Blog of the Nile

Food Entry 5: French Dip

2010-01-19T08:53:00.000-08:00

I want to start this post off with a statement. Angie makes the best marinated meat anywhere! The first time she attempted marinating some meat, I almost got sick trying to eat it all! It was sooooo good! The first time was fajita steak, which we ate with fajitas! This second attempt was for French Dip sandwiches. Last night, Angie asks if I feel like a beer. I explain we don't have any more, to wit, I drank it all. She explains we're having marinated meat for dinner, so I jumped in the car and drove to get some beer. After marinating the meat, Angie cooked it on the stovetop. The meat was paper thin cut flank steak. Angie made some Au Jus and some garlic toasted rolls. The French Dip was a success! I even brought one for lunch today!

For those foodies: Au Jus is a French style of cooking a meat with it's own juices and then utilizing the juice as a sauce or gravy for service the meat. In America, it is commonly a created sauce that does not use any juices from the meat, but instead replaces the juice with Worcestershire Sauce or any of a number of "flavor enhancers". Angie used the packaged kind, since the steak was so thin it barely had any juice in it except the marinade.

Food Entry 4: Borriello Brothers Pizza

2010-01-19T08:12:00.000-08:00

This could also be titled: "Why we hate Borriello Brothers!"

Borriello Brothers Pizza is a local "New York" pizza place that has begun taking over everything that is good in the world. First, they took over Sebastiani's Deli on Oro Blanco and Barnes. This little shop was a wonderful haven for foodies. They imported all sorts of meats and cheeses from around the world, and Jim Sebastiani knew every single one of them by taste. The rest of his family also worked the shop with him, and it was a very friendly place to go. It was also my very first job, and I was eventually let go because I was a sixteen-year-old kid with no thoughts in my head or morals under my belt. It broke my heart, and I felt betrayed even to this day...more along the lines of me betraying them with my crappy work ethic today. That shop is now a Borriello Brothers Pizza, and we think it was the first. As soon as it opened, we went down and bought a large pizza, since my dad is from New York. I think I ate one piece that night, and it was more than anyone else ate. The pizza was terrible! The sauce was too sweet, the cheese was not salty enough, and the amount of grease dripping off the slices would give you a coronary just by looking at them! Since this place opened up across the street from a renowned pizza shop called Louie's, I assumed it would be gone faster than free diapers at the daycare. It's still there.

Let me regale you with another story. There was once a beautiful Italian Restaurant called Rotelli's. The first time I went there, I had Penne alla Vodka and it was fantastic! I went back time and time again, sometimes adding a slice of pizza to the meal. The pizza was everything Borriello Brothers is not. Yes, sadly, I use the word "was" here. Rotelli's is now a Borriello Brothers. I will not blame Borriello Brothers for this wholly, as the management of Rotelli's started hiring more and more incompetent workers and trimming the menu down to try and save money on specialized ingredients. The very first thing they cut was the Penne alla Vodka, but they still kept making it for me when I went in (before they sold out). I remember one time I met Angie for lunch and was late because I stopped to get a snack on the way. I told her to order drinks and then wait for me. I showed up twenty minutes later and she still had not been offered drinks. So, Rotelli's was doing badly anyway, but they didn't need to be replaced by Borriello Brothers!

I like giving people the benefit of the doubt. Yesterday, while I was travelling to Fountain for a Video Game Quest, I thought to myself, "I would like a snack of pizza". There was a great little pizza place right next to the GameSource down there, but it closed a week ago (probably because they spent all their money on huge TVs and not on soap...lots of people complained about getting sick there). Right across the street was Borriello Brothers and I decided to give them a try. Yes, my Video Game Quest went successfully. I walked in and asked for a single slice of pepperoni pizza. Price? $2.50...not bad. I waited about five minutes and they called my name. When I picked up the pizza, the lady working there told me they had given me two pieces instead of one, "because it was easier". I'm not sure what that meant, but I took the pizza home and shared it with Angie. We were instantly reminded why the pizza there is so terrible. The sauce was sweet (and sour in a few bites, which boggles the mind), the pizza was just dripping grease, and the flavors were very bland! Also, the crust was overcooked and possibly a little stale. Angie mentioned that the thinness of the crust was good, but that was it. This brings me to my final tirade, which is: why change something when it is working so well?

Il Vicino is a wood burning stove pizza place downtown Colorado Springs. A month ago, they changed their dough recipe. Last year, Angie and I went there probably a dozen times, and I found the thin crust Italian-style pizza was the best in the world. It reminded me of Pizza Express, which is a little pizza chain in England we used to frequent (I still miss them). Il Vicino's pizza was so thin and crispy and topped with the most luxurious toppings. We went there for lunch at the beginning of the New Year, and the dough was terrible. I called the manager over and covertly told him my pizza wasn't cooked. He quickly took it back and had them cook it another ten minutes. It came back undercooked, and I mentioned it to him. He realized I hadn't been in for a while and explained they changed the dough. I told him the dough and resulting crust was my favorite part. He told me to tell the waiter to cook it crisp next time. I took my parents and their friend from New York, Sam, to Il Vicino. We all told the waiter to make it crispy. The pizza was delicious. If they don't change back, soon enough Borriello Brothers will have a downtown store.

Food Entry 3: Pasta Puttanesca

2010-01-19T08:07:00.000-08:00

Angie made some wonderful Pasta Puttanesca, with a little cream added for consistency. It was fabulous, and I had three helpings! Sadly, this left nothing for leftovers. The sauce is tomato based with capers, olives, garlic, and anchovies. We've never used, eaten, or seen anchovies in my house so that aspect is always left out. Traditionally, the dish is Spaghetti alla puttanesca, and I would certainly love it with angel hair, but we used first Penne (which is my personal favorite), and then Spaghetti when the Penne ran out. Great job, Angie!

Food Entry 2: Alton Brown's Leek Soup

2010-01-13T12:54:00.000-08:00

I like to try new things, whether they be in the garage, kitchen, backyard, or bedroom. I also like to think I have a pretty good handle on things in the kitchen-related area. Last night, we decided to try Alton Brown's (of Food Network Fame) Leek and Potato Soup. The recipe called for about seven ingredients and an hour and fifteen minutes to prepare. Everything seemed to be going fine, even though I had never held a leek, let alone chop it into similar sized pieces. The final preparation required the use of an immersion blender (one of those stick things that have the blender on the bottom), which we did not possess. I judged it to be fairly easy to remedy the situation by plopping the soup (as it was not quite soup yet, perhaps I should refer to it as "cooked vegetables ready to be pureed") into my regular blender. When Angie and I started dating, it was decided we would only need one blender, and I think we got rid of the wrong one, but now I'm not sure why we kept this crappy plastic one and got rid of the heavy duty glass one. Suffice to say, as soon as I put a portion of the "soup" into the blender and hit the puree button, much of it escaped out of the top and bottom to cover me in scalding hot liquid (and some small vegetable pieces). That would not be terrible enough had I not been wearing a very nice outfit (since I had just come home from work). Also, I take my cooking seriously, and an incident of this magnitude removed all my ability to think or act accordingly, so I had a nervous breakdown. As I fell to the floor, covered in piping hot soup bits, my wrist smashed into the hardwood and broke my watch. I lay, weeping and screaming myself hoarse, for twenty minutes or so before I could bring myself to admit that there really was nowhere for my spirit to go but up. The day had not progressed well, but it did not end badly. After cleaning myself off the floor and taking a shower, we finished the soup (it was rather tasty, but needed salt...perhaps bacon), watched an episode of Chuck from season 1, and fell fast asleep. I awoke tired and irritable, which means today started off terrible and can only go up, right?

Food Entry 1: Alice's Mexican

2010-01-13T12:44:00.001-08:00

I have eaten a ton of food over my 29 years of life. Literally. According to the Food and Drug Administration, the average person eats roughly 1500 pounds of food a year. Since I'm 29, that means I've eaten an average of 18 tons of food, (not the 21.75 tons you would have expected, eh?) taking into consideration that I did not eat almost a ton of food when I was little. No wonder I feel fat all the time! Recently, I had the chance to eat at a restaurant I've been wanting to check out for a while. It is called Alice's Mexican, and it's located down the alley between Nevada and Tejon, on the same block as Jack Quinn's. I have to say, I was a little disappointed with the food AND the prices. I ordered a chile relleno plate, and the mush that came out looked like it had been frozen and then thawed poorly in the microwave. When I mentioned this to the waitress, who I think may also be the owner, she said that the style they cook them (in an egg batter) causes them to be very soft and mushy. She said the crispy rellenos are a Tex-Mex version and require a special breadcrumb crust for frying. I am still not positive I believe her. To top it all off, the cost of this monstrosity (at lunch) was a whopping $9.95 without tax. For a lunch menu item to be almost ten bucks, I would expect more. However, I was let down. If it wasn't for the fact that ALL the lunch menu items were around ten dollars apiece, I would give this place another try, but I won't. So there.

-Ben

New Year, New Blog

2010-01-13T12:41:00.000-08:00

I would like to apologize to anyone who has been let down by the lack of updates over the past year. The truth is that it was a really terrible year for way too many reasons. This year, I'd like to use this blog to keep people updated, but also to keep track of good food we eat. The next post and many afterwards will have to do with this new "food" craze. I hope this doesn't dissuade anyone from checking us out every once in a while.

Love,
Ben

Christmas Eve Eve

2008-12-23T08:06:00.001-08:00

Today is December 23rd...or Christmas Eve Eve. It's hard to believe that the year has passed so quickly. Time is flying by and I wish I could catch it, put it in a jar and save some for later. Alas, no luck.
Ben and I spent the weekend with his family, celebrating his Dad's 60th birthday. His mom flew in a bunch of his friends as a surprise and we bascially partied it up with them for the last couple of days. I think we must have gone thru 20+ bottles of wine :)
Tomorrow is Christmas Eve and we've still got a lot to do. I think we are going to celebrate our own Christmas festivities together at home on the 24th. With so much family in town, it'd be difficult for us to try to squeeze it in on Christmas Day.
Then next week it's up to Estes to stay at the Stanley Hotel! I really can't wait for this! I've wanted to go there for SO long. It'll be even more special because we are celebrating our one year anniversary up there. Two days of beautiful, peaceful, wintry bliss! Hopefully we'll get some great pictures and post.
Speaking of pictures, sorry we keep saying we'll add some and never seem to. We take pics all the time, we just never seem to have the camera WITH the computer, so the pictures are all just sitting on my memory card. Maybe I will remember to do that over the upcoming long weekend. But soon, I promise we will have pictures of so many things...K.
Anyway, I'm off to get some work done.
Happy Holidays everyone!

Douchebag?

2008-12-15T12:05:00.000-08:00

Why yes...yes I am!

What does it take to become a model nowadays? The answer: nothing.

Just walk into a coffee shop, act like a douche, and Walah! You are a model.

I have no idea how to spell walah...it may be something stupid like uala or ouahla or some such thing.

I just wanted to write to say we're going to be updating with fun pictures of kittys, phon-du, and T-giving.

Gearing up for the big Holiday. We're planning on going to the Stanley Hotel for New Year's. I'd never seen the Shining or Steven King's the Shining...one of which was actually filmed at the Stanley in Estes.

I sometimes feel like Christmas is a little too expensive. This year's bill: $950. Next year's? I'm going to go for three-fitty. Damn Loch Ness Monster!!

Fon-dudes

2008-11-24T12:47:00.001-08:00

Last evening, my lovely girlfriend and I dined at a wonderful restaurant called "The Melting Pot". As the name suggests, it is one of those very few restaurants where you are given long forked skewers in order to obtain cheesy goodness out of a bowl over hot water. The tables had built-in heating elements, and they were very hot! The waitress called it phon-du, which must be an asian delicacy of some sort. It was very Americanized, though. They used cheddar cheese mixed with Sam Adams beer and give you bread, fruit (apples), and vegetables (celery, carrots, cauliflower). The second course was a salad (very nice!). I had a "California" salad, but I'm not confident it was actually from California. It had nuts and fruit and cheese on it, but very good nonetheless. Angie had a "Southern" Cobb salad. Not sure what that is, but she said it was good. Then the main course was a pot of boiling chicken stock in which we cooked shrimp, duck, pork, chicken, and teryaki beef. It was served with Plum sauce, Curry, and Teryaki BBQ sauce. They also had some other sauces, like cocktail. The meat was all served to us raw and we were expected to cook it in the boiling stock at various times for the meats. The rule was, "If it walks on land, two minutes, if it walks in the water, one minute thirty". Those times were WAY off. The pork was wonderful, as was the chicken, beef, and shrimp (Angie didn't like the shrimp). Neither of us liked the duck. The final course was a dessert not unlike hot fudge, but it was served with many different "dipping" materials: cheesecake, marshmallows, strawberries, brownie, pound cake, and rice crispies. The chocolate was a mixture of white and dark in the shape of a yin-yang, which melted on the table hot-pad thing. It was too much for us to finish, and when the bill came, I was surprised it didn't cost over $100. We had enough food for six people. We also got a coupon for $20 off the next time we go in. I think I'd like to try it again! I probably won't eat lunch that day though.

Vertigo!

2008-11-11T10:31:00.000-08:00

It's been a while because I've been sick! Yay! I developed vertigo from an inner-ear infection that had me bed-ridden for twelve days. They say that eventually it will go away, but I might experience peaks and valleys in my recovery. It has weighed heavily on our minds, what with a new place (1300 sq/ft near the Broadmoor), two new additions to the family (Moxie and Roxie...kitties), and still never finding enough time to unpack anything! Hopefully, we can at least get one of the floors completely unpacked and liveable before Thanksgiving. I'm going to make it my sole purpose to get this mission completed! In the next few days, I'll post pictures of the townhouse, the kitties, and the inner ear:

For those of you who DON'T know, vertigo is basically the feeling you get when you're REALLY REALLY drunk and the room is spinning out of control. However, mine wasn't as fun because it was paired with uncontrollable vomiting and nausea. It pretty much looks like this:

Well, I'll catch you all tomorrow! Hooray for being able to sit up straight again!

What's happened recently? I don't know...

2008-08-21T09:06:00.000-07:00

On July 1st, Angie and I founded a non-profit organization called Bikes for Becky. The premise is that we'll be accepting donations both in monetary and bicycle form. We will then fix up the bikes and donate them to schools, clubs, and churches around town to be redistributed to the public. The first steps are complete: we can write receipts for tax-write-off purposes; we have a stack of bicycles waiting to be fixed up; we have a newsletter column which goes out every month; and we even have business cards!

What we need though, is space! The garage is looking a little full right now with five motorcycles, about twenty bicycles, stacks of boxes, and also tools and parts. Anyone read this and know how to go about getting storage for free?

Here's the ad I've been running in the local newsletters:

Trebuchet

2008-07-16T13:17:00.000-07:00

A trebuchet[1] or trebucket[2] is a siege engine that was employed in the Middle Ages either to smash masonry walls or to throw projectiles over them. It is sometimes called a “counterweight trebuchet” or "counterpoise trebuchet" in order to distinguish it from an earlier weapon that has come to be called the “traction trebuchet”, though this is redundant.

The counterweight trebuchet appeared in both Christian and Muslim lands around the Mediterranean in the twelfth century. It could fling three-hundred-pound (140 kg) projectiles at high speeds into enemy fortifications. On occasion, disease-infected corpses were flung into cities in an attempt to infect the people under siege—a medieval variant of biological warfare. Trebuchets appear in China in about the 4th century BCE and in Europe in the 6th century CE, and did not become obsolete until the 16th century, well after the introduction of gunpowder. Trebuchets were far more accurate than other medieval catapults.

For everything trebuchet related, check out the homepage.

A picture's worth a thousand words...or so they say

2008-07-16T13:10:00.000-07:00

This is me and Ben at my friend Mindy's wedding. I just thought you all might like to see what we both look like. I'll post more photos later. Enjoy!

Trebuchet

2008-07-16T12:13:00.000-07:00

Greetings everyone! This is Angie speaking (or writing I should say). Ben and I talked about it, and we thought it would be fun to make this a 'doubles' blog. A way to let everyone in our lives know what's going on with us.
So, first off, let me say hi to everyone! I'm really excited about this. It seems like such a fascinating way to keep in touch! Hopefully we can get a bunch of people into reading about us, and then we'll all have fun with it.
One thing you should know about me right off is that I can go on forever. I already feel myself rambling on, and I've just gotten started! So please forgive me my long-winded-ness.
So, a little about me, for those of you who may read this already, and have only heard of me thru someone else. I'm 25, 5'6" and I have brown hair and blue eyes. I'm a figure skater - my team is the 2007 Adult Synchronized Team Skating National Champions. I've been skating since I was 9 years old and it's one of my passions in life. I also love ANYTHING to do with the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling, and am a HUGE Yankees fan! Ben and I met in November of 2007 when he started working at my company, Sanborn. At first we only met briefly, as he was out in the field for a month doing field work. But once he came back around Christmas, we hit it off pretty quickly! We hung out with some work friends, and even went ice skating. But it wasn't until New Year's Eve that things got real. We were at a work party, given by Ben's (then) boss. Everyone we both knew from work was there. We hung out and flirted the entire night. Ben even convinced me to play a game of Beer Pong with him ( a game we got crushed at - I might add). By 11 pm I knew that things between us were going to progress - I just didn't know it would happen so fast! We ended up wrestling around on a downstairs couch together as midnight approached. I think I even have some photos on my cell phone ( my friends, no doubt, got a kick out of it). And even now, I can remember our first kiss. It was at the stroke of midnight. As we heard everyone at the party counting down with the mirror ball our eyes connected, and as the New Year began we embraced in a passionate kiss...for everyone to see...and then we kept kissing...for about two hours...all the while on his boss's couch. Nice.
Since then we've been a couple. Things have moved pretty fast. We moved in together after dating only five months. But, rest assured everyone, things are smooth sailing. I'm sure each of our parents' were concerned we were moving too fast, but things just felt right. Besides, Ben was already practically living with me. 'Why not make it official' was my thought. So now we are co-habitating, and I love it. It's so nice to have someone to come home to and make dinner with, and occasionally, to fight with. :)
Okay, that's enough boring chatter for now. I'll surely have plenty of time to share the rest of my stories with everyone. For now, thanks for reading. Hope to hear from you all soon!

P.S. The title of this blog came about because of the FONT style I'm using to write it in. I'm not very good at thinking up names for things like this...

The down and dirty

2008-07-08T06:25:00.000-07:00

I'm 27 now. I recently worked for the Sanborn Mapping Company as a field tech. I flew around the country snapping photos of the ground, and the company paid for everything. Somewhere along the way, I insulted the wrong person and they decided not to send me out anymore. I quit that job and got a new gig the next day working for JKA Consulting, which consults only for El Paso and Teller Counties 9-1-1 services, for double the pay. I'm their new GIS Lead, and most of my days are spent making sure the streets are safe to be safe. Meaning, of course, that the emergency service vehicles (cops, firemen, and emts) can safely be routed to wherever they are needed most. So far, so good. I'd say we're 50% safer. When I started, I wouldn't put that number higher than 15%. I also recently had my appendix out. I was feeling some stomach pains, went to the doctor, they sent me to get a CAT scan, and when the CAT tech came out, she said I needed to go to the emergency room right away. That was nice. I had a whole shootout with the insurance company (everyone always does), and they finally covered me. That's a whole 'nother story though.

Almost a year ago, I was dumped by my fiance a few weeks before our wedding and was pretty broken up about it. Now that I look back, I couldn't be happier. Thank god that bitch dumped me. I would have been MISERABLE for the rest of my life. I found a new girlfriend named Angie Zee, who makes the kid I almost married seem even MORE horrible by comparison. Angie is a wonderful, caring, HONEST woman who is truly in love with me...poor honey. Everyone knows how bad an idea THAT is, right? I'M FREAKING CRAZY!

Let's see...back on track...I got a motorcycle, which became two, then three, and now five. I have five motorcycles. I gave one to Angie, and she tricked it out with a sweet custom seat and paintjob. Pictures will follow, I assure you. I also customized my own motorcycle, and will never try to explain why or how. We decided we'd better learn to ride the motorcycles we now possess, so we took a cool rider course just a week ago and both passed with flying colors! If you'd like, visit their website here.

I always wanted to know where those flying colors came from...anyone? I was issued my motorcycle license Monday, June 30th 2008. Um...I founded a non-profit charity yesterday, July 7th 2008. I also got Rock Band for the Wii over the weekend, and I think Angie and I are ready to go on tour later this year. I think that's it...oh yeah...I also LOVE American Gladiators.

-Ben

Dawn of a new day

2008-07-08T06:19:00.000-07:00

So, I'd have to say maybe four people read my blog. Good for them! However, that means that I suddenly have a (small) group of people who check to see if I update every day. This is for you guys. I will begin updating every day (or so), unless you want better content. If that is the case, I think maybe twice a week will give me a better palette to work with, and more time to do better things (like add photos). Here's a quick breakdown of the plan:

You freaking vote on whether you want updates with photos twice a week, or updates every day (honestly that would be pretty boring to live vicariously through my eyes). Please comment on what you want.

Secondly, my next post will just give a summary of life up until today...and I mean just recent things, for those of you who are involved.

Thirdly, I lost my train of thought so I'm just going to go ahead and do the whole summary thing now.

-Ben

It's official

2008-07-08T06:13:00.001-07:00

Those of you who know me may know I like to do charity work. Well, I've finally gotten the paperwork to legally start my own. Not sure what it will be called yet. People donate bikes to me, and I get them to folks who can use them: inner-city schools, housing projects, and other clubs/charities around town...at least that's the plan. Turns out you have to fill out a 15-page application to get certified as a 501c(3)...that's so you can write receipts for tax write-off purposes. So now it's just me fixing and building bikes in Colorado Springs.

"I conceive that the great part of the miseries of mankind are brought upon them by false estimates they have made of the value of things."
-Benjamin Franklin

Love,
Ben

New job

2008-07-01T09:30:00.000-07:00

I work for Colorado Springs 9-1-1 Authority now. It's actually the whole El Paso and Teller counties, so a pretty good gig. Lately, we've been having some issues with our SDE server, and it's none of my business why or what happens next. I just make the data, edit it to correctness, and then update all the PSAPs (Public Safety Answering Point)with it. I have an emergency emergency backup disk of data from a few weeks ago, because we already have an emergency backup of the data, along with a normal backup...but today it looks like we might be up a certain creek without a paddle. We've been doing massive edits to the data, and I know the emergency emergency backup doesn't have those edits...also, the emergency backup looks like this:

Alright, I'm back

2008-07-01T09:24:00.000-07:00

Why aren't there any hot witches? I tried a google search on wicca, wiccan, witchcraft, and witches...and all I found was this chick! Not gonna lie...she's very hot, but after an hour of searching...she's all I found. She is a real white witch, who practices this whole witchy thing, but turns out she's the only one. Where the hell are all the hotties? Don't look at hotornot.com with the added "wicca", "witch", "witchcraft", or "wiccan" tags. Ouch.

I'm at work!

2008-01-24T15:08:00.000-08:00

Well, it turns out that the only reader of this blog has decided to marry someone. I, for one, never thought it would happen. He's afraid of change, and this is a pretty big change. I've gotten over myself and have moved on from my own failed marriage, but that doesn't mean I'm ready to start joking about how bad it really was or anything like that. I had a bad thing happen to me, and we should all just hope it dies in a slow and terrible way.

My new job is working with Lidar data taken from an airplane. Here's a picture:

December 22nd

2007-12-22T10:59:00.000-08:00

Back in Colorado Springs and it's cold here. Like really cold. Really Really Really cold. In Phoenix, it was like 45 degrees in the middle of the night. I don't think it's gotten above 35 the whole time I've been home. Today I'm going to a wine tasting, and I should probably shower once this week. I guess that time is now. My home computer here broke, because Windows Vista decided to expire. It took me four days to find the DVD with the product code, and when I finally put that in, Vista told me my version was stolen. It had a little logo thing in the bottom right corner which touted that fact. I called Microsoft and they said a bunch of Vista people had that happen. They gave me a new code, and it should hold tight. I hate Vista. Who's idea was it to change XP? Maybe I can get that Apple OS and put it on my PC. Anyone ever read this who knows? Well, gotta go and think nothing thoughts while I donate more of my time to helpless people during the holidays. Happy Holidays to anyone who reads this, I apologize for never writing more thoughtful or creative things. It's because I can't believe I own a blog. I'm just very disappointed with myself.

-Ben

December 18th

2007-12-18T15:28:00.001-08:00

Well, today is my Dad's birthday, and he didn't want to do anything, so we didn't. I fixed my home computer, so now hopefully it will continue working. I have a few pictures to show you: the first is the Stevie Wonder concert!

Here's how close we were to the stage! My friend Emily totally got the hook up!

Here's me and Emily right after the concert!

I look like crap, if I do say so myself.

I'd like to thank Terrell Owens and Tony Romo for carrying my fantasy football team the length of the season and letting it drop in the semi-final game. Thanks, guys.

Hope you all have wonderful holiday seasons. My next trip will be soon. I'll get a couple more photos up in a few days.

-Ben

December something-or-other

2007-12-11T14:14:00.000-08:00

Let's see. So the Clarendon caters to a lot of famous folks. I got to see Charlize Theron in person. That was cool. She was putting her dog in her car and dropped her keys right as I walked by. She's very pretty, but she's got really skinny legs! Like little sticks holding her up. Ozzie Osborn was here two weeks ago, and Stevie Wonder was here for a few days this week. I didn't see Ozzie, but I did see some of Stevie Wonder's bandmates. I also got to see Stevie Wonder in concert! My friend Emily works at the front desk and managed to get her hands on two free tickets, so she invited me to go with her! It turns out that Stevie's mom recently passed away, and then appeared to him in a dream. She explained that it was his destiny to provide music for the people to enjoy and NOT doing that was actually a bad thing for him. So, he went back on tour, and I got to see him at his last show of the whole shebang. We got to the arena a little early and went to pick up the tickets. When the ticket lady pulled them out, we asked where we were sitting. She said, 'Oh, these are good seats! You guys are in the fifth row.'

Yeah, it was pretty awesome. Mike Tyson was there. He's a lot shorter in person. And Stevie Wonder was super-crazy awesome. His daughter sang backup, and boy was she hot! I enjoyed the whole evening. It's still cloudy. We've had only about six clear days in the last three weeks.

-Ben

November 30, 2007

2007-11-30T16:08:00.000-08:00

Here's a video of Phoenix. It's raining right now. It has also been cloudy for a few days.

-Ben

November 26, 2007

2007-11-26T10:19:00.000-08:00

It's Phoenix again. I just can't get away! The weather is wonderful. I hear it's cold everywhere else. I hear there was a frost warning for most of North Texas, and a snow warning was issued for San Antonio. What is the world coming to? I know, but I don't want to tell everyone. I figured it out a while back, and discussed it with people who laughed. I'm super cereal! Ah ha ha ha! What a great Al Gore/South Park reference. However true it may be. Oh, I totally defeated the SammyDavisJr.Jrs. this week in fantasy football...for the second time this season. I'm the best!

-Ben

November 22, 2007

2007-11-23T17:07:00.001-08:00

Happy Turkey day from Colorado Springs.

-Ben

The future...who remembers it anyway?

2007-11-20T20:43:00.000-08:00

I've always known the future. The problem with knowing the future is the futility that comes with the stigma of never being able to change it. Sometimes people get lucky. Most of the times they don't. I've known for a long time that I will die in a plane crash. I didn't know when, but I'm sure it will be before I turn thirty. You know how sometimes you get those flashes of things that you think you've seen before? It's often times called 'Deja Vu'. I know I get those flashes, and have for a long time. Recently, I've had more and more. It's almost like a buildup to something. If I wasn't already dead inside, perhaps I could focus more on what might be happening. I just don't care enough anymore. I hope I can repay the world before I go. Who knows? I might actually make it in this world, but I don't care any more, so what's the point? I just smile and try, and it never gets any better. I can do all the volunteer work in the world. I can give all my money to charity. I can look back and say, "Hey, look at all these great things that happened.", but I don't look back. In fact, I never really have. I've thought long and hard about regrets. I realized that mine were all really petty and stupid, so I've rid myself of them. I don't have any desires anymore, though. Think about your life. If you don't have regrets or desires to spur you forward or hold you back, you aren't going anywhere. A pleasing thought, when you realize you have one or the other or both. I've got nothing.

-Benny

November 20, 2007

2007-11-20T11:11:00.000-08:00

So, here's the deal. I'm in Phoenix. It's hot. I don't live here. I'm staying in a crappy hotel. It's called the MainStay Suites. It's got a little kitchen thing, but it isn't near anything at all. The hottub's been broken since I got here last Wednesday. I'm only here until tomorrow, when I'm going home for Thanksgiving. I fly back on Saturday to continue what I'm doing here, which is at this point a top-secret mission for Maricopa County. I'm also going to be winning this season's fantasy football trophy, so shine it up all pretty for me.

-Ben

November 14, 2007

2007-11-14T17:06:00.000-08:00

For those of you who've been reading, I'm on an adventure. Right now I'm in Phoenix. I explored a place called Hopeville today, where Buckeye Airport is. I'm at a MainStay Suite, complete with kitchenette. I have yet to use it, but at least it's there. Tomorrow, I plan to explore Goodyear. I ate at an In-and-Out Burger. It was weird. I guess it turns out they have a secret menu which you can only use if you already know about it. Otherwise, the menu consists of about seven things...a burger, a cheeseburger, double burger, double cheeseburger, fries, shakes, and sodas. Here's a partial list of the secrets:

Animal Style Fries Fries with cheese, spread, and grilled onions.
Double Meat Two meat patties without cheese.
Extra Everything Adds extra spread, tomato, lettuce, and onions (regular or grilled).
Flying Dutchman Two meat patties, two slices of melted cheese and nothing else.
Extra Toast Bun is cooked longer so it is extra toasted.[4]
Fries "Light" Almost raw fries that are cooked for less time.
Fries "Well" Fries that are cooked longer to be extra crisp.
Fries with cheese Fries with two slices of melted cheese placed on top.
Grilled Cheese Two slices of melted cheese, tomato, lettuce and spread on a bun, with no meat. There is also a Grilled Cheese Animal Style (grilled onions are added).
Choco-Vanilla Swirl Shake Chocolate and vanilla flavors combined in one shake.

I'm going home for Thanksgiving, because it's still one of my most favorite holidays. I don't think she can take that from me. The void within me will always be there. How could I have done something so wrong to deserve this? I think there's something wrong...it's like I know the problem, but I can't make it go away. I've used myself up and there isn't anything left.

-Me

November 9th, 2007

2007-11-10T18:19:00.001-08:00

I'm in Colorado Springs doing volunteer work with a bunch of places:

Children's Literacy, where I read books to children after school at an Elementary School up the street from me. Three times a week.

PEAK Parent Center, which is an unmarked building on an unmarked street, where you walk up an unmarked stairwell to an unmarked door which opens into a strange office. Yeah, I thought it was some sort of abortion clinic or something. Luckily it wasn't. It's an advocacy group for parents of children who have special needs, albeit deafness, blindness, disfiguring, learning disabilities, or whatever. I help them with a lot of things. Twice a week.

Ecumenical Social Ministries (ESM), a local conglomerate of church donation caretakers, who dole out food, shelter, and clothing to people who don't have too much. I work in the Pantry, where we give out food to people less fortunate. It's a government-run program which allows us to give out what we do, so a lot of paperwork needs to be filed. Other than that, it's really neat. Three times a week.

United Way, which provides a bunch of services to lots of different people. I work with Assistance for Chronic Health Conditions, where I help caretakers of people with, surprise surprise, Chronic Health Conditions. Sometimes, it can get a little icky, but overall it's rewarding. Twice a week.

The American Red Cross, who provide emergency assistance, disaster relief, and education around the country. I'm on the First Aid team, and help staff special events like blood drives and homeless shelter events. Once a week or more.

and finally, the District Attorney's Office, where I'm on the IT staff as a computer programmer and website designer. The DA's Office, 4th Judicial District, is the public prosecutor for the citizens of El Paso and Teller Counties. Our main function is to enforce the criminal laws of this state. Law enforcement agencies investigate the crime and the prosecutor follows through with the resulting charges. A prosecutor’s obligation is to seek justice on behalf of the people. Restitution for the victim, potential for the defendant to rehabilitate, and the safety of the community are some of the factors that are considered in making decisions on individual cases. There are many other responsibilities assigned to the District Attorney under Colorado law. Our mission is to fulfill these responsibilities, to be the voice of the victim in criminal cases, and to seek justice in all matters coming to this office. Twice a week.

There ya go, you bastards.

-Ben

Who doesn't have a motorcycle?

2007-11-10T18:14:00.000-08:00

Once I killed that crocodile and stole the fist-sized emerald out of his belly, I bought a boat. I also bought a motorcycle...so the answer to the question is:

I do.

I'm leaving to do some adventuring. I will continue posting here where I am, and what I've done. Hopefully, there will be some sort of crowd who wants to know...just make a comment if you have bookmarked this page and want to know what's going on with me.

-Ben, yeah really

The continuation of this blog is dependent on you bookmarking it!

2007-10-28T10:37:00.000-07:00

Otherwise, the world will end. Especially if anyone cares. I'm drinking beer and watching football. Brad Baker will lose this weekend. Anyone know of a job I could have? I've got nothing else going on. YAY!

Blog? What the hell is a blog?

2007-10-25T15:32:00.000-07:00

It's short for weblog, and I tricked you all into coming here. I have no intention of actually placing anything here. Just creating it and leaving it here to die. I messed up the first time at http://blogofthemile.blogspot.com/ Funny how that works.

SUCKERS!!