The Plan is Huge

Jesus, you are holding me up today.

December in April

Nealey and I thoroughly enjoyed over an hour and a half of Decemberists last night. They were great. Very tight, very enjoyable, very entertaining. I was really happy that they played a bunch of their older stuff, not just stuff off of Crane Wife. Included were: Billy Liar, Sixteen Military Wives, Mariner's Revenge Song, The Tain, The Island, Yankee Bayonet, O Valencia, The Perfect Crime 2, Shankill Butchers, The Crane Wife 1, and others. On Yankee Bayonet, the lead singer of My Brightest Diamond sang the woman's part. It was a lot of fun.

Get into Couch

Here is the new couch Nealey and I just got. It was a lot easier to buy it than to get it up three flights of stairs.

My Wife

She got her hair cut. She looks great.

Role Model

Yes.

Some of my friends

Mike and Joel just left a day ago. It was very nice to have them out here to spend time with me and Nealey. We took a trip up to St Paul area to see 300. I did enjoy it. I though it was a good depection of "the warrior". The Achiles, Hector, Hercules. These are people we read about in English class (or on our own). To see visually what a warrior lookes like in action, it was very helpful to me to develope the idea of the warrior/leader/legend. After the film, we wanted to venture into the city to hang out. It was the weekend of high school hockey state playoffs. The town was busy. Our time was well enjoyed. Nealey and I are very grateful that Mike and Joel made the drive out here. They are truly gentlemen.
Also, we parked on the street where there was a wall of snow between the street and the sidewalk, we went over the wall.

Friends

I have the best friends in the world. I want to talk about them. Even if some of the people I talk about aren’t my close friends, they are part of the whole. It is not my intention to embarrass them. This is just my attempt to share a small piece of why they are my friends. I won’t be able to talk about everyone here; it’s not possible. I want to attack it in a list manner.

Nealey Cray – She is my companion, the closest person in my life. The one I love and choose to spend the rest of my life with. The person I can be most vulnerable with. She makes me laugh and smile. She encourages me. She makes me feel so very special. She is so smart. I like her for her mind. Listens to everything.

Mike Edwards – Many long conversations have come out of nowhere. Back smashing I’m so free. Very important in my musical, spiritual, and human development. Mike has given me countless hours of music. Mike is someone I can talk to. Mike is the first person I call when I get back to BG. Mike makes me laugh. Creative and honest in everything. A deep thinker. Someone who reads a heck of a lot of stuff.

Justin Edwards – When I was first getting to know the Edwards’, I though that Justin Edwards and Paul Runyan were different people. Justin has the most unique sense of humor. Enjoyed planning WWI, WWII, and phlash-light with. Loved practicing for the Pseudobook show at Howards. I think I could have practiced forever without ever having the promise of a show. I almost burst into tears during our practicing of Failed Filmmaking. “I wanted so badly to start on this journey with you by my side, but it was just not in the cards for us this time around”. To spend time with those guys in that studio, that was awesome. One of the most creative persons I know.

Greg Jenkins – This guy never ceases to amaze me. Greg playing Nealey and I’s song at our wedding was one of the most beautiful moments in my life. Constantly creating music that is “hot”. Almost got “the ‘beaties” with him via Circle K. Encouraging, loving, and funny.

Ben Lucas – A man that is so very insightful at a Bible Study. Versatile in music. Smooth voice. Encouraging. One of the fullest laughs. Open and honest. Able to listen and share advice. Very intelligent.

Mark Dally – Contently growing in the Lord. So encouraging. So energetic. It has been such an honor to see Mark grow in so many ways: musically, spiritually, as a man, a man of the Lord. Mark almost makes me cry with his music. I give him so much credit for climbing in the back of my car for the drive up to the Great Fiction.

Stuart Clark – I went to High School with Stuart. I didn’t really know him that well. I met up with him at the Skillet concert at Dayspring. He started talking about a bible study they were starting (gentlemen’s club). I didn’t even know Stuart was a Christian, and he didn’t know that about me either. We didn’t really live our faith in high school. Even though we were both saved, we didn’t know anything about each other.

Maria Miller – A leader. A person who is always looking for God. A caring individual beyond what I could ever have done. Surprisingly into dance (step).

Joel Manahan – Possibly one of the most insightful people I know. Always making connections. A very social being. Has the longest posts on his blog ever. Someone who is honest with who he is. A music magnet.

Tess Khory – A person who is willing to take risks. A person who can draw amazingly. Agrees with me when I decide who hasn’t posted in forever. An insightful person who has a very unique sense of humor.

John Wade – A person who is willing and wanting to serve God. One of the youth that I felt most connected with. A very gifted person.

Josiah Shepard – One of the deepest thinkers I know. An honest man who can achieve his goals.

Dan Lyon – Such a unique person. Gifted artist musically and photographically. Fun man. Felix Thundercrom.

Jeremy Cordy – Probably the most inappropriate sense of humor ever. A man who wants to server God and is finding his place doing that. A creative artist with his scripts and movies.

Brett Horner – A man who always laughs when he sees me. He probably laughed at my wedding. Someone who listens honestly and earnestly seeks what God is saying to him.

Matt Horn – My “pop” friend. A quick funny man who fits in musically with almost any crowd.

I’ll stop for now. If you think of more people that I should talk about, please leave a comment.

Worst Vocals Ever.

So I was on the New Amsterdams myspace, looking at some of the comments. I decided to click on Electrick Noise. The song "Conflict" played. It was abhorrent. If you want to experience what I did, click here. There is also a dumb Articles of Confederation question on the end of the song... yes, the song was so bad, I listened to the whole thing.

Haircut, get into it.

I got a haircut. It went well. I have an interview this friday at John Marshall High school for a monitor position. It is for the remainder of the school year. This would be a great opportunity to get a foot in the door. Interview, friday, John Marshall.

Anti-Justin's World

Justin, you had it man. You had the real winter in the palm of your hand. Well... It had you in the palm of its hand. I mean do you even know places like this picture taken here even exist anymore? Have you taken in so much sun and 70 degree weather as to forget what month it is? Do they even know what a wind chill is in Southern California?
I took this picture as I stood in the middle of one of the busiest streets in Rochester. I stood there with no cars coming toward me nor any cars coming from behind me. That is because Rochester is supposed to be hit with 12-16 inches of snow this weekend. I hope we have basketball Saturday morning.

Ikea

Nealey and I went to Ikea in the Twin Cities on saturday. We purchased a desk, add-on top unit, some filling system, hanging folders, and some floor mats. We went on a saturday, that was a mistake. We overheard one employee saying that they probably get 18,000 people on a saturday. It was pretty busy.

On monday I drove up to Apple Valley where Questar Educational Services is, to interview for a job. I recieved a job. It's not exactly the best job, but I do like what the company works on. I will be working on an Indiana project scoring and analyzing student responses from one of their state-wide tests. This is a temporary position, but I hope that it will lead to a permanate position with the company. That job starts in April, I will still be pursuing employment in the area. If something else comes up, then some decisions will be made.

Yep

From the weather channel's website.

Music

Okay, so I was in the car a lot this weekend listening to a lot of music.I started to compile a list of songs that I would love to play for a show. Of course, the best show is original music, but, if we did do a cover show, these would be among the songs I would do. In no particular order:

David Crowder Band - Do Not Move
Death Cab for Cutie - For What Reason
Death Cab for Cutie - Sound of Settling
The Decemberists - The Crane Wife 3
The Fire Theft - Heaven
The Fire Theft - It's Over
The Get Up Kids - Close to Home
The Gloria Record - Miserere
The Great Fiction - Dream Emotion
Jeremy Enigk - Been Here Before
Jeremy Enigk - Cannons
Jimmy Eat World - For Me This Is Heaven
Justin Edwards - Vampirate VI
Kent - The King is Dead
The Killers - Bling
Luxury - Diary Standard
Luxury - Mincemeat
Michael Edwards - To The West
Pedro the Lion - Magazine
Pedro the Lion - Second Best
Seasons - A Momentous Moment's Momentum
Starflyer 59 - Something Evil
Sufjan Stevens - Put the Lights on the Tree
Sunny Day Real Estate - How it feels to be something on
Sunny Day Real Estate - Guitar and Video Games
Sunny Day Real Estate - Days were Golden
Sunny Day Real Estate - Fool in the Photograph
Sunny Day Real Estate - The Rising Tide
Youth Group - Happiness' Border

I think that is it. As you can tell I'd like to play a lot of Sunny Day. Of course this set is brutally long to the point of impossibility. It would be awesome. I think Pseudobook should start practicing for our reunion show in 5 years. Give me your thoughts.

@ the library

I'm at the library today writing thank you notes, looking at Ikea furniture, and getting a library card. For those of you who did not know, I made an epic trip this last weekend. Thursday afternoon, I was chatting with Mike Edwards about the Great Fiction show. I remember seening them with Justin a while back and it was amazing. The thought ran through my mind, "That would be so awesome to see them again". And then suddenly, it started to happen. Let's do it. Can I do it? This is crazy. I can't do it. Yes I can! So, I talked to Nealey for a bit. No, I did not have to do any convincing. And I was off. 4 p.m Central Standard Time. I would arrive 600 miles later at the Edwards house, at 3:00ish Eastern Standard Time. You do the math. It was so good to see friends again. Lunch with Ben, Jeremy, Mike was great. There was a point during our lunch that was so amazing. Jeremy was saying he wanted some music for his film. After some small conversation, Ben was like, "Yeah, I'm in." Yeah, it was amazing. I love my friends, I just live real far away form them, that is all except Nealey. Nealey is such a great friend. Heck, she's my wife. I love my wife.

Yeah, there is some snow here

Nealey and I went for a nice walk on Monday. We saw that it was snowing and decided to join the snowflakes. Here is but a brief sample of what you can expect in Rochester.

Updates

So, I have some updating to do. Before I start, some really quality songs have come up on shuffle lately. Nealey and I have the 20GB iPod going most of the day. Including Mike's "Part of your World", Ben's "Le Musique", and an epic almost 10 minute "Baby I'm Yours" Seasons jam. Okay, now the updates.
The Rummikub record is now K:3, N:1. Nealey won the most recent game. I have started to hang some art and clocks on the walls here. The apartment is looking quite nice. Nealey starts work in a week. Things are going well.
Nealey and I saw Pan's Labyrinth. I enjoyed the movie a lot. I feel like I am holding back a little. I can't like it as much as I want to. I spoke to Mike a bit about the movie and we talked about some of the things I am about to write. The movie doesn't really explain the "other world" a lot. It just presents it, in a way that is somewhat "believable". I suppose that is the nature of a fairy tale, it doesn't take time to explain why everything is the way it is, it just is. There wasn't any long history on how little fairy came to be friends of Pan. There wasn't some explaination as to how everything came to be. It just starts, there was a kingdom... One item that I could have liked more was the character of Pan. First, I didn't like his voice all that much. Second, I wanted his part to be larger. I know he is supposed to be mysterious because we aren't really supposed to know if he is good or bad. However, as a whole, I enjoyed the movie a lot. Very pretty, dark a lot, great music.

Mike

Mike is officially the person who updates the least. Even less than Joel, that's saying a lot. The committee (wow, that felt weird to spell) of one has ruled.

Nealey and I

Nealey and I are enjoying our dinner tonight. Below is a picture of that. We have been settling in here. I will spare you the pictures of boxes everywhere, those will come in a later post. There are boxes everywhere! We are making progress though.Our bedroom is about finished, not swedish. The office is going to be the room we do last, and that is looking like it is going to be a challenge. Nealey and I played a game of Rummikub. I will update you on the standings everytime we play. K: 1 N: 0. We have also seen a couple movies. We saw Children of Men. I thought this film was amazing. Nealey did not because of the violence. We watched The Illusionist. Nealey enjoyed this film. I liked it except for the "here is everything you wanted to know in a montage" ending. All is well in Minnesota.

Minnesota Cray

Nealey and I have reached Minnesota. We are in our apartment however, our belongings do not arrive until Tuesday. We are sleeping on an air mattress that we bought from Wal-Mart. The apartment is large. We have had to do some substantial cleaning throughtout, there is just dust everywhere. Also, I think one of our neighbors, either the one to the right, or below us, smokes. There is a strong smell in the kitchen, but nowhere else in the apartment, thank goodness. Here is a pitcure looking into the living room. And yes, it has started snowing.

Mike and I in Minnesota

Mike and I made it safely here to the great state of Minnesota last night around 10ish. It wasn't that bad of a drive. We went through Chicago at a good time and I think that saved us a lot of time, rather than going around the city. We made a couple of stops, McD's, Pizza Hut, Gas/Pee. These are pictures of Mike and I at the Pizza Hut. Our waitress was nice and consistant. After anything we said, she said, "Sounds good." The last one is a picture of Mike after our long night of partying. Oh, did I forget that?