My Proudest Moment

I can't even begin to tell you how proud I was of my wonderful wife at our nephew's birthday party last Saturday. I think that we are getting closer to getting a new pet.

This is Monte the Burmese Python




This is a Florida King Snake

















She looks so calm all by herself

The Greatest Musician of our Time

My brother Scott called me yesterday morning on my drive to work and asked me a question that I was sure would ruin my whole day. Fortunately my day at work was busy so I was able to concentrate on something more than this question. The question is this. “Mike, who do you think the greatest musician of our time is”? I need your help on this.

Here is my take on question. The first thing that must be done is to define “our time”. Well I am 27 years old and my brother is 31 so that really narrows it down a bit. Also you have to define “greatest musician” of which I believe is just that (greatest musician). This, I don’t think would include “most successful” but just the greatest. Now you can make the argument that the greatest is decided by how successful one is. So this is how I define this question.

My first thought was David Grohl, front man of the band the Foo Fighters and former member of the band Nirvana. David was the drummer of Nirvana and then moved on to be the lead singer and guitarist for the band the Foo Fighters. He is a drummer, guitarist, singer, song writer, and who knows what else. He has had upwards of twenty songs that have hit the top ten charts between Nirvana and the Foo’s. Dave is obviously a very talented musician.

Then I started to think of a man by the name of Danny Elfman. Danny not only had a successful contemporary band called Oingo Boingo but he also became a composer for the movie industry. Danny now writes music for many T.V. shows and movies of which include Nightmare Before Christmas, Spiderman 1, 2, and 3, the Hulk, Men in Black 1 & 2, Army of Darkness and so on. Just look up Wikipedia for a full list. I think Danny also plays every instrument known to man and plays them all well. There are many other movie composers that are likely as talented but I can’t think of any that also had a very popular contemporary band as Danny did.

It probably is impossible to identify the “greatest musician” of our time due to relativity, but I will have to say that my opinion is probably going to lie with Danny Elfman. I could be terribly mistaken so if you can please give me your opinion of who you think is “The Greatest Musician of our Time” I would be very much obliged.

Fart With Me

So I posed a question to my wonderful wife two days ago and I now ask you all the same question. The question is:

If a new pharmaceutical company came out with a new oral drug that eliminated farts for the rest of your life, would you take it? This drug has only one known side effect which is that once you take it, the next 6 months of your life, you would have the most rancid non-stop farts. I am not talking about your ordinary smelly farts; I am talking about the kind that clears the dance floor. These farts will prevent you from getting your next promotion or big raise. Families can be torn apart.

So would you take it? Is that too long for you? How about one month? You must realize that once your time is done you will be fart free for the rest of your life. Would you take it?

Jen said she would take it in a heartbeat until she heard about the side effects. She now thinks that it is not worth it because she would have to go into hiding. My brother Jeff and cousin Jason said that they would not take it even without hearing about the side effects. They just really like their farts. When they heard about the side effects they considered it because they thought that it would cause for a really funny six months but a dry rest of their lives. No pun intended.

As for me I like my farts and if I may close this with a quote from my very wise brother Jeff, "You have to realize that farts are Gods way of saying, Hey, wasn't that funny?"

So would you take the pill?

I Will Miss This Man

Don't Hate 2008

I realize that this is a very touchy discussion that I am about to lay out there and some of you might not like what is said, but just here me out because I think that this is important. I have been somewhat consumed with the upcoming election that is taking place. For those of you who don't know next week is "Super Tuesday", which is the day that we will be for the most part figuring out who will be the main candidates for the Presidential election in November.

I find that most people are somewhat timid and very scared to express their political beliefs to their peers or acquaintances. I think that it is important for people to express their beliefs in a respectable ways so that we can all learn by other opinions and points of views. If someone thinks for instances that the war in Iraq was a terrible mistake and we should have never been involved in this war, but they only listen to and are accompanied by people who share the same view, than that person is lacking a broader perspective that many other people have. Seems obvious doesn't it. Another example that actually drives me nuts is when people say something like, "I hate Bush! This administration are all spawns of Satan". That is fine if you feel this way, but have some legitimate reasoning behind why you hate them so bad. Don't just say these things because celebrities publicly voice their opinions. Have some backing behind your arguments.

I have been blessed to have many friends who all have very different views about politics. We don't talk about it very often but I feel that I know how each of my friends philosophically think about things pertaining to politics. I wish I knew why they all think and believe the way they do because I think that great learning can occur in such conversations. I have a friend, Erika Gula, who loves to talk about politics because she believes that people learn from her points as she also learns from theirs (that is at least how I see it even though others might not).

I do totally understand why people don't like to bring it up though. Some people just don't know what they believe, or they don't want to offend or argue with others about these things. I guess what I am trying to say is that I wish people were more open and knew how to talk politics cordially.

Ok so the big question is who are you going to vote for? Are you going to be voting for a Democrat...

...Or a Republican...



...Or someone else from another party who will never become President?

There are so many things to think about. I feel that this year I have prepared more than I ever have in the past for an election. I think that there is a lot on the line and I want to have a voice in it. So let me lay out for you what I think are the biggest issues this election. They are:

1. The Economy
2. The War in Iraq
3. Immigration
4. Health Care

I like economics, so the biggest issue for me is the economy. Don't get me wrong I think the others are very important too. It is for this reason that I am endorsing Mitt Romney to be the next President of the United States of America. I tried to make it sound official and like I was somebody of great influence.

I don't like what the Democratic party is offering and I think that John McCain is a dirty and untrustworthy man. I know that many of you are probably thinking that I am voting for Mitt Romney because he is a Mormon. I have to tell you that Romney had to really earn my vote for that reason. I didn't want to be that person who voted for a candidate simply because he is the first black man or she is the first woman, and I especially didn't want to be a sheep following the man who I hoped would be the first Mormon President. I truly think that he will be a great President for our nation.

I really hope that you all get out there and vote this Tuesday. I really think that it is important and I know that I will be there posting my vote. GO MITT!!!