Category: life events

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Happy Birthday To Me…

Car Window......BustedSo…..I woke up Saturday morning to my driver’s side windows both being smashed out.  Our cars are always parked on the street, so it’s really not all that surprising, but not how I expected to spend my Saturday morning.  So, I made the police report, settled everything with the insurance company, and have new windows, but this morning I had to drive to Chesterfield to have an estimate made of the damages to the inside from the glass and rain.  As far as I know, the punks (or “knuckleheads” according to the officer who took my report) have been apprehended and are being charged with breaking the windows out of multiple cars.

As far as this blog goes, my plan is to try to update more frequently since I feel like I consume an awful lot of internet information without putting anything back out there, so I’m trying to even out my kharma a little. And I needed another good reason to purchase our Nikon D60 and this seemed like a good enough one!  Comment often and enjoy!

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U2charist

So, as many of you know, Brooke and I are currently (and temporarily…) running the contemporary worship service, 1040 Connection, at Webster Hills United Methodist Church, where we’ve been attending since moving to St. Louis. As part of this, we got the crazy idea of doing the “U2charist,” which is essentially as the name sounds: a communion service built around the music of the Irish rock band, U2.

We had talked about doing it for awhile now, but after we took control of the song choices last September, we got to thinking about when to make it happen. Somehow, Maundy Thursday (or Holy Thursday) seemed appropriate, as it marks the Last Supper (i.e. the first communion).

Anyway, here’s the song list, for those that know the music of U2:

Prelude/Postlude:

  • Bad
  • All Because of You

    • During the service:

  • Pride (In The Name of Love)
  • 40
  • Stuck In A Moment You Can’t Get Out Of
  • Walk On
  • Beautiful Day

    • During Communion:

  • I Still Haven’t Found What I’m Looking For
  • Where The Streets Have No Name

    • We are also including this document in the bulletin as an insert that (briefly) points out some lyrics and what they may mean from a theological standpoint.

    Anyway, it should be a fun night, and we’ve put a lot of work into it. We’ll probably do it again at the beginning of July, just as a regular Sunday morning service.

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    Trip down to Hot Springs

    That’s a picture from I-55 in northern Arkansas. Terrible place. Seriously. Their Department of Transportation has got to be the most inept in the nation. See the clear skies?! It snowed the DAY BEFORE and there was ice all over the place. It took us over an hour to go 15-20 miles toward Memphis.

    There are more pics…feel free to check those out, of course…

    Either way, that was on the way down to Hot Springs, AR. Brooke decided she wanted to go on a little trip, just to get away for a little bit. It’s a relatively easy drive (minus the aforementioned DOT from Arkansas), and a place neither of us had ever been to.

    Anyway, it was a pretty good trip! Brooke made reservations at Hilltop Manor, a bed-and-breakfast right by the national park. The weather was pretty awesome, for the most part, so we spent Monday walking around the town, went up to the top of the mountain and went up in the observation tower, then walked along Bath House Row (and toured an old bath house maintained by the National Park Service), and otherwise chilled for the rest of the day in front of a fire place, reading and gaming (on the DS, of course :-)).

    The trip back was less eventful than the one down, so that was a big plus. In any event, I’m glad to be back and catch up on all the TV shows we didn’t get to last week. And, maybe even get some science done tomorrow…

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    Another Mardi Gras down…

    Mardi Gras went off without a hitch, for the most part… I’ve put up some pictures on Picasa of the event, for those that are interested.

    In summary, Kristen, Jake, Sarah, Ben and I went down to the parade and saw some pretty neat floats…and LOTS of people (shown above). The weather was in the 30s F, but since the sun was out, it actually felt pretty good out there! We ended up having a little less than 40 people come by our place after the parade was done…Brooke’s jambalaya didn’t last long! Most people were gone by 4:00, allowing me to fall asleep by 6:00, then wake up again to finish “Monk” and “Psych” with the wife later.

    Overall, it was a good day! Lots of clean-up had to be done on Sunday after church, but oh well…it’s only once a year… 🙂

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    Neuroscience 2008

    From Neuroscience 2008

    Well, I got back from DC today…was there for a few days for the Society for Neuroscience 2008 convention (last year’s was in San Diego), where I presented a poster of some data I’ve been working on (and hope to get published soon!). Overall, the poster presentation (which was Sunday morning) went beautifully well. Last year, I presented later in the conference, so there were less people around to listen to me make stuff up… This year, however, was earlier so there was much more interest and, in general, many more people.

    Other than that, I looked at lots of other posters and talked with some folks from different labs, checking into some Postdoc opportunities. I got some good information, and some good ideas as to where to go next (with my research and my career).

    We did get some sight-seeing in, though, specifically getting to see the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum (w00t!) and the National Mall (and all their monuments…). They’re all pretty self-explanatory, and you can check out pictures here!

    Oh, and I also got to see Jeff Lin. Good times.

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    My civil duty

    So, I got a notice in the mail a little over a month ago from the city…apparently, I’d been selected for jury duty…… The plan was for me to appear at the civil courts building downtown on Nov. 3rd at 8:00 am and wait to see if I get selected.

    Quite honestly, it was a fascinating experience. I got there a bit late (a comedy of errors going on there, forgetting my summons after parking, having to get cash from the ATM to pay for parking, but the ATM not having any cash to give out, etc…), but generally you hang around in this large room with, literally, 500 other people (there were two rooms like this available), until you get selected. There was a lunch break, but otherwise, you sit in a room and wait. Thankfully, I took my DS along and played some Phoenix Wright to pass the time…

    Every 30 – 45 minutes or so, the voice over the loudspeaker would read off juror numbers and have you all come downstairs to a separate seating area where they could look at the group (making sure they got a good sampling of young/old, black/white/hispanic, etc.), and then they’d send you off to your designated room.

    I got called around 3:15, so I was one of the last groups to get to go. Around 40 of us were taken across the street to another building where we had to answer a variety of questions from the two lawyers, whittling us down to a group of 14 (12 of which would decide a verdict, and the other 2 would be alternates). Of course, I was kept on and had to return the next day (Election Day) to serve on the jury.

    After voting at 6:15 am, I went to the court around 9:45 to serve. I won’t go into the details of the case here, but essentially, it was a case involving a car accident and who was at fault. We ended up deciding in favor of the person bringing the suit, mostly because their lawyer was much more effective in his arguments and the defense was…well…not so effective…

    The most interesting part for me was the “awarding of damages” portion… I personally tend to err on the side of not awarding “pain and suffering,” but the other jurors felt it was appropriate and, in the end, they were probably right. I guess it’s just hard to come up with a monetary value to decide what something so abstract as “pain” or “suffering” is worth. Especially considering that I haven’t ever been in an injurious accident where I felt I was owed something for all I had just been through. Figuring in the length of the court case, the car repairs, the lost work due to physical therapy, and the costs to the lawyers hired, we felt that going above and beyond the monetary value of the medical treatment alone was just and right.

    Anyway, I’ve served on a jury now. And as the judge pointed out, it isn’t very often that one gets to perform two civil duties in a single day: serve on a jury, and voting. Both of which are things that many people around the world aren’t allowed to do.

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    And you thought golf was boring…

    So, Brooke and I inherited two free tix to the Rams game today. It was the first time either of us had ever been to an NFL game, so we were all about “the experience,” especially as we’ve both lived close to NFL teams for years and had never actually gone to one. Kickoff was at noon, and as we were getting out of church just before then, we were a bit late to the game. Either way, we hung out through the end of the third quarter. At the time, it was 7 – 30…so…not so good…

    It ended 13-34.

    Now, I’ve been to high school and college football games…but neither are as boring as an NFL game, apparently. Seriously, I think I missed the commercials during all the timeouts! The thing that really has me confused is how people can think baseball is boring when there’s so much downtime in an NFL game. I’m pretty sure, at least for the nearly 3 quarters we were there, the ball was not moving longer than it was moving. At least in baseball, there are short pauses throughout, but there is a game to watch for the vast majority of the time!

    Anyway, we’re glad we went to the game…and didn’t pay anything for it… Which brings up another point: we were up at the top of the Dome and those seats would have cost $44. $44?!? That’s two tickets for a Cardinal’s game that is a). more entertaining, and b). better seats!

    We’ll probably still try and hit up a Blues hockey game, as neither of us have ever been to an NHL game, either…but we may put that off until we get to a few more baseball games to wash away the sour taste in our mouths…

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    Tripping Billies

    We went to the Dave Matthews Band concert in Memphis a few weeks ago and noticed that Leroi Moore, the saxophone player, wasn’t up there with the band. We later found out that he had been in an ATV accident on his farm in Virginia over the 4th of July weekend.

    I just found out that Moore died from complications of his injuries unexpectedly today in Los Angeles.

    Needless to say, I’m stunned and extremely sad for the loss. His contributions to the band will be missed, especially as his musical offerings were so versatile and unique adding various sax sounds, flute, etc. to all of their albums over the years.

    “We are all sitting
    Legs crossed round a fire
    My yellow flame she dances
    Tequila drinking oh our
    Minds will wonder
    To wonderous places
    So why would you care
    To get out of this place
    You and me and all our friends
    Such a happy human race
    Eat, drink and be merry
    For tomorrow we die”

    — “Tripping Billies;” Dave Matthews Band

    Update: The band played their concert last night in Los Angeles, even after hearing the news of Moore’s death. An article in the Orange County Register describes the music and the feelings from the band and the crowd.

    From the article:

    “Remember: They had spent the better part of two decades making music with Moore; this is how they related to one another most. First time Matthews heard Moore play, he recalled as the encore began, was in a bar in Virginia: ‘He leapt on the cash register – ’cause standing had become something of a chore at that point. And he played the most beautiful rendition of ‘Somewhere Over the Rainbow’ I’ve ever heard.’

    “‘If I could, I would,’ he added, as if to say why he wouldn’t attempt it, before instead offering a haunting rendition of his own ‘Sister.’ Indeed, all that he – and they – could do here was richly revive some of Moore’s favorite songs, disappear into their frameworks, savor lyrics that now had new meaning – and deliver the emotional immediacy the moment demanded.

    “It was brave, it was brilliant – it was a performance unlike any I’ve ever seen Dave Matthews Band give.”

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    1450 miles and 30.9 mpg…w00t!

    So, Brooke and I went on vacation this past week…if you wanna check out some pictures, by all means do so… In summary, we went to the Great Smoky Mountain National Park for 3 nights of camping, and then checked out Memphis, TN to visit Beale Street and then the Dave Matthews Band concert for Saturday night.

    A few highlights:

    1). Pigeon Forge is an interesting place. Imagine Branson, MO…but 4x longer and with a pancake shop in every other building on that stretch. It’s rather ridiculous. The worst part is that nearly every one had a full parking lot at most times of the day (especially breakfast, of course). Gatlinburg wasn’t much better, but it at least had that “Alpine Village” vibe going for it…

    2). The camping was pretty nice. The first night was a bit warm, but the next two were much cooler. It only rained up on Clingman’s Dome (very foggy up there…you can see in the pictures!), and then it stormed the last night we were there. So yeah, the weather was pretty reasonable for late-July!

    3). Brooke didn’t get attacked by any bears. She was rather disappointed.

    4). Memphis was pretty fun, for the most part. We spent the first night out on Beale Street, which is about as close to Bourbon Street as you’re gonna get north of New Orleans (i.e. no open container law, smelled terrible, open late, etc.). We saw some excellent music and had excellent food at Rum Boogie, had some good BBQ ribs at Blues City Cafe, and walked around downtown quite a bit.

    5). Graceland charges $27 to visit the mansion. Per person. And they charge for parking. It goes up from there to $32 for the “platinum tour,” and something in the $60 range to see everything. We were content with just driving by… 😛

    6). We saw Dave Matthews Band at Autozone Park, which is where the Memphis Redbirds (Cardinal’s farm team) play. We got to stand right in front of the stage on the field, so it was the absolute closest we’ve ever been to a concert for Dave (I’ve been to 5 now, I think?). The set list was arguably the best I’ve seen, including many old classics as well as a few new ones – they started at 8:15 and we didn’t make it out of there until 11:00 (long set!). Willie Nelson also opened, which was rather neat! The best part was when Dave and Willie sang “Gravedigger” together, which worked beautifully with Willie’s style of singing. The band also did covers of “Burning Down The House” and “Sledgehammer” (a ‘love song,’ Dave said beforehand). So, overall, the concert was pretty awesome!

    7). …except for all the people that were there with us… Since we were on the field, that counted as “general admission,” which meant that we were down there with a lot of crazies. Crazies as in frat boys with their girlfriends (with 2 carat diamonds on their fingers…). Crazies as in “I’m going to spend $65 on a ticket, not pay attention to the band, and instead fling my $8 beer around in the air while I dance poorly, spilling it on my neighbor’s feet.” I mean, I’ve been in general admission sections at amphitheaters many a time where the worst thing around was the distinct smell of marijuana…but at least everyone was a). watching the show, and b). respecting the space of those around them. It was nearly unbearable…but at least the music made up for it (to an extent).

    That’s about it! It was a great trip, overall!

    Time to get back to work though, I guess…

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    Pepper Linsenbardt: 1992 – 2008

    Mom called today with some rather sad news: our 16-year-old cocker spaniel, Pepper, died today. We got her when I was 11, so needless to say, my family was rather attached to her. She maintained a great deal of energy up until her last few days, I’m told, but was not doing well this morning when Mom went down to wake her. Mom took her into the vet and found that her spleen was twice the size it was a month ago when she was last taken in. Unfortunately, there wasn’t much they could do for her at her age and all parties involved decided it was her time.

    (a side-note…the reason they knew what the size of her spleen was a month ago was because, while Mom had her outside, Pepper excitedly decided to jump from a concrete retaining wall over a wood pile down to a concrete patio…because she knew it was time for her dinner! Even though Pepper shook it off and walked in like nothing had happened, she ended up showing some signs of pain weeks later… That dog loved to eat!)

    Pepper, Mom and Edie during the move from the old house.

    Anyway, Pepper was a force of nature. Most family friends and loved-ones have never met Pepper because she was a pretty protective dog. It took a decent amount of effort to get her used to having Brooke around a few years ago, but to this day, very few of my friends growing up, or Kristen’s (or anyone else…), ever met Pepper.

    Pepper and me back in 2006.

    Regardless, I know Pepper is happy wherever she is now (even though we know that all dogs go to heaven!) eating carrots and sleeping in the recliner she stole from Dad 15 years ago. It’s going to take a long time for everyone she left behind to get over her loss!