April Fools!!!!
Brent | April 1, 2010
I posted this last year, but it’s so good it needs reposted.
Best. Moment. Ever.
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Happy Veteran’s Day
Brent | November 11, 2009
From my family to you and yours,
Happy Veteran’s Day
click for close-up cuteness
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and Thank You for anyone who has served or is serving. It is not forgotten.
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what I did on my IronMan day…
Brent | November 8, 2009
Yesterday 4 of my friends competed in IronMan Florida. For the uninitiated, an IronMan Triathlon consists of a relaxing 2.4 mile swim in the Gulf of Mexico, followed by a jaunty little 112 mile bike ride. Oh!- and then lace up your Shox and go run a full marathon- 26.2 miles to end your day.
To do this, it takes the above-average human somewhere between 10 and 17 hours, with 17 hours being the official cut-off for the race finish.
Throughout the day, I followed their progress on-line, as well as text back and forth to their support teams and family’s.
I thought it would be interesting to list some of the things I did yesterday while my friends Dan, Talmadge, Steve and Spencer did their IronMan:
* When the race started at 7:00am, I spent about an hour skimming the internet, reading and responding to emails, sipping coffee, and had some quiet time in the house before anyone else woke up.
* I did two loads of laundry. Towels and Gabe’s clothes.
* I ran 6 miles. ( any other day, I’d probably feel good about that, lol )
* Came home, stretched, and spent time with my wife before she left for work for the day.
* When my daughter Casey woke up, I kept her company while she ate her poptarts (Cookie Dough flavor).
* I cut my hair.
* I showered and cleaned up.
* I made lunch. (nothing special – just a sandwich, banana, and yogurt)
* Gabe woke up, so I talked with him as he ate his poptarts (Hot Fudge Sundae flavor)
* Casey had her friend Sydney over, so I entertained them, was subject to their movies and videos they made, and helped with computer issues they were having. Microsoft is the Devil. Sony is only slightly less evil.
* I took my dog Boomer for a walk.
* I went and visited our friends the Tidds, for a couple hours. Maggie and I ate at Taco Bell. We went to CVS for candy. We rented a movie. I also met their new puppy Cleo. She’s cute.
* I came home and did two more loads of laundry. More towels and a load of shirts.
* I watched a movie. (Wolverine, which I would recommend if you like such things).
* I cleaned the litter box.
* I took out our trash.
* I fixed a door hinge that had broke.
* I transported my son and his friend out to go see a movie as well. Even though those two boys met two girls at the movies, it was NOT a date! It was simply two people meeting two other people to spend time together…
* For the remainder of the evening I spent time with Casey and watched her make a video from all the pictures and videos that she and Syd made during the day. I talked with Shellie, and I talked with Gabe and Dustin when they returned from the not-a-date. They saw The Box. Said it was weird and dumb. Thumbs down.
So I feel like I was really productive yesterday. I was active, I did lots and lots of things around the house, got in some exercise, spent time with everybody in my immediate family, hosted both of my children having friends over, entertained myself with a movie, and many other things.
But then- consider that during this entire day, then entire time I had done everything on this list (and more that I didn’t write down) that they were swimming, biking, and running. THE. ENTIRE. DAY. From 7:00 am until about an hour after I went to bed at 10:00pm, they continued to race.
wow.
Dan Thomas, Talmadge Reasoner, Steve and Spencer Sunbury….
YOU are an IronMan!!!!
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BAM! said the lady…
Brent | November 2, 2009
so my daughter was playing with her friend yesterday. They had this game where one would swing, while the other would roll one of those big exercise balls. If it was timed just right, the person would come down from their swinging at the same time the ball would get to them, creating a perfect kick of the huge bouncy ball.
Sometimes it doesn’t go as planned. Fortunately, Casey was recording.
And of course she had to do some fun edits and put it on her youtube channel….
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and…BAM! said the lady
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Toilet Papering Critique
Brent | September 20, 2009
I got toilet papered last night.
I wake up really early, so it was still completely dark as I surveyed the scene. There is rain coming, which will make the cleanup a whole, soggy mess. The wind from the front coming in made the toilet paper sway in the trees, ghostly images dancing and slithering in mid-air.
click for full view
Whoever was the toilet paperer (and there’s never just one) did a decent job. Very thorough. You can see they wrapped the bushes very nicely, and even made designs in the yard.
click for the big picture
And even more clever, they scanned and printed full-page pictures of me from my senior pictures. I had forgotten these existed!
what a fresh-faced cutie!
The stealthy perpetrators also exchanged our Football yard sign for a Cross Country sign, wrapped our cars with more toilet paper, pasted more of the same pictures on our cars, and wrote little messages on our car windows.
However….
a little advice:
Make sure you spell the simple words correctly. It’s embarrassing.
U are missing from this picture
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And for reference and educational purposes:
click for reference...
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Signposts
Brent | May 14, 2009
Since I’ve had so many great comments about how people like my little corner of the internet, I thought today I’d use it as a signpost to guide you to other people’s blogs that I like to visit.
(click on the title to visit their world)
*) Dan’s Theatre of the Absurd –
A great collection of variety. Probably the most all-around versed individual on any given topic, he’s never at a loss for interesting, quirky, and sometimes bizarre stories. He’s also listed first on my “Other Sites to Visit” section. From IronMan Triathlon, to chicken farming, to Child Welfare stories, ya just never know what’s coming next…
*) Jimiyo’s Art and Palaver –
Just an extremely talented artist, cat lover, and all-around good guy. Recently the phenomena known as twitter has taken some of the oomph out of his blogging, but he will still post some great stuff. If you twitter, however, follow him and you won’t be disappointed.
*) Chris Pirillo –
This dude is everywhere. The creator of Lockergnome, which is itself a large community of blogdom, Chris comments on all thing Tech – technology, electronic gadgets, computers, software, etc. Ya know, really really geeky stuff 
The most interesting to me is the streaming live video and chat. The guy is a trip.
Here is an example, with Chris explaining about what twitter is:
*) SingulariTee –
A man who goes by the name Adder, but not for the serpentine reference. He comes from the world of art and T-shirts. Where those two meet, that is where he resides. Adder reviews submissions and prints from other T-shirt sites, and has an uncanny knack for seeing designs and knowing they will or should be printed. He also has a knack for being completely blunt and unapologetic when it comes to identifying less-than-quality. The moniker Adder fits him well in this regard, too.
*) Joel Bauer –
You just have to see this guy in action. Just for the sheer entertainment value, if nothing else. You’ve heard of motivational speakers? This is the new breed.
Here is an example of Joel and the topic of business cards:
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I’ll probably add more later, but just wanted to give a little glimpse into other people’s blogs that I visit. Very interesting world we live in…
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be nice to someone today
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My last ride
Brent | April 14, 2009
I like bikes. Not motorcycles = bikes, but like bicycles = bikes. I used to ride all the time. Hundreds of miles a week. That’s pretty much all I’d do. Since I was in high school, really, I would ride probably 6-7 times a week. Sometimes twice a day.
But several years ago, my friend Eric talked me into trying triathlons (ya know? “swim, bike, run”). That decision made me do two things: Learn how to swim, and re-embrace running. So we pitched in a bought a self-instruction video. (Total Immersion. Excellent stuff.)
From there it was a slow transition, but I have eventually swam and ran much more than I bike now. I don’t know if I was just burnt out from all that riding, but I really liked the two new sports I was trying to master. Plus, the time to get a good bike ride is at least an hour or two. In comparison, you can get a good swim or run workout in half the time.
Sad as it sounds, the last time I rode my bike was several months ago. Every fall we take a cycling trip to the Smoky Mountains. Last year we decided to do the two highest mountains in the Eastern United States, back-to-back. First we rode up Clingman’s Dome, which is a 20-mile climb, then the next day we rode up Mt. Mitchell, which is the highest point east of the Rocky Mountains.
(click on the pics for full view) On top of Mt. Mitchell
don't look at me, look at the view
I need to start riding again…
The Choice Was Not Hard – SOTD #10
Brent | April 9, 2009
This is what I call a “statement shirt”. It says something about me. The title is “The Choice Was Not Hard” , and was designed by Jamie Marshall, known as “Boots” to some. Jamie is an illustrator of children’s books, and creates wonderful, whimsical scenes. I have already talked about her designs on “Explanation“, but this was her first to be printed at woot.
I like it because the placement is sort of uneven, with most of the design being on the right side of the wearer’s chest, and the smaller side centering the shirt. The best thing about the shirt, however, is what it says. Given the choice to pursue money, success, fame, fortune, and/or glory, or to just go and have fun on some “really cool waterslides”, well, it’s a pretty easy choice for me. I think it fits with my “enjoy life” mentality.
Anyone who knows what I do for a living will know that I did not seek fame, fortune, or money 
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To choose these things over money, fame, or glory?
Well….the choice was NOT hard.
There’s been a TT sighting !!
Brent | April 3, 2009
Yes, the reports of his demise seem to have been greatly exaggerated. He’s been seen. Talmadge is back. Today at the pool, I witnessed TT in action. He showed up in the wee hours of the morning, smelling like coffee, and looking like awesomeness.
My great friend Dan and I had recently received some “T-mail”, apologizing for falling off the radar, that life and work have temporarily gotten in the way. I really don’t know why running a school and having three small children would interfere with an IronMan training schedule (jokes, jokes), but he states he’s BACK!
I remember last summer, we saw the Eye of the Tiger:
This was just an information bulletin for the community at large. Rest easy, all is right with the world
Great to have ya back, T !