Cuzcotopia, a.k.a Perusin´

¡Hola de Cusco!

We are finally here. After a long journey that included a stop in Central America and two plane rides, we have arrived in the ancient city of the Incan people. Liz is doing a fantastic job chronicalling the journey, so I won´t repeat everything. Check out Cuscotopia for most of the breaking news of our vacation. I just wanted to make everyone aware that the blog is being updated, and we are checking email intermittently, so drop us a line and we will respond.Having a fantastic time and looking forward to the Macchu Picchu experience, which begins on the 2nd of January.

Hasta!

Winter Blizzard of 2006 - SNOW DAY!

So, for all of you family and friends that are worried that we are buried in 20 inches of snow, you are correct! Let's all hail the magic of the blizzard, who's magical powers removed a MBA-level Economics final exam from my already full plate, and gave me an excuse to use my new car! Pictures below for all to see. Now, realize that it only started snowing at around 6am, and these pictures were taken at 5pm.

Snow day tomorrow, and then we will be on our way home for Christmas! Can't wait to see family and friends. In the meantime, enjoy these glipses into Colorado life.

Turkey Day 2006

This Thanksgiving, I have a lot to be thankful for. While my blog may not talk about half of the great things that are happening in my life, I assure you that they are indeed there. This year has seen me and Liz move from sunny San Diego to temperate Denver, a great job that I actually enjoy going to everyday, the start of my MBA studies and now, a real live niece! I am truely thankful for all of these things.

This Thanksgiving was a smashing success. Given that the Christmas holidays are just weeks away and we will be going home at that time, we decided to have Thanksgiving at home here in Colorado. Our friends Andy and Jennie were also not going home to California, so we were determined to have the best low stress holiday ever!

As you can see by the photographic evidence, the evening was great! Mom helped out tremendously via telephone and video conference (ask me how!) and the stuffing was something that my Grandma would have been proud to eat.

This last photo really encapsulates Thanksgiving for me. This is a picture of the video chat that I had with my sister and her new daughter Janelle. Ain't technology grand?

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving!

requiem for an iPod

Chris Arehart's iPod, 3 1/4 years old, was lost into the great beyond on Sunday the 19th of November, in New York City, New York.

Chris's iPod traveled extensively throughout its brief life, having been at his master's side on a near daily basis. Chris's business travel required his iPod to be ready at a moment's attention, armed with a steady supply of Coltrane, Dave Matthews and The Beatles--played loud enough to drown out the most determined baby travelers and talkative fellow passengers alike. It seems fitting that Chris's iPod was lost on assignment, having been brought into this world solely to provide for distraction during a week-long business road trip with Chris's boss.

Chris's iPod was loyal, hardworking and a credit to Steve Job's name. Never ill, or infected with a terminally weak battery which seemed to afflict so many like him, his extended warranty was claims free at time of his passing.

As we mourne the loss of Chris's iPod, we can take comfort in the fact that the purser of United flight 700 to Laguardia is able to offset her recently reduced pension plan with a lucrative career as an eBay reseller.

Services were carried out on Friday, the 24th at the Best Buy in Lone Tree, CO, where a new, 80 gig black Video iPod was brought into this world to carry the torch left behind by our departed friend. Overseeing the ceremony was Mitch, who in his infitite wisdom upon hearing the tale of Chris's iPod's last days, was quoted as saying "Wow. That sucks."

Yes, Mitch. It does indeed suck.

In lieu of flowers or symapthy cards, please redirect charity in the form of cash, check, international money order or paypal to Chris.

The Man..named? U.N.C.L.E

On Thursday, November 16th, 2006, at 11:29am a new person was brought into this world. With her husband by her side and her family waiting with bated breath down the hall, my sister Michelle gave birth to her first child, Janelle Fuller.




More later on this, but I thought that I would get some pictures up there for you all! mom is doing well and is now at home.

Attention Friends and Loyal Readers

I am not dead. At least, I don't think so. However, absolutely NOTHING has happened to me that anyone of you may be interested in hearing about, that hasn't been covered by Funundrum. To read about the front row seats at the Killers, go to her bog. To see the breast cancer Cambell's cans that I pointed out, see Funundrum. So there. Besides, she is significantly funnier.

After midterms, I will attempt to have something happen to me...other than overwhelming relief.

No, its COLD...DAMN COLD

As you may already know, I recently took on the task of converting my parent's old family videos onto DVD. I swear, by the time I will have done them all, the DVD format will be dead, and I will have to start all over again.

One of the side benefits of this project is that I can pretty easily make still snapshots where there was no camera other than the video. I present you with my dorky mug in the summer of 1991. Maybe this explains my facination with Back to the Future.

Myers-Briggs me!

So it's about 4:00pm on Monday, and work is winding down. I figure I will go onto my MBA program's message board and see what's shakin'. Maybe they will have come to their senses and changed the menu from lemon crusted salmon to something that I will enjoy scarfing down in 20 minutes. An lo, what do I find? An assignment! For tonight. I swear to freaking God, I don't understand what this professor thinks! How am I really to do this assignment (which wasn't there last night, or even at noon when I found out about the salmon??) when I am at freaking work.

So anyway, it happened to be a Myers-Briggs questionnaire, and here are the results.

Question to my 5 loyal readers is whether this rating sounds like me or not. I leave it up to you.

ESTJ
Extroverted (E) 70% Introverted (I) 30%
Sensing (S) 58.54% Intuitive (N) 41.46%
Thinking (T) 57.14% Feeling (F) 42.86%
Judging (J) 55.17% Perceiving (P) 44.83%

"Administrator". Much in touch with the external environment. Very responsible. Pillar of strength. 8.7% of total population.

Raise your hand if you are being marketed to.

The other night, I was flipping through the channels on my Tivo and noticed that a new channel had appeared that I had never noticed. It called to me with the simple name The Tube. Clicked on the listing and was instantly catapulted into the world of, wait for it, music videos! Staring back in my face was a Talking Heads video, followed by Franz Ferninand, and then the Doors! Unfortunately the next video was the Bee Gees, so it isn't exactly perfect.

I am stoked! The co-creator of MTV has struck out on his own, having seen his fantastic creation pummelled to death by the likes of Pimp My Ride and Kevin Federline's ugly mug, and created a new station that bridges the gap of VH1 and MTV, all while actually showing just music videos. That's right. No reality shows, game shows or news. Music. All the time. Coupled with moving pictures.

Thank you Tube. I will be your champion and spread the word to all the the late 20 somethings and early 30 somethings in the land.

Wow - Newman's Own is WEIRD

So I grew up eating lots of iceberg lettuce salads...I mean, hey, those bag salads weren't even around when I was growing up. And on top of those salads, the elixer that made them taste like..well, anything, was Mr. Paul Newman. For years I read the back of the bottle, not quite sure of who this Newman guy was--I had never seen The Sting or anything else he had been in. In fact, for a number of years, I think I actually thought that he simply made Italian Dressing from the basement of his home, occasionally brewing up a batch for a friend at Christmas...(if you have ever read the back of the bottle, this is HILARIOUS).

Anyway, Liz was kind enough to point out the excellent, if not weird copy on the back of the new "Low Fat Sesame Ginger" dressing.

The Great Salad Dressing Balloon Race. An armada of balloons loaded with Low Fat Sesame Ginger. The starters gun - Bazoombah! They all rise majestically into the air. Newman's Own Balloon, with fewer calories, more taste and secretly propelled by charity, flies faster than Kraft and further than Wishbone. First across. First on the ground. El Piloto quaffs mucho quaffs of Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger in victory. A medium light Italian starlet, daughter of Butch Cassidini, named Bitch Cassidini, leaps into the balloon basket, kisses Piloto, her lips smeared with Newman's Own Low Fat, she murmurs, "You taste of Sicily, of Vesuvius, of Naples, baby", and patting his fanny she whispers, "and no fat."

What?? I can't even articulate how weird and surreal this copy is. Well, let me try:

1. I don't know if I am more creeped out by the phrase "El Piloto quaffs mucho quaffs of Newman's Own Low Fat Sesame Ginger in victory", or the fact that they refer to El Piloto's lover as Bitch Cassidini!

2. I haven't been to Italy, but I am pretty sure that Sesame Ginger isn't a staple in the palate. So what's with the Italian Stallion storyline?

3. I desperately want to use the phrase "secretly propelled by charity" once in my life, hopefully referring to myself. But I won't have the cape or Clark Kent-esque spectacles. Or maybe I will.

I do highly recommend the dressing though - only 1.5g of fat per serving! And tasty. Any Nathan, all the money goes to charity. It automatically makes you a better person.

Fat Bastard.

In my career, I tend to run across some interesting statistics. More importantly, I tend to keep a pretty good feel on the pulse of corporate America, and the issues that they tend to be up in arms over. The following stats are taken from a corporate research paper - not an email forward complaining about the cost of gas.

In 2005, Lee Raymond, the former CEO of Exxon Mobil, was paid $34,457 per hour*.

In 1993, Lawrence Rawl, the CEO prior to Lee Raymond, and who retired on May 31, 1993, was paid $1,508 per hour*.

That’s a 2,184.95 percent increase.

Is Lee Raymond 22.85 times better a CEO than Lawrence Rawl? Is the company 22.85 times harder to run?

Total compensation for Lee Raymond in 2005 was $70,134,830.

Total compensation for Lawrence Rawl in 1993 was $2,929,056, based on annualized annual compensation of $2,279,707, plus long term compensation of $649,349.

I am not calling on all five of my readers to boycott gas, or write their Congressman, but simply to ponder these statistics and wonder what happened? When you are thinking about one-uping the neighbor with a bigger house, or truck, or vacation, think about ExxonMobile. Their standard response over the last 13 years has been that they pay to obtain and retain the best talent with a commensurate market rate.

Maybe it is time that society chills out and stems the tide of one-upmanship that has led to this type of ridiculous excess. Fat Bastard - I want my money back!

The Human Abstract Returns!

They say that pictures say a THOUSAND words. Well, let me throw this one on you...

My brother and his band "The Human Abstract" (see the links to their site on the right) played the same venue that countless huge acts have played before (The Doors, Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones...) It is late. Let the picture speak for me.

BBQ Madness! In action

So we have just discovered this fantastic new miniseries of a show on the Food Network, which is hosted by Alton Brown, called "Feasting on Asphalt". Basically Alton and a crew of guys are traveling around the country for one month, leaving from South Carolina, and ending up in Los Angeles. Their mission is to interview real people and experience true "road food". The only rule is that they can't step into a national chain, and aren't allowed a major interstate...back roads only. So far it has been an interesting show - one that I recommend highly, if only for its inspiring quality.




Watching the show the other night, the guys ended up in North Carolina, interviewing a father and son with long established roots in Barbeque. That's right, North Carolina vinegar based BBQ. I looked over at Liz, and with a twinkle in my eye, stated that "I would make me up some BBQ pork tomorrow!" So that's what I did. With my love's help making the sauce, and excellent book on BBQ with excellent techniques and recipes, we accomplished, in eight short hours, the pulled pork shoulder you see here. And man, it was GOOD!

Thanks Alton.

Comparison dog!

I have been reminded by Liz that I must post a comparison picture to Santa's Little Helper so that everyone can see how pretty my Maggie is.

Even though her nuclear piss is now on my downstairs carpet, we still allow her in the house...

Endorsements that don't quite work

I funny understand the idea of being the "offical sponsor" of a nationally recognized event or organization...like AIG being the official sponsor or Manchester United. But sometimes it just doesn't work. This truck is in my office parking lot at least twice a week, most likely filling up the soda machine. It has been pointed out that the picture is a bit small to see the joke. It is the official vending machine company of NASCAR.

You be the judge...If I am going to spend the kind of money it takes to emblazen the image of my sponsorship on the side of my trucks, I want the sponsorship to matter...I don't know, maybe I am just not midwest enough.

Really?

I don't know what this guy is running for, but I wish I could vote for him!

Summer of Kenny!

So I know I have been a bit silent recently. Mainly because my girlfriend keeps stealing all of the interesting things that happen to me...and I let her...because she is funnier than I am. Right now, all I have are a few pictures. I have some video, but it was soooo loud at the show that my camera couldn't handle it! I will try again when he comes back through town at the beginning of August.

The show was great to see - while not my "scene", I can appreciate well performed music of any style. These guys will go far.

To hear samples of The Human Abstract, click here.

My dog!

Many of you have commented that Maggie looks a lot like Santa's Little Helper. You decide.

Kevin Smith Rocks!

All of you avid readers of Entertainment Weekly may know that the recent Superman movie has been in development for something like 8 bajillion years, and there was always a buzz that Kevin Smith, famed director of Clerks and Mall Rats had been approached to write a script for the film.

Attached is a 20 minute video that is worth your viewing time. I know that Internet surfing is the ultimate in ADD - changing pages every 30 seconds, but take the time on this one, and remember to waive your mouse everyone few minutes, lest your screensaver ruin the show.

Larry King...war reporter??

This morning my assistant told me that a building had collapsed in New York City. Being in the insurance industry, my immediate thoughts were "do we write that?" followed shortly by "damn, I hope that this isn't a big deal - I am looking forward to a good bonus this year..."

What I learned, which you can read for yourself here, was that it was an apartment building on the Upper East Side that contained a few doctors offices and a hair salon. A few injuries, but nothing bad as of yet.

But the key quote is from Larry King, who just happened to be on the scene.

"I saw a lot of smoke, people scurrying everywhere," CNN talk show host Larry King, who happened to be on the scene, told reporters. "There was one huge boom. ... It sounded like a bombing would sound, like the bombing of London in World War Two."

The last time I checked, Larry isn't British, and wasn't in London during the Blitz. I can appreciate his attempt at a correllary to describe the sound to those who have never heard an explosion before, but really - for that to work, you have to compare it to the sound of something of which most people can identify....London bombing. Come on Larry.

Happy Fourth of July

Happy Fourth everyone! We are fresh back from the Rocky Mountain National Forest after four days of camping bliss... Well, it rained a good deal, and Andy says that he will never forget the death march through the rain, but nonetheless, it was a lot of fun.

All the pictures for your pleasure - here.

BBQ Madness!

Below you can read the story about how we got this thing home. But I thought that this would be a perfect candidate for a time lapse. No dad, it isn't a warehouse, but it was fun making it.

Why Liz is smarter than me...

So the other day Liz and I went to the store to purchase a new BBQ. Having been put to shame by my friend Andy's grill, as well as having endured one too many ruined meals on my old POS, I broke down and spent the $250 required to have 'nice' things. In this case, a super-duper, 4 burner job with an extra side burner! Thinking things through to almost the appropriate level of completeness, I asked the stock boy how big the box would be for my new toy, as I have an Acura that can't handle large things (ask me about the patio furniture...). He walked us over and showed it to me, and without even blinking an eye, I immediately ascertained it's exact dimensions, volume and weight - all without even knowing the exact dimensions of the car it was to fit into, and decreed that it would indeed "fit."

Fast forward to the car. Upon lifting this monsterous box into the opening in my TL's trunk, I immediately realized the error that I had made. Thoughts of having to call in a favor from a coworker with a truck race through my head, as I begin to make mental plans to go and test drive that SUV that I have been meaning to look at since the last Home Depot incident...(the patio furniture). While I am desperately trying to figure out at what angle this bloody, oversized box will go into the car, Liz just remains at the side of the car, thinking quitely.

As we lift the box down, back toward the floor, a very nice Coloradian (If that ain't a word, I am going with it..like Maritan) with his SUV calls to us from his window - "you guys need some help? I live near here and wouldn't mind helping you get that home.." At this point, I am really close to saying yes! But Liz has another idea, and thanks him but politely declines his help.

At this point, Liz, the one with the significantly higher SAT scores than me, says "Why don't you just unpack the box?" And with that, my face moves fluidly from the look of frustration to enlightenment, and then breaks down into complete disbelief - and I admit, that had she not been there, I would probably have either, a) taken the SUV guy up on the offer of a lift, or b) ended up watching the sunset while waiting for my buddy with the truck.

I love this kid!

This was just emailed to me with the caption "and you thought you were the only nerdy kid". This kid has me beat hands down. The most I ever wanted was a Star Wars theme party in the park...and I got it! Thanks again Mom. I distinctly remember licking frosting off of Han Solo's little plastic butt.

The News Hour with Jim Lehrer Birthday!

Can you say "idiot?..."

This is a little out of order, but I needed to blog this guy. I captured a few shots of this dork at Kenny's graduation. I don't know what is worse, the slick bak hair, white Dior glasses, the iPod Nano around his neck, or the awful clothing...you be the judge.

Liz's Day

More time lapse goodness. Here is Liz "working". Notice the flash games....

Meet our new friends!

So the other day, (I believe that it was Memorial Day weekend) Liz and I decided to have Andy and Jennie over for a back yard, turning snags on the barbie event. Little did we realize that the recipe for "Rum Swizzles" would taste SOOOO good. Just ask Jennie here.



And here - fasinated with pictures from our trip to Argentina.

Cheers mate!

Top marks to the first of my three readers that places this blast from the past picture. Leave a comment!

Techno JOY

I also have techno joy. This is a convergence of techno joy in my video camera (which does time lapse) and Youtube, which lets me post this for free!

Enjoy.

Garden of the Gods!

So, with nothing better to do, Liz and I decided to journey down to Colorado Springs to see the "Garden of the Gods." Having been there before during college, I was sure that the cheesy name did not do the area justice. If you have never been, it is very impressive.

The wait is finally over!

5/29/2006


Christopher Arehart
1245 Evergreen Terrace
Springfield, USA

Dear Chris,

Congratulations! We are very pleased to offer you admission to the Leeds School of Business Evening MBA program for the fall of 2006. We’re enthusiastic about what you will bring to the program and know that your classmates and the Leeds School will benefit from your participation and contribution. Welcome to the Leeds community!

(insert details here....)

Best Regards,

Anne Sandoe-Thorp

Director, MBA Admissions & Marketing
Leeds School of Business
University of Colorado, Boulder

Sorry!

So, having been shamed into returning to my blog by both my family and friends, I am returning to posting. Lots of stuff has been going on, but none of it really seemed blog worthy (meaning: funny).

But LOTs of stuff has happened, and I guess I need to catch a couple of people up.

First, Mom turned 60 this year and my Dad's present was to come out to Denver for a few days for her birthday! Greeted by a rare snow flurry (snowing at Easter - can you believe it?) we saw the sights of Denver, many of which we hadn't even seen yet. Unfortunately, the US Mint tour gets booked up as bad as Alcatraz (3-6 months in advance), so we had to scratch that off of the list. But the Colorado Historical Society was great - learned a lot about the history of the state, and got to ride a horse! (see inlay) I think that Mom had a good time - I know that I did. And to the kids of her elementary school class, my most humble appologies...I am sure that you were greeted with a pleathora of stories about Colorado history, Lewis & Clark, etc--just listen, you may learn something.

So after that, we went and did something that even Mark Summers of "Unwrapped!" fame hasn't done - visited Hammond's Candy and Confecionary for a factory tour! - on account of being Obsessive Compulsive about germs...The tour was, well, I can't help it! It was SWEEEET.

15 years later!

Thank you Harry!

Happy Birthday to me...

So I know that I have been remiss in posting my birthday. I am constantly reminded by my better half that I should get these pictures up for all to see.

Had a fanastic "all birthday" weekend here in Denver. It was a bit weird not to be home to visit with my family on my birthday, but we still managed to have a good time.

We started off the weekend with a trip to "El Chapultepec", a dive bar in downtown Denver. Apparently, this bar has been around since 1951, and has survived through the downturn and subsequent upturn of the Downtown district. Unfortunately, no pictures from here, because it really is the type of place where a camera screams tourist, or worse. Best story of the night there is a tie between the group of six older men playing a game of cash poker in the back room, shouting intermittently, "Angela - we need some more drinks! I'm buying - and pick something out for yourself!" and the story of the man at the end of the bar who had obviously been sitting on his stool for quite a while. We order our drinks, and no sooner do we have our $1 drafts in hand, five paramedic/firemen in complete gear enter in the front door, asking who had called them. Remember the drunk at the end of the bar? He finishes his drink, and right as the men are leaving, figuring it was a false alarm, the man pipes up with "that was me...my chest hurts...hic.."

Once the combo started, we had a great time. Snow coming down outside, and smoking straight-ahead jazz inside.

So on my actual birthday, we didn't have cake, as the jazz bar really wasn't the venue for candles and such. But the following night, Liz made me a great cake (lemon, with cheesecake flavor frosting) and we opened presents!


What did I get for my birthday you say? Well, mom and dad did a great job of sending a care package that reminds everyone where I am from.

Michelle sent me a very nice card and some fantastic shots of us in San Diego (which are now on my cube wall at work, next to the post cards of home). She also gave me somthing else, but you will have to ask her about it. (Here's me talking to her while on break from snowshoeing!) For more on the shoeing adventure in four part harmony, see Liz's blog here.


And, drumroll please! Liz gave me a fantastic gift! A coffee maker that has to be the coolest coffee maker ever. Put the beans in, set the time and, voila! Coffee is ready when I wake up.

All in all, a fantastic birthday weekend. I wish that I could have spent it with all of you readers, but your birthday wishes from afar helped me have a fantastic time in my new home.