Making the (Rock) Band!

Games are a big deal here in the ShepAlder house, but since our family is as small as a family can be, it's nice to have a little help from our friends. A couple of weeks ago, we invited a few couples to ShepAlder Manor for a lively evening of gaming. We started off with a round of Cheater with Anna and Travis (who showed up first), but once The Noakes trio arrived, the cards were traded for plastic guitars, a microphone and too-cool-for-school electronic drum kit. The Westons soon followed and we were off on a magical mystery tour through the exciting worlds of Rock Band and Guitar Hero: World Tour!


Taylor, Mark, Anna, Haylie rock the party, while Chris and Emily watch in amazement.


Mark is serious when it comes to playing the fake drums!


Anna jumped in with the vocals whenever Josh didn't know a song... or when it was clear he would have to sing it using his falsetto voice.


Haylie showed her true love for Chris by playing the guitar left handed, even though he was the only southpaw (OK, so she had little choice, as the guitar had, at that point, been set to "Lefty Flip" mode).


This one of only two views by which to take photos of a group playing Rock Band and/or Guitar Hero: World Tour (An aerial view would technically be possible, but probably unlikely do to pure logistics in scaling the walls).


Emily and Heather played a few rounds (most notably when all the women formed an all-girls group for a few songs), but spent most of the time talking and laughing at Josh's feeble attempts to sing really high songs like "Livin' on a Prayer" and "Beat It."


Cecilia mostly hung out and looked adorable. That's what she does best!


Even Haylie took a turn at vocals... and the band played on!


We never did complete "Beat It," as those intense Michael Jackson vocals proved to be too difficult to emulate. Maybe next time...

That's the POWER OF LOVE!

A week ago, our ward hosted a BACK TO THE FUTURE night. Ward members were invited to wear costumes from the years depicted in the trilogy, namely 1885, 1955 and the ever-so-nearer 2015.

Naturally, being that Emily and I are total rebels, we decided to honor one important year that did not receive an official costume endorsement: 1985 (aka, the year in which Marty McFly lives).

Emily decided to show her "true colors" and her stylish leggings (previously used for a Rainbow Brite costume for Halloween 2006). Cake on some makeup and a cloud of hairspray, and she was ready for a night of dancing on the ceiling, er, church cultural hall.


These leggings remind me of dragon tears, which, as we all know, turn into jellybeans... all the colors of the rainbow!

Josh decided that since he learned to play guitar far too late to coincide with the mid-80s music pout-a-thon, he would use this opportunity to apply some guyliner and live "In Between Days" (though, since this event took place on the eve of the weekend, perhaps "Friday I'm in Love" may have been a better theme).

Josh really isn't a very sad guy; rather, he tends to be quite optimistic about most things. Perhaps this contemplative moment was when he realized that removing eye makeup is no walk in the park, or somewhere equally pleasant, like "A Forest."

The night was fun and the decorations were rather impressive for a church activity. The cultural hall was divided into three separate areas, each representing the aforementioned years of Marty's 1.21 gigowatt-powered travels through time. 1955 offered delicious root beer floats, while 1885 rustled up chow of chili and sloppy joes (albeit one scoop only... which was exactly the amount of filling one would want to make their joe sufficiently sloppy!). Meanwhile, 2015 provided a scrumptious salad bar with translucent bowls illuminated with neon lights. It was pretty heavy!

One more thing: Everyone was invited to submit a high school photo to be displayed on the back wall. To conclude this space-time continuum disrupting post, here are the oh-so-amazing senior pictures Emily and I submitted, courtesy of the years 1999 and 1998, respectively.

Emily = Totally awesome in every way... even at age 17!

In a world with no cool, good looking guys for high school girls to fancy, the man with the trombone is king!
(Sadly, this world does not -- nor will it ever -- exist!)

Oscar? I hardly know her!

Josh and I have been spending the past couple weeks catching up on Oscar movies. In fact, as I'm typing this, we are scrutinizing Angelina Jolie's performance in "Changling." I'm so excited for the Oscars! Here are my choices for winners (at least, the ones I care about)

Emily's Oscar Picks

Best Picture:
"Slumdog Millionaire"

Actor in a Leading Role:
Frank Langella-- "Frost/Nixon"

Actor in a Supporting Role:
Heath Ledger-- "The Dark Knight"

Actress in a Leading Role:
Kate Winslet-- "The Reader"

Actress in a Supporting Role:
Viola Davis-- "Doubt"

Art Direction:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Cinematography:
"The Dark Knight"

Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
"Frost/Nixon"

Writing (Original Screenplay):
"Milk"

As of this writing, Emily and I have seen all of the films nominated for Best Picture and most of the films for which actors received nominations. I'm fortunate to have a wife who shares my intense love for film, even if she's not quite willing to watch absolutely everything like me. The nominated films I saw without Emily include "Man on Wire," "Vicky Cristina Barcelona," and "Kung Fu Panda."

Here are my picks as of 2 a.m., PST (I may change my mind as the day goes on... and before completing that ever-so-important Oscar ballot!!). I'm torn between Sean Penn's brilliant portayal of San Francisco supervisor Harvey Milk in, well, "Milk," Frank Langella's amazing turn as embattled former U.S. President Richard Nixon in "Frost/Nixon," and Mickey Rourke's much-acclaimed title role in "The Wrestler" (Emily assures me that the universe will not allow Mickey Rourke to actually win an Oscar, lest the very fabric of the space-time continuum unravel, completely destroying all that we know as real and true!!).

Josh's Academy Awards Predictions

Best Picture:
"Slumdog Millionaire"

Best Director:
Danny Boyle - "Slumdog Millionaire"

Actor in a Leading Role:
Mickey Rourke-- "The Wrestler"

Actor in a Supporting Role:
Heath Ledger-- "The Dark Knight"

Actress in a Leading Role:
Kate Winslet-- "The Reader"

Actress in a Supporting Role:
Viola Davis-- "Doubt"

Best Animated Feature:
WALL*E

Best Documentary Feature:
"Man on Wire"

Best Foreign Language Film:
"Waltz with Bashir"

Achievement in Writing (Adapted Screenplay):
"Frost/Nixon"

Achievement in Writing (Original Screenplay):
"Milk"

Best Song:
"Down to Earth" -- WALL*E

Best Score:
"Slumdog Millionaire"

Achievement in Makeup:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Achievement in Art Direction:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Achievement in Cinematography:
"The Dark Knight"

Achievement in Film Editing:
"The Dark Knight"

Costume Design:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Achievement in Editing:
"Slumdog Millionaire"

Achievement in Sound Editing:
"The Dark Knight"

Achievement in Sound Mixing:
"The Dark Knight"

Achievement in Visual Effects:
"The Curious Case of Benjamin Button"

Snowbiking = Awesome!

Nothing like snowbiking in the beautiful Cascade Mountains
of Oregon's Santiam Pass!

Last weekend, I took the scouts from the Aloha 1st Ward to Hoodoo Ski Area for a weekend of camping, skiing and snowboarding. We had a great time and all the scouts got some valuable experience both on the slopes and camping in the snow (unfortunately, some of them still need to learn how to throw away their trash and take down their tents, but we'll work on that...).

Meanwhile, it gave me a chance to once again practice my new hobby, SNOWBIKING!!

If you've never seen a snowbike before, it is essentially a bike frame with two small skis in place of tires. There are several varieties available, and Hoodoo is quickly becoming known as the snowbiking capital of the Northwest (In fact, Hoodoo will be featured as a snowbiking mecca in the March issue of Portland Monthly).

I only started snowbiking last weekend at Hoodoo's annual Winter Carnival. It didn't take me too long to get comfortable riding down the Easy Rider hill and move on to the Manzanita lift. I stuck to the green lifts that first day, but by the time I left the mountain around 8 p.m., I was hooked!

Later that day, I took some video with my brother-in-law's video camera, and he edited it together for this "Queen-tastic" tribute to snowbiking!



This weekend, I brought my 15-year-old cousin, AJ, with me on the scouting trip. He'd been to Hoodoo before, but only to go tubing at the Autobahn. After just one trip on the Easy Rider hill, he was ready to tackle the rest of the mountain.

AJ wasted no time getting comfortable on the snowbike. He eventually convinced me to take him to the top of the mountain for some thrilling downhill rides.


Everybody loves Hoodoo... including me!

I'll admit, I was a little nervous about going all the way to the top of the mountain, but AJ's youthful persistence finally got the best of me, and we went. I'm glad we did because it was a lot of fun (save the times when I was crashing into 3-and-a-half foot piles of freshly fallen snow!!).

AJ's a pretty cool kid and despite our nearly 14-year age difference, we always have a fun time together. Plus, despite his youth, the kid is taller and beefier than me!!

Current Crises

Things have been off for me lately. I'm not sure exactly what it is. Maybe I've been taking myself too seriously. Here are some things that have happened recently that have been on my mind:

1. My practicum supervisor, Dr. Poke-at-you, asked me during our meeting Friday how things were going. Thinking this was a benign question, I admitted that I felt disconnected from things/people/life at my practicum site. She informed me that I felt this way because everyone hates me. Good to know. I admit that she worded this conclusion in a slightly different way, but she went on to tell me that I was wasted everyone's time because I wasn't emotionally connecting and I should consider transferring to a different practicum. Hmph.

2. Armed with the "poor me" feelings stirred up by Dr. Poke-at-you, I asked my site supervisor whether I was doing something wrong. It turns out, he actually thinks I'm doing a good job. I feel vindicated. However, I know better than to tell Dr. Poke-at-you that this conversation took place, as she would have one of two reactions: A) she would brush me off and act as though she never really meant what she said in the first place, or B) she would state that the fact I even had to talk with my supervisor meant something. I'm not sure what exactly she would say it means, but I can guarantee it would involve me talking so much I bore myself and my other group members, which happens about every-other meeting. Congratulations graduate school on making me perpetually sick of the sound of my own voice.

3. My health has been wonky, and not really in a "I know what's wrong with me so I can take medication and get over it" way, but in a "going to the doctor every week and getting numerous blood tests run" way where I then have sat in anticipation hoping that things don't turn out to be serious. Things aren't serious. I'm not actually sick (not terminally or chronically sick), but things are wrong with my body and there is a frightening element of the unknown in my life that I've never dealt with before.

4. For some reason my ability to concentrate has greatly diminished in the past few months. This means that my ability to sit down and write my thesis is practically nonexistent. I don't know what to do; it's gotten unbearable in the last few months and it might actually cause me to flunk classes and not finish my thesis.

5. I would honestly rather be living a different life right now. I find myself daydreaming about a time where I won't be so stressed I can't see straight or so paralyzed by anxiety I can't even get simple tasks done. Josh keeps reminding me that things end eventually-- in a few months I'll be done with statistics forever, and in a few months after that I'll be done with my practicum. But it kind of makes it worse knowing that time goes by so quickly.

6. The only thing that I am absolutely excellent at lately is reading random blogs for hours and hours. I get engrossed in blog-chains and end up reading about the life of a woman who was kind of friends with my sister in high school or about the pregnancy of my friend's 40-year-old step-sister and it has been fascinating to me. It's all I ever want to do! When I was developing my thesis topic, one of my friends suggested that I work blog-reading into my research somehow, but I couldn't think of an appropriate reason.

7. Now for some vanity: I need a haircut. I haven't had a haircut in over a year and it's pretty obvious (see: split ends, flat, limp strands, lifeless color). I know what kind of haircut I want, but it's also only a slight variation of the haircut that I always get, and I'm feeling uncreative. The problem is, with a round face like mine (which is significantly rounder now that I've gained so much Stress Weight), all haircuts but the one I usually get make my face look even fuller. Blargh. Frustration.

Mercury vs. The Right Hand of Doom!!

It's no secret that Emily's cat, Mercury, absolutely hates me. I'm not exactly sure why... sure, I make her dance and I probably always smell like my cat, Falkor.

When Emily and I first got together, Mercury would just hide from me whenever I visited the apartment. Then I adopted Falkor and his sister, Ambrosius, and Mercury was really upset. She would hiss and growl at them... and when they got close to her, she would try to bop them!!

Ever since, Mercury always hisses at me. Emily and I have been together for nearly 3 years now (11 months of dating + 7 months of engagement + married since July 28, 2007), and that darn cat still thinks I'm the most terrible person around. She can even manages to be in (somewhat) close proximity to Falkor, her other sworn enemy.

Knowing this, I basically just find creative ways to chide Mercury. As mentioned in a previous blog posting, I'm a pretty avid fan of action figures, and I've found that these -- coupled with an agitated cat -- make the most interesting photos. When we moved into our home here in Beaverton, Mercury immediately found a favorite hiding spot underneath the long L-shaped cabinet in our bonus room. She rarely goes there now, as I'm sure the tight, cramped quarters are rather uncomfortable (especially considering her short, squatty body).

Shutting the door to ensure that she wouldn't run downstairs, I quickly compelled Mercury to squish herself underneath the cabinet. After that, a quick positioning of my trusty HELLBOY figurine, and I was ready to go.

For your consideration and amusement, here is the best of the resulting photos. Mission accomplished (the irony, of course, is that, in the HELLBOY films, the titular character is rather fond of cats).

Mercury fears "The Right Hand of Doom"!!

Cake Wrecking my Statistics Composure

I had to write a post about this website called Cake Wrecks because it has given me an enormous amount of amusement for the past couple days. In fact, it is so absolutely funny, I had to stop reading it during my statistics class because I was silently laughing so much my face was twisted in a grimace and my eyes were tearing up. I think it unnerved my professor, who may have assumed that ANCOVAs make me cry (which they will, I'm sure, when I try to complete my homework).

Specifically, it was this cake that broke my steely, statistics-ready composure.