you have a head light burnt out"... to which I reply "NO. If I had known that, I would have replaced it with this spare I keep in my glove compartment."
Him "I'm going to have to give you a ticket for equipment failure"
Me "Seriously, I have a replacement right here, I'll put it in"
Him "Go ahead and put it in while I write the ticket"
Me "Ummm, under Iowa law, don't you have to give a warning or something before you ticket a motorist for equipment malfunction? Or are you above the law?"
Him (quite pissed, and feeling his prey escape his snare) "Fine. Here's your warning. Better make sure that light is working next time"
A-S-S-H-O-L-E

3. This last Friday night my friend Lisa falls downtown into the corner of a brick building. Being the only sober driver, I pick her up to transport her to the hospital, as well as giving the other 3 of her friends a ride. Halfway up the University Heights hill, I see a car start following me, and then lights start flashing. What the hell. I'm going 26mph, what NOW! The officer comes up to my window, and says, "license and registration please". Handing it over to him, I say "Sir, I'm my way to take my friend Lisa to the hospital. She fell downtown and gashed her scalp open. Lisa holds her blood covered hands out for proof. Officer jackhole takes one look, then says "I pulled you over because your license plate lights are not working. I then saw that your windows were fogged up". Well fuck. Good investigative work jack! "Have you been drinking tonight? "Actually sir, I had one beer" He replies, "I'm going to have to breathalyze you" Sucking in a big breath, I blow a huge 0.027. He's clearly pissed that I've had only one beer. "Son, I'm going to let you go. Thanks for being honest with me, and make sure you get her to the hospital". Thanks, but we were already doing that, and I appreciate your concern, a hole. Tim Bell, my HS Cross Country coach would have one statement for that. BUSH LEAGUE. Hell!

Which brings me to the real point of the story. On the Wikipedia article about University Heights, some little do-gooder had painted a beautiful literary picture of the shit-hole. So I took the opportunity to edit it correctly. It is pictured in the image, but if you can't make it out, it reads "It is known locally for its speed trap; a joke at the Johnson County courthouse runs that if the speed limit on this community's sloping main throughfare were raised by 5 mph, 75% of its police force would be out of work. Police specialize in using terror tactics by pulling over US denizens for going as little as 2mph over the 25mph speed limits. Other tactics include breathalyzing for fogged up windows and excessive ticketing on vehicle equipment violations."

Moral? Wikipedia.org is amazing (Don't be an asshole in a uniform).

2005-12-30T09:43:00.000-06:00

Well... I might well be the only person in the nation who has taken the Commercial Driver's Licensing test THREE times... and passed all three! Let's just hope the driving test people actually get me in before my permit expires. ARG.

2005-12-28T15:42:00.000-06:00

So... I'm sitting around this afternoon BORED AS ALL GET OUT, and my roommate and I decide to have a music battle... here's what happened:

Weiss: U2 - Some song I don't remember the name of
Me: Oasis - Champagne Supernova
Weiss: Cake - Loser
Me: Danny Tenaglia - Frank Sinatra*
Weiss: Pure Prarie League - Amie
Me: Spice Girls - Wannabe*
Weiss: Real Big Fish - Sell Out
Me: Starland Vocal Band - Afternoon Delight*
Weiss: Natalie Imbrouglia - Torn~
Me: Jimmy Ray - Are you Jimmy Ray?
Weiss: Basically Weiss loses it here and comes up with some lame excuse for quitting the game because he forgot I was a professor of musicbattleology. Score one for Thomas.

*indicates songs that made Weiss either cry, laugh, or shit his pants. Mostly though he shit his pants while crying. Hahahaha.
~indicates songs that made me SERIOUSLY question Weiss' sexuality

2005-12-27T00:03:00.000-06:00

Let's just say I love my home town... HOWEVER, certain things are frustrating... for instance, the fact that it is a TOTAL SUCKHOLE.

My mom gets mad whenever I say that our town is a suckhole, but let me explain my reasoning...

1. They have dial-up. It just took my 3 minutes to load the dictionary.com page for the word ridiculous. I chose to look that word up, even though I know how to spell it, just so I could say "that's ridiculous". Imagine checking my UofI email. NOT GOOD.

2. You can only get anything better than analog roam on your celly if you face due South, put your nose on the window, and lick a metal clothes hanger.

3. We get 2.5 channels. That means the public TV station comes in, and 3 others you can make out about HALF of what is going on.

THESE THREE qualify M-town as a communications suckhole. OYE. At least when the power goes out its nothing special... we just light the candles and put another block of cube in the icebox before we sit around the fire. Ha!

Other than that, going home is fun... it makes me want to buy 60 acres of land and build a house on it out in the middle of nowhere... that seclusion and sense of ownership is awesome... my parents are really lucky to be where they are... Except, of course, my future country house will have a satellite for TV and internet access :)

On another note, just picked up John Legend live at the House of Blues DVD... if you still don't know about this guy, you need to go to Amazon.com or johnlegend.com and grab a listen. Good stuff.

2005-12-22T19:23:00.000-06:00

More solid work by the Dream Team. Chip is yawning, I'm taunting, and Kellen is staring the opposition into submission.

2005-12-22T19:22:00.000-06:00

So... last Friday resulted in an M1 party that caused me to play Flip Cup for 1.5 hours straight. Pictured is the 4 person Flip Cup "Dream Team"... Chip, Me, Kellen, and Jamie. Cumulative record? Pretty much 79-0. DREAM TEAM!

2005-12-20T18:02:00.000-06:00

My roommate (Weiss) just slipped and fell in the driveway. I heard him hit the ground and couldn't stop laughing. I will laugh when he reads this.

2005-12-19T00:19:00.000-06:00

It's 4° out... to commemorate this fact, I just ran 3 mile. Wow. My face is frozen! Katie and I got bored today and made 2 squirrel chairs to put corn on. We attached them to the back fence at sundown, so we'll see if they are popular tomorrow. Hopefully it keeps the squirrels out of the bird feeder, but also encourages fighting--because there is nothing more hilarious than jumping squirrels!!

2005-12-15T00:46:00.000-06:00

Geared up and ready to go looking for some bunnies...

2005-12-14T18:48:00.000-06:00

Zach... I really wanted you to fall in.

2005-12-14T01:02:00.000-06:00

Not to brag... but it is coming down quite nicely right now...

2005-12-13T18:01:00.000-06:00

I'll tell you what... there's nothing quite like trudging around on a snowy day for three hours... especially if you have to get a pheasant, quail, and (almost) a rabbit out of the deal! We're supposed to get more snow tonight, so... Wow!

2005-12-09T23:33:00.000-06:00

So... if you're like me and you have to study but try to find new places and mix up the scenery, you are probably also amazed by the amount of stupid shit people can find to talk about. Additionally, the volumes with which people talk about stupid shit are usually quite obscene. Enter my trip to Walgreens this afternoon to pick up a pair (10 pair for 3.50 actually, and a case to boot) of Flents earplugs. Let me just say... AMAZING! I think I love these more than popping in my socially acceptable white Ipod earbuds. Silence really is golden!

Get you some (or at least read this killer slate review!)
http://www.slate.com/id/2118800/

2005-12-06T22:38:00.000-06:00

"So far, no one has found a road-and wheel combination in which the road has the same shape as the wheel."

Somebody, do it.

http://www.primidi.com/2004/04/05.html

2005-12-06T01:04:00.000-06:00

So, it's the inaugural hot wine night of the year, so I thought I'd be kind enough to share my ULTRA TOP SECRET recipe. First... things you MUST have. 1 BAB (big ass bottle - 1.5L) of red or white dry wine; 1/2 cup sugar, 1.5 cinnamon sticks (roughly of course), and 3-8 WHOLE cloves. Mix all of this together in your trusty old Crock-Pot for 1-2 hours on high if you need a quick dose, or 6-10 hours on low. If you like to mix things up you can also add a dash of lemon juice and 2-3 apples cut up really, really well. Take this stuff to any outdoor winter event, and you'll be rocking.

DISCLAIMER: when steeping this stuff, be careful of the steam... Not only is it hot, but it also has a significant amount of EtOH in it--which can sting the eyes and clear the sinuses... general rule is the more you open it, the more alcohol you lose! So stir it, but be easy on the smelling!

2005-12-05T13:57:00.000-06:00

Random Vin Diesel Facts

Vin Diesel was the hunter who shot Bambi's Mother. He then wore her carcass like it was a coat while he made his rounds at the local children's hospital.

Good Lord... there are some funny ones.
http://www.4q.cc/vin/index.php?topthirty

2005-12-04T18:39:00.000-06:00

If it's 7°F outside and you DON'T look like this to go sledding, then you're PROBABLY not ready... HOOOO DOGGY!

2005-12-04T18:35:00.000-06:00

So... today has been GREAT. Let's just say that I was able to run with my snowshoes for 2 hours and play a 45 minute game of snow ultimate frisbee this afternoon. Tomi brought hot wine to ultimate for halftime. Imagine hot wine with sugar, cloves, and cinnamon sticks added in... AMAZING! Now I'm getting ready to go sledding in about a half an hour. Am I the only 23 year old that still gets excited for this? I hope not!

2005-12-01T19:34:00.000-06:00

Soooo... pretty much the neatest (or only) decent shot I took this morning. This is driving on country roads that are not plowed and covered with 4" of snow. A beautiful morning, but cold as frozen snot on the side of your face

2005-12-01T00:59:00.000-06:00

Finally something to spice up life a little bit! Just got done shoveling through 2" of snow, and we could have up to 4" on the ground by 4! Should be a GREAT morning for goose hunting! I'll make sure to take the camera!

2005-11-29T20:07:00.000-06:00

Well... what can I say... This post Thanksgiving school stuff if CRAP. I'm tired of studying after two days, and we still have three tests to go before break. Ugh. Fortunately there are still plenty of tests left (7) when we get back from Christmas. Woo-wee.

2005-11-17T16:12:00.000-06:00

Well... this morning was another good one... 5 of the beauties! They were the only birds we saw, but it certainly wasn't a bust! Not too shabby for a 16 degree morning.

2005-11-16T08:11:00.000-06:00

It's the white stuff kids go for.... SWEET!

United States

2005-11-13T12:14:00.000-06:00

So after a year of wanting, the 80s party finally happened. The main floor was cleared out, the music was set up to a killer speaker and light show, and 100+ people came to the TAD house wearing authentic 80s wear to dance the night away. All I can say is my fears that the night would flop proved to be totally wrong! RADICAL!

2005-11-13T12:13:00.000-06:00

Another early group shot. Brent O. with an authentic 1988 Hawkeyes Rose Bowl picture.

2005-11-13T12:12:00.000-06:00

Group shot early in the party. Note Noonan's windbreaker and shades.

2005-11-13T12:11:00.001-06:00

Juan, Dan, and Erica bring some late 80s flair.

2005-11-13T12:11:00.000-06:00

Unfortunately it is blurry, but it's still 80s Erica and Larry.

2005-11-13T12:10:00.001-06:00

Tom E. Wow and Wow. Wish the picture showed his Transformers Walkman.

2005-11-13T12:10:00.000-06:00

Yes. That's Andy, one of my roommates, rocking Daisy Dukes, a women's jacket, a mullet, and shingle strips in his hair.

2005-11-13T12:09:00.000-06:00

Jess and Cody... the 80s couple showing some 80s love.

2005-11-13T12:08:00.000-06:00

Flan, T-Eb, and Kira. Maybe the best threesome for sheer authenticity.