Early Signs of Talent

I recently rediscovered a cassette tape (remember those?) that had a recording of me singing and accompanying myself at the tender age of three! (A few years after I started playing the piano as evidenced by the photo above.) I gotta say, I was pretty good. With a few more lessons I'm pretty sure that I would have been the original Josh Groban. See what you think. Enjoy!

I Might Be Vain (or Maybe Not)

Last Monday I had Family Home Evening at my house. A group of 30 - 40ish singles in my ward get together every other Monday to have our own little FHE. We had a great time although the order was a little messed up. We started with treats thanks to Lindsay, followed by a short story/lesson/thought. Then it was time for a little Wii Sports competition which sadly I did the worst at. That was even with Molly who had broken her right arm and had it in a sling. (I did do okay at tennis but that was from my hours of practice.) Towards the end of the evening as the crowd was dwindling, I was playing a little of my new music on my computer for Lindsay and Molly to check out. I couldn't help notice as we were talking that Lindsay had a puzzled look as she checked out my computer. I immediately knew what was going on. It wasn't too long before she had to ask me about the "makeup" mirror sitting on my computer. She opened with "I know you're well groomed and all. But really?" It's true. I do have a small mirror sitting on my computer but no it is not to gaze upon my face. Rather than explain I thought I would just show Lindsay what it's purpose is. So I had her sit at my desk and move up like she was going to work on the computer. I said "now look in the mirror." Ah ha! I could see the light bulb turn on over her head. You see, when I sit at my computer, my television is directly behind my head. After several weeks of my neck hurting when I constantly turn to see what's on, I finally decided that I need to be creative. Thus the mirror. The funny thing is that Lindsay was not the first to give me this reaction. It's happened several times. You might think that would make me hide the mirror when I have company. Well, apparently, it's just the exact opposite because now I've even blogged about it.

Janet Has No Friends

Often when trying to find old friends on Facebook, I'll search for their names. If they don't have a photo and they do not belong to any network it's often difficult to determine whether they are the person you are looking for or not. So, I will click the View Friends option to see if we share any of the same friends. I find it disconcerting to learn that "Janet has no friends." How sad! :(

San Francisco Tour Guide Extraordinaire - BriAnne

BriAnne is my niece. She's 18 and the world is her's! So this story really should come as no surprise to anyone that knows her. This photo was taken shortly after this story.

It was 4th of July just after the sun had gone down, when Nick and I stopped our shopping. As we walked out of the sunglass store, who do we run into? BriAnne. But she was not alone. Accompanying her was a large black guy to whom she had been giving directions. Just as we found her, this guy was trying to give her a hug for helping him find Lou's Bar. Here was our conversation.

Me: Hi Bri. What's going on?

BriAnne: I was just helping him (the large black guy) find Lou's bar.

Me: How did you know where Lou's was? (I had been up and down that street so many times and I had no idea where it was.)

BriAnne: It's just right there. (She pointed. Then she guestured that he wanted to give her a hug.)

Me (Maybe Over Protective Uncle): You really should not be out here after dark alone. Nick and I were just one street over and ran into a woman without her shirt and a drunk santa clause.

To which she pretty much shrugged her shoulders. Oh to be young and fearless!

It's Just the Circle of Life

While we were at the Aquarium at the Bay on Pier 39 in San Francisco, I overheard a conversation that I found interesting and a little humorous. I thought that I should share it.

As soon as we gave the attendant our tickets, we turned the corner and there were several exhibits to view before heading to the the under-water tunnels. One of those exhibits was a video about sharks similar to the video shown above. The video had a warning that it was violent. It quickly became apparent as the killer shark created a bloody mess by attacking a seal. The interesting part came from a mother and daughter also viewing the video. Here's how their conversation went:

Daughter: Did that shark just eat a seal?!

Mother: It wasn't a seal. It's not real.

Another Viewer: Yeah, the shark just ate a seal.

Mother: Okay, it was a seal and it's real but it's the circle of life. See even the birds are doing it (eating the left over seal.)

Somehow I don't find it more comforting to know that even the seagulls feed on seals. I don't know what the mother was trying to accomplish but I'm afraid that she probably only further traumatized her daughter. Now her daughter knows that her mother will easily lie about things that don't really matter. But more scary than that, I fear that she might have nightmares of being attacked not only by sharks but also by seagulls. Eeek! But hey if she got attacked wouldn't it really just be "the circle of life?"

Free Shick Quattro Titanium Trimmer (Razor)

For those of you who read my entry The Dangers of a New Razor and thought, "How does he get all those free razors?" Well here is your opportunity to be like me. Schick is currently giving away a free Shick Quattro Titanium Trimmer powered razor/trimmer for uploading your face/photo into a mock pillow fight movie. Just follow these steps:

1. Click here


2. Upload your photo/any image


3. Choose your movie options, and play the movie


4. Click to save the movie, and register to receive a free sample

Do to popular demand (okay there was only one request), I'm attaching the video I made to get my free razor. I've got to say the physique is quite accurate.

The Dangers of a New Razor

If you know me, you know that I love a bargain. Well what could be better than a free item then, right?! So several times I see these deals online where you can fill out a form and get a free razor. And when I say several times, I mean it. My bathroom shelf has about a dozen razors just waiting the be opened. I'm not particular about the brand or the model. After all, aren't all razors pretty much the same? To that I now say, "No!"

Several weeks ago on a Sunday I was getting ready for church. My old razor was getting a little dull and I decided it was time to break into the razor stash. Not really paying attention I grabbed the one on top, ripped it open, and proceeded with my twice-a-week shave. This is how it works. I get my face wet with warm/hot water. Then comes the shaving cream which I lather up smoothing it over my neck, chin, cheeks, upper lip, and even into my sideburns. (I don't want to miss anyplace.) Then I began my shave just like always only I was noticing how nicely the razor slid over my skin with fresh blades. I was pretty much done with only my sideburn area left. As I mentioned I like to get the shaving cream up into my sideburns so that I can get a clean line. I normally just turn the razor around and use the back side to flatten out the hair and pull the shaving cream down to wear I want my sideburns to end. To my horror I found a little too late that the back of this razor included another blade on the back! Aghhhh! Fortunately I had some sideburn left. I evened out the other side and was glad that the burns were not short to begin with. So while I may have saved a few bucks, I lost about an inch.

Weepies - Hideaway

So my friend, Brad, has enlisted 3 of his kids to star in a music video he made for the Weepies song Hideaway. He has entered it in the Weepies 'Hideaway' Video Challenge. Best of luck Brad. Judging the posts so far, I say he has it. Plus can you beat a flying super hero eating a snack?!

Discrimination!

Just one more reason that it doesn't pay to be single.

Somethings Go Without Saying

I mean really?!

Take That Apple

With the announcement of the new iPhone, I thought everyone should remember about the competion too. See Microsoft's anwer to the iPhone:

This has been around a while but it's still funny.

I Like the Math

That's 26.5 years old for me. :)