breakfast happiness

Happy Wednesday friends.  It's break week at my work (that means for a week, no kids, just paper work time.)  Break week means things chill out a bit, and we get to do things like watch movies (related to Autism) and eat popcorn and get paid for it.  Also, it gives me a chance to make a good breakfast. 

Today I had some time, so I brought a veggie sausage patty, hard boiled egg, 2 mini new potatoes, some cheese, some MN hydroponic lettuce, and a whole wheat tortilla.

 I cooked up the potato, and sausage and melted the cheese on the tortilla. 

 add a pinch of salt and pepper and there ya go.  an awesome breakfast burrito.
 It was so so good. 

Man, I really do love me a good breakfast.  Dare I say it may be my favorite meal?  That might be a little drastic.

Night Rides

Last night I had the pleasure of taking a nice nigth ride with my good buddy, Alex (or Al, or APVDH....whatever you'd prefer.)  Al and I have a lot of similar loves; Bicycles, the Green Bay Packers, Rock Music, and friends (and of course other things-like Wisconsin, Beer, Cheese, Green...etc). Whenever we are both free, we try to get together and enjoy one of the things we love to do [together].

Last night I headed over to Al's around 6:30 to catch the very end of the day light and do a quick (ish) 8 mile ride.  We just did a loop from his place (on Larpenteur, near the U) to Energy park drive, past the Saints stadium and this HUGE snow pile, to Lexington.  At Lexington we went north, up and through Como park to Hamline, and then zigzagged through the neighborhood up to Roselawn and back to Al's place.  we spent about 45 minutes or an our riding around and had a pretty nice time. 

The air was really nice last night.  Not too cool, very little wind, and in general, a clear sky.

Also, I took those goggles off after about 5 minutes of riding.  it was just too nice outside!

We stopped at the Saint Stadium to take come photos.  But being me, I forgot to upload them.....

After our ride we decided we better watch the highlight film from our beloved World Champions, the Green Bay Packers.  Al just picked up this awesome highlights video.  We got to the playoffs and I decided I better head home.  But believe you me, We will be watching the rest soon!

Also, Al has a stand in his garage, so when we started the video, we wrenched a bit....but then it got cold in the garage, so we headed inside to watch more Packers.

All in all I had a great time, as usual, hanging with my buddy.  I suspect we will be doing A LOT of riding together this spring.

Gopher for Life!!

Well friends, it's official.  I got accepted into the U of M's College of Education and Human Development!  HoOOORAY!  I'm so very excited about the news.  In fact, I cried a beautiful tear of maroon and gold.  But really folks, I'm so damn excited!  I applied for this program (to get a Master's in Education(Social Studies) and get a teaching license) in December, but I have been thinking about doing it for like 2 years.  I got my acceptance letter today and I jumped up and down in my empty office. 

I can't wait to be back on campus (if you know me at all, you are blown away by this statement) with all the co-eds wandering about.  It will be lovely to not be an undergrad, but still get to have the excuse of being a student.  And the program is 14 months long, so I'll be done before I know it! (I hope...)

My parents are so proud.  who knew I had it in me.  seriously.  And just to make you all smile on this grey Monday, below is a gorgeous photo of my Mom and I from my undergrad graduation back in 2005.  Check out those dreads, maaaan.

Happy Monday!  Or happy Monday for ME anyways!!!!!!

photos: Goldy    u of m    bridge

Saturday Fun

Hey all.  I hope you had a good weekend.  I certainly did.  Friday night we had a pretty good dinner at Stanley's in NE with Sara and Tony.  On Saturday we cleaned the heck out of our house and I took an economics quiz(thanks Justy).  Later in the night we attended an awesome joined birthday party for Megan Bird and Chris, which had a keg of Newcastle (i know!!!) This morning I made us some breakfast, watched a little wonder years, wrote a paper and am now waiting for A's Dad to arrive.  enjoy some pictures below.

 a little vinyl while we cleaned. (A's Dad is coming to town and staying with us for the week.  We deep cleaned like we haven't done in a LONG time.  Holy cow our house is now unbelievably clean.  It only took about 2-3 hours.  And we listened to a LOT of good tunes (not shown, She and Him, The Supremes, The Police, Iron and Wine)

 I rode my bike to Seward to get some food stuffs for the big visit.  We plan on making homemade spaghetti and meatballs on Monday.  (Ill tell ya how that goes on a later date.)

'

It's crazy the amount of food you can carry in a backpack while riding a bike.(cereal, milk, oj, pirate booty, tortilla chips, bag-o-onions, pb, cookies, chocolate covered raisins, chocolate covered peanuts, parmesan cheese, string cheese, cheddar cheese, eggs, apples, tomatoes, kiwi, green beans, broccoli, cauliflower, ground turkey, and ground pork.)

That was my exciting weekend.  or what I caught on film.  Man, I can't wait for Spring to come!

Today in Rock History

Hello Friends.  It's time for another piece of Rock History.  Back in 1986 the Paul Simon album GRACELAND won a Grammy for album of the year.  And it was this day in 1987 when the title track was recognized as song of the year.  Good work Paul Simon.  I believe Graceland was his 7th studio album. 

What makes this album so awesome is the use of many different talented musicians, and singers.  This album has such a unique feel to it, I love it! Not only does it have a serious South African feel to it (thank you Ladysmith Black Mambazo), it has zydeco, too. And Linda Ronstadt sings on it.  amazing.

When I was a kid I *loved* this album.  I can remember Saturday mornings after sleepovers.  My dad would make his world famous (or famous to my friends and I, anyway) doughnuts and we would watch early saved by the bell and listen to this album on cassette.  Those were the days.

I got older and I continued to love this album, probably on a much deeper level. I think this is on my top 10 of all time. For Real.  It is especially good in the early spring time.  It makes 55 degrees feel like paradise.  and in the hot mess of July nights it can turn you upside down with delight.  If you haven't listened to this album in its entirety, you should.  And if it has been a while, go take a listen.  You won't regret it.

Several years ago I had the pleasant experience of seeing this Ladysmith Black Mambazo live.  It was amazing. They have such beautiful voices, I can't even explain it. 

pics via here here here

Rock the BEAT!

 Thank you nature for making Minneapolis real nice today.  Sadly, I don't think it will last too long.  but being that it is MARCH 1st!!! Spring is just around the corner, right?  I like to keep in mind the whole "in like a Lion, out like a Lamb" thing.  That is how I keep the positive stuff flowing inside of me. 

Anyhow, today I'd like to chat about my band.  I think the last time I really talked about this subject was back when we were trying to come up with a good name.  And that has been settled for months now. Southside Hustle (obviously this is the band name we decided on) recently got a new practice space.  Up until about November we had been playing in Jac's basement/bedroom.  While it was certainly homie and nice, it was a pain in the ass for the roommates (and the likes) to have us playing loud music all the time.   So we finally found a new space we could call our own. 

 Our space (I like to call it "the fort") is located in St. Paul-midway area.  Keep in mind I do not travel to St Paul more than I need to, and really, I think this is the main/only reason I go to that side of the river. But in real time, it is only a few minutes from my house.

 Last night at practice I snapped a few photos of the space and the dudes setting up (hard to take photos of the band playing when I'm playing the drum set...)

 More often than not, when you play in a band, you drink a lot of beer.  the two just go hand in hand.  Jac brought this awesome Milk Stout last night.  It was delicious!

 It had been about a month since the whole crew has practiced (due to injury, travel, new jobs and probably some other stuff) so it felt really good to play.  We don't have any shows lined up, but we recorded back in November (just drum tracks) and are hoping to make something out of that.

 We are also trying to get some new songs written, which doesn't always happen on the quick.  But fear not, we will be back, and you will be able to check us out on a stage near you (if you live in Mpls) hopefully around April or May.

Until then, you can friend us on Facebook and maybe even listen to a tune or two.  Happy Tuesday, friends.

new mix

Hey All.  February is ALMOST OVER (HOOORAY!!!) however, I have yet to do any appreciate for black history month.  So here is a little mix of some of MY favorites, of course I could not include everyone, but this is just a start for you all.  Hopefully you all can jam to this stuff, as I am on this somewhat sunny Friday afternoon.
Cheers!  http://mixtape.me/p/20529

1. Sir Duke- Stevie Wonder.  While it may say that this is Do I Do on the play list, alas, it is not.  But I do love the song Sir Duke.  the horns, the upbeat happiness, i love.  It also reminds me of the many mix tapes i had in my shitty little car in High School.  I'd say 1/4 mixes (in those days) had this song on it.

2. Iron Lion Zion.  Today was reggae day in my office, so I decided I'd add a little Bob to my BHM dedication mix.  I really like this song-it isn't as bubble gum as say 3 little birds, or stir it up.

3. People get up....James Brown.  Who doesn't enjoy James Brown?  and isn't this photo pretty awesome?  I think he does a pretty good job getting me ready for the weekend, yourself?

4. No Scrubs-TLC.  What I really wanted was Creep or Red Light Special, but I couldn't get my hands on those songs.  You are going to have to make do with No Scrubs.  Until very recently, I did not know that a Real Housewife of Atlanta  actually wrote this one. 

5. Baby Love-The Supremes.  The ultimate ladies of Motown.  need I say more?

6. Soldier of Love-Sade.  I remember when I first heard Smooth Operator.  Sade is awesome.  Maybe she is slightly elevator-ish, but not all of her music.  This new album/single is pretty great.  according to A-it's "her jam" which is pretty great to witness her dancing and excitement over the number.

 7. Fly Away-Lenny Kravitz.  My whole life I have had a crush on Lenny.  He is beautiful.  And his music was/is pretty awesome.  I liked his 90's stuff best of all, but this particular song reminds me of the boy I dated in High School.  those were the days....

 8. Cheek to Cheek-Ella and Louis.  I heart these two.  together, separate, they are wonderful.  I think this is a great little tune as well.  When I hear this song it makes me want to be out dancin' with my girl!  I sort of wish I grew up at the time of my grandparents-only because part of growing up was learning to dance all classy like.  Kids these days learn to grind and make me vomit in my mouth a little bit. 

 9. What you Want-the Roots Featuring Jill Scott.  I'm no hip hop expert, but the root are f*ing awesome.  have you heard ?love rock the drums?  AMAZING.  there aren't a ton of hip hop bands that are bands, not just a front man.  I love how these guys play live music. And Jill Scott-what a voice, eh?

10. Hit the Road, Jack-Ray Charles. This is one of those songs that used to make me excited when I was a really little kid.  Just like Yakidy Yak always made me smile, so did this one.  Also, kids don't know what any of the songs they like mean, so I think I must have just thought the rhyming was good.  who knows.

 11.  Alright-John Legend.  Not my lady Amanda, but my bestie Amanda is a John Legend fan.  I hear his music and I think of her.  Also, my office mate is a big JL fan and I think adding this to the list of greats was a must.  he is pretty talented.

12. Wolf Like Me-TV on the Radio. Again, I was hoping for a different TV on the Radio Song, but this mix host really isn't great.  So, Wolf Like Me, which was probably their biggest success, it has to be.  I like this Brooklyn Based band.  They are hard, but not too hard, but there is definitely a lot of emotion, but not in a sissy way.  All in all, check these guys out.

13. Right Here (Human Nature Remix) SWV.  When I was about 10, I had this single....on a cassette tape.  I would listen to it by myself in my bedroom, singing along, wishing I could be in the music video.  I think it was around the same time that I wanted to be able to drive in a big old convertible with a dude name Big J and a jar of Gin and Juice (of course I didn't really know what any of that meant at the time, I just though tit would be cool.....)  About 2 months ago I heard this song for the first time in a while and it made me really happy. I hope it does it for you.

Happy Weekend, Y'all! 

cassette tape  Stevie Wonder  James Brown TLC  Sade   Lenny  Ella and Louis the roots  John Legend SWV