The three is all that’s good and right,
Why must my three keep out of sight
Beneath the vicious square root sign,
I wish instead I were a nine

For nine could thwart this evil trick,
with just some quick arithmetic

I know I’ll never see the sun,
as 1.7321
Such is my reality,
a sad irrationality

When hark! What is this I see,
Another square root of a three

As quietly co-waltzing by,
Together now we multiply
To form a number we prefer,
Rejoicing as an integer

We break free from our mortal bonds
With the wave of magic wands

Our square root signs become unglued
Your love for me has been renewed

- Dave Feinberg

We also started jogging at the local State Park which is actually a lot of fun. We use it as an opportunity to meditate and, by the end of this week, we'll be up to 20 minutes of non-stop jogging. I think it's fun to set personal goals - I seem to improve significantly each day! Our main goal is to be fit enough to run in a 5k that's coming up in September. Up to this point, we've been training consistently 3 days a week - strictly following the Couch to 5k training schedule. I'm taking Murphy with us for the first time tonight - should be interesting to see how he affects my performance.

In other news, we joined a community garden that's just a few miles down the road. Basically, we contribute 12 hours of work over the course of the summer, and we're rewarded with all the organic vegetables we can eat - quite a treat at today's food prices! We've become good friends with the farmer and his wife - they're Quakers that seem to be giving a lot back to the local community by providing affordable organic produce. So far we've enjoyed zucchini, lettuce, Walla Walla onions, raspberries, and marionberries. You have no idea how excited I am to sink my teeth into a fresh tomato in the next few weeks.

This past weekend was spent making liqueurs (cordials). Last year we produced roughly twenty-four 375mL bottles, however, we're increasing production this year. We're currently fermenting 14 gallons of marionberry and raspberry liqueurs (7 gallons each) - enough to fill over sixty 750mL bottles! We got a great deal on the fruit since we're in the peak of Oregon's berry season, and we are using a grain alcohol base (rather than vodka) to improve extraction. Can you believe we bought 12 bottles of Everclear from our local liquor store!? You should have seen the look on their faces when I asked for a case of 190 proof booze! It was a long weekend indeed, but our hard work will be rewarded in about 6 months. It's going to be a great winter! We documented the process this year with our new camera, so you can check Ronda's site for pictures in the coming weeks.

That's about it for now - stay tuned for more updates about progress in reaching our 5k goal!

Here I am, editing a video, and for no reason what-so-ever, this darn School House Rock video starts unfolding inside my head. At first I didn't even realize what I was humming.

"Lolly lolly lolly get your adverbs here." *where is that from, why am i singing this?*

All I can say is thank goodness for Google. A query with those keywords yielded a youtube video that, although satisfied my curiosity, didn't do a darn thing for getting this god-forsaken song out of my head! I mean it's been at least ten years since I saw this on TV, why is it popping into my head now?

You know how there are certain laws of physics (gravity, motion, etc.)? Well I think there should be a new law that declares that if you've eluded a song or jingle for a given amount of time, you are safe from ever having to hear it again. Say . . . seven years? Good. Then keep me away from this video for another 6 years, 364 days.

*side note: the little boy's over-modulated voice scares the living hell out of me*

"You know, in Zen Buddhism, they have a saying which is 'All enlightenment comes from adversity.' You just don't become enlightened unless you go through adversity. You know what I do with that statement? I turn it around into the athletic arena and I say 'If you want to experience your greatness - I don't mean the greatest runner that ever ran, I'm just talking about your own personal greatness, to discover how good you can be. All of your personal greatness will only come when you experience suffering.' And, as an athlete, you must sacrifice and you must suffer - whatever that takes."

As inspiring as that is, the best thing about it is that it's all totally unscripted. It was simply his response to an athlete's concerns. Good guy.

Note to self - ensure this gets into the final draft.

"Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone." - Pablo Picasso (1881-1973)

I've heard variations of procrastination quotes all throughout my life. "You may delay, but time will not." "Live like you're dying." "Never put off until tomorrow what you can do today." It seems like very other day some carpe-diem-ian (?) is trying to extol the value of the present day, but never before have I looked at it as Picasso so bluntly stated. I think it has something to do with him mentioning the possibility of an important task being left incomplete, which is a different approach than other quotes I've come across. It's the introduction of that chance, that risk, that strikes fear in me and forces me to reevaluate my priorities.

I'm not talking about material things - such as buying a house, traveling, or even securing my financial future. If I'm to die tomorrow, those tangible objects would have little importance to anyone beyond my heirs - and even to them, only a small amount. For me, at least, it's the relationships in my life that I value the most. It's the phone call I should place today; the relationship I should mend today; the limitless love and attention I should share today; the absolute beauty, underestimated strength, and omnipresent compassion of human nature that I should realize today.

Don't get me wrong though; I'm still focusing on much more than the present day. As with most things in life, there is a balance to be found. Ronda and I basically put ourselves through a self-enforced boot camp starting last January - the focus of which was centered on our future together. The mistakes we've made, the experience and wisdom we've gained, and the hardships we've endured are all material for a remarkable story that we will be ready to share soon so I won't go into a whole lot of detail. I will, however, share the quote that has been an inspiration to us both throughout all of this:

"If you'll live like no one else, later you can live like no one else."

This quote is often attributed to Dave Ramsey, although I'm not confident that it originated with him. I'm honestly not a huge fan of Ramsey, but if he did indeed make that statement (sans right-wing guidance), I have to give him the respect he deserves. I take pride in my individuality and realize that if I want to surpass the average American lifestyle, I have act different than the average American. Naturally, the aforementioned lifestyle is one that has been rooted into the very foundation of my beliefs through advertising, peers, and authority figures. But with hard work, determination, and a game plan, I've realized that any task can be accomplished - even one as difficult as unlearning 23 years of consumer propaganda.

Again, we'll be at a place in the next few months where we'll be prepared to (hopefully shamelessly) share our story with the world. Perhaps in the meantime, you will re-read those two quotes and begin to truly understand the unyielding power that lies in your hands to shape every aspect of your own future - be it a task that you should complete today or the life that you want to live tomorrow.

The worst (and most embarrassing) part of all this is after my foot was burned, I made a feeble attempt at running out of the kitchen. See, the problem with having boiling water all over the floor is that you don't know where it is. You know, because water is clear and all. So as I was running away, I couldn't help but step on what felt like a bed of freshly forged nails. My legs kept giving out from the pain, forcing me to fall face first into the mess. By the time I made it into the carpeted living room, my foot, elbows, and knees were all throbbing with pain. The ensuing blisters can only be described as enormous goiters.

It's times like this when you realize that perhaps you should have bought some Ibuprofen or Tylenol when you were at the store. Luckily I have a wife who reminded me of an ancient Irish ritual for reducing pain and lifting spirits: drinking booze. That, combined with oils and ointments, has guided me to a speedy recovery.

I'm not sure when I last posted on my website. It could've been this Christmas, it could've been this past summer - no matter. I would like to say that I've been too busy to write, but that is not the case. I suppose that I've been too preoccupied to consider doing anything for myself. See, I've been spending my time developing a very important aspect of a company dear to me. So much so that I've neglected to cater to those issues nearest me.

I may be enjoying, a bit too much, a glass of Prosecco. However, I will refrain from editing this because it is my raw persona. From this point on, you are reading from the keyboard to the screen. I will now search for a "Death Cab for Cutie" concert featuring "I Will Follow You Into the Dark". Goodbye!

No love for the average load. Such is life . . .

Last but not least, Murphy Roper HATES walls.

Enjoy this slideshow of where Ronda, Murphy, and I work and live. Put your mouse over the images for captions.

LAUNCH THE SLIDESHOW!

DURING (Tearing out the 'ol piece of crap stove)

AFTER (A new cutting board counter created from scratch by yours truly)

AFTER (Another angle)

AFTER (Our new stove/oven to replace the old built in oven which needed the help of a bungee cord to stay closed)