I write, occasionally

Here's a collection of 655 pieces of nonsense that I've written over the past 25 years.

  • Leaving Red Five

    So, two and a half years ago I left my cushy corporate job to join a small marketing/web development company called Red Five Interactive. I made that move primarily because corporate politics bothered me... but I also wanted something with a little more freedom that would encourage me to learn new things. Red Five was exactly that.

    See, when I started at Red Five, I was an anti-mac guy; I hated the Apple fanboys. I had also never seen a line of Ruby code... and Linux sys admin was definitely not one of my strong points. Red Five, on the other hand, was an all Mac shop... that built Ruby on Rails apps... and would force me to become proficient in linux/unix sys admin.

    If that doesn't give you an idea of how in over my head I …

  • Introducing Garth Brooks

    So, most of you have probably heard by now that we adopted a new dog, but I still haven't given him a proper introduction to the internets. So here it goes.

    Kari and I weren't really looking to adopt a dog quite yet, but the situation sorta just fell into our (well, my) hands. See, Kari's mom is friends with a woman named Amy, who's a foster parent for a rescue league. So, one time while Kari was in Cedar Rapids, she and her mom decided to visit Amy for some "puppy therapy." ...sounds like a great idea, right?

    Shortly after Kari's visit, I got a call saying that she met "the sweetest dog" who "just needs a home" and that she "put in an adoption request." Gah! Was she seriously trying to adopt a dog that I hadn't even met? Oh, …

  • Gee One to Nexus One

    So, my buddy Harper is hooked up with all sorts of the right people. Sometimes it makes me a bit jealous, but a lot of the time I get to benefit from his hookups as well. This is a story of another one of those times.

    Last spring, Harper got hooked up with some G1 dev phones - you know, the very first Android phone. He basically had so many that he didn't know what to do with, so he hooked me up with one... He was sort of like the Google Phone Santa Claus.

    Fast forward to this February, Harper wound up with a few of the hot new Google phones. Having so few, he couldn't really be as generous with these, so he had a little programming contest with this group of tech dudes we chat with... and this is no lowbrow list of dudes; this …

  • IE6, The End is Near

    About half of my readers are techie enough to share in this enthusiasm. If you're not in that group, just know that something awful is coming to an end. ...Like the end of of a war. The people - the big people, are killing all support of something horrendous. IE6.

    Check out this wonderful email that I (and probably a lot of us) got.

    Important Notice: Google Apps browser support

    Dear Google Apps admin,​

    In order to continue to improve our products and deliver more sophisticated features and performance, we are harnessing some of the latest improvements in web browser technology. This includes faster JavaScript processing and new standards like HTML5. As a result, over the course of 2010, we will be phasing out support for …

  • I am awesome at sleeping

    So last night I dreamt about going somewhere with Kari, who (in my dream) routed our trip on my phone using Google Navigation.

    So in my sleep, I got my phone out, somehow unlocked it with my magical Android unlock pattern, and was looking at maps. The only thing I really remember is that the brightness of my phone woke Kari up, she wondered wtf was going on, and I couldn't explain it to her. I could not for the life of me figure out the words for google maps, gps, navigation, directions, etc... The only thing I could come up with was "the nightstand alarm map thing."

    I got pissed about my lack of sleep communication skills... but apparently there was more to the story. Here's an email from Kari this morning:

    so last nite i wake …

  • From Sea to Shining Sea

    2009 was the first year that I visited both the east and west coasts... And actually, I also touched the northern border and was only 30 miles from the southern border. I know I'm a geo dork, but I think that's pretty rad... and while we're on the subject, I'll just go ahead keep gauging the success of last year based on travel... so here we go.

    We started and ended the year in Iowa City. Visited Arizona, Harper's Ferry, NYC and New Jersey, and Long Beach and LA.

    Made several stops in...
    Minnesota for Bock Fest and my first Boundary Waters trip.
    The Cedar Rapids Area for Lindsey and Stevee's Birthday, Wall Paneling, Mother's Day, Flooring, Kayaking, Cornell Homecoming, Cigars, Thanksgiving, and Christmas.
    Chicago for Joyce's …

  • Where Did December Go?

    Holy Month...

    I've been meaning to blog so freakin hard but have just been swamped beyond swamped.

    The main thing that I wanted to write about was my trip to Long Beach for Pragmatic Studio's iPhone development course... but now that's a month past and a lot of other stuff's been going on.... I'll try to keep this semi-short.

    So Red Five (my employer) is starting to work on a little iPhone app for a client of ours... and since neither of our engineers really knew iPhone dev, let alone objective-C, we decided it'd be a good idea to get schooled. So the first week of December, Todd and I flew out to Long Beach to do just that. It was awesome.

    Long Beach is kind of a weird place, but definitely showed us a good time. There was …

  • Ninja, The Million Dollar Bionic Legged Dog

    I don't even really know how to start this... But as I'm sure you all have heard, our dog Ninja died this morning at just over 5 years old.

    He'd been battling what we think was Addison's disease for the past couple weeks. Addison's disease is a disorder in which his adrenal glands don't produce enough steroid hormones. This basically sent his electrolytes out of wack, causing him to lose his appetite, become very weak, etc. It all came on super fast the monday before last. He was lethargic, unresponsive, and as what I can only describe as doggy-emo. So we took him into the vet, they hooked him up to some IVs, gave him a couple shots and he bounced back to his regular self - literally overnight. We then began weaning him off of his …

  • New York City Speed

    My dad has been living on the northeastern shore of New Jersey for a while now. He's actually just a short ferry ride from New York City. And uh - I'd never been to New York nor New Jersey, so I figured - it'd be a great time to check out the city at a cheaper rate.

    So Kari and I flew into NYC last Saturday and took a cab from the airport to dad's friends' place. As soon as we left the airport, I started to realize how giant NYC is - it's ridiculous. I mean, I'm a huge fan of Chicago and think of it is a huge city… but the difference between Chicago and New York seemed like the difference between Des Moines and Chicago. The size and amount of life amazed me. I really didn't expect it to seem so much bigger than Chicago, but it …

  • Conked My Head!

    So, everyone is asking about it, I've told the story 1,000 times.. might as well get it down in a blog.

    It all started Saturday when we somehow forgot to eat more than 2 slices of pizza, walked all over Chicago, then partied. All of that combined... turned out to be a really solid recipe for low-blood sugar, which is no stranger to me and my family. My dad is hypoglycemic, and I'm pretty sure this has been passed down to me and my sister.

    I've passed out a few other times due to low blood sugar. The last time was my freshman year in college. We were doing these weird exercises in my morning acting class. I put my arms above my head, and passed right out. Luckily that time though, there was a mirrored wall behind me. I basically slammed into …

  • Not Having TV

    So a little over 10 years ago I left my parents house for college.

    And since then, I haven't had TV. I mean, I've had TVs, but I haven't had channels; I've never even hooked the coax up to the wall.

    Usually when I tell people this, their first reaction is something along the lines of, "what!? omg, wtf do you do all night!?" Which I find hilarious. I just can't imagine coming home from work and flipping on a TV. I also find it pretty hilarious when we have TV-head guests over and they have no idea what to do.

    So what do I do instead? I guess the short answer is that I just let my A.D.D. decide. I try to stay social, work on 1000 random projects (at once), and listen to music non-stop.

    I'm pretty proud of not having …

  • New Homepage

    So for the past 8 years, the focus of this website has been on my blog.

    Come to think of it, it seems like everyone's personal site basically follows that same model. We've all focused on our "blogs," however, after a few months/years, everyone seems to get bored with blogging. Don't get me wrong, I still like to blog - it's just something I don't do often...

    So I started thinking about my web presence and where most of my online "footprint" lies these days. The answer is microblogging, photos, and geolocation. These are the things that my homepage should be reflecting.

    So here it is... it's not the prettiest thing in the world, because as it turns out - I'm a horrible designer. But it's functional and seems to represent the …

  • Boundary Waters 2009

    Well, you may have noticed that I've been completely off the grid for a few days. At least, you must've noticed that your internet was slightly less clogged with my nonsense. That's because I've been camping, canoeing, and hiking the boundary waters with Josh, Chris, Will, Scott, and Cal.

    No phone service, no internet, no toilets, no running water, no electricity - just straight wilderness. In fact the area we were in doesn't allow motorboats or even wheels on land. Add in a few of our own rules like "no watches" and paddling miles a day - you start to question whether or not you're really on a "vacation."

    So last Wednesday we started our adventure by driving to Voyageur Outfitters in Cook County, MN. Josh's sister and her …

  • Lollapalooza 2009

    Let me start off on a negative note by saying that Lollapalooza 2009 was the worst Lollapalooza I've been to. I mean, it wasn't awful or anything, I just think we got spoiled in 2006 and 2007. The artists this year weren't as good, we missed a lot of acts due to traveling, we didn't go to any afterparties, we didn't get to see many friends, and the weather was rough. ...Aside from all that though - It was still pretty awesome and I'm really glad we went. We got to hang out with Jon and Liz quite a bit, had Sushi Wabi, heard a ton of good music, and of course, got to visit our favorite city - Chicago.

    So everything started Friday morning when we (slowly) busted out of Cedar Rapids (late). By the time we got to Lollapalooza we'd …

  • My 2009 80/35 Music Fest Thoughts

    I meant to blog about this year's 80/35 festival a lot sooner but never got around to it.

    For those that don't know - Des Moines started a music festival last year called 80/35. It showcases both big names and local groups in an effort to listen to awesome music, party, and promote music culture in the Des Moines area.

    Last year I was super impressed with the festival - We had the Flaming Lips, The Roots, and an amazing effort put on by the organizers. I don't want to discount the organizers this year, because it is obvious that they worked crazy hard again... but the festival seemed to progress far less than I expected.

    The things I was disappointed in...
    • The Weather - obviously out of everyone's hands, but rain definitely puts a …

  • A week with Android and the G1

    So, just to bring you up to speed - Harper (and Google) hooked me up with a developer version of the "Google Phone" or G1. As a developer phone it's sort of "unlocked" or rooted and comes with a fancy case. In short, it's awesome - but definitely, definitely a geek phone. I imagine the actual unrooted version you get from t-mobile is a bit easier to work with, but I still think it's more of a geek phone than a mainstream device like the iPhone. However, I can totally see this OS growing - especially with some better hardware in the future.

    Here are my thoughts on the device after a week of use.

    Android - the Google OS

    I am really, really digging the OS, its openness, and its tie to all of my Google account data, but it still …

  • Welp, She Got Away Again

    It started a year and a half ago, when Kari and I began casually looking at foreclosed homes. We wanted something to fix up for ourselves that was in the city of Des Moines, brick, full of character, and easily customizable. ...We basically wanted to build a new home inside of an old home.

    So my realtor took me to a home in the Des Moines village of Beaverdale. An enormous brick home on an acre of land, secluded by woods, a stream in the front yard, and only a few miles from downtown. It was a real shithole, haha. No really, a real shithole. When my realtor took me to check it out for the first time, she slammed the door open and yelled, "POLICE" - just to try to scare off any weirdos that may be inside. Then, half of the rooms …

  • Seven Things (a bit late)

    About 4 years ago I met Harper's friend, Jon Ruth. Then, about 4 months ago, Jon tagged me in a "7 things" blog. See, there was this thing going around where you write 7 interesting things about yourself, tag 7 other bloggers - then they have to do the same. I kept meaning to fulfill my duty to write my "7 things" blog, but I just kept forgetting and putting it off. So hopefully everyone's forgotten about this trend and I can bring it back to life, haha.

    I was pretty surprised to be tagged by Jon. Even though Jon has never really told me a story, Harper has told me lots of Jon's stories. He's a pretty amazing dude - with some pretty amazing stories. So it was cool that he tagged me.

    That said, here it goes...

    1. I do …

  • Joyce Turns 60 in Chicago

    So Kari's aunt Joyce is a traveling nurse. As such, she gets her choice of where (and when) to work in various cities around the country - 6 weeks here, 6 weeks there, 12 weeks at home, etc, etc. I'd be lying if I said I wasn't jealous; I'm incredibly jealous.

    Anyway, lately Joyce has been in Chicago to be near Kari's cousins; helping Stephanie with the baby, ya know. And Kari just happened to be flying back (through Chicago) from math camp on Joyce's birthday. So, we all decided to celebrate!

    Friday afternoon, Kari's parents and I braved the longest drive to Chicago ever. I don't mean long as in "road trip with the in-laws" long, cause my in-laws are awesome. I mean long as in, "htf did it take 10 hours to drive 5 hours away" …

  • Arizona Friends and Family

    Wow, that was quite a vacation. Completely packed, totally fun, and also completely draining, ha.

    So, if you didn't know, Kari and I visited Arizona for 9 days. The first 5 days were spent with my grandparents and the last 4 were spent with friends. I'm gonna try to summarize my trip as best as possible - otherwise this blog could be incredibly long... and I've already uploaded too many photos... so, here we go!

    Sunday the 8th. Grandma and Grandpa picked us up in Phoenix and drove us up to Cameron where we had american indian food and shared a hotel room.

    Monday, we visited the Grand Canyon then drove down to my grandparents' house in Green Valley. It was Kari's first time seeing the grand canyon and my second. That thing …