LYFZ GR8

so if you dont know it, the title of this blog is actually my dads license plate... yea not so cool but oh well thats his slogan for his life. even if he does have bad grammer. he puts it on his business cards too, the 8 and the Z and everything. but moving along. a lot has happened in the past two days. last night justin, mark and i decided to take a chance on a rumor that The Jimmy Buffett was going to be making a surprise appearance at the Randy Salerno Foundation event at lippold to raise money for kids trying to major in broadcast journalism. the only downside of the night was that the rumor was false and jimmy buffett actually did not make a surprise appearance but really that was the only bad part. we got to meet his right hand man Mac Macanally, shake his hand, say hello, talk a bit, and get a picture with him. im sure it will be my profile pic in the near future. it was $75 bucks to get a ticket into the event and because of that we decided to go all out. we took full advantage of the free drinks, appetizers, and dinner that they served. out of the drinks and food alone we banked at least $100, that didnt even include the most personal concert that we got from Mac and a t-shirt that the band before gave out to me, personally. RIP Randy.

so this is the first day of RAGBRAI (registers annual great bike ride across iowa) in which we dont ride today but we are setting everything up to get going for tomorrow. right now im at a friend of my dads house in omaha, nebraska and going to sleep in a king size bed after i finish this complimentary Bud Light that they gave to me. life is great. my dad, sister liz, and i woke up at 5 this morning. left at six. and drove all the way across iowa, picking up my aunt carol along the way. i never knew it was possible for one lady to fill up half of BUKLE UP 1 (our astro van that is carrying all our stuff) but she some how decided to go for the gold and do it. she even brought along freakin watermelons. watermelons. seriously? they are rolling around the car like bowling balls. im making it a goal of mine to not ride in a car this whole week. it will happen.

ill make sure to update hopefully everyday. also ill find out the website where we are uploading pictures. lifes great, through and through.

Hello Chicago

so i visited chicago with my friend susan and saw this show called Cirque Shanghai at navy pier. it didnt start out very well with me being late to go pick her up. we missed the train in cary and then it was off to the races to barrington to hopefully beat the train. word of advice, trains go in a straight line and cars zig zag and all that shit. i did not make the train. so we waited for 45 min for the next one and parked my car in a permit only parking lot with the possibility of getting a citation. so with being late we missed abour 30 min of the hour and 30 min show. but it was still awesome. the Cirque Shanghai is just a bunch of oriental gymnasts doing very tricky tricks like fitting 30025 people on one bicycle or jumping and climbing poles like they are monkeys, except cooler. the hour of the show that we saw was awesome and then we headed over to the Grand Lux Cafe on michigan avenue. im tellin ya, chi-town food is expensive but damnit it its good and i definately recommend the "caramel crispy chicken" at that place. oh yea i also tried Newcastle Brown Ale for the first time and it was awesome. im thinking about picking up a 6 pack right now. being 21 owns.

We Tried Our Best

so this weekend my life revolved around the gala. i was an intern there and that ment i had to be a bitch boy and do whatever the people running the gala needed me to do. i will be getting $500+ dollars for working it but the days were rediculously long and the nights were short because i had to wake up the next day. it sucked not being able to see some friends that were in town but i got to meet some awesome people that were also interns that i hope stay with me for a very long time. sometimes you dont get out of your circle of friends very much and its a fresh of breath air to do so even though you love your preexisting friends a lot. plus the 15 hour days did help with the bonding situation. ill probably do it again because of the money and people but ill make sure to get enough sleep when im not working.

i lost my keys to my apartment, bike lock, and my $10 frisbee. ive been praying to St. Anthony of lost and found a lot. i just wish i knew were everything important to me was.

i love when people say great quotes, this is a quote that i heard from my cousins friend; "What will you do with your one wild and precious life" by Mary Oliver. it makes you stop and see actually what you are doing. its crazy.

got a ton of Miller Lite signs from the beer garden at the gala, my apartment is going to be decked out and my room is going to be the "VIP LOUNGE."

i havent been on a date in a really long time. i feel in need of a change.

went on a bike ride today to Mchenry just because i need to get in the miles. it was only 31 miles but it was still a work out with some of the hills that i tried to obilterate but totally owned me. another thing i noticed while riding in Bull Valley (right next to mchenry) was that people give iowa and what not a bad rep because they dont know how to experience it. like biking past this;
some people thiink that this is boring, i find it peaceful

a lot of people complained about the gala. i shouldnt really care about it but im just letting everyone know that 66 nieghbors at the Lakefront signed a petition kicking the gala out in Feb leaving them to either not have the gala or find a dif place. and even though the parking was really bad, it cost to get in, blah blah blah i just want to let everyone know that we tried our best. as to getting it set up and trying to run things smoothly with what we were given we did out best. i wonder how many people could argue with that?

its good to be back in camp, to play vball, and to bike.