Enough about me, though, really. How have you been?

Some topics for discussion:

1. Have you seen the Big Picture blog at Boston.com? It’s hot — both in the “that’s sexy” way and that all the cool kids are talking about it.
2. Speaking of cool kids, my buddy and former coworker, Rod, got all internet famous last week with his fake script for Indy 4.
3. This is totally ghey, but skip to the 3 minute mark and it’s a least a little amusing.
4. Speaking of … erm… Yeah. Did you guys see the Turkish wrestling spread in ESPN the Magazine? Yeah, neither did I. I hear it’s totally macho, though.
5. More macho is Sasuke — or as it’s called on the G4 network, Ninja Warrior. Holy crap that show is awesome! Makoto Nagano is my hero.
6. I like plurk a lot. The Interface is light years ahead of Twitter. And if you’re into either of those jammies, check out ping.fm — right this second “letmeping” should work as a beta code.

Other stuff of note:

• My darling Ma has teamed up with some cohorts to start a giant dog rescue. We’re talking Danes, Newfies, Mastiffs, Wolfies, and so on. Wow.
• Think I’m gonna ride the motorcycle into work a least a couple days this week. Turn the stress dial back a couple clicks.
• Oh, I am so getting an iPhone 3G in July. OMG!

G’night, kids.

I got back on the exercise horse with short, awful runs on Saturday and Monday and Bowflex action on Sunday, but so what? I dipped to a new low weight for this weight loss effort, too, but bounced back up a pound or so.

My mother had a nice deck party on her brand new deck on Saturday — that was pretty much the highlight of the weekend. She and her cohorts are now talking about starting a rescue not just for Danes but for all sorts of giant dogs. (I figure that’ll make Miracle Ed smile.)

After Ma’s I went to check in on my friend David’s birthday party, but apparently it had just broken up after BJ Penn beat up Sean Sherk. Since the party (and DJ) were winding down, Erik and I went to his house to throw darts and play a little ping-pong. Yep. We’re wild.

Sunday was a failure, as I decided not to ride my motorcycle figuring I would do that on Monday. Well, Monday turned out rainy, so no Bonneville time for me. This bummed me out since Erik had come over last week to help me get the Bonnie running well after a long bit of garage rest.

So it goes, eh?

A couple media notes:

1. Don’t waste your time with Revolver. Gah.
2. Sweeney Todd, by contrast was good times. On Helena Bonham Carter — Me: “I wonder what she’s like day to day… You never hear much gossip.” Wife: “Yeah, I don’t know. I was just thinking she’s got to be the oldest goth chick around.” Me: “Still totally hot, though.” Wife: “Well, yeah.”
3. Also, if you’re cooler than me (by which, in this case, I mean you own a Blu-ray player), you might be interested in Amazon’s Blu-ray sale.

Next on the docket are the mighty Rockies. Now, I’m not a baseball fan. I root for the Red Sox on principal alone. But c’mon! Who doesn’t love a “hometown underdog does good” story? Best of all, I know one Phillies fan who is an extremely sore loser. This could be fun.

In general, Autumn is upon us. The transition seasons always get me fired up in one way or another.

The Wife and I are taking a lot of long walks with Mingus to try to shed some pounds and keep the dog happy.

I’ve barely been on the Bonneville this year, but it’s OK. My favorite riding time is now, so hopefully I’ll get in the saddle at least a few times. I wish I was like these guys.

I’m itching to start a home project or a woodworking project (or both) soon. Updates when I do.

My social calendar has been packed (for me) lately, and the combination of that with a) trying to get back in shape and b) fairly regular afternoon thunderstorms (or at least the threat thereof), and c) projects around the house has kept me off my Bonneville for the most part. I’ve only had the poor thing out twice this year and that was in the Spring.

I’m not too worried, though. I’ll get my chances eventually. Plus, I much prefer riding in the transition seasons than in the blast furnace that is Summer in the Denver metro.

In other news, I’m going in to talk to Fish about my next tattoo in a couple weeks.

Last Thursday evening The Wife and I went out in Boulder to the Rio with a gaggle of my new coworkers. After a lovely evening discussing the possibilities of attending a roller derby, a mixed martial arts bout, or a minor league hockey game (or all three) with the company founder’s wife, we came home to discover that we had no hot water. A quick trip downstairs revealed that our twelve-year-old tank was done and dead and pissing itself on the basement floor. Off go the water valves, and I know what I get to do Friday (hardly a worthwhile day off work, if you ask me).

Long story shorter than it might be: We actually had the funds on-hand to do the upgrade to a tankless water heater like I’ve wanted to do. Now I’m a proud owner of a Rinnai unit hidden away in my crawl space. The old space for the water heater is now only filled by a wall-mounted control panel. Best of all, I can take a shower all friggin’ day long if I want to.

There are couple downsides: the hot water is mighty slow to come at first; the hot water pressure is noticeably lower than that of the cold water. But neither of those bother me much — the continuous nature of the hot water (I can now happily take my shower after everyone else in the house!) more than balances them out, IMO. (Oh, and I guess I get $300 next tax season…)
Also worth noting: David at Oasis Plumbing rules me – highly recommended.

Other News:

• I went for the first ride of 2007 on the Bonneville today. Hooray, Spring!
• Ze’s winding down and getting all philosophical about it.
• Shay and Rachel done got hitched. Mazel tov!

Well, today I needed to get the keys to said mechanic so that they could actually work on the thing. (I didn’t see any key drop box at the shop on Saturday.) The Wife is working, so that left me with my second vehicle: the Bonneville.

I wasn’t that worried because the last forecast I saw said it would get up to 50 degrees. Sadly as it neared noon, my thermometer still read in the twenties…

The good news: my riding jacket is awesome with its liner in.

The bad news: I don’t have cold weather-appropriate gloves or pants. Wearing jeans on a motorcycle in sub-freezing temps is very much like wearing jeans to go skiing/snowboarding — Many of us have done it, but few of us would want to ever do it again (in fact, most of us went out and bought proper gear right after the experience).
Brrrrrrrrrrr!!!!!!!

• The entire wedding party was looking as sharp as ever. The happy couple were especially foxy.
• Speaking of foxy, Matt’s mother, Mary, was looking dynamite. She was representing her Italian roots in full effect.
• Matt told me at some point during his bachelor’s that we were to be seated at the so-called “Fun Table”. Of course, that comes with some downsides:
  • For one thing, we were among the last to get “released” to the buffet.
  • For another, our table was actually sacrificed for room on the dance floor, so we lost it all together.
  • Finally, there’s the pressure to perform, which turned out not to be a problem — I really hope someone with a good sense of humor has the job of going through the disposable camera pictures…
• The Wife has always had a problem coordinating outfits with me when we’ve gone to things like this. I would often get annoyed because our outfits would often even clash — it’s one thing to not match, it’s another to go all black & white while I’m in earth tones… Well, this time we worked it out: I wore my brown sharkskin suit with a red/purple shirt that matched Hezzy’s top fairly closely. It paid off, too. The Wife was super-pleased by all the comments we got about our outfits — the best of which was when one of the photographers came up to us and said “You guys are without a doubt the best dressed couple here.” Score! So let that be a lesson, ladies: Treat your man like an accessory and take the time to coordinate his kit to yours (at least a bit).
• At any rate, good times were had by all. Congrats to Matt & Jen on a fine wedding.

Other than that, I didn’t do much. I ended up riding the Bonneville for about 70 miles yesterday, so that was cool.

It was, however, right in my neighborhood. I’m even partially convinced that I saw the actual lightning bolt on my drive home.

This morning, while I was stopped at the light at Huron and 144th, a stoner/meth head in one of those ridiculous Volkwagen Rabbit pickups filled with all manner of junk pulled up into the left turn lane and we have the following converstaion:

S/MH: Hey DUDE! Right on! It’s not a Harley!
Me: Ha! That’s right.
S/MH: Harleys suck!!
Me: Hahaha!
S/MH: That’s cool. I like the Triumph.
Me: Well, thanks.

So there you have it, Triumph motorcycles: Harley-hating meth head approved.

Oh, and for the two of you who ride bikes in my area and might read this, the new northern extension of Sheridan is a short, but sweet ride up to Hwy 7.

Took Betty, the Bonnie Black (which is in dire need of a bath, hence the title), for a quick ride this afternoon. On this ride, we passed the 300 mark, which means we’re finally past the official engine break-in period. W00t!