Monday, June 22, 2009

The Following Fifteen

Yesterday, the family all gathered over Grandma's house for Father's Day/Grandma's birthday. It's been about a year and a half since I put together a family video (and they've made a point of frequently reminding me), so I surprised them with a new one.

This one's a followup to The First Four, highlighting Matthew's fifteen months since that video. I give you... The Following Fifteen.

Tuesday, June 09, 2009

June Updates

Just thought it was high time I posted updates on some things, so here goes.

It's been pretty slow going on new projects lately. The main reason is basically that I've just been stressed out with life these days and pretty much stuck in a bad mood since I got sick a couple months back. I honestly just haven't been in a frame of mind where I'd be able to work on these without feeling like I'm just going through the motions. I don't want that to happen and I'm working on powering through it. Things ARE moving forward. It may be slow, but it's happening.

I've been doing some fun stuff lately, but nothing has been able to snap me out of this funk I'm in. I'm hoping something comes along soon and does the trick.

I'm looking forward to the Canada trip at the end of the month. The Chantal concert at the winery might be just what I need.
Grandma and Maude are tagging along with Mom and I for this one. It'll be the first time the four of us have gone on a trip together since the Corrs adventure of 2004. If that trip is any indication, this one ought to be a blast.
The hotel room is booked, our passport cards (what a rip) have arrived, I'm ready to go. Everything's ready.
Now we wait.
Sixteen days to go.

I've been hanging with Bridget a bit lately, which has been fun. Things got hectic and we didn't get to see each other for a long time, so it's been cool to be able to catch up, vent, and swap music with her again.

I saw Terminator Salvation after much waiting and anticipating. It was alright. I'll admit, I had pretty high expectations, and while it didn't quite live up to those expectations, I didn't dislike it.
Up, on the other hand, I thought was amazing. Heartbreaking, funny, just a beautiful movie. I thought the 3D was fantastic was incredible too. Just an all around great experience at the movies. I'd love to go see it again.
Currently at the top of my "to see" list is The Hangover.

On the Fan Film front, word is that Stan Lee traveling, but the DVD is on his desk waiting for him. This waiting to hear something is torture.

There's really not much else to update on at the moment. I'm feeling pretty boring story-wise. Hopefully some summer adventures will change that.
Now go outside and get some sun, you. There's only three months until The Beatles: Rock Band comes out, so I better get outside before that addiction hits.

At the Zoo with the Crew

Larry made some plans a while back for the gang to go to the zoo. This past Saturday, those plans came to fruition.

I was running late when I woke up and, honestly, not feeling my best, but decided to push myself and go anyway. I was happy to hear the other zoo-goers were running late, yet I somehow managed to run even later.

Mom and I eventually arrived and met up with Larry. We walked and chatted with him as he led us to Clint, Larry's girlfriend, Shannon, and her kids. After they had a quick bite to eat, we headed out into the zoo.


It was so strange, I went to this zoo all the time as I grew up, but this was my first visit in at least 10 years. There were so many new attractions and areas, I found no sense of where I was as we wandered around.


It was perfect zoo weather- mid 70s, not too cloudy, not too sunny, though I still managed to get a sunburn.


A zoo trip is pretty self-explanatory, so I'll just jump to some pictures and interject sporadically. Don't forget to click to see them bigger.

Love the colors on these guys.

They have a new area where you can ride a camel. None of us took part.

A freaky looking lemur.

Check out the tail on this dude.

Loved the outdoor gorilla area.

They had a whole dinosaur exhibit going on. The animatronics were okay, but they earned major cool points for blasting John Williams' Jurassic Park theme at the entrance.

They tore down the old bridge that used to cross over the zoo, I think this is the new one going up.

Larry, Shannon, and the kids walked faster than the rest of us, so Mom and I hung with Clint most of the day. Here's us chilling at the bench by Monkey Island.

My camera's memory card filled up at this point, so that's it for pictures.

We ended up rushing to the RainForest with just 15 minutes left before it closed. It was a hurried walkthrough, but we got to see some cool birds, orangutans, a big python, and Clint got to see the crocodile before we were told to leave.

It was a fun day and a cool trip down memory lane full of old memories and new experiences. It sucked that we didn't get to see the elephants, as they're currently building a new enclosure for them, but hey, it'll be another reason to go back. And I would love to go back soon with Matthew.
And a fresh memory card.