1000 Miles Per Hour

Today I cracked open a bottle of Ok Go, a 2003 vintage. It had all the sweet and subtle aromas of a Michigan fall: the smell of Vivian's rhubarb pie, the cool winds of the Mackinaw straits with all their manifold flavors, the scent of a neighbor's leaf-pile still smoldering after a day of raking and burning, the last attempt to remove nature's first blanket, before she adds her second. The texture was that of evening sand with its fleeting warmth, the soft tucking-in motion of Lake Michigan waves as they wash over your feet, and the comfort of line-dried jeans.

There will be fall in Colorado Springs. Today I could sense that. But it won't be like Michigan, even if the leaves do turn and children wear red zip-up hoodies to jump in the leaves. Even if the stores downtown fill their windows with spiderwebs and bats, and even if storm windows are put up and screens are taken down. Even if there is cider and pumpkins, donuts and hayrides, even if I take the time to walk somewhere just to hear my feet shuffle through the leaves. Even if all that is true here as it is in Michigan, I still will miss the places that own my memories of fall.

Fall is by far my favorite season, I'm sure I'll mention that frequently over the next couple of months, and though I'll surely be busy with school, I'd like to really take the time to slow down and appreciate it this year.

I'm a few days late on the 5 year anniversary (seriously 5 years, or greater than 1/5 of our lives thus far) of these pictures, but here they are:


Three things:
1. I miss the Olds more than you can imagine. When asked the other day what my dream car was, without a moment of hesitation, I answered: a 1990 Oldsmobile Cutlass Sierra - blue.
2. Where is the lobster? Kevin, do you have it? Does Jonathan have it? It would do my old heart good to know that my favorite crustacean still draws breath.
3. Ha! I was really peeved the other day because I was starting to think that my red hat (pictured above) was getting too raggedy to wear. I guess I should be thankful that it even still exists. After all, even 5 years ago, it was still a hand-me-down.

Television, Television

Anyone have $20,000 or so I can borrow? It would go to a good cause. You see, they are auctioning off a Spider-man 4 package on Ebay that includes a meet and greet with the cast, a spot as an extra in the new movie and a trip to the premier. But really, I'm just interested because the proceeds are going to benefit Stand Up To Cancer.

Such Stuff As Nerdy Dreams Are Made Of

I've been worrying a lot about this fall lately. Not about school or about bills, about being away from Michigan, or even how I'm going to afford two plane tickets in November. No, I'm worried about not having a TV. It hasn't mattered up until now, but as we near Sept. 22 and the two-hour Heroes season premier, I'm getting progressively more anxious about how I'm going to get my fix without waiting for the episodes to hit Hulu.

Luckily, NBC has come up with a string of webisodes for both The Office and Heroes to tide us over until the coming season.

In The Office summer series Kevin takes out a loan and in the Heroes miniseries we meet Echo Deville, who may be one of the villians from "Level 5".

A teaser for the new season of The Office, featuring Dwight:


Also, it looks as though Britain is taking a cue from the international success of The Office and launching a show called No Heroics which will do to Heroes what The Office did to Ally McBeal and every other corporate drama and sitcom out there. Check out the trailer here.

Of course, a lot of that sexual humor will never cross the pond, but at least we can rest assured that an Americanized version will replace it with racial humor and violence. Huh... maybe it's because I used the phrase "across the pond" but Blogger seems to think "humor" is spelled incorrectly and wants me to change it to "humour"... no lie.

Seriously though, if you have a TV and live in CSprings, or if you want to go halfsies on the Spider-man thing, let me know.

Invincible

This post was originally supposed to be an in memoriam for my bike. After receiving, by charitable donation, a bike rack (mine was misplaced sometime during the two uninterrupted years it spent in Hillsdale), hauling it 1500 miles across eight states (I count Michigan and Ohio twice because Brad and I accidentally re-entered Michigan about an hour into our cross country road trip), and having it put two sizable dents and a monster scratch in the back of my car when I backed into a tree with it still attached, my bike, despite being immobile (due to a bent wheel) and locked to a fence, was stolen last Thursday.But that's not what this post is about.

It's about something much more important. Something I think is better worth remembering. What I'd really like to commemorate today is something that came to my mind yesterday after talking to one Mr. Phipps and has consumed the better part of my thought since. Not many people that I've come to know in the past several years will recall that glorious institution and few who do remember can think about it without a tear in their eye. While the name "Samurai Warriors of Resplendent Justice" probably would have been a more fitting, it was simply called FBL - The Fraternal Brotherhood of LAN (Don't worry the fraternal/brotherhood redundancy is intentional. It's just that manly).

My idea of FBL was always a bit romantic. While it wasn't exactly the band of rugged crusaders I liked to think it was, I don't hesitate to say that it was one of the best things to ever happen to those of us who were involved. And, though my shotgun wasn't as feared as Czar's sniper-rifle or Oz's rocketlauncher, I enjoyed playing my part. I hope the slideshow below brings back some memories and impels you all to aspire again to such heights of manliness and brotherhood.


There are over 100 pictures in that slide show, so be patient.

Finally, here's my favorite picture by far: a group of some of the core members of The Brotherhood in their class-As.
FBL'ers: leave a comment with your favorite memory or an update if we haven't heard from you in awhile. Also, feel free to throw up some pictures on the new Facebook group.