Friends, countrymen

What up homeys?

Holy crap. I just looked at the comments on Alex's and our blogs. Jeez. I don't get on my computer for a few days and everyone decides to catch up with each other.

Anyway, I think it's funny some of you still have some of Shelley's poems but it doesn't surprise me. She's really good at making up catchy sayings. But yeah, the songs. There are lots of them. Many, oh so many, are very unflattering songs about me. I think the most recent one is the one about me dancing the Fandango, and other dances while a crowd of people cheer me on. However I won't just start dancing so easily and so I apparently play coy pretending not to know they want me to dance, and then whether or not they want me or someone else to dance. They keep asking me to do different dances until I settle on the Macarena and, inevitably, give the people what they want. Yes, just imagine it.

Sometimes when we are both in the same room and a certain song comes on we'll both start singing it. We are very good at Mr. Big's To Be With You. However the one you really want to catch is our version of Ghetto Superstar where I sing refrain (sung by Mya) and Shelley does the rap part. It is really funny to see Shelley rap. Check our links on the right for a reminder of Ghetto Superstar if you forgot how it goes.

Anyway, I am getting over a bad cold and have no more strength to continue. I have a post about all the fun Alex and I had last weekend started and will put it up this weekend.

See ya soon peeps,

Kaz

P.S.- I want it noted I am a member of the Pudding Club by association. We vicarious Pudding Club members demand t-shirts as well.

I'm In!

So our most faithful reader, Alex, came to Boise for a visit last weekend. And I just want to announce that I officially earned induction into the pudding club!

Yeah!

I can't wait for the T-shirt!

Dum Dee Dum

Spring is creeping back into Boise little by little. The weather has been in the low 50 degree range and sunny. It's basically shorts weather. The parks are packed with Canadian geese and ducks. They don't seem to know what to do about the warm weather. Winter isn't technically over so it's not quite time to fly back north again, but it's also warm. With all the people out and about enjoying the weather they probably get fed regularly so it's actually a pretty good set-up. Anyway, enough about the geese.

Shelley is keeping really busy, whereas I am looking for another job. The bottom of my current work has officially fallen out and work is non-existant. I'll be getting in touch with a guy later this week about another job doing kitchen remodelling which will be really interesting. It sounds like cool work. Plus from what I understand we'll be working on higher end homes, $500k plus. That's always fun. Nice to see how the other half lives you know? Also, it's amazing how many connections you can make that way. Anyway, hopefully this job will be a little more steady and I can start putting money into the beginnings of a wood shop. With all my free time of late I've amassed a pile of furniture and coffee table designs and I'm itching to make them a reality. I've been thinking a lot about the Frank Lloyd Wright exhibit we went to several months ago. It was really inspirational. It showcased a lot of his early work. Much of those early works were functional designs for everyday pieces of furniture made out of inexpensive woods or plywood. They didn't exactly have a finished look to them but they were still innovative in design and functionality. Hopefully once I start this new job I'll be able to start work on my designs.

Oh! Before I forget. I've been meaning to bring this up on the blog before but I kept forgetting. There is a mysterious white car on our street that is literally packed full of paper bags full of newspaper. The only open area is the driver's seat. It is always parked in the same place and until recently I never saw it move. A couple weeks ago Shelley and I were on a walk in the evening and we saw what must be the owner rummaging around inside the car. I'm not sure if it was a man or a woman but they were definately middle-aged or older. He/she was wearing a bulky coat and winter hat so it was hard to see much. When we got back from the walk the car was gone. The next morning the car was back in the same place. I never see it moved during the day and it doesn't always disappear at night. At first I thought someone was living in it and using all the newspaper as insulation. But after seeing someone rummaging through it and seeing that it is drivable I don't think so. Also there is a small motel which it is parked next to. It's not really a motel so much as an apartment building. There is never any vacancy and the rooms look very personalized and lived in. So maybe the owner lives there. But if that's the case why not park in the motel parking lot which would seem more convenient? Regardless of why it is parked where it is, the real mystery is why is it crammed full of newspaper. Is this person feeding a personal fetish for newsprint? Is it some sort of time capsule? I don't get it. I know it's not just garbage because we've seen someone poking around in the car seemingly looking for stuff. I don't get it. I'll take some pictures of the car and put them on the blog and you guys can tell me what you think it the answer is.

Blah, well I should stop procrastinating. Sam and I are working on a writing exercise together and it's proving kinda difficult. It was designed by John Gardner and seemed pretty innocuous when I started but now I'm having trouble finishing it. Damn you, Gardner. Damn you and your devious literary devices.

My Life in a Nutshell: School & Work

Hello!

I haven't really had an opportunity to post anything in a while...in part because of a lack of time...and in part because I didn't think we really had any visitors here anymore (except for you, Alex...our one and only loyal reader). Well, apparently there are others who check in on this too and just opt not to comment...so I guess an update is needed.

So anyway, here's what I have for classes:

MONDAY NIGHT - Quantitative Research Methods
Yes, the class is about as exciting as the name makes it sound. The class is all about designing studies and conducting statistical analysis.

TUESDAY NIGHT - Learning Theory
Over the course of the semester, we're learning about a dozen theories of how adults learn. It's actually really interesting!

THURSDAY NIGHT - Evaluation Methodology
The purpose of this class is to learn how to measure and evaluate the economic, environmental, and societal impact of an organization's actions. It's actually much more interesting than it probably sounds.

SATURDAYS - Project Management
We're learning about project management concepts and principles, including how to use Microsoft Project. And no, this isn't a soft-skills class on time management...that's different.

And here's what I have going on for work...

GRADUATE ASSISTANTSHIP
Although there's always a handful of little things to be done, there are three major projects on my plate right now. One project, which is in its earliest stages at the moment, is related to informal learning in the workplace. Another is related to the effectiveness of incorporating e-learning into introductory engineering education. The third project is an analysis of the facilitation techniques used by instructors of online courses.

E-LEARNING DESIGN
Yep...still doing this. I design e-learning modules for the introductory engineering class.

INDEPENDENT WORK
Okay, so I haven't actually taken on any independent consulting projects yet...but I currently have two potential projects on the back burner. We'll see what happens.

Well, my life at the moment doesn't span much beyond work and school...so this about covers it for me!