Quick update

So, Angie and I are now choosing between graduate school at Arizona State, University of Utah and the University of Idaho. We drove to Moscow Idaho to see what it was all about and really liked it. We wanted to check out Phoenix, but we're pretty sure we're not going to end up there (it's too hot and too many people and too expensive). I heard back from my old comrades in Richmond where I worked last year and they want me back on board this year. I am thrilled to quit my lame graveshift job. I have kept myself entertained there by collecting interesting funny names that I see on pieces of mail (I see literally 100's of thousands of names everyday). Here are some of my favorites:

William B. Bumgardner III
Richard Nixon
Tommy A. Morrow
Dedmon
Blood
Freeze
Estelle Cake
Puh
Cynthia Peeple
Marlin D. Mullet
Margit M. Loser
Daniel Christ
Amy Caution
William Fagg
Tina Outlawwaters
Eliuth G. Moron
David S. Bottoms
Michael Butts
John Buttram
Ralph R. Boring
Peter Bushyhead
Leroy Brown
Diane Reminder
Mertle Turnipseed
Ramona Hooker
Dan Pickle
Survive W. Freedom
David Dang
Jean Goodenough
James P. Lady
Theresa Pubrat

It's amazing the kinds of things you find to occupy your mind while your standing for 12 hours staring at a belt line.

Nile to be published!

For those of you who don't know, I've dabbled in designing games for the last few years. It's just been a hobby, and I've had lots of fun doing it. Recently I've had some fun new developments that I've been really excited about. First off, a card game I created called "Nile" has been picked up by a company called Minion Games to be published later this year! Secondly, I entered a few of my games into an annual amateur game design competition called the Ion Award which is in conjunction with the Saltcon board game convention. My game "Sprawl" was selected as a finalist and I was asked to present my game to a panel of 8 judges who are professionals from the boardgame industry. It was nerve-racking, but lots of fun and my game was really well received by all the judges. At the convention they announced the winners and I took 2nd place! What's more exciting though, is that the judge representing the largest of the companies said that he wanted to show my game to his company (Fred Distribution). So I'm in the process now of tightening up the game and making a final prototype to send to him in Oregon. Anyways, lots of fun stuff happening! I'll be sure to keep everyone posted as there are more developments

I Finally Did It!

so after lots of talking about it, i finally opened up an etsy shop! i just did it today and there's not much in it but go check it out! you can see the project i've been working on most recently...it's been a lot of fun. go to stinksopurdy.etsy.com

Dangie to the 3rd Power!!!

Wow, we’ve been married 3 years today! It seemed to pass really quickly, but it also seems like we’ve been together for much longer too. I think after 3 years we both have a pretty good idea of what makes the other tick and what makes the other melt, that’s good progress to make, of course there’s always room for improvement (mostly on my part). I have been working at R.R. Donnelley's for the last 2 weeks and it’s really not that bad. The pay is okay for the kind of work I’m doing and I really like the people I work with. We are glad to have an income again and I’m sure Angie is glad to have me out of the house regularly. All things considered, life has been really good to us this last year and we are looking forward to our fourth year together with optimism and smiles!

Got a job, and other happenings of late

Angie and I were boardgame pawns for halloween. Angie made the costumes
Well, those of you who know I was laid off about a month ago know that I've been searching for a job since then. I've been applying all over the western United States to different GIS positions, but haven't seen any luck yet. After talking with some of my colleagues where I had been working and speaking with Jacob and some of my old professors Angie and I decided now was a great time to go back to school. So I've been applying to different programs around. My goal is a career in rural/regional planning. There are some good Masters programs here at USU, and at the University of Idaho for bioregional planning that came highly recommended by those I have spoken to. I had a ball studying for the GRE (not really), and it went pretty well. I've applied to the University of Idaho, the University of Montana, and the University of Utah. Utah and Montana are not exactly what I was looking for, but they are great planning programs and I would consider either of them if accepted. Getting desperate for some kind of income I've been lowering my expectations and applying to janitor positions and the like. We need something to keep us going while we're waiting for school to start (next September). Well, I finally got a job that fits the bill pretty nicely. It's working as a mail-sorter at a private company that's just about 5 blocks away from us. The pay isn't bad for the kind of work it is, plus I'll work about 16 hours of overtime each week (it's 7 days/wk through January). It's swing shift, so I can sleep like a normal person and still have my mornings to keep looking for a job/doing school application stuff. Unfortunately, it means I have to sacrifice all of my regular evening activities (i.e. Scouts, our game group and sunday dinners with the inlaws). So anyways- there's a quick update on what's been happening with us lately. Angie and I have been seeing a lot of each other lately, which is fun, but I think Angie is ready for me to be some where else all day :) All in all, life is pretty good

"Until Next Time, Enjoy Our Wild America!"

As a young boy, I often spent Sunday evenings watching quality PBS programs such as NATURE, NOVA, NATIONAL GEOGRAPHIC, and of course MARTY STOUFFER'S WILD AMERICA. My brother Jacob and I had such a great time watching and learning all about nature and wildlife. It became a comforting tradition to watch nature shows. Of particular interest to us was WILD AMERICA since it focused on our own turf, usually right in the rockies themselves. We loved Marty Stouffer's soothing narration, placid and homey sweaters, and of course his awesome beard. Dad contributed to PBS pretty regularly and we got as a pledge gift 2 Wild America specials, a 10 year best of, and my favorite- Great Escapes. I had that Great Escapes video completely committed to memory, my favorite part was the snowhare escaping the lynx. If any of you have seen it, you know the one I'm talking about. I wanted to be Marty Stouffer and was dissappointed when my 2 older brothers could grow these massive full bears at 16 and I couldn't even get fuzz until I was 23. For my last birthday, my sweet wife bought me the complete Wild America on DVD!! All 12 seasons! This has re-sparked a new sunday afternoon tradition and I love watching his show again.I recently found out that Marty got into film making as a teenager and he took off alone to Alaska to film wildife. He became trapped by snowfall in a remote valley, but survived by hunting and trapping local wildlife. A modern day Jeremiah Johnson

I remember hearing about some legal troubles with Marty Stouffer, how he had been accused of staging scenes in his documentaries and even claims of animal cruelty. He was hit with some heavy fines for making illegal trails and for poaching Elk near his home in Aspen, Colorado (I wonder if he and John were pals??), and that opened up a flood of accusations and testimony from people who had worked on the set of Wild America. The accusations ranged from staging attacks, to using tamed animals. PBS investigated the show and found fault in 15 of the 110 episodes. It hit me pretty hard and I still get a little upset when I think of that warm friendly face lying to America. But I've dug into it a little deeper, wanting to hear Marty's side of the story. Stouffer denies the charges. "I am not ashamed of anything I have done;' he said, adding, "My conscience is clear. I love animals." PBS even cleared him of any wrongdoin, but due to his damaged reputation he was unable to secure the needed funding to continue the show. Wild America was discontinued in 1996.

It would really shock you to hear how many nature shows are guilty of "setups" and other falsifications. Even Walt Disney himself apparently dumped a whole pack of lemmings off a cliff into a river to film their "mass suicide" as part of his nature show. Also, 15 of 110 episodes means there are still 95 quality honest episodes of Wild America. So in the end, Marty made some good TV and I love watching his show!

Just a couple things

So first off - The first picture is a warning of what can happen if you forget you have a bottle of carmex in your pocket and try to roll around playing with kids. ouch




The next picture is of Grand Teton National Park early this morning. It was really pretty, and if you look really closely you just might see some elk.



Lastly, on the way home from GTNP, I stopped at the DI and found a great game that's really old and pretty hard to find, and it was still in the shrink wrap! score dan! That is all, have a good day!