Archive for the 'Liz' Category

No, seriously. I don’t have kids.

Published
by
Chalupa
on October 26, 2008
in Liz, Movies and Weird
. 5 Comments

It seems like people have always thought I’m older than I really am.  I’m sure there are a variety of reasons for that.  The summer after I got out of high school I worked with a bunch of late 20-somethings through 40 yr olds and they always invited me out to the bars with them after work.  It wasn’t until the end of that summer that they found out I was 17, not 28.  All through college people continued to think I was much older - probably because of the bald head thing and the facial hair.

Today really took the cake though.  Liz and I were meeting up at the theater to see Oliver Stone’s latest - W.  While I was waiting in the lobby for her to get off work, a woman kept smiling at me from about 5 feet away.  I eventually did the polite thing and said, “hi.”  I’m not sure if that was a good thing or bad thing.  She wouldn’t stop talking to me.  I kinda feel like she was hitting on me.  Turns out she was there waiting for her high-school-aged-daughter to come out of a movie to give her a ride home.  She apparently assumed I was there to pick up my 15 yr old too.  I told her I wasn’t waiting for my child, then had to repeatedly reinforce the fact I don’t even have kids.  Let’s just say I felt saved when Liz finally showed up and I could walk away.

Ahoy!

Published
by
Chalupa
on May 7, 2008
in Liz, Music and TV
. 1 Comment

I hope you’ve seen the semi-recent Old Spice commercials with Bruce Campbell.  They’ve been on this big “manly” kick lately and I’ve been finding most of them hilarious.  Well, today, Liz informed me that the song Bruce is singing that goes something like…

Smell like I sound,
I’m lost in a crowd
And I’m hungry like the wolf

…just happens to be the lyrics to a Duran Duran song.

Preparations

Published
by
Chalupa
on April 17, 2008
in Life, Liz, Technology and Work
. 0 Comments

So Liz and I are going to be moving, date to be determined, this summer.  This may not sound like a huge deal, except I’ve been trying to get some things in order at work.  I’ll be finishing up my 9th year of working there.  First four years were as a student worker, 5th year was a full-time student-employee supervisor, and the last four years have been full-time hourly.  There are a lot of things I do that nobody else has ever touched.  Writing out instructions, tips, and what-have-you can be a daunting task.

This weekend we’re making a 1,000 mile trek so Liz can do a campus visit, we can look at some possible places to live, network with some people, and so I can go to what I’m interpreting as a pseudo-interview.  On top of all this, I’ve been trying to schedule a phone call interview for a fund raiser with some fellow Achievers who obviously aren’t millennials.  Even though I’m not from that generation, I sometimes forget that some people don’t have three email accounts open all day, a cell phone in their pocket, and several chat programs at their fingertips.

So with the finalization of a two year educational technology Lilly grant, a Second Life presentation, podcasting, blogging, and life…I now have a day to make sure I’m ready for a road trip.  I usually work well under pressure though so things should work out.

Lent Day 9

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 15, 2008
in Lent 2008, Lifting and Liz
. 0 Comments

So I haven’t been updating everyday with Lent stuff.  I’m sure nobody cared.  Things are going pretty well.  I’ve been getting the reading in.  Can’t say I’m really pondering or meditating on it.  I’ve pretty much just been reading it and thinking, “hmmmm” to myself.  The exercise thing has been great.  It feels good just to be semi-active again.  I don’t think I’m anywhere close to doing the pull-ups yet, but I’m working on it.  Liz says my arms are starting to get a little bigger like they used to be.

Oh, and if you’re in the mood for something smart and funny, check out this site.  It’s a blog called The Ongoing Adventures of ASBO Jesus.  Liz alerted me to it.  Pretty funny stuff.

Midnight Snacks

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 12, 2008
in Life and Liz
. 0 Comments

I know Liz thinks it’s weird that I am sometimes awake or eating at odd hours.  It’s not uncommon for me to be up some mornings at 3am checking my e-mail, watching some TV or even making a sandwich.  On the other hand, I sometimes come home and take naps after work if I’m tired.

Well tonight, after getting home from Muncie, Liz decided to make Mac N Cheese and some sausage a little after 11pm.  I didn’t want to say anything, but I think maybe Liz is starting to pick up on some of my good habits.

Pizza Hut’s new crust…

Published
by
Chalupa
on February 4, 2008
in Advice, Cheese and Liz
. 1 Comment

isn’t worth being called one. It’s being labeled as CRUNCHY! and CHEESY!, but it only really falls under the first category if you ask me.

Last week Liz and I ordered one. I always eat faster than her so I had 3 breadsticks and two slices down before she had gotten to the crust on her first piece. I asked her what she thought about it and her response was something like, “Parmesan? I think they accidentally use crap-esan.” That’s right folks it’s TERRIBLE. I love cheese. I eat it all the time. I’ve had several varieties of parmesan both grated and sliced. Pizza Hut’s new creation doesn’t taste like anything I’ve ever tasted. It even smells bad. If you’re into cheesy crust, please, for your own sake, stick with the stuffed crust.

Road Trip and Interview

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 13, 2008
in Cool and Liz
. 0 Comments

Saturday, Liz, Gunner and myself all drove down to Louisville to interview Scott Shuffitt and Will Russell for the podcast. These two guys are also known as the Founding Dudes for their creation of the Lebowski festivals that have been going on for 6 years with two international festivals in the UK last year.

This was definitely a big step for us on the podcast. We’ve had several guests in the past year, just not anybody really connected with the movie. We would pick a topic to explore the movie and then we’d find people who were “experts” in that field. We were joined by an English professor to talk about feminism and a Philosophy/Religion professor to talk about Dudeism for example. This time we were talking with two people that are readily know to the true Achiever, which is the self-applied term for fans of The Big Lebowski.

We weren’t really sure what to expect, but I don’t think it could have gone any better. These guys were like us, fanatical fans that aren’t too fanatical. They invited us to their tree house, otherwise known as The Lebowski Fest World Headquarters, and we sat down for a chat about the cult status of the film. We also touched on their recent book, I’m a Lebowski, You’re a Lebowski, and the festivals of course. They even gave us some posters and stickers on-the-house as we were heading out. We really appreciated both their hospitality and generosity.

Icing on the cake was just being in the great city of Louisville for the day. We got to drive around a bit more than planned, due to getting lost and streets having multiple names and sometimes no signs, but this gave us the opportunity to get an idea of our surroundings which we explored after the interview.

We ending up eating dinner at a barbeque joint called Mark’s Feed Store. Liz got a small rack of ribs while Gunner and I opted for the barbeque bacon cheeseburger with spicy fries. Some extra entertainment were the estimated 20 cops getting a bite to eat and the wait-staff’s enjoyment of them. I would highly suggest stopping by sometime if you’re hungry.

We also checked out WHY Louisville, Scott’s store, and picked up a couple copies of their book to give out as podcast prizes at a later date. Bardstown Road was an amazing part of town full of unique shops and restaurants. We’re looking forward to going back sometime in the future.

New Year’s Eve

Published
by
Chalupa
on January 3, 2008
in Life, Liz and Story
. 3 Comments

So Liz and I had a party of sorts for New Year’s Eve.  There was a plethora of fondue stuff to eat, a plethora of people for our small apartment, games, guitar hero, Dewey the dog and Arya.  If you don’t know who Arya is, she’s my niece, or more specifically - Liz’s niece.  It was like I got a free upgrade to “uncle” when I got married.  Arya isn’t quite two yet, but she’s pretty mobile and talks more than some 4 year olds.  Like most kids her age, she doesn’t have the longest attention span.

We all kind of took turns keeping on eye on exactly just what she was doing and also watching to see how Dewey interacted with her.   We weren’t sure if he liked kids or could handle being poked, prodded and jabbed by two little fists that could simultaneously fit themselves into a Pringles can.

Luckily, Arya and Dewey got along quite well.  So well, that Arya started playing with his kennel/cage when Dewey wasn’t there.  She put her Elmo in there and told him to go to sleep.  Then, she decided to crawl in and play around.  That thing is kinda dirty and disgusting.  It’s not that bad, because we keep it inside, but I knew Karen, her mom, probably wouldn’t love the idea of Arya playing where the dog sleeps.  So I said,

“Hey Arya, do you like playing in Dewey’s cage?”

“Ok.”

“Well, if you’re going to play in Dewey’s cage and go to sleep, I’m going to have to shut the door and lock you in there.”

That quickly ended her playtime in kennel-land and she ran off to do something else.  Now fast-forward to a few hours later.  I think it was going on 2am or so.  Karen and Rajeev, Arya’s parents, were rocking it on Guitar Hero 3 and Arya was doing her classic scream-because-I’m-not-getting-what-I-want.  So I took Arya,  picked her up and said, “Hey Arya, you need to stop crying.”  Nothing happened.  “Hey Arya, if you don’t stop screaming I’m going to lock you into Dewey’s cage.  That’s what happens at my house if people scream and cry.”  Nothing happened.

I then took three steps towards the room with Dewey’s cage in it and Arya immediately stopped.  She told me she’d be a good girl.  So I let her down.  Now, that didn’t exactly stick because about 5min later she was screaming again and Liz was trying to trick her with ice cream.  It’s not like I was actually going to put her in there and lock her in, it’s just one of those things I’ve observed my mom do that almost always works on kids.

Dewey, el perrito

Published
by
Chalupa
on December 31, 2007
in Life, Liz, Married and Rambling
. 1 Comment

As many of you know, Liz and I have been fostering a beagle-ish dog that Liz named Dewey after the well known Dewey Finn, the temp, of School of Rock fame.  Dewey was chucked out of a moving truck into the yard of some people that were standing there when it happened.  Not too smart if you ask me.  Our neighbor’s daughter works with local animal shelters, rescuing animals and placing them into good homes.  That’s how we got Dewey.

Liz had been saying she was wanting a dog for a while and I told her I thought it wasn’t a very good idea for several reasons…money, no space, time constraints and responsibilities, etc.   So, we kinda compromised and got Dewey on a temp basis instead.

At first Dewey was pretty scared and very cautious.  Luckily we’ve won him over and have even taught him a few tricks.  He loves just being around us and is pretty chill.  He definitely likes Liz the best.  With the exception of actually sitting on her lap, I’d say he was Liz’s lapdog.  When she’s working from home he’ll sit at her feet all day and follows her into every room she goes.  It’s kind of funny.  I think the best part is that he drags these old t-shirts out of his crate, he didn’t have a blanket or towel so we used some old shirts, puts them in a pile, and then lays his head on them like it’s his pillow.

Dewey now has a home.  A friend of Liz’s from Indy has signed the paperwork and everything.  We’re just going to keep him for another week until he gets back from his holiday travels.  Liz asked if I’d be sad to see him go.  I really don’t know.  We gave him back to our neighbor’s daughter when we were gone last week.  I have to admit I didn’t really think of him.  I do enjoy dogs and having one around, I just don’t feel like I have the time and energy to really take care of one at this point.  We also don’t really have the space in our apartment for him either and we aren’t exactly to the point that we can just let him roam free.

Being the man for your time and place

Published
by
Chalupa
on December 7, 2007
in Life, Liz and Movies
. 0 Comments

Sometimes it takes certain circumstances, skills or people to get things done. If you need to put out a fire you might need a fireman. If you need your neighbors to shut up you might need a policeman. If you want fly around the city using spiderwebs you might need to be Spiderman and if you want your rug back - and I do mean a rug that ties the room together - you might need The Dude.

A lot of you know about how our last apartment ended with the great flood of 2007.  That wasn’t a much of fun.   We’ve been living in a new place that’s definitely better in a variety of ways.  When we applied to live here, the owner seemed all impressed about Liz’s maiden name and some family connections and Liz has just communicated with him since we’ve moved in.  There have been several issues with things in the apartment and at first they were fixed quite promptly.

Then there was a new maintenance guy that wasn’t necessarily real reliable about communicating and what not.  We then found out he was originally hired as just the lawn guy and the main maintenance person was gone or something.  Well the new guy is back and after weeks and weeks of bugging the temp, we got the main person to look at our front door which happens to be too big for the frame and leaks a lot of air.  Well, that was about it.  It was looked at, but nothing’s happened.

So this afternoon I sent an email to our friendly landlord.  I received a response within a couple hours and after we got home, the maintenance guy called us up asking if we’d be around tomorrow.  He’s coming by in the morning, he just has a show he needs to watch first.  Liz was pretty surprised at the response to my request.  I just told her I was the just the right man for this particular time and place.