Welcome Benjamin

Headed East yesterday for the Pilgrim's shower for little Benjamin Eugene. That's a fine name if you ask me. Ben was a little early in his a arrival a few weeks ago, but he's doing fine now and doing all those normal baby things (pooping, sleeping, crying, pooping, and pooping). It was a good time, but probably the last time Matt and Beth will have to hang out for 18 years or so. Good luck with that. And I don't change diapers.

Pics.

sleeping: activity 1 of 3

crying: activity 2 of 3

oh yes

from one Eugene to another

carhartts, direct from Indiana (courtesy Miss Brown)

Something I Can Shoot My Eye Out With

Sure, I know that titled ended in a preposition, but it seems a little pretentious (actually considering this blog, extremely pretentious... on second thought, I think the word pretentious is a little pretentious) to be to proper in this space. On third thought, this whole paragraph is seeming pretentious. Unfortunately my Backspace key fell off yesterday, so starting over...

Things I want for Christmas. That's what this post is about. Me, me, gimme, gimme.

OK, that's not quite right either.

Due to popular demand - and my apologies on the tardiness of this for those who have been clamoring for days, if not week (yes week... not weeks) - I give you the latest installment of my Christmas List. 2010 Edition. As usual, it will be a mixture of class, whimsy, and idiocy. The same mixture that resides within me. Also, literally the mixture that resides in me as I'm just polishing off a cocktail of Macallan, Grape Kool Aid, and Mr. Clean General Purpose Household Cleaner.

Being the eternal student that I am, books are always on the list. And what better way to simultaneously stir my intellect and indulge my predisposition for being super manly than a book of super manly stories?

Also of interest are Microcosmos and another we should all read, as well as any other book you think I'd like. And since I think it's important to learn about what my special lady likes, my own copy of Twilight.

The time of the horse in the Wild West has passed us by, now something like this would be ideal for traversing the wilderness. Of course, that's a bit rugged for the daily grind, so one would need a nice and sensible commuter, take this Dodge for instance.

priced to sell!

Whilst away in my Rally Fighter coupe for a weekend in the sticks, a nice knife like the Gerber Epic would come in handy. Since rubbing sticks together went the way of the horse, the Soto Pocket Torch starts fires nicely by turning your trusty Bic into a flamethrower. And no better way to keep that cowboy coffee hot after the fire goes out than this classic Stanley thermos.

Being a 21st Century man (the era, not the real estate company), there are many layers to this onion. Even though I may have the appearance of the second coming of Paul Bunyan, I have a refined side as well. Which couldn't be happier than listening to some pops and whizzes on my gold-armed Denon DP-A100.

sexy

Unfortunately large speakers aren't ideal for my current dwelling, so I'd be enjoying the a great tribute album (or anything by Ramblin' Jack Elliot) on a pair of sweet soundalicious cans. (Seriously though, these or these more reasonably priced phones would be awesome.) As you might expect, maintenance costs for such sophisticated hobbies can be a bit taxing on the wallet, so investments on my behalf are welcome as well; Berkshire Hathaway would be my preference and just a couple shares would do fine.

On a serious note though, I enjoy anything unique and fun (toys are always good). In particular, I would really appreciate some clever, quality coasters and refrigerator magnets. I never can get enough sweet tees (like this on on homage.com), but my favorite gifts are usually the things I would never think to put on a list. As always anything Wabash is sweet or any of my other schools for that matter (actually a Martinsville swimming tee would be super nice!). In the end though, the best thing is getting to go home and see all my loved ones... and get sick on ring-a-lings. Can't wait!

Gobble, Gobble

It had been a number of years since I was able to make it back to Indiana for Thanksgiving. Which is particularly sad because if there were ever a holiday for Lazy Uncle Ryan, this would be it. Thankfully (get it?) I was able to go home this year. And I did get to be lazy (for the most part - taters were mashed and dishes were washed), and I did get to eat a lot of turkey (thanks, Browns).

The trip also included a date to the new Harry Potter (without Woody or Caleb), numerous trips to Haps, and even more vanilla Cokes. Of course the best part was spending time with the people I am most thankful for (for those of you I didn't see last week, now you where you rank). Can't wait to see you all again in a couple weeks.

prepared for a feast

Bruce carves

building the Lego robot family; can't
remember their names

trolly time at Haps

More pics.

The City That Never Sleeps, Indeed

Two weekends ago I met Kelsey and our friends the Meyers in The Big Apple. They say it's the city that never sleeps, and I felt like I didn't either. It was, of course, a busy time with so much to do, but I think most of it was the jet lag and ambitious red eye travel itinerary that did me in. Believe me when I tell you that I was T-I-R-E-D when I got back to LA. And maybe a little grumpy when I was in NY.

But it was worth it because it was a great time with great people in a great place. The weather couldn't have been much more perfect - warm, but not so warm that the subway smelled too bad, blue skies with fluffy white clouds - which made all of the outdoor sightseeing we did even more enjoyable. We walked over the Brooklyn Bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan, took the elevator to the observation deck atop 30 Rock, rode a ferry to Liberty and Ellis Islands, explored Central Park - the greatest park in America - and walked, walked, walked, walked around the city.

Besides walking, the other great thing to do in NYC is eat. And eat we did. We had the best pizza you'll ever find at Grimaldi's (eating ice cream while waiting in line), what some people called the world's best nachos - congratulations! You did it! - overpriced drinks at the hotel lounge, greasy burgers behind a curtain in a fancy schmancy hotel, a 5-star meal at Bobby Flay's Bar Americain, and all the cured meats you could ever need at the famous Carnegie Deli.

What an awesome time we had, and I can't wait to go back again. Thanks to the Meyers for meeting us there, you made it that much more enjoyable. Here's a few pics, but you can see them all here.

world's best pizza at Grimaldi's

Brooklyn Bridge

hotel view

pond in Central Park

top of 30 Rock

Liberty Island

the "Woody Allen" at Carnegie Deli

the 'ol stompin' grounds of Columbia

You Built It...

...And we came.

This subject deserves a much longer post, but it's late, I'm tired, I've got a lot to do tomorrow, and I've already posted my butt off these past few days. So I'm going to try to sum it up in a few paragraphs. Of course, it deserves a much longer post because it was so awesome.

Labor Day, the last day of a long, long, but fun, fun weekend, we opened up Johnson Field Of Dreams (name is not set in stone yet - which makes me think, hey, does the field need a sign?) with a game of softball. JFOD, naturally, was built by Josh, with a little help from Caleb, on the back lot at Josh and Abrah's house. I don't recall exactly how this idea came about, but I'm guessing it had a lot to do with all Riley wanting to do this summer being play baseball (anyone feel free to recount the real story in the comments).

Monday morning we all gathered up to play a few innings to christen the field before stuffing ourselves silly. It was a beautiful early Fall day, if a little windy. I think everyone had a great time (I know I did), and no one got seriously hurt - though we had a couple close calls. I think this needs to be a regular occurrence now, and I even heard rumors of a football game at Thanksgiving? Big thanks to everyone who put in work and to everyone else for showing up. A perfect way to end a great weekend.

Josh at the bat

pregame

well played

More pics.

Surprise Woody!

Fall is a great time of year as not only is it the beginning of football season but also the culmination of baseball. While baseball ending isn't good itself, it is an exciting time of year, and there's just a different buzz about fall baseball.

Megan had bought tickets to a Cubs game at Wrigley for Sunday, and when she heard that I would be home for Labor Day, she offered the other two tickets to Kelsey and me. Normally I'd be against anything to do with the Cubs, but I figured I could make an exception for my brother. Plus, how bad could a day at the park be anyway?

Now Megan had planned all this as a surprise, but she did finally cave and tell Woody Saturday night. He came strutting home with new Cubs shirt and tickets in hand (along with some P.F. Flyers) and gave us some lip when we all played dumb like we didn't know what was going on.

We took off Sunday morning just before church (no Cornerstone, Kelsey and I are not broken up) and Woody drove us up towards Chicago. I think most of the conversation was between Kelsey and Megan (hard to shut those two up), but I seem to remember something about cow stomachs and milk tankers/trailers (which is it again?).

I was planning on stopping at a Park and Ride outside of downtown and taking the train in but changed my mind on our way to the station. So Woody courageously got back on the freeway and headed further into town. We found parking at an apartment building a couple blocks from the field which wasn't too much trouble other than a 23-move exit when we left and Woody nearly road raging on some pedestrians on the way in (kidding... kinda).

We had time to grab some lunch at a tavern near the stadium, then walked the couple blocks to Sheffield Ave. and the start of the game. The game started out fairly competitive, but then things turned south, way south, for the cubs after the 4th or so. Fortunately we had several other sources of entertainment, not the least of which was Woody's new best friend beside him. I'm not sure all what they talked about, but I'm sure Wood could tell you. Kelsey seemed to enjoy the food, most notably the cotton candy, which seemed to crack Megan up for some reason. Oh you want one more? Ha ha! Actually the only reason I did those was because I had already wanted to make something of the "record setting wave" that occured that day. But when making that the idea to make the cotton candy ones flashed into my brain. And I'm glad it did. I could watch those all day.

nice day for a game

strike up the band

Cubs fans

The game did end up in a blowout (we left in top of the 9th before the Mets scored 5 more runs), but we all had a great time and it was a beautiful day. Thanks to Megan for inviting Kelsey and me. I'd be glad to go back any time. Maybe we should all do a trip to Busch III next summer?

happy birthday, Woody!

More baseball to come next post. And more pics!

Are You Ready For Some Football?!

Though we had a late night Friday, we had to get up early to drive to Cass County for the first Saturday of college football season - and the head-to-head between my Boilers and that team from South Bend. Bruce and Reta generously offered for all the Tuttles / Mallots / Johnsons / Corwins / Bruners to come over and watch the game and eat. And eat. And eat.

Not sure how many actually showed up, but it was quite a few, and there was still entirely too much food. And that's even with Caleb and Chris (and Kelsey) around. Bruce did some grilling, and Reta made a bunch of eats (and desserts), and Kelsey arranged for authentic Spanish cheese dogs, direct from B&K West. Not to mention the largest cooler I've ever seen full of glass-bottled Grape and Orange Crush. Nice touch.

Caleb and Abrah check out the spread

game time (slight interrupted by Riley)

totes!

I love college football season, but I can't really remember when I've been able to sit around with my family and watch some games. I can't really think of a better way to kick off the season than last Saturday. A big thanks to Bruce and Reta for opening up their home to all of us. Next time we just need to make sure Bruce gets in on a game of cornhole. As I understand it, he has a score to settle.

the real game begins

Brown court

Thanks again, Browns, I loved it.

More pics.