The Weekend Edition (Birthdays Rule)

This weekend (Sunday the 17th to be specific) I turned 26 years old. It was a very awesome weekend, as friends and family went out of there way all over the place to do awesome things for me. What I ever did to deserve them, I have no idea. All I know is I enjoyed their charity all weekend long. What went down?

• 2010 Great Alaskan Beer and Barley Wine Festival with Joanne, Cate, Darren, Eric, Jason, Becca, Kyle, and Jessi
• Riding the bull with Cate, Colver, Lorna and a bunch of others
• Drinks at Sub Zero with Colver, Lorna, Emily, Potts and more
• Bobby and I dominating downtown (I think)
• Delicious Middle Way breakfast with my sister
• Joanne and I, fake husband and wife date night! (Marian Call concert at Organic Oasis - so much deliciousness and good music, plus hanging with Eric and Olivia!)
• Emily making the most ridiculously awesome brunch ever for my birthday morning - biscuits & gravy, omelettes, coffee, and mimosas with Emily, Cate, Darren and Eric
• The Fantastic Mr. Fox at Bear Tooth with my sister Bobbie and niece Emily
• Delicious Club Paris steaks with Joanne and my parents
• Lost with Joanne

So yeah, it was a bit packed. The fun highlight was definitely the insanity that is the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival. It's always an amazing time and a great way to run into people you haven't seen in forever. Of course, it's also a recipe for complete and utter disaster with a sprinkling of embarassing moments. I spent the rest of the evening, or at least most of it, dancing like a fool at The Avenue. I mean come on, how often do you get a chance to dance to Major Lazer?

There is a distinct possibility that there are sections of the evening I do not remember, but hey, that'll happen. I woke up in one piece and as of yet I haven't found anyone that's mad at me, so apparently the night went okay for me. See below for some pics from the rest of the night.








The rest of the weekend was highlighted by the Marian Call concert and dinner at Organic Oasis plus the dinner at Club Paris with my parents and Joanne. Club Paris is my absolute favorite restaurant and to share a meal with my family and my fake wife was glorious. To top it off, my parents got me some great gifts, in particular some amazing Karl Kerschl prints and a t-shirt from his webcomic The Abominable Charles Christopher. A superb finale to the weekend. Check out the prints below.


However, I'd be lying if I didn't say the true highlight is the brunch Emily prepared for me on my birthday. Eric, Cate, Darren and I went over there, and Emily made phenomenal biscuits & gravy from scratch for everyone. For those that do not know, B&G are pretty much my favorite food ever. It's very difficult to find quality versions of it as well, and Emily knocked it out of the park. Throw in omelettes, tasty coffee, cinnamon rolls, mimosas, and T-Pain, and it was an awesome start to my 26th year of life. I'm an incredibly lucky person to have people like this in my life. See a pic below of part of the spread (note that it's small because I devoured it - also, Emily the chef is at the center of the picture).

The Weekend Edition (My Dad's Birthday Edition!)

Week one of barcotting is through, and it was a roaring success! I had a great and (mostly) healthy weekend with the exception of some particularly appetizing looking samples at Sam's Club (warehouse shopping's deep, dark side). Not only that, but I had a wonderful weekend with friends and family alike. Why can't every weekend be like that?

Oh wait! It can!

So what went down?

• Group Centergy with Cate, Steph, Olivia, JT and Gen
• Dinner at Bear Tooth with Cate, Darren, Eric and Gen
• Joanne returns! Coffee with her making up for lost time
• Breakfast burritos at Middle Way with Cate, Darren, Eric and Gen
• Christmas shopping - kill me
• My Dad's hellaciously awesome 61st birthday party!
• Getting a lot of writing done at Kaladi Brothers
• Ballin' with Colver (the Sunday tradition when I'm not waking up at 3 pm)
• Restful evening of movie watching and more writing

The highlight of the weekend was without a doubt my Dad's birthday party. This party is a grand mess, with my family and a ton of family friends (including the illustrious Charbonneau's and Colver, Lorna and my Facebook wife Joanne) getting together to celebrate my Dad's big day. It led to tons of shots, Wii Fit-ing, political debates, Joanne and I dancing to Yo La Tengo's "Periodically Double or Triple", and all kinds of other great things. It also resulted in the revelation of my birthday present for my Dad and my Christmas present for my friends - snuggies! Yeah!

All in all, another great weekend. Why can't there be awesome birthday parties every weekend? Either way, Happy Birthday Dad!

Big weekend coming!

I am super pumped for this weekend. It's loaded up with all kinds of awesomeness. First up, tomorrow night I'm having dinner with my parents at Club Paris (best steak ever!), then Battlestar Galactica's run through its' last ten episodes begins (and the final cylon will be revealed!), and finally I get to be a tour guide around Anchorage bars for my coworker Toni and her niece Courtney. Not a bad weekend right there by itself, but Saturday is also awesome.

Saturday is my birthday first off, I'm turning a quarter century old and I'm really beginning to feel it (although to be fair, I think I'm feeling the guy who kneed my calf earlier, much to my chagrin). That morning my mom is coming over to watch Let the Right One In, then we're going out to lunch with my dad and sister at the Gumbo House, followed up by going to Skinny Raven and picking out my birthday present (new running shoes!), and finally, the main event: the Great Alaska Beer and Barley Wine Festival.

This is of course going to be spectacular, as last year was one of the best times I had in 2008 and absolutely nuts. Plus, this year Jason and Amy get to go. They weren't able to attend last time so it's that much more amazing.

Sunday? That's going to be football and resting.

All in all, this weekend is going to be amazing. Now I just need to survive one more day of work and get the fun started. I really can't wait.

Happy Birthday Mom!

So today is my Mom's birthday and I wanted to make sure I sent off a big happy birthday to her! She's one of the most important people in my life, along with my dad of course, because without them I couldn't be writing this blog. Because I wouldn't exist.

No less, my sisters and I are taking her and my dad out to dinner at Orso's tonight, and it's going to be grand and delicious. Can't wait!

Also, I made her a birthday mix, and if I do say so myself it's one of the better cd's I've made in recent memory - if not ever. Yay great mixes! It's below, make it yourself if you don't believe.

Mom bday mix

1. the Stills - In the Beginning
2. Death Cab for Cutie - Cath...
3. TV on the Radio - Crying
4. MGMT - Kids
5. Hot Chip - Colours
6. Pinback - Good to Sea
7. Nada Surf - Concrete Bed
8. Yo La Tengo - Black Flowers
9. the Wrens - She Sends Kisses
10. Rogue Wave - Salesman at the Day of the Parade
11. Belle and Sebastian - Wrapped Up in Books
12. Jens Lekman - Kanse Ar Jag Kar I Dig
13. Ghostland Observatory - Sad Sad City
14. Cut Copy - Hearts on Fire
15. Mirah - Don't Die in Me (Nighttime in the Delta mix)
16. the Boy Least Likely To - Be Gentle With Me
17. David Byrne and Brian Eno - Life is Long
18. Andrew Bird - Scythian Empires
19. the Kings of Convenience - Know How

Go me! Go me! It's my birthday!

So today, January 17th of 2008, I turn 24 years old. Very odd, that feels very old to me, but no less, it is true. So far, for the fourth year running or so, my old girlfriend and all together cool gal Kim Kryger clocked in as the first person to wish me a Happy Birthday. Congrats to Kim to beating everyone to the punch once again!

Also, thanks to Amy for being the first person to give me presents, buying me a delicious White Chocolate Mocha and Almond Poppyseed Muffin for breakfast AND hooking me up with the Fountainhead by Ayn Rand and a Dave Eggers book whose title escapes me. Not to mention the fact she actually brought a candle to put in my muffin (which was a trick candle that would literally not go out...Kaladi Brothers by Title Wave may have burnt down by now) and serenaded me with the world's quickest rendition of Happy Birthday. Needless to say, Amy is the early frontrunner for MVBW (Most Valuable Birthday Wisher for the uninitiated).

Regardless, I had to make a bday post because I feel as if it will be a wonderful way to score comments, so comment to stroke my ego as a birthday present. Yay ego stroking! I kid (sort of).

Also, if you are feeling extravagant, I also accept tickets to the Super Bowl as a present (assuming of course that it is the Pats vs. Packers...or Pats vs. Giants for that matter...my boys the Patriots will be in it one way or another...knock on wood) or tickets to the below event. How cool is the below event for me? It's a celebration for the release of the last issue of one of my all time favorite comics, Y the Last Man, and it features special guest Joss Whedon and the magnificent creative team from Y the Last Man, Brian K. Vaughan and Pia Guerra. There will be Q and A, there will be punch, and there will be all kinds of awesomeness I'm sure. If you feel the need to express how you feel about me financially, I fully encourage tickets to either of those events as the way to go. But that's just me.