The Big Apple

Work took me to NYC the first part of this week. When not in meetings, we were able to take in some of the sights.We did the normal stuff like Liberty and Ellis Island.Then we also made our way up town to St. Patrick's cathedral and Central Park.We also took in an Off Broadway show - The Altar Boyz. It was very funny and a good show. One of the leads was Neil Haskel of SYTYCD and so the show was very high energy and had some great dancing.

Poisoned

We flew up to New Hampshire for a good cause and we took part in The Timberland Company's Serv-a-palooza.
The event is an annual event focused on improving the local community. This year's activities were to clear underbrush and growth at Odiorne Point State Park. It was a beautiful location and the weather couldn't have been more perfect.
It was great to eat lunch looking over the Atlantic and feeling the salt breeze. It was also great to be out of the office and doing some physical labor.
I am an Earthkeeper!
However, after rooting around in the shrubs for a couple hours one of my teammates paused and exclaimed "We've been working in a field of poison ivy!" Honestly, I was not familiar with the plant.
Two days later, my arms looked like this.
I continue to heal, but one thing is for sure. Now I know what poison ivy looks like and I won't make the same mistake twice.

Bible In a Minute

My Birthday with Jewel

My birthday this year was spent with singer/songwriter/Nashville Star judge, Jewel. We flew to Texas to record some sound bites and film footage that will be used in a new promotional campaign. Jewel and her rodeo husband, Ty Murray, live on a 2,000 acre ranch just outside of Stephenville, Texas. It is a really nice ranch.

Jewel was sick but she is a pro and did a great job for us. She was well prepared and really understood the message we were going for. She was funny too. One of her quotes that we won't be able to use was "My family were homesteaders in Alaska. We didn't eat anything we didn't kill or can!"

Before we left, I got a couple of things autographed and she was nice enough to do pictures with all of us.

Medley Weekend

Friday evening we decided to class up our happy hour festivities and went to a performance of the Tommy Dorsey Band at Conner Prairie. It was a really neat ampitheater and they even had a dance floor for some sing dancing.

The band played some great tunes with lots of Sinatra covers.

Saturday we started with a movie party at my place. We watched The Goonies, "Hey you guys!" After the movie, we went downtown to listen to some jazz music at the Chatterbox. It is one of those cool local venues that definitely has its 'regulars'. Small space that even without amplification, the sax, bass, piano and drums fill every corner with over-powering music.

Barn Red

My work life has been consumed with one major project - painting barns. We did our first barn painting a couple weeks ago and it turned out amazing. Look for it to be featured in some national media publications (Hallmark magazine, Country Living, etc.)

Agri- Culture: Biofuels

The seven next generation biofuels. Set to replace fossil fuels?? I'll tell you....as soon as I find my crystal ball. Most are set to debut in 2012.

1. Cellulosic ethanol (biological) - 66% energy yield compared to a gallon of gasoline

2. Cellulosic ethanol (gasification) - 66% energy yield compared to a gallon of gasoline

3. Algal biodiesel - 103% energy yield compared to a gallon of gasoline

4. Green gasoline - 100% energy yield compared to a gallon of gasoline

5. Biobutanol - 90% energy yield compared to a gallon of gasoline

6. Designer hydrocarbons - 106% energy yield compared to a gallon of gasoline

7. Fourth-Gen fuel - 103% energy yield compared to a gallon of gasoline

Electing a US President in Plain English (Revised)

Getting Sick on Blueberries

Last weekend I talked Gram and J into going blueberry picking with me. We searched the web and decided on Jones Berry Farm in Michigan on the shores of the lake.Blueberries do especially well there because of the sandy soil and the lake effect weather patterns.We ended up with just under 23 pounds of berries after three hours of picking. We probably would have had even more berries but I have a bad habit of putting one handful of berries in the bucket and the next in my mouth. Yum!! The weather was just about perfect and wasn't unbearably hot or muggy. After berry picking we had lunch and then stopped for some wine tasting at Tabor Hill winery on the way home.

Summer in D.C.

I have done a lot of traveling this summer and my destination of choice has been Washington D.C. While work has kept me roving around the city, I have been able to do a little sight seeing. I've just done the traditional stops: the capital, Vietnam Wall,
Lincoln Memorial,Washington Monument, Korean War Memorial,
Library of Congress, and a handful of others.