so there are a few projects left here in the house, but things are shaping up nicely.  apart from my construction-heavy “guest house” idea, and my swedish-movie-people-should-eat-outside-under-the-stars idea, we’re just about done.  here are a few previews of the house thus far:

this is our living room...

sometimes i read in my great-grandmother's rocking chair

our kitchen sink is pretty at sunset

this week we’re going to try to get started on my more grandiose projects, and finish up the basics, so hopefully i’ll have some good stuff for this-a-here blog later in the week, or next week.  

this weekend we’re heading to little rock for a fourth of july celebration with my family.  til next time.

i voluntarily went to my ten year high school reunion.  this is the sort of thing that i never thought i would be very excited about, but for whatever reason i found myself really interested in “the lives of others”.  unfortunately, once i arrived at said reunion, my nerves kicked in, and i mostly just answered the question “what are you up to these days” without thinking to reciprocate.  i feel guilty about that now.  however, i truly did have a really good time seeing old friends and otherwise.  heather asked me to choose a highlight and i think i’ve settled on visiting with jonathan reynolds, who was my first best friend.  he’s truly an awesome guy.  

and yes, i have photos– but i think my wife and old pals are getting those on the facebook circuit, so i’ll spare you.  

those of you who know me well enough to be reading this blog probably know that in the past year or so, i’ve become obsessed with grilling.  i count it as one of my “man things”.  things like … following simple directions to put together a bookshelf, opening jars, etc.  but grilling is my favorite.  so as an early birthday this year, my parents got me a kickass grill.  here’s a photo, then i’ll give you a brief run-down of it’s handy dandy features.  skip over if you’re uninterested….

m'grill

okay.  so this little girl is a 22″ charcoal grill with a gas ignition.  a little propane tank (thus far uninstalled) shoots flames onto the coals.  under the main grill there are two little pans that you put your charcoal in so you can do indirect or direct grilling by moving the pans around.  fancy ash catcher, charcoal storage, and a fucking thermometer.  BOOYAH!

i’ve already fired her up and made the usual (steak and salmon) plus some veggies and a baked potato.  exciting times in my backyard.  

i have to apologize for the lack of posts–our old wireless router, “sergio”, was not working properly.  we got a new one today named “sergio II”, and he works juuuuust fine.  so posts should resume and get boring promptly.

hello friends.  i live in arkansas now.

firstly,  i must admit, that i really really am enjoying the town.  fayetteville has lots of interesting little nooks and crevices infested with cool folks of our ilk.  

the drive here was awful, but we made it with no injuries, or hurt feelings (aside from our cat dexter who was completely confused and depressed by our overnight accommodations at the pet-friendly howard johnson in oklahoma).  aided by my brother and childhood / current pal ben, we unloaded all of our material belongings into our newest and largest material belonging.  

we’ve had a surprisingly active social life so far–we’ve already settled into our comfortable habit of turning down fun events in favor of reading at home, or more often, nesting.

the weather is absolutely nuts here.  it rains all the time, and the rain is COLD.  speaking of temperature, the evenings are a pleasant lower sixties (or tonight, upper fifties!).  the days don’t seem to get close to the nineties very often; i think one day so far.  

we finally got our internet connection about an hour ago, so i’ll be sure to be in the binary neighborhood more often.  sic’ em.