MadMup.com

This is an idea I've been kicking around for a while - almost a year, actually - and I finally figured that if I said I was going to do it, it would help me actually do it.

So. I declare next week to be Beatles Week here on MadMup.com. Basically what that means is that my next week's worth of posts will be inspired by the titles of Beatles songs. This doesn't mean that the posts will be about The Beatles, just that the song title will guide the post.

Since I know I haven't been the most faithful of bloggers recently, I'm going to stretch the definition of "week" a bit and say that my next week's worth of blogging will follow this theme. Since the blogging week is like the work week, that means the next five entries will fall under the "Beatles Week" heading.

If you have a blog and are interested in joining in, here is a list of song titles (with lyrics) and there's also the Wikipedia version. Leave a link in the comments if you're planning to join in!

And no need to worry, "This Boy" won't be telling "The Continuing Story of Bungalow Bill."

Labels: Beatles Week

5 comments

Two more for you:

• Guitar Hero III - More of the same, but a little bit more difficult and a few stupid things thrown in.
• Rock Band - Two people on guitars, one on drums, and one on vocals. I basically need other people to play this game with me. This one is the winner by far.

As usual, you're more than welcome to come over and play these with me most any time.

Labels: game review, music

2 comments

I found this here... I was hesitant to comment because I have no idea what I can hand-make and send to someone, but I think the idea is neat (and I liked the movie!), so I thought I'd make the leap.

Here’s the deal:

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days. That is my promise. The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

The key phrases here are "I don't know what that gift will be yet" and "within 365 days."

This otter be interesting...

Labels: meme, new things

4 comments

A couple of weeks ago the Career Class met for a Bible study and the "introduce yourself" thing this time was "tell something about yourself" and the rest of the class would guess whether or not it was true. Most everybody said something that was true and the few who said something false were guessed as false right away. When it got to me, my statement was, "I lettered in four sports in high school." Everybody thought that was pretty funny, and when I listed them (football, basketball, wrestling, and baseball), they came to the (correct) conclusion fairly quickly that I went to a small high school. I even mentioned this a long time ago, and those who remember that will also remember that the letter in basketball was for keeping stats.

While I didn't end up playing all four years of football in high school, I do have some fond memories of it. When I made the switch to tight end my Junior year, I felt a lot better about things - catching the ball made more sense to me than blocking people, and I never had the size back then to block well anyway. As I'm sure I've mentioned elsewhere, we got a new quarterback my Junior year and ended up having primarily a running game that year, but I did catch 100% of the passes that were thrown my way (a grand total of ONE).

So when it was announced in the Career Class a couple of weeks ago that we'd been challenged to a flag football match by the Young Marrieds class, it sounded fun to me. I wasn't getting all Uncle Rico or anything, but I thought it might be fun.

The game was this past Saturday and our class won by default - they had two guys show up. Since we were all there, though, we went ahead and split up into two teams and played. Luckily for me, my team had one more guy on it, which gave me the opportunity to sit out every other series... which quickly turned into sitting out more plays until someone needed a break... which turned into me sitting out all the plays and just keeping track of the line of scrimmage.

I knew I was out of shape, but, man. My lungs were hurting, I got dizzy, and toward the end of it, my legs weren't cooperating. Sheesh. This is why everyone laughed when I said I played sports in high school, by the way - this is the exact reason. I had remembered the catching passes part, but had forgotten the running up and down the field part.

So yesterday I was pretty sore. Plus I've been kind of low-level sick for a while, and coughing was really painful. My legs and my back hurt so much that it was painful to step on the accelerator in my car. Today my back felt a bit better, but my legs were worse. The media specialist at work asked me what was wrong because I was walking funny.

So I'm hopeful I won't be as sore tomorrow, but time will tell. I'm older and out of shape, and I guess there's something I can do about one of those things.

And that is: never play football again.

Labels: career class, sports

6 comments

My mom and dad and another couple from their church headed to Branson, Missouri, last Saturday for a week of hanging out and going to shows.


For some of you, I could stop right there and the entry title would be fitting enough. I've never been, but it sounds like the sort of thing I probably wouldn't hate terribly - after all, my last few times at amusement parks I've enjoyed the shows more than the rides. Laugh if you must, but see me when you're my age and we'll see who's laughing then (hint: it will be me).


My mom called me on Monday night and said, "Are you sitting down?" and then proceeded to tell me my dad was in the hospital. He started feeling ill on Sunday morning and was admitted Sunday afternoon. They had taken X-rays and done a CAT scan, and had determined he had some intestinal blockage. There was some concern that he would need surgery, and apparently it's a rather nasty surgery with all kinds of recovery time - a real bummer when you're nine and a half hours from home. Over the course of the next few days they kept an eye on him and finally decided it was okay to release him back into the wild earlier today.


That first night when I was talking to Mom and then to Dad, and back to Mom again, she's relaying things to me that he's saying in the background, including something about how they're going to bury him in Branson - note: this is before the results of the CAT scan were in and anybody knew what was going on. Is it any wonder where I get my sense of humor?


Dad also made Mom and their friends leave the hospital and go see some shows. "They didn't come down here to sit in a hospital, after all," he said. My dad cracks me up.


So now he's out and about and they are planning to fit as many shows in in the next couple of days as they can before heading back to Wisconsin.


Many thanks to all of you who were praying for him. I appreciate it, and he wanted me to tell you that he and Mom appreciate it, too.


Here's one of my favorite pictures of Dad - there's something about the look on his face and the look on Tiger's face that is just absolutely perfect:

Labels: family

9 comments

Having people over is the most efficient method of revealing the squalor one has become accustomed to living in.

Labels: things I've learned

4 comments

I know these are the least-commented-on posts, but I've also had people say that my links to reviews have helped them decide on stuff, and that coupled with my "if I post them, I can find them later" mindset means I'll probably keep posting them. Just don't read them if you don't like them, I guess :)

• Spider-Man: Friend or Foe (Xbox 360)
• Scrubs: The Complete Sixth Season (DVD)

I've had a lot more on my plate lately, review-wise. Here's the list of stuff I'm working on (which I guess means I'm giving you sneak previews of posts you aren't interested in, which creates all kinds of surreall meta-ness):

• We Are Marshall (DVD) - This one is waaaaaaay late already :(
• Sega Rally Revo (Xbox 360) - Due tomorrow!
• Amazing Grace (DVD) - A movie about William Wilberforce's attempts to outlaw slavery in England.
• Tomb Raider Anniversary (Xbox 360) - Still my favorite series of all time.
• Flatout Ultimate Carnage (Xbox 360) - Sounds gory and violent, but isn't. It's a racing game with crashing elements. Hmm. Some people would call crashing "violent," I guess.
• Guitar Hero III (PS2) - Haven't gotten this one in the mail yet.

See what you have to look forward to?

Labels: game review

2 comments

Glenn Frey would be proud of me: I turned the heat on in my apartment this morning for the first time this season. I put it off as long as I can for reasons that aren't entirely clear to me. I sleep better when it's chilly in the room and I can pile on blankets, so I think that's at least part of it. Also, for some strange reason, I don't mind paying for air conditioning in the summer, but it bugs me to pay for heat in the winter. Makes no sense, I know.

Today was the big day because I'm hosting the Men's Bible Study tonight and because it seemed colder than usual when I woke up. The thermostat reported 62 degress, but I don't know if that's colder because I haven't been regularly checking. I set it at 68, which will seem positively toasty when I get home. If history is any indication, somewhere over the course of the winter I'll move it up to 70, but rarely will it go higher than that.

The alarming thing about turning the heat on this morning is that the smoke detector upstairs went off for a minute. That can't be good. If the place burns down, though, I'll be really warm. Not for long, but I'll enjoy it while I can.

Labels: misc

4 comments

My latest review is for The Orange Box, one disc that has five games on it, one of which is Portal and is almost worth the cost by itself (if only it weren't so short).

I don't want to ruin the suspense for you or anything, but this game got the highest rating I've ever given.

Labels: game review

2 comments

I've done something weird to my tongue. All day the tip of it has felt numb - kind of like after you "test" a 9-volt battery with your tongue, sort of metallic and strange. At the same time, it feels a little like I've just used mouthwash... which I think is the culprit here.

I've been using Crest Pro-Health Rinse for a few days now, the blue flavor. This is actually my second bottle of it, but I used the green one when I tried it before. It doesn't have alcohol in it, so it's better for your gums. I have always equated the "mouth burn" after using Listerine with "clean," but I have it on good authority that it's not the best thing for me.

This stuff takes a little getting used to, but I had gotten through a whole bottle of it previously, so I've had some experience. But today, for some reason, that right-after-you-use-it feeling never left the tip of my tongue, and it's affected my sense of taste. Nothing tasted like it should today, and I haven't enjoyed eating anything. Now, granted, we went to Ryan's for lunch today, so that's not a good judge of taste (seriously, it had been close to seven years since I'd been there, and I'm hoping it's at least seven more before I go back!), but I had dinner at Melissa's and the only thing I could tell about it was that it was spicy.

I'm no gourmet by any stretch, but I do enjoy the taste of food I like. I'm hoping a night's sleep will cure me. If it doesn't, I guess I might as well start eating foods that are good for me, since I won't be able to tell how much I dislike them.

Labels: food

4 comments