New Camera

Babetron and I bought a new camera last night so we can video tape the wedding. I can't wait to go home and figure out how it works. The blog will undoubtedly benefit from some DIY video posts in the future.

Eight more days!

Do I like Radiohead enough to spend $400 for tickets?

It's that time of year again. The time of year when I sit myself down and try really, really hard to rationalize spending the amount of money necessary to go to Lollapalooza. For the third year in a row what's-his-name from Jane's Addiction comes to Chicago and throws a concert that lasts for three days and three nights. And every year it's the same dilemma for me. There are the one or two bands that I actually want to see, and about 50 or so other bands that I don't really care about. But once you're inside the gates you feel obliged to stand in the crowd of musty damn-bros and stoners watching Lady Sovereign or some other b-list artist that you hadn't heard of two days earlier--the whole time thinking about how you'd really much rather be some place else entirely. I have gone to three "Music Festivals" since living in Chicago. And every single time I swore it would be the last time.

Now that I know Radiohead is going to be playing this year, the decision really couldn't be any more difficult to make. Not that Radiohead is my all time favorite band or anything. But I like OK Computer and Kid A quite a bit. I know Babetron will want to see them. And to be honest I don't really know how many opportunities like this I'll ever have to see Radiohead perform. And of course, if I don't go, then every person I meet who did go will go on to say something like this, "Oh man! It was AWESOME! It was like the best live show ever performed. Seriously. You totally missed out."

Every child has an awkward period.

It looks like mine was somewhere in between the ages of 5 and 10. And then again sometime in high school once acne kicked in.

My grandpa

My aunt Emma's unofficial role in the family is to catalog the existing photos of our extended family. She has scanned just about every photo album that belongs to my grandparents and is therefore a great source for old, rare photographs.
Yesterday I called her up and asked if she had any old photographs of little Tybot. When I opened my inbox this morning I saw this photo of me and my grandpa sitting together on the brick fence that surrounds his home. I must have been about 5 or 6 years old at the time it was taken. This was the first time in my life that I had ever seen this photo.
I really love this photo, if for no other reason than it depicts my grandfather who is one of my absolute heroes. He fought in WWII, which in my opinion was one of the last really noble wars that the U.S. can be said to have fought in. He went toe to toe with Nazi troops in Europe and he lived to tell about it. When he came home he helped his wife raise 10 children, including my mother (and aunt Emma). All of the his children were raised in the LDS church. I believe each of his 4 sons went on missions to various parts of the world. 9 of his children went on to be married--6 of them sealed in the Temple. He taught his children what it meant to put in an honest day's work.
He has suffered stroke, heart attack, grenade shrapnel to the face, infectious diseases, and a broken and fused ankle--all of if with minor complaints. I am proud to call him my grandfather.
When I arrive in Arizona for the wedding reception in a few weeks, I can not wait to introduce him to my new wife and vice versa.

Married in a fortnight

It is two weeks before Babetron and I get married. And that means today is a very special day, because today I finally have a reason to use the word "fortnight."