LIFE AT 9k RPM

Twitter Info...

2008-05-16T09:00:00.001-07:00

So as an experiment the other week... my Boss Joey asked our team to start twittering in order to keep up with one another... since we are always in meetings and never know what everyone is up to... So... if you're interested in following me... and letting me follow you:

Go to http://twitter.com and sign up. I'm zero9. Once you sign up and in and make an account search for me and ask to add me.

Essentially for those of you who are wondering... twitter is sort of a micro blog thing... short replies about what you are up to... you log in and make a user account. you can use it via the web... you can download it as a desktop ap... you can download it on your phone... basically it's short replies limited to 104 works... kind of a day in the life of kind of thing. It's bringing our group together more and we've enjoyed it.

Go check it out if you like. it's getting popular.. so sometimes their site can't handle the traffic... but other than that...

Deep Sea Fishing

2008-05-16T06:26:00.001-07:00

So Lee's friends have decided to go deep sea fishing. After realizing that Lee was serious when he told them that it's one of his wife's favorite things to do, I'm helping to plan the trip! It'll be in June (HOT!!) and should be a lot of fun. Here are some photos from the last time I went with my dad. I'm hoping we'll go again this year the next time he and my mom come to visit (hint, hint).

Blog Ketchup by Erin

2008-05-15T15:35:00.000-07:00

In August for our first wedding anniversary back to Rosemary Beach. (We'll be going again this August!) It was just as gorgeous as when we left it last year after our honeymoon. The next week it was out to California for Lee's cousin's (Matt) wedding. It was beautiful and we got to see lots of family which is always great! We went from CA to Las Vegas with part of the family to celebrate another one of Lee's cousin's (Liz) 21st birthday! We stayed at the Bellagio and saw all the sights - I even gambled (and of course, eventually lost) $5. That was enough for me! Lee had been to Vegas before so didn't feel the need to gamble/lose any money… smart guy I married, right!?

After Vegas, we headed home and had a relaxing few weeks…

We didn't do too terribly much in September but then once October came, we were off running again! We went to Ohio for my cousin's (David) wedding. Lee hadn't met everyone on my mom's side of the family yet (and there are A LOT of people to meet) and he did an incredible job keeping everyone straight (which is even more difficult given that there were 13 kids under the age of 10 and they all look alike)!

When we got back from Ohio, one of Lee's best friends from high school came to stay with us and go to Disney World with his family. Philip, Amanda, Julia and Emma spent the week in Mickey heaven while we went to work and joined them in the parks afterward. We were all exhausted but had SO much fun and Lee and I got to be "better than grandparents" (the girl's words, not mine) for the week. We tried not to spoil them too much. :)

Later in October Lee and I were finally able to take our FREE Disney Cruise. We were supposed to go last May, but I was sick with the flu so we had to put it off. We had a great time relaxing on the beach at Disney's private island (Castaway Cay) and on the ship. We decided that once was enough for us in Nassau though (if you aren't interested in being swindled, getting your hair braided or buying tacky souveniers, rest assured you aren't missing anything if you never make it to Nassau).

The following weekend we drove to Atlanta (for what turned out to be the quickest trip ever) to Eggtoberfest. This is a yearly gathering of Big Green Egg enthusiasts (which apparently we are) and was a lot of fun. We found out that Tucker, GA is NOT a good place to stay (long story) and that Lee cooks WAY better than the experts at the festival. Next year we'll save our gas money for some nice steaks to cook on the BGE and stay home that weekend. More to come!

2008-05-15T08:38:00.000-07:00

New Post...

2008-05-15T06:56:00.000-07:00

Ok.. so just posting to get in the habit of posting again.

Picked up Erin's new furniture last night. Set it up in the dining room. Thanks to Brett for all the help!

The night before that we met Beth/Chris and their kids at the Magic Kingdom. They were awesome. We enjoyed the fireworks.

I'll post pics of the new table/chairs... when I get a chance.

Got a new mac at work... even though I had a new mac at work... These guys are great! Every few months I get the latest and greatest machine on the planet! I guess it's a catch 22 though... b/c now my cinema display and mac at home seem small and slow! Getting spoiled! I think this is my 3rd machine at work in the last 2 years.

Back in the Saddle?

2008-05-13T05:28:00.000-07:00

Ok... time to get the blog rollin' once again. For the first post back... I'm not going to post anything interesting or important.

I think Leah, the BEST/GREATEST/MOST AWESOMENESS sister in law in the whole universe, is the only person who reads this anywayzzz... :) Wait.... that was important :)

Erin and I have been working. Not that work isn't interesting or important... Erin has lots to do with her new promotion which is good b/c she now has more to do than there is time to do it in... so at least we both are at the same page with that. Actually things at work have died down some for me b/c a few of my large projects have wrapped up and I haven't taken on anything big.

Erin and I will have to post some videos or something soon. We just got a cheap HD video camera with a gift certificate I've had for best buy for like 3 years. Thanks Dad! It was like $200... which is cheaper than the average video camera. We just wanted to get something cheap until prices drop and HD is all worked out since everything is new. But we wanted something now so we have vids of ourselves as newly weds... I plan on being a newlywed for the rest of my life though... but something to get us on tape for our kids to see one day... us before them... I dunno... It'll be fun.

Other than work and our HD camera we haven't used... I've been painting with Kaminski. We have done 7 or so pieces together. I'll take some pics and post them... maybe. We're having lots of fun. I think the plan is to make a portfolio and get signed... mainly so we can have more money for art supplies... we're addicted to painting... and painting can get expensive... so for now we're painting on free sheets of metal we were given by a print shop...

Erin has been doing some scrap booking recently. I tried to buy her two really rad books the other day about scrapping booking... they were serious projects though... like the guys who are really really good... that do everything by hand.. including typography... it was actually very similar to a style of art she likes by an artist who has a gallery down near Rosemary so I thought she'd like them... but she told me they were too serious/good. Anyway... she recently decided to take all my pics... which I was just slamming in boxes... and started making me photo albums. They're rad!

Beth... someone Erin grew up around that I've never met is in town... so I hope we get to meet them tonight after work! HINT HINT Air!

Oh yeah and Air found the table that matches our bed... we all know how important it is to have a kitchen table that matches your bedroom set... so we went and looked it over and got it for her sunday... I just need to rent a truck and move it over. So now we have more furniture... not really sure what we're going to do with it... We have one table that we never use... and like 12 chairs we never use... now I guess we'll have two tables and 16 chairs to never use :) Speaking of our furniture mess... Brett moved in with us until he moves off to school... (Well... actually Erin and I forced him to leave Lisa and move in with us)... which will probably be Tulane. So now the drums are the the Piano room which is really a dining room... the piano is in Alabama... the weight equipment is in the den... everything Brett owns is in what was the drum room or what is suppose to be an office... The office... which is currently in the Piano (suppose to be living room but now is turning into the drum room) is about to be moved into the den b/c we've discovered the joy is streaming HD content live off the internet for free (who needs cable:) )... We're about to hook my apple up to the TV so we only pay for internet. We use the kitchen table, which ironically is in the kitchen... for box storage... Other than that things are pretty normal. We sleep in our bedroom, though right now we are storing car parts in it.

One day though we'll actually figure out how to use our house and get it all together.

Anyway.. here are a few sites to check out if you want to start using online content:

Modern Feed: Index of online content to watch. Great! Erin and I have been catching up on all our favorite cable shows.
http://www.modernfeed.com/home/

HULU: Streams movies straight to your computer. We've watched two movies this way. Not the best quality ever but good enough since it's free.
http://www.hulu.com/

Ok... Gotta get to work. More later!

Oh My!

2008-03-23T20:28:00.000-07:00

I figured out how to reset the forgotten password/email account to our blog - Oh Happy Day (or Oh Happy Night since it is 11:29PM)!!!! Yay! :)

It's Official!

2007-08-15T10:30:00.000-07:00

... I'm a Tropical Storm! (www.cnn.com/2007/US/08/15/storms/index.html)

http://www.lefthandedtoons.com/

2007-08-14T14:25:00.000-07:00

These made me (Erin) laugh today :)

New addition to the family!

2007-08-08T07:46:00.000-07:00

After much research... investigation... deliberation... a few road trips... lots of spent gas... We finally found a car. And just in time to drive baby Kate around in when the Texas Clark's arrive! We started out wanting to buy a cheap 7k landscape/house work truck... but we were pretty dissapointed to see how poorly the Exterra holds together after only 70k miles... they seem to fall apart interior wise. So we looked at a newer one w/ less miles... but then decided the money would not be well spent b/c the car would fall apart. We liked that the newer one had 6 airbags and more safety features though. We then decided that for the money... we'd like something safe... and that by buying a truck we'd be sacrificing good gas mileage and safety ona daily basis for the few times a year we need to haul something. So we then got down to a 4 door sedan. With our budget... we sought out to see what used 4 door sedan we could buy that was built in Japan. The newer Hondas are built here now. :( We discovered that for the price of a used accord (and less than the price of say a Jetta built in Mexico)... we could buy a Lexus IS300... made in Japan. So we set out to inspect a few high mileage IS300s to see how they were holding up. We then drove a few new ones to compare them to the older ones... We were very impressed. The interiors are built to last... and mechanically the ones with 100k plus miles drove just like the newer ones... Just like our old Legends use to do! So in our mids Lexus is the new Honda. Luckily out of the 66 we looked at... Erin happened to like the one with gun metal rims the most! Good taste I must say! Luckily too this one had no bent frame or paint work!

Magic Kingdom Trip

2007-08-08T07:16:00.000-07:00

Erin Finally Decides to Post Something!
Mom and Dad came down to visit for a long weekend and we went to the Magic Kingdom®. After posing for this picture, we rode the new ride Monsters, Inc. Laugh Floor®, Inspired by Disney·Pixar's Monsters, Inc.® and the new Pirates of the Caribbean®, Inspired by Disney's Pirates of the Caribbean®, complete with Johnny Depp animatronics! Luckily, we don't have any pictures of us all after the rain storm we were caught in at the end of the night... :)

©Disney

Leah

2007-08-02T12:02:00.001-07:00

Leah was the first to make her Simpson Avatar for the blog... so here she is in full glory :) Waiting to hear from everyone else :)

Simpson Sketches....

2007-07-31T06:16:00.000-07:00

Ok... so everyone loves the Simpson portraits.. so let's roll with it... I'd like for you... yes you... to go make your own and then I'll post it at our blog :) So I can collect our whole family and you too can be part of the blog. :) This'll be fun for the whole family!

It's simple but the user interface is kind of poorly designed so here are some tips so your experience is less painful than my first one was and you find all the options:

1. Surf over to this URL: http://www.simpsonsmovie.com/main.html
2. Enter the site and Design your portrait as a Simpson Character by clicking on the "Create your Simpsons Avatar" button at the top of the screen next to the simpson logo.
3. You don't have to login just click new character and select your sex (male/female).
4. Next you can change your sex on the first screen if you messed up. Pick your body shape & color then click on the arrow at the top right hand corner of the page that seems to be associated with the male/female switching option but is really for you to move to the next step.
5. Pick and color your hair by clicking on the color pallette at the bottom of the screen to color and the new arrows to scroll through the hair designs until you find your hair type... once you are done you'll use the arrows at the top right hand corner of the window to move back and forth from step to step. You can go back a step and change something at any point.
6. When you get to the shoes/pants click on which one you want to edit and you can color them. That's the last step...
7. Don't use the send to a friend option b/c it compresses the image more and it is smaller than the ones I put up of Erin and I... instead click on the "download your avatar" button which is an arrow point downwards... that will open a screen and you can choose your download option... select jpeg (top option in black type)...
8. It will download on your desktpo and then you can just email me your jpeg and I'll start posting you guys up :)

Took longer to type that than it'll take you to create your avatar...

So GO FORTH and do it already!!!

Back in the Saddle Again...

2007-07-27T14:16:00.000-07:00

Sorry... We've been busy.. so busy in fact that I even forgot how to log into our blog.

Now where did we leave off?

We had a great visit with my parents. I didn't take any pics b/c our camera is broken and I still haven't sent our Nikon off for repairs. oops.

Fast forward one week and we ran to the house in ALABAMA and picked up some yard tools and some of my old furniture so we'll have two guest rooms for visiting company. We'll be putting the new yard tools to use this weekend :) Thanks dad! In particular I guess I'll be pressure washing the driveway, sidewalks and curbs. YAY.

Other than that... Erin and I began our first series of dance lessons... fun but not exactly what we wanted so we might finished them up and find something else.

I tried to buy a cello the other week... thinking we could convince any children we have to play it. Ironically it is for sale by the ppl who sold us the house. Humm... maybe it's still for sale.

Anway... since the camera is broken... here is a quick Portrait of Erin and I as Simpson Characters. Enjoy. Note Erin's ring...

We look forward to Erin's parents coming down soon... I plan to have both the guest rooms set up for their arrival. Now we'll actually have a table to eat meals at :) YAY! So it looks like we'll be cleaning/setting the house up this weekend. We're thrilled to be able to have more room for everyone.

Things seem to be well for Erin at work... I'm busier than ever :o Just hoping to get things calmed down so we can make it out of town for our Anniversary trip and Matt's wedding... two seperate trips... same month.

More Later...

Next time on "Where Will Erin Fall Asleep Next"...

2007-07-11T08:07:00.000-07:00

This pic pretty much sums up yesterday. Work... then we got home and I started to light the BGE to grill some Sirloins... YAY!!!! Only it started to thunder and lightning... Erin didn't like the idea of me grilling in thunder/lightning... well not really the grilling part but more of the me dying part she didn't like... especially since it was very nearby... I told her real men grill in anything... but she didn't like that... so she made some bean/vegetarian speghetti instead.... it was really awesome tasting stuff and it let me have time to clean the garage up some! The camera battery was dead... I/we hate Erin's camera anyway... so I'm finally getting off my lazy rear end and I'm shipping my/our Nikon off for repairs.. hopefully soon it'll be up and running. So you all will have better pics :) YAY!!! I took this shot with our cell phone camera (we both really dislike our new cell phone too) while I was riding my trainer lat night. Erin was sweet enough to come lay on the couch and sleep near me while I excercised. She's so cute when she's sleeping... don't let the pic fool you though... she bites when she's awake. LOL. Just kidding... I have the best wife ever :)

Speaking of things Erin has cooked... Check out this Turkey! Erin cooked this back during Christmas... I love Christmas! This Turkey was amazing BTW! We tried the same recipe in the BGE.. I didn't cook it right though... still learning.

LAST FEW DAYS IN WONDERLAND... OR WORKERLAND

2007-07-10T14:19:00.000-07:00

Excuse me officer, have you seen my sander?

Popcorn ceilings must die!!!! What my wife wants.. she gets! And in this case it's flat ceilings.

BONES HEAL AND CHICKS DIG SCARS... EXCEPT FOR MY WIFE WHO GETS MAD AT ME WHEN I HURT MYSELF WORKING ON THE HOUSE.

Meanwhile Air gets her beauty rest... HUMMMM.... What's wrong with this picture?

We went to Magical Mealtime this weekend to pre-prepare some meals... now the freezer is loaded... with dead stuff to throw on the BGE :)

ROCKS... RIVER ROCKS... I put these out around the fence opening since grass won't grow there and pinestraw clogs it form opening. River rocks are expensive :(

ERIN gets new flowers almost everyday from her hubby :)

More of Erin's new flowers. I found these at the downtown Celebration Market place... these were on our list as one of our favorite flowering trees... Plumeria. YUM! Luckily we found them much easier than we thought we'd be able to.

More of Erin's new flowers.

Even more of Erin's new flowers.

That might look like a new AC unit... but it's just a fresh coat of paint! Ha! Tricked ya!

The Trash Drama... For reasons unknown to us... OUR trash guys are sissies... and they refuse to pick anything up that weights over a few lbs... so more than the weight of a few slices of paper... they also cry when our trash can is one inch off it's marker... If it ain't paper they don't want it. Little do then know...they will take our trash one rock at a time. Then they'll probably find this blog and arrest us.

To promote the Simpson movie, 7-11 partnered with the Simpsons to turn 11 7-11's into Kwiki Marts... oddly enough one of those 11 stores is right next door to Downtown Disney... which oddly enough is almost in our backyard... So we payed Homer a little visit this weekend!

Brett and Lisa with homer.

The Big Green Egg finally gets it's well deserved cover!

What's new in Orlando... Work wise...

2007-07-06T13:50:00.000-07:00

I while back I was in the Magic Kingdom before it opened for a photoshoot... Here are two pics I snapped. It's rare and rather nice to be able to wonder around in the parks before they open and take some shots of some of our architecture.

In other work yet fun related news...a while back Erin and I modeled for two photoshoots... One was for some Disney Store NEW YORK ads... and another shoot was for a resort shot... Here is the resort shot... which ended up not only going into the resorts catalog but also ended up in the main Disney Travel brochure and as of this week it's now on our main website. :)

I also did a Adventure by Disney Photoshoot today (sans Erin :()... so I'll be in Spain for that soon! :) I'll post the other pics when I have the clearance to do so.

Update: Team Clark

2007-07-06T10:41:00.001-07:00

Erin's new house :)

Erin and Lee pose with her new house.

Erin walking in her park on lunch break.

Fred... Tiger still has one eye.

Our $5 light from a garage sale. Installed by Lee and Brett sans any electrocution.

HA! Erin's mailbox looks better than theirs! Only b/c Lee paintd it!

DEAD COW.. it's whats for dinner!

2007-07-06T10:02:00.000-07:00

Other than DCL AND YS work... here is what happened after 5:30 yesterday.Erin cleaned the grill grate from the 20 hour burn... as I fired the grill up and worked with the steaks...

While Brett seemed to be doing research on a burnt penis which turned out to only be some sort of burnt pig leg.

A DEAD COW IS A HAPPY COW!!! And this happy Cow was from Sams... USDA Choice Filet... a little aged from sitting around the fridge for a few days b/c we were so happy eating that Pork from our 4th burn...

A HAPPIER COW IS A DEAD Cooked Cow that magically turns into Filet Mignon :) YUM!!!

I suppose the Happiest Cow ever is one turned into Filet served with a side of grilled corn, sweet potato and Erin's Kick Ass Green Beans.

Without a doubt... this was the best steak we've ever had. Sorry Charlies... Sorry Ruth Chris... Sorry Fred... I used T-Rex's Green Egg method. It was the softest/juciest/tastiest steak Erin and I have ever had... We voted it the best thing we have ever eaten in life period. Sorry Mom. Above any sort of sweets/goodies/meat/food etc. We still can't believe we made it in our backyard... We seared them at almost 800 degrees/let them cool for 20 minutse and then we smoked them for a few minutes at 400 degrees...

Erin and Tiger slept their Filet off...

While I did dishes and exercised my calories off...

Sorry.. turn your head to see the new Jenn Air dishwasher. I know I'm a graphic designer and I could rotate this but it's not happening.

Turn your head again... Erin eating left over Pork for Lunch.

Erin posing with the new washing machine.

The new Jenn Air Microwave... Note cool top vent that opens while in use.

As promised

2007-07-06T07:16:00.000-07:00

Everyone has been asking for Pics of the NSX and I keep promising to take/send pics but I never do. Sorry guys! So.... Here is something temporary.... here it is... The daily driver.. Grocery getter and landscape vehicle. This was taken by one of our Disney Pro Photographers for a Make a Wish Project I did. Not my fav angle.... I'll have to take/post some shots when I find the time... all the pics we have so far Brett or I snapped with a low rez camera in bad light when the car was dirty and they weren't taken at a good angle.... So more later possibly.

White Trash moves into Celebration

2007-07-05T14:35:00.000-07:00

WHITE TRASH POWER!!! CARBON FIBRE COMPTECH SUPERCHARGED NSX-T! YUM! LIGHTWEIGHT INTEGRA TYPE–R! YUM!

Their Garage=TRASHY TACKY CAR NUTS I GUESS.

Their Daily Driver after a 2k mile trip To Nashville and back for a timing belt and water pump change.

White trash grilling in the front yard... They're even too ghetto to have Beer. They drink Creme Soda instead :) Gotta LOVE Brett's Pineapple and Ham Pizza though!

White Trash grilling at 2 am in their front yard dumping trash on it :) Please note stolen office chair in lue of any real BBQ furniture. Taking CELEBRATION down one Creme Soda at a time!!! This pic was from Lee's first Turkey cook (preparing to have the fam down for Thanksgiving since Air has to work). Lee eventually ended up in the ER with a shard of natural lump charcoal that flared up and pierced his eyeball! YUM! They removed it with a metal drill bit. Not kidding. YUM!!!

4th of July

2007-07-05T14:01:00.000-07:00

For those of you wondering what we did on the fourth... Here it is:

July 3rd... 5:30... One Lee sorting Lump. Please take note of Erin's Pretty Flowers and our awesome landscaping which is in progress. That's the only thing that seems to grow ok in our yard. Good job Air :) NOT PICURED: Erin slaving in the Kitchen on the slaw and beans. Lee preparing the BBQ sauce/meat etc. wait I think all that was on July 2nd.

BOW DOWN TO THE BGE!!!! July 3rd... Lee's carefully sorted Lump methodically organized w/ wood chips in the BGE for a 20 hour low–n–slow burn.

One Pork Shoulder... Rubbed down and ready with Apple juice for... wait... we're not giving away our BBQ secrets :) Not b/c we're greedy... but just b/c it'd take too darn long.

Dead Pig on BGE ready to smoke for 20 hours.

20 or so hours later: Dead Pig pulled off the bone... ready to eat!

Lee's homemade Peach Death XXX BBQ sauce... We guess they liked it. Please note the Twin Mickey ears BBQ spill on the serving platter... Maybe we can sell it on e-bay.

Brett's St. Loius Style Smoked BBQ Ribs. Yum!

Alabama Sweet Tea w/ mint not pictured. Creme Soda is almost as good though... The Final Results: Best Baked Beans we've ever tasted... Erin worked on the beans and slaw. Also the best Pulled Pork we've ever had... We'll try another slaw recipe next time for teh hell of it. Brett might experiment with more rib rubs? There isn't much we'd change about the beans and pulled pork or BBQ sauce.

Strictly speaking bang for the buck... that Dead Pig was $8 from Sams and I think we can eat 15 or so meals for 2-3 off of it. The buns/bread are more expensive.

I'd post pics of fireworks... or Air.. but she didn't take any pics of them or herself... as pictured I was too dirty/busy cooking to touch our camera.. and the one pic I took of her eating at lunch... we'll she won't let me post it anway :(

WE STARTED A BLOG!

2007-07-05T13:16:00.001-07:00

HERE IT IS... SO NOW YOU CAN WATCH OUR LIVES IN A VOYERISTIC FASHION. And I promise it'll be about more than BBQ and NSXes. As long as Erin eventually starts bloggin here with me... If she doesn't I guess this is headed straight for the toilet and all you'll see here is dead things on the BIG GREEN EGG and car parts.