Ryan the Rock Star

Ryan and I were hanging out on Friday when he decides that he wants to start a KISS cover band.

I have him on video cruising through our living room and when I'd say to him "Ryan, show me your Gene Simmons" he would stop and drop the tongue like he's been rocking for years. Unfortunately, I'm too stupid to figure out how to get the video onto our computer.

I've been bumming lately because it seems like every kid around his age is doing tricks except for him BUT now, he is impersonating Gene Simmons on command, and showing off his intelligence (see post above!!!)

New Guitar

**WARNING** Technical talk advisory. For those of you quick to comment as "boring", this post may be uninteresting to you.

So, I wrote a while back that I had to send my new guitar back for a refund. I was pretty bummed since it looked so sweet and sounded fairly nice. My sadness is no more. I was at Guitar Center checking out the Epiphone Les Paul Juniors and realized I just had to have one. This is basically the most inexpensive guitar in the entire store, but there are a lot of positives about the guitar.

One, the quality of the body is pretty good. It is a laminated body (kind of like a firmer plywood - which is not ideal) but it is still really solid and has a great finish to it. Two, there is only 1 pickup. To some, that may be a negative, but when you're replacing the stock pickup with one that costs almost as much as the guitar, it's better to just have one. Also, the style I got this guitar for is for that one sound - ROCKIN'!!!!!! Besides, once I get my Strat all fixed up, this guitar will be the backup. Three, it's cheap.

So, after buying the guitar, putting in a new pickup, and changing out all the electronics, it came out to be cheaper than the previous guitar I bought (which I wasn't completely satisfied with the sound anyway). So here are some pics of my new baby.




Now, my only project left is changing out all the electronics in my Strat (new pickups should be in any day now).

I'm also working on another idea. I'm really starting to dig the sound of my POD running stereo without an amp in front of it, but there is still something to be said about a cranked tube amp and how it sounds. So, my next idea is running 3 inputs into the mixer (if Steve will let me - at least sometimes). 2 will be coming from my POD (stereo) and 1 will be coming from a mic in my speaker isolation cabinet with a tube amp cranked in front of it. Since my Fender amp weighs a ton and would be a pain bringing back and forth, I think I can sell off enough stuff to buy a Valve Junior Tube Amp Head. But before I get ahead of myself, I will see what it sounds like with my Fender for at least one week. Anyway, if you've read this far, thanks Steve and Bobby!!!

Blog Posting

Ok, I haven't posted in a while but I have a good excuse. Actually, I have no excuse. But seriously, you need to get your own blog Linda and Donna. You'd be amazed at how many people would read your blog.

Update on Food Control

I am a miserable failure. Trying to write down a diet, purchase the food, and get to cooking seems easy enough. Well, not for me. I had the first 3 days down perfectly. Megan ignored one of my items (ok, she doesn't like oatmeal...I'll find a substitute) but we stuck to the menu very well. Then Monday came. Monday's are always the killers. You get your momentum going on the weekend and then, slam....Monday happens.

So, we will begin again. Once I finish this post, I will be off to Microsoft Word-land writing out our menu starting on Tuesday afternoon (I can't get up at 5:30 with Megan...she's on her own tomorrow morning). We'll see how it goes from here.

One Month

I have been given one month CONTROL over the food that Megan and I consume. With that said, I need everybody's support in helping us eat what we set out to eat, and nothing more. I should be able to post about a week's worth of food starting on Saturday or Sunday.

Our goal is for Megan to lose a minimum of 7 lbs and for me to lose a minimum of 15 lbs. This, by June 4th. The official weigh-in is tomorrow...right before we go to dinner. I already have our meals picked out (shhh, don't tell Megan).

I will keep you posted.

Happy Anniversary

This posting is for my wonderful and beautiful wife!!! Thank you for putting up with me for the last 4 years and I thank God everyday for your love.

Happy Anniversary!!!

New Toy!!!

Badger has now decided that he needs a new bed. How do we know this? By ripping apart his old bed. So, for now, his bed is his favorite toy.
Surprise!!!!



Check out the damage!