Thursday, January 24, 2008

South Park

"I know hippies. I've hated them all my life." - Eric Cartman

Could there be a truer statement ever? I don't think so.

Tuesday, January 22, 2008

Lay it all out there:

What I Believe:

  • I believe that freedom is the most important ideal in this world.
  • I believe that I should mind my own business and other people should do the same.
  • I believe the Broncos will be 10-6 next year.
  • I believe the Rockies will be NL West champs in 2008.
  • I believe that "Stone Gods" will not be as good as "The Darkness".
  • I believe that one should refrain from giving money to beggars on the street.
  • I believe that being a called a nerd is the greatest compliment one can give me.
  • I believe that people should be able to love whoever they would like to love.
  • I believe that those people should get the same rights that I do.
  • I believe that the Cherry Cricket has the best burgers in Denver.
  • I believe that the time for change is upon us, but. . .
  • I believe that ethanol is not the answer.
  • I believe that politicians are scumbags.
  • I believe that the writers' strike needs to end soon.
  • I believe in equality across the board (sex, race, orientation, age, etc.).
  • I believe that the term "hate crime" does more harm than good. How is killing a person for their skin color worse than killing someone because they annoy you? A victim is a victim. Period.
  • I believe affirmative action has gone too far. We need to promote equality, not favoritism.
  • I believe that there is nothing better than standing on the top of a mountain in Colorado.
  • I believe that cold weather is wonderful.
  • I believe that CU is full of hippies, Wyoming is full of hicks, and Air Force can't throw.
  • I believe that dogs are superior to cats.
  • I believe I hate cats, actually.
  • I believe Firefox is better than IE.
  • I believe Chuck and Dick are terrible owners.
  • I believe they can redeem themselves in the next few years with a commitment to winning (meaning $$ and a good product).
  • I believe Troy Tulowitzki is the second coming of Jeter.
  • I believe that I will actually like Troy, though.
  • I believe that organized religion often loses sight of the real goals.
  • I believe Focus on the Family is one of the worst organizations in the country.
  • I believe they should focus on their own damn family.
  • I believe that athletes get paid too much and teachers get paid too little.
  • I believe that this won't change until they start having spectators in the classroom.
  • I believe that all people deserve health care, however. . .
  • I believe that I shouldn't have to pay for other people's health care.
  • I believe that Led Zeppelin and the Beatles are the greatest rock bands of all time.
  • I believe that my true calling is bullriding.
  • I believe that I just lied.
  • I believe that I am a genuinely good person, but. . .
  • I believe that I can flip the switch at any moment.
  • I believe that the perfect night is a steak dinner on the grill, a movie in the DVD player, an open bottle of Riesling, and the wife and I cuddled under a blanket.
  • Finally, I believe that this list will actually generate some comments (cross my fingers!).

Wednesday, January 16, 2008

Traveling

The past few weeks, Sarah and I have been in the process of determining our vacation schedule for this summer. We want to take a week and just get away somewhere. Add to that the incredible story that we have witnessed with Fitzy's journey across Europe and our friends' locations all around the country, and we are ready to see some sights.

Now the crazy thing is that Sarah and I come from two very different family travel styles. A large part of Sarah's travelling was centered around her softball schedule. Hawaii for a tournament, Florida for a tournament, etc. My family was more of a "where can we get in the car and go this time around" kind of family. As a result, we have both seen a wide variety of different places and each with a different perspective. Needless to say, as Sarah and I are planning a vacation together, we have a ton of different places and experiences that we want to share with each other.

So to the meat of the blog post: the checklist of places we would like to go in the near future (hopefully) -

New York City: We have friends there (the Dunhams, Bryce and Steph), so it is a natural draw. I have been there 3 times, once with my family when I was 18, once with Sarah for a short weekend and a PA school interview in Dobbs Ferry, and once for Dunham's bachelor party. But as the people who live there will attest, there is way more to see in that city than you can experience in a few weekends. We would love to go back there to get another glimpse of the city that never sleeps.

Athens, GA: The dirty South. Kyle and Amy said we are welcome any time. However, we were told that our stay would involve slow living and live music. Georgia is a state I have driven through, but never stayed in. I would love to see Atlanta and experience true Southern life with the Dirty Southerner himself.

Washington DC: Again, people in the area that I know (Mandy and Jake, Andy and Lexie). Plus Sarah has never been. This is one of my favorite cities to visit. There is so much history, so much to see, so much to do. I was there when I was 18 on a family trip. So incredible and we saw a fraction of the things I wanted to see.

Baltimore, MD: Again, friends in the location (Sara and Jason). Neither Sarah nor I have ever been there, so it would be interesting to see a new city.

Boston, MA: No one I know lives there. Neither Sarah nor I have been there. But Beantown is a city we would love to see. Again, the history and culture of this city is something we would love to experience.

Seattle, WA: Luckily, we know that this one will be knocked off the list this summer. We are heading up there for Sarah's family reunion in July. I have heard great things from people who live(d) there and visited there. Again, this is a place that Sarah and I have not been to. We are both really excited about seeing this part of the country! (In fact, I have never even been close to this part of the country. Closest I have been is probably Yellowstone!)

There are several other places we would love to go. (Europe, Napa Valley, Alaska, Australia, New Zealand, Florida Keys, LA, San Diego, Chicago, etc.) Obviously, we can't hit everything right away. We will have to save a few trips for later in our lives.

What do you all think? Where should we travel?

Friday, January 04, 2008

Sad News for Today

Why I hate terrorists: reason #678 - http://sports.espn.go.com/rpm/news/story?seriesId=99&id=3180745&campaign=rss&source=ESPNHeadlines

This really makes me upset. My boy Robby Gordon has been planning for this race for months. The support vehicles were already over there; the two Team Dakar USA Hummer H3's were probably on their way. This sucks. I was really looking forward to this year's race. This was potentially the year that Robby Gordon could win the whole thing. He has a few Dakars under his belt, he has a teammate this time around, he had things going his way. Now there will be no race. Damn. Stupid terrorists.

Thursday, January 03, 2008

The Explanation

The more that I have sat around wasting time between posts, the more I realize that I have mislead all six of my readers. The story behind "the other 95%" is not so much a story, but an explanation. And it probably isn't that interesting to anyone besides me and Mary. But I figured I would clear the air so that people don't think I am completely ridiculous. . .

The term "The Other 95%" derives from conversations held between myself and a friend and colleague at work, Mary. She sits in the cube adjacent to mine and we get along great. As a result, there are are countless episodes of intellectual (and nonintellectual) conversation between the two of us. When you throw in a couple trips to the local tavern for a pint and the fact that I have a big mouth, you come up with a lot of chats among coworkers and friends. For those of you who know me, I tend to be a tad bit off. I like to sit on that fine line between "Normal" and "What the $#@%?!!" Because of this, there have been times where things have shot out of my mouth that even make me wonder where the hell I thought of that. They are just not things that normal people say. I guess Mary has noticed this diarrhea of the mouth and one day she pointed it out to me. I honestly cannot remember what I said. I do know that it was far enough out there to get a response that was probably something like, "Flick, I have no idea where you come up with some of that stuff." My response, instead of agreeing, was to tell Mary that she only hears about 5% of what is going on in my brain. (Imagine corny pointing gestures towards head.) And thus, we have "The Other 95%". "The Other 95%" consists of all those thoughts and ideas that teeter over the edge of normality and how they form a collection of bizarre and random words that spill out of my mouth.

See? I told you the "story" (if you can call it that) was less spectacular than I had made it out to be. I apologize for that. However, I think the idea is important enough for me to highlight it. You all know me. You all know how I can and have acted around each one of you. Sometimes, I ain't the sharpest knife in the drawer and it shows. Sometimes my randomness could not be explained. Until the year 2007, the absurd nature of the Flick was undefined. Now we have a name for it. "The Other 95%".

As for the blog. . . last night I made the mistake of drinking large quantities of iced tea with dinner. Because of this, I spent several hours in bed trying to sleep, but instead staring at the green dot on my phone that let me know that it was charging. I do this far more than I would like to admit. Iced tea = highly caffeinated. Caffeine = good way to stay awake. Therefore, iced tea late at night = terrible idea. But I do it anyways. But as I was laying in bed, I was brainstorming ideas for this blog. I have not been very excited about the lack of posts in the last few months and it is my goal to change that for this year. My night of iced tea induced restlessness has at least given me enough ideas to get this thing rolling. Let's see how this goes!

To the next post,
Mike