Posts Tagged ‘marriage’
It’s a new year and with it came a lot of new stuff. I thought I’d start things off with a semi-detailed account of the loot one spoiled white boy from Texas hauled in over the holidays, or at least a few of the highlights.
Megan started things off with a spark:
a leather bound edition of my favorite book, Fahrenheit 451.
Oh yeah, and it’s signed by Ray Bradbury himself.
Her parents surprised me with a fancy new toy I’ll be sure to use often after Megan and I move to Las Vegas:
a fancy picture-hanging level.
We then went to my parent’s house near Boston where my parent’s surprised me with another fancy new toy I’ve secretly been dreaming of:
a snazzy LED headlamp for all my forays in spelunking.
Michelle, being ever-so-thoughtful, gave me a brand new edition of Scene It, that I then used to once again prove my unmatched genius as I defeated everyone in a quick round.
Before any of this occurred, however, I was already somewhat jaded because as good as her Christmas presents were, Megan set the bar high with her wedding present to me:
An antique pocket watch from 1898 monogrammed with my initials.
Now, as great as all these gifts were, the greatest gift I received over the holidays could never be topped:
Tags: Articles, christmas, fahrenheit-451, LED-headlamp, marriage, picture-hanging-level, pocketwatch, Ralphie, Ray-Bradbury, Shameless Self-Promotion, signature, Wedding
Related Posts:
This week: Songs made for and performed on a tv show or movie. Sell-outs or instant classics? You be the judge.
Vanilla Ice - Ninja Rap
Vanilla Ice rapping about ninja turtles fighting a giant snapping turtle and wolf … can a guy’s childhood get any better? This movie made me the man I am today.
Zack Attack - Friends Forever
This video just barely beat out Guy Love from the Scrubs musical episode, there was just too many cliches to pass up: nerd on keyboard, black girl on bass, and a pretty boy lead singer. Narrated by the great Casey Kasem (voice of Shaggy on Scooby Doo), this is easily one of the best episodes of Saved by the Bell ever. Kelly Kapowski, you broke my heart.
Adam Sandler - Grow Old With You
This video is all too fitting, seeing as how I’m about to get married and move to Las Vegas. I only hope that Billy Idol is on my flight when I do.
Tags: adam-sandler, Favorite Video Friday, guy-love, marriage, Music-Videos, saved-by-the-bell, scrubs, teenage-mutant-ninja-turtles, vanilla-ice, zack-attack
Related Posts:
Once upon a time, in a land . . . just a land, well not just a land, it was a pretty great land, but still, not too much different than any other land, not very far away and certainly not very far far away, there lived a boy . . . far more than just a boy, this boy was most excellent and may or may not be the author of this story or in fact the author of this very website, this report can be neither confirmed nor denied. The remarkable thing about this particular boy was that he just completed a pretty long sentence used to introduce a story that he was sure was quickly becoming a run-on, but somehow managed to clear Word’s Nazi grammar gods. Seriously, how cool am I? . . . er, him.
This boy, we’ll call him Luke just for fun . . . it is after all a very good name and a name carried by some of the greatest characters and men from the greatest tales in history, literature, popular media, and websites . . . grew up on a fabulous street dubbed by only the most gifted city planners, Megan Place Drive. This street was in the great city of Houston, Texas and housed some of the greatest adventures of the modern age. It was here that young Luke would ghost ride his Huffy Sonic 6 (with 6 speed shifter stick placed strategically behind the sporty dust guard) into various targets assigned by his closest comrades. It was on this very street that young Luke would hone his rollerblading skills by jumping over tipped trashcans and playing street hockey. And it was from this street that young Luke, at the tender age of 19, would depart on a journey whose destiny only the gods could have foreseen.
As young Luke left his childhood home to begin his journey to adulthood, he carried the spirit of Megan Place Drive within him, sharing it with all the world. He took it with him to San Jose, CA as he talked about religion with the Hispanic people of the area while on a mission for his church. He took it with him to Northern Virginia, where his family moved while he was gone, and shared it with his co-workers as he wired houses as a residential electrician. It accompanied him as he returned to college in Utah and earned a degree in film. He brought it with him as he visited his family at their new home near Boston and cheered on the Red Sox during his first visit to Fenway Park. He even carried it within him as he moved to Las Vegas to try a career in video production.
By the time he reached Las Vegas, young Luke had all but forgotten about the times shared on Megan Place Drive, and its spirit was beginning to dwindle, but just as the last glimmer of his past began to fade, he moved to New York, and things began to come full circle.
His first night in town, young Luke accompanied his new roommate to an activity held at the house of some members of the local branch of his church. This particular activity was a movie night of sorts, where each guest was asked to bring one of their favorite clips from a movie. He chose the classic, Coolhand Luke, thinking that it was not only a great movie, but would also help these new acquaintances remember his name. He tucked the DVD in his back pocket and headed out the door.
As he entered the living room and crossed the viewing area to find a seat on the floor, a cute little voice called from the couch, “I love that movie, can we be friends?” (EDIT: I have been informed from a reliable source that her actual words were “I love that movie, we’re going to be best friends.” There was no question, she was simply informing him of the facts.) He looked over and discovered, at the source of this wonderful voice, a cute little almost redhead smiling playfully in his direction. He thought to himself, “Not only does she know what this movie is, but she loves it! I must know more, I may want to be more than friends,” and smiled sheepishly. He soon found out that this cute little almost redhead was called Megan, a name that seemed oddly familiar.
As the weeks went on, he happened upon this cute little Megan many times, sometimes by accident, sometimes on purpose, and even worked for her a few times at the food photography studio she manages. She fascinated him, and he found himself drawn to her more and more each time he saw her.
Soon they started dating, and had blast after blast on their weekly date night as they watched movies, visited the Kwik E Mart, and braved the wait at Justin Timberlake’s New York restaurant (best fried green tomatoes he ever had, but still not worth the 2 hour wait . . . they didn’t even have the fried pickles!). He found himself missing her more and more every time they were apart and knew he had fallen into deep smit. There was something about her that was just very familiar. Everything just seemed to fit. Then, on August 11, 2007, young Luke decided take the next step in his Hero’s journey.
He took her to the park nearby his house (Fort Tryon) for a picnic. They hung out for a few hours taking pictures and relaxing (She had her polaroid - pictures posted on her blog, and he had his 35mm which he would set on timer to take pictures of the both of them). They walked around for a while (there’s great views of the G.W. Bridge from that park) and eventually ended up in some secluded benches under some trees. He pulled out his camera again, set up a shot, took one picture, said he didn’t think he smiled, then went over to his bag saying something about filters or something. Then he put his bag over by the camera, pushed the button, grabbed a ring, got down on one knee, asked her to marry him and she said yes. They then waited a few seconds frozen in that pose until the camera clicked, thus immortalizing the moment he decided to live in Megan Place for the rest of his life.
. . . and they lived happily ever after.
THE END
Tags: Articles, coolhand-luke, dating, dvds, engagement, growing-up, houston, huffy, justin-timberlake, kwik-e-mart, marriage, Movies, proposal, sonic-6, texas
Related Posts:
There is a road I take along the back way to my house that offers a perfect view of the Las Vegas Strip. Every night as I drive home after whatever I was doing that day, I look over and take a second to appreciate the beauty in these man-made monuments to the gods of consumerism, power, and greed. It’s hard not to notice the Strip. The light beaming from the Luxor every night attracts my gaze like a moth to a burning flame.
Tonight, however, was a little different. As I drove past this scenic view listening to Neil Diamond belt out his earth-shaking rendition of “Happy Christmas (War is Over),” the lights of the Strip told me a completely different story. The green lights of the MGM were sprinkled perfectly with the red brake lights of the surrounding city streets. It was like a living, breathing Christmas tree topped with its very own Christmas star, the unquenchable light of the Luxor.
Then it happened. I had to pull over my car and take a deep breath. I had officially caught the Christmas spirit. It’s been quite a while since it last happened. I’ve never been much of one for the holidays. I don’t even like birthdays. To me, a birthday’s just another day, why should it get special treatment just because I managed to survive another year on earth? For some reason though, on this fateful Sunday night, the combination of Neil Diamond’s soothing vocals and the colorful lights of the Las Vegas strip infected me with a virus I haven’t had in years, and there was absolutely nothing I could do about it.
As this virus spread within me, memories filled my mind and I raced home to look through my albums for whatever record I had of these memories, but found nothing. For some reason, I stopped taking pictures over the years as I became too lazy and broke to bother with film and developing. I then looked through my hard drives and finally found a few pictures sent to me from friends and my mind was filled with the adventures of the past year.
I’ve lived in Las Vegas for well over a year now, and a lot has happened in that year. I started the year off with a change in wards, and with that change came many new friends and new adventures. There was the good old gang from the old ward, Nicole and Thresa, and with them came a new roommate, Ethnie. We swam together like a school of fish watching for sharks as we tried to find our place in the ocean of this new ward. Nate and Jeanne went from friendship to relationship and have rarely been seen apart since. Stephanie moved in with her cousin, Kara, and before I knew it, I was over at Shawn and Lissette’s every other night watching a movie or crushing them and Lindsey in Cranium.
Next thing I knew, Nate and Jeanne were engaged, and Nate and I were moving into a new house with new roommates, Derek and Andy. Those two are a couple of stories in and of themselves. With the new roommates came a new season, and the good old gang shared many a barbecue and some great days at the park. Then, Stephanie was moving to Utah, and Nicole and Thresa were leaving for the summer. Cara moved in with Ethnie and the adventures continued. Shawn 2 was added to the mix, as well as movie nights and trips to the Strip to watch the fountains dance.
Wedding season arrived and I traveled to Boston to watch Nate and Jeanne become even more inseparable. My days were then spent painstakingly completing every task on my dad’s “Honey-Do” list, only taking a break to keep Scott company in the great state of Virginia as his wife was away. We kidnapped Ralph and escaped to Virginia Beach to eat crab legs, and play miniature golf in a torrential downpour. We raced go-karts and philosophized over buffalo wings. I even did a beautiful rendition of “I’m a Little Teapot” in a noble attempt to help a young waitress win her game of Bingo.
Then I watched through the viewfinder of my new camera as my sister got married and brought along a houseful of friends and family members. After I bit into my first official slider in an actual White Castle restaurant, thus accomplishing my only true goal of the summer, I was ready to return to my new home and see all my old friends once again.
I came home to an empty house and a higher rent. Andy had moved out and Derek went back to school. Not much longer though, and Steve and Casey moved in, making rent a little more manageable. Steve joined the rag tag crew of Shawn, Lissette, Lindsay, and I, and the Adventurers were born.
The old gang reunited, and those adventures continued as well. There were many more barbecues, and trips to the Shark Reef, and movie nights, and hockey games, and Dam gift shops making up for Dam tours not taken, ending in 3 hour Dam detours keeping a Dam birthday girl from her Dam cousin’s party. Thresa, Ethnie, and Nicole left the ward and Nicole started dating Shawn 2. They will be married before the year is through. Cara found new roommates and a new house, and then did it all over again a few months later. The adventures continue despite all the changes, and we now find ourselves in the midst of intense gingerbread house competitions and re-gifting extravaganzas.
All in all, it’s been a good year. I got into the Stagehand Union and started on the path to a career. I worked many shows, including Rock Honors, the Comedy Festival, and a French Music Video, and met many new people while discovering many new opportunities. There was many a road trip to Utah and back and San Diego and back as the Falcon and I bonded further, sharing many an adventure, and moving many a box for friends.
With the New Year come new expectations and many new opportunities. With it comes also the possibility of yet another move as opportunities arise in New York City. My New Year’s resolution? To get a digital camera and start taking pictures again so I don’t have to resort to writing one of these things again next year. Seriously, this thing turned out way too long. What was I thinking? Stupid Christmas spirit.
Tags: adventurers, Articles, christmas, friends, las-vegas, marriage, neil-diamond, spirit, Wedding
Related Posts:
a leather bound edition of my favorite book, Fahrenheit 451.
Oh yeah, and it’s signed by Ray Bradbury himself.
Subscribe in a reader