Tim's Truths for Today.

1) Brothers are rare and sometimes maddening, but those who take them for granted have my sympathies. (Sam came to town for almost a week, and we had a great time.)

2) Newborn babies all look the same unless you know them. Then they all look amazing. (Please welcome to the world Elyse Hampton Tregoning, the first of many from BJ and Janelle Tregoning).

3) It's a lot easier to work out at home if your cat doesn't get all judgy every time you do it. (Next time i'm trying to shed a couple of belly pounds, kitty's going in the linen closet.)

4) If you're ever having a lousy day, sing along with "No Woman, No Cry" (doesn't matter if you can't understand the lyrics.... do your best) at the top of your lungs in the car with the volume way up. It's cathartic.



Edited to Add: Good lord. I just read this post after publishing it, and have decided that I am a woman. If you replaced "brothers" with "sisters" in item one, and "No Woman, No Cry" with some Dixie Chicks song in item 4, I'd be straight off of Lifetime.

Coffee, Prius, and Oscar parties.

Hey guys. I've been busy.

Rather than read my blog, read this blog: http://stuffwhitepeoplelike.wordpress.com/

God it's funny.

"Stuff white people like." It's a list that describes a great many, well, white people.

I'm ashamed to say that a great many of these things indeed apply to me.

Existential Question

I bought a package of bacon the other day. Regular bacon.

It was made in Canada.

I wonder if that bacon has ever had an identity crisis.

No picture, only word.

Remember when I had pictures in every post? Lovely little snapshots of life? Well, I'll get back to that (I have some good ones) as soon as I.... find my camera.

It's somewhere.


Somewhere not in my apartment, methinks.

Here are a few things on my mind right now:

1) The writers strike looks like it's history. Good thing, and not just because I want my "Lost" fix to keep on coming. There's been a sort of freeze on projects people I know have been involved in, and now they're free to resume.

2) My beloved ASU Mountaineers will be running up against LSU in their season opener. It'll be intense.

3) My car doors have been frozen shut for 3 days. My toes and knuckles have been hurting for a week from sheer force of cold. My Dad told me it's been in the 70's in SC.
Sigh.

4) Stephen Colbert deals with condescension in a way that makes me love the guy. Last night, the author of The Lucifer Effect, Stanford professor Philip Zimbardo, was on the show. He was arguing the contentious point that God was responsible for the creation of Hell. Stephen responded with a discussion of free will that seemed to transcend "Stephen Colbert"the character and get down to the real Stephen Colbert. When Zimbardo responded, condescendingly, something to the effect of "Well, you've certainly learned your Sunday School lessons well", Colbert replied,

"I TEACH Sunday School, mother****er!"

It was hilarious. And true. I'd attend Colbert's Sunday School class. Weekly.

Compadre.

http://www.wltx.com/sports/story.aspx?storyid=58145

The fellow above, Anthony Graham, was an assistant principal at my high school. He passed away yesterday due to some sort of illness. The article above was sketchy as to what kind of illness, but that doesn't really matter.

He was the sort of guy who'd see you in the hallway after school and buy you a can of coke and talk to you about your college plans. He was tough, but a lot of fun. Called everyone 'compadre'. I remember him standing in the middle of the gym floor along with me and about a dozen other teachers and seniors doing the "Men in Black" dance at a pep rally.

Yeah, pretty cool, huh? I was super awesome in high school. Senior Class Presidents don't get any cooler... while dancing to a marketing tool. Mr. Graham made it seem pretty cool, though. He was the sort of fellow who could break up a fight OR bounce with it, just bounce with it (and let his neck work. And freeze).

He left my high school some years ago, and was the principal of a middle school in Columbia, SC. I'm sure his students will miss him. He was pretty great.

Portly Tuesday. (Because no one likes to be called fat)

I voted today.

It's raining.

The ground is covered with dirt-flavored sno-cone.

I'm about to go see some bluegrass.


Happy Mardi Gras, everybody.

Beads and paczki for everyone.

And I feel fiiiiiiine.

So.


Let's talk about the end of the world.


Hello? Where'd you go?

Hmmm. Conversation killer?

Well, that bit of conversational kryptonite is a mainstay of modern American art and entertainment.

I've been thinking about it since I read The Road. That book is a real stunner, and if it doesn't make you tear up, you need to get your heart checked out. If you aren't familiar, it's about a father and son making their way across the charred ruins of America.

Cheery, huh? Well, it's not the only example.

It's everywhere: The Mad Max movies. The Terminator movies. The Matrix. Pretty much any piece of anime. Any movie starring Charlton Heston movie from the late 60's or early 70s. Or any Kevin Costner movie that no one went to see. There are tons and tons more. We're OBSESSED with this stuff.

Why we, as a society, think about this stuff is a discussion for another day. Blame the cold war if you will. Blame the millennarians. Blame Stanley Kubrick.

I'm not as interested in apocalypse as a cultural obsession as I am in finding out if that cultural obsession filters down to the everyday person.

When I was a kid, I'd lay in bed and strain my ears, listening for the trumpets signaling the end of the world. That's probably because the church my family went to at the time was OBSESSED with it. It'd be a part of most sermons and a subject of discussion in Sunday School well down to the elementary school level.

To this day, I sometimes wonder what I'd do if society completely crumbled. Make my way down south? Head for the Canadian border? Would I drive? What would Armageddon do to gas prices? Would I still be able to pay at the pump, or would I have to barter 2 chickens and a bag of feed for a gallon of premium? Hopefully pay at the pump. Chickens would ruin my leather interior.

When I start wondering about this stuff, my inclination is to ask: "Is this normal?" "Do other people worry about this junk?"

The truth is, I don't really WORRY about it, either. I'd be a liar if I said I didn't think about it, though.

Am I alone on that one? Am I the only one who lets the doom-n-gloomers creep into my subconscious?

Just wondering.

So I got good and sick the other day and have spent a lot of time on the couch nodding in and out of feverish sleep while AMC is on in the background. Fun, huh?

AMC runs a lot of commercials for an acid reflux drug called "Aciphex".

Here's a hint, drug companies. When you pick a name for a medicine, consider how it will ultimately be pronounced.

In my feverish dreams, I just kept wondering what "ass effects" were and why AMC was trying to sell them to me.

*rubs eyes*

*Yawn, grumble*

hmpf. Good morning. Izzat coffee I smell? Mind if I have a cup?

What's today?


JANUARY 24?

Holy crap.

*looks down*

Does that say December 22? I haven't blogged since then?


Sheesh. That's a lot to cover. Lotta pressure.

Ah well. I'll get you guys all caught up. For now, a few things to know:

1) It's freakin' freezing outside. I think it's officially 0 degrees with a windchill around -20. That's stupid.

2) I just started reading The Road by Cormac McCarthy. Sarah got it for me for Christmas. It's really good.

3) I need to see There Will Be Blood. Stat. I saw a bunch of movies since we last talked. I hadn't seen a movie in the theater in a good while, and over the break I saw several. No Country for Old Men and Juno were great. I am Legend was fun but forgettable. Walk Hard was funny in spots, but mostly because of John C. Reilly, Paul Rudd, and Jenna Fischer's cuteness. Sweeney Todd was pretty great, and I still can't believe it got made. Bloody. Bleak. Sing-songy?

Anyway. More soon. You're adorable.

Vote, eh?

Hey guys! Hope everyone is having a great time with families and friends. I am having a blast with mine. I'll have tons of pictures of my fun times and adorable niece soon.

For now: A request. Appalachian State is one of the finalists for the "Pontiac Game Changing Performance" of the season. There are only 4 teams left, and the winner snags 100k, which would come in handy. If you get a second, hit up pontiac.com/ncaa.

That's your gift to me.

Oh. What did I get for you?

Um. Something SUPER good. Totally.

Boonies Loving Life.

Hey there, Blogfriends.

Long-time-no-see-etc.

In case you haven't noticed, I'm a pretty big fan of my alma mater's football team. Well, Appalachian State is poised to make history. Tomorrow, we play Delaware in the Div I-FCS National Championship. App State is coming off a scorching playoff run, which began with a down-to-the-wire game against James Madison a few weeks ago, and continued through ever-more-convincing victories over Eastern Washington and Richmond.

This picture was taken last week, as some Chicago ASU Alumni got together to enjoy the game at The Full Shilling. While we were enjoying adult beverages, ASU QB Armanti Edwards was busy rushing for 313 yards and 4 touchdowns and throwing for an additional 182 and 3 TDs. That's 495 yards of total offense. My first kid may be named Armanti Jerrymoore Young.

This week the Chicago folks will be at Feed The Beast. That's at 4300 N Lincoln in North Center.

Come join us, eh?

I went to Dallas a couple of weeks ago. Work stuff. Nothing exciting. Hence my post about banks heists.

I'd been to Dallas before, but this time I went to Dealey Plaza. The infamous grassy knoll.

See those buildings above? The one more prominently featured? Count six stories up.

It was a sunny day. I sat outside and enjoyed the warmth.

There's an 'x' in the road. Bizarre memorial.

Missing no more.

My cat went AWOL twice recently. First, she took off for two days. She came back looking rained-on and shame-faced like an off-the-wagon drunk resurfacing after an 8-day bender.

A few days later she took off again. She was gone for nearly a week. I put up posters. I called the shelters. All that.

I got a call from someone who had seen my posters reporting that someone a few blocks away had posters up reporting a cat found. She had wandered into the back door of a sandwich shop and one of the staff members took her home. She was missing for almost a week, but only outside for a grand total of a few hours.

Charmed life, that.

Anyway, here's a picture of her in recovery mode.

Jason came to town over Halloween weekend. Jason , for those of you not down with the Young Brothers, is my older brother. Tommy's the sensitive one. Sam's the complicated one. You know. Like N*Sync.

He was in town for his birthday. 31, Ladies and gents. 31 years old and he can be seen here with shoes strapped to his knees as a sort of "Dorf on Golf" tiny person.


We went to a lovely "Heaven and Hell" Party thrown by my friends Jason and Freddie. Great time. Don't believe me? Let's go to the reel.

Martin as a G. Kara as white trash. Jason again and Charley as a lazy asshole who can't be bothered to wear a costume. I'm not sure it was intentional, but Kara and Martin have a nice K-Fed-B-Spears thing going on.

In the corner? Sexy Lincoln.


Matt as Terry from Reno 911. Also, note my sweet Fu Manchu. You are WELCOME.
More Terry and lazy dude.


Fun night. Great to see my bro.

Black Saturday

October 20: At App they have a tradition called "Black Saturday". Get rid of the gold, and sport black on game day. It's a blast. I went down this year, and had an amazing time. I decided to go at the last minute, but made it safe and sound.


Some of my very good buddies were there for the festivities. Adam and Nicole. Dave. Sarah Fried Chicken. Rachelle. Carson and Siege. Ray. Shelby and Joe even came down. Definitely good times. The Cliftons brought along a pop-up camper, and many of the hardier kids slept in the parking lot. Great people. I made a few new friends, too. That's always nice.

Oh, and beer pong/flip cup tables are fully portable.

I skipped the parking lot camper sleeping and bedded down at the Morrison's mountain house. They were up for the weekend. They're like extra parents for me. Lovely people. I spent Sunday hanging out with them and recovering from around 36 hours of drinking and ridiculousness. Coffee. Hot tub. Food. And this view:


Notice I didn't mention the actual game much. It's still a sore spot. We lost at home for the first time in 30 games. The last home game we lost was in 2002. Ah well. It happens. It was a blast of a weekend, and if we had to walk away without a "W", so be it. Not my preference, but so be it. Great weekend.

Bizzike.

So when it was still warm out, I got myself a bike. It's pretty great. Vintage '83 Trek. Ridiculously light for a vintage bike. Nice and fast.

When I was a kid surrounded by dirt paths and gravel roads, road bikes seemed pointless. In Chicago? Road bikes work just fine.

I like this bike a lot. Too bad it'll be too cold to ride it in about 12 minutes.

Capers

I'm in Dallas for work.

Downtown Dallas really makes me want to rob a bank. Seriously.

I was walking around last night, and I passed big fat banks filled with lots and lots of oil money and there was NO ONE AROUND.

I want to meet a guy named "Big" or "T-Bone" in a blues bar and get him to be my lookout. I want a guy in a van guiding me through the process as he screws around on a computer and eats Twix bars. I want a former Ukrainian gymnast to crawl through an air duct and somehow come out inside the vault.

I'll be the guy who always walks. Never runs. Always walks. I'm already wearing a suit. I might as well be the cool, never runs, suit guy.

So yeah, Dallas. That's what you get for making me feel like I'm on an abandoned movie lot set from a movie about a downtown instead of actually having stuff going on. You get your banks robbed. In my mind.

Smoking Chimpmama!

Hey dudes. Believe it or not, I'm going to update this thing soon. I want to tell you all about my trip to ASU, Halloween, my brother Jason's visit, and all the rest. I'll probably get some of those up tonight or tomorrow.

In the meantime, here's a picture of a chimpanzee with little regard for the effects of second hand smoke.

d'ja ever notice?

What is this thing? I have a blog?

Oh yeah. I do.

Let's make this more interactive. Chicago people, chime in if you feel it. Seriously.

I run into people downtown all the time. I come down to the loop about once or twice a week, and it seems like every single time I do I see someone I know. It's weird.

Sure, there are lots more people downtown, but that means lots more people I know AND lots more people I don't. And yet. Lots of random street convos.

Anybody else notice this? I really want to know.

And yes, this is half interesting observation, and half confirmation that I am still alive and still have my blogger password.

Some Bailey Shots

Amber (my sister-in-law) sent me some great shots of Bailey from her 2nd birthday extravaganza.

I thought I'd share.



She looks thrilled with this gift. My two-year-old niece is a jaded rocker.


She graduated from the crib. Sweet bed, yo.


It breaks your heart, don't it?