Here we are guys, the first weekend of the tournament is in the books and we’re pushing on to the Sweet 16. There were some major upsets in the Round of 32, with some high seeds making it into the next round. Here is how it all shook out. Continue reading “March Movie Madness – Sweet 16”
March Movie Madness – Round of 32
Man, that was a lot of fun! There were some major upsets and one match-up was a complete and total demolition. Thanks to everyone who voted! There were some really tough decisions in the first round and it definitely does not get any easier from here on out. Let’s get on to the results! Remember all “scores” are percentages from voting.
Continue reading “March Movie Madness – Round of 32”
March Movie Madness – Round of 64
Here we are again. It’s hard to believe that it’s been a whole year since we began the bracket that crowned The Beatles as our champions. I had so much fun doing it last year that I figured we’d give it a go again this year. Our 2017 bracket will be to find our favorite sports movie. Continue reading “March Movie Madness – Round of 64”
Getting Back On Track
February has been a real shitty month for our family. Within two weeks, we lost my grandmother and my uncle. They were two of the most loving people I’ve ever had the fortune to run into. It’s difficult to lost people who taught you how to be you. The shock of the whole month is starting to wear off and we are left with our thoughts and memories of these two beautiful souls. I will miss them more than I can say.
This was the family on my mother’s side so a road trip to West Virginia was in order for my grandma’s funeral. The problem with long driving trips is it is next to impossible to eat healthy, especially on a time crunch. There is no salad eating in the car for the most part. Continue reading “Getting Back On Track”
Sleep Well, Princess
Carrie Fisher was more than Princess Leia. She has been a great mental health advocate as well as a role model for girls. She has been eulogized all over the internet – people obviously loved this woman more than she may have knew. She was one of the funniest, most open people in Hollywood. She left us far too soon, but leaves behind a legacy of greatness. Continue reading “Sleep Well, Princess”
Talking Through What Happened Last Night
I am having trouble putting my feelings into words today. I’m a political nerd so please don’t take this as partisan. It’s not meant to be. I more or less need to talk myself through some things. I never bought into the “Trump train”. I knew this election was going to be close but I never in my life saw Secretary Clinton losing Pennsylvania and/or Wisconsin. Michigan was closer to a toss up in my mind. That vote count is still not complete (somehow) but it looks like he will take that state as well. Those 3 states would have given her the White House.
The Trump campaign did a great job selling their vision to disenfranchised union families in the rust belt. The Clinton campaign I believe overestimated their firewall in these states. It happens.
A Little Comedy to Get Us Through This Election
This has been the most contentious election in most of our lives. Social media in particular has gotten very heated. But we have reached the finish line. Tonight, we will have a new President one way or another.
I have tried to bring a little humor and pull down the anger level over the past few months. Over the last 100 days of the race, I used the great Mitch Hedberg to calm us all down a little bit. I posted a new Hedberg joke on facebook every day. It started off as a goofy way to pass the time in a painful election season, but over time it became a necessary and therapeutic exercise for me. I hope it helped my friends get through too!
On this election day, I’d like to share all 166 jokes in no particular order that have gotten me through this election as well as one of his specials. If you are ever down (especially tonight), let Mitch Hedberg take some weight off your shoulders. The man was a comedic genius that is gone way to soon.
Whatever happens tonight, I will continue to fight to continue being an optimist even in the hardest times. With that, take us away Mitch! (I’m not sure if this YouTube video will share with the settings correct or not, but it’s slowed down for some reason. Change the setting to Speed: 1.25 if it is still slowed down.)
Continue reading “A Little Comedy to Get Us Through This Election”
A Day I Never Thought Would Happen
So first off, I remain terrible at updating this blog. Here’s how it goes – “I’m going to make 2 blog posts a month at minimum! No questions!!!”. Next blog post is 3 months later. I’m going to get better people, slowly but surely!
Let’s say there was a good reason for my not updating.
I grew up mostly in rented houses and apartments. We grew up without much. I quite honestly never even considered the possibility of owning a home. Even thinking about it now is pretty unreal. Since I graduated high school 15 years ago, I have moved 15 times. Some of that had to do with school and roommates moving, getting married, changing jobs, or (twice too many times) hurricanes.
But today all of that stops, as my wife and I became homeowners! We could not have accomplished this without the help of our parents and an unbelievable real estate agent, Cheryl Stewart.
The process of buying a home is the most stressful thing I have ever undertaken. We had very few hiccups and it was still scary as hell. But it’s done! I cannot wait to get into this house this weekend and begin the process of making it our own. Get ready Westside of H-Town, the Sorensen’s are coming for ya!
A Reunion Show 10 Years in the Making
I stumbled across Tsunami Bomb my Freshman year of college. The new millennium was upon us, Y2K didn’t actually end the world, 9/11 had just happened, and there was a new President who seemed to be in over his head. The world was ripe for a 19 year old kid to fall in love with an admittedly small but growing punk scene. Here were kids that understood all the bullshit that I had grown up with. These kids had an underlying fire and anger that led them to action. These kids knew the best way to release this aggression was in a circle pit. These kids understood that even if you got punched in the mouth at a show, you always pick someone up that falls in the pit. These were my people.
I loved the sound of Tsunami Bomb. It was unlike anything I had heard before between the fast pace and furious female lead and an occasional seemingly pirate punk sound (See: “El Diablo” from the show in Houston last night). This was a punk band that had a keyboardist who would play organ during the songs. Just amazing.
May Is Mental Health Awareness Month
May is Mental Health Awareness Month. It’s incredibly important for us to speak up about the issues surrounding mental health. Over the course of any given year, 1 in 5 American adults will be living with a mental heath condition. Nearly 100% of us will interact with someone, be it a family member or friend or random person in line at Starbucks, that is dealing with some mental health issue. Continue reading “May Is Mental Health Awareness Month”
The Clumsy Optimist 