Titans vs Cardinals

My NFL loyalty has always been with the Dallas Cowboys, but since the Titans came to Tennessee, I pull for them. I guess you could call them my AFC team. Anyhow, I usually try to weasel my way into free tickets at least once a year, and this year I couldn't have been randomly given tickets to a better game.

After starting 0-6, the Titans were on a 4-game winning streak playing the Arizona Cardinals at home (11/29/09). Down by 4 with 2:37 left in the game, Vince Young started a 99-yard drive to put the Titans up 20-17 as time expired. Perhaps the most awesome part about the game was our decision in the 4th quarter to watch the rest of the game in the end zone area, to save time fighting the crowds down the ramps from our nosebleed seats. Because of this decision, we got to be at the endzone where the Titans scored their game-winning touchdown. By far the best NFL game I've been to.

where we were sitting

I got a little artsy

Go Titans! Go!

we were so close!

Titans win!

Fun fact: I've seen another NFL team play the Cardinals. In 1994, Dad took me to see the Cowboys play the Cardinals (my only Cowboys game to date actually).

"In Greek mythology, the Titans were greater even than the gods." (Coach Boone, Remember the Titans)

"My Sharona" - The Knacks

Innertube Water Polo Champions

After two years of losing by one point in the final game, our innertube water polo team finally won a championship. This keeps my streak alive of winning one intramural sport championship each year I'm in graduate school. And of course, this means we get a T-shirt (something I am entirely too excited about). I think my sports will slow down until 2010, as my co-ed flag football team got knocked out of the playoffs on Monday, and we finished soccer a couple weeks ago.

championship!

Things are also off to a good start with my new running partner (Jenn). We've already run a couple times this week, and our system seems to be working well. We are also planning to go back to Paris next weekend for the "Over the River" 8-Miler at Paris Landing (a part of Tennessee's State Park Running Tour).

"It's not whether you win or lose - but whether I win or lose." (Sandy Lyle)

"A Well-Respected Man" - The Kinks

Ain't as Good as I Once Was

After being called out for my severe decline in blogger posts in 2009 (*Christina*), I decided to kill two birds with one "I should improve" stone.

We all (all two of you that still follow my blog) know that I have reduced my annual posts to an embarassingly low number this year. I mostly blame my qualifying exam followed by grant writing and paper submission (work, work, work), but really, there's no excuse. The last month or so, I've tried to get on the right track (which was also pointed out by my fellow blogger).

I'm not quite sure when it happened, but somewhere in the past half decade, I went from an extreme neat freak (borderline OCD with household organization) to entirely too carefree when it comes to keeping things tidy. This isn't saying that I'm a slob (i.e. actually dirty or disgusting), but I've really slacked on maintaining an organized being - in lab and at home. I guess, over the years, I've learned that I can still get by with minimal tidiness, but I would really like to overcome this vice soon.

I also used to be borderline obsessive about running on a regular basis. Somehow, this too, has slipped through the cracks, with my routine now only to make sure to run once or twice before any "major" event (i.e. half marathon, 8-miler, 48-hour 200-mile relay). I think part of the problem is lack of spare time, but another major factor is a deficit in a running buddy. I hope this will be fixed soon, as my old Parisian running partner (Jenn) is moving to Nashville, and fortunately for me, she found a place to live that is only a couple blocks from my apartment. We currently have a 6am running date set for Monday morning.

I used to also be the biggest anti-procrastinator. I believe I can blame graduate school for this one. I'm on the fence about fixing this though, as I am somehow less stressed by waiting until the last minute, and things are still getting done in time. So...

"Habits are safer than rules; you don't have to watch them. And you don't have to keep them, either. They keep you." (Frank Crane)

"Ain't as Good as I Once Was" - Toby Keith

Flux Capacitors - NSL Champions

This fall, I finally found enough time to put together a co-ed soccer team to play in the Nashville Sports Leagues. Through playing intramurals at Vanderbilt, I've met a handful of people who are pretty good at soccer, and I was able to recruit most of them to play with us. When I added in a few others I know in the Nashville area (a guy from Paris and a girl I played UTC club soccer with), I had put together a pretty solid team.

We lost two games in the regular season: one was our first game against a good team (we really just hadn't played together before) and the other was against the league's top team on a day when more than half of our regular squad was out of town.

Yesterday, we played in the final two games of the playoffs. We won the semi-final match 3-0, and the championship game 8-1. I'm very excited about winning it all, and our team plans to continue to play together when outdoor starts back up in the spring.

So for those who may be curious, we got our team name basically because I'm a firm believer in teams having "uniforms" (wearing the same shirt). I browsed 6dollarshirts.com looking for a pop culture reference to serve as both a team name and cheap uniform. There were a couple other ideas that we threw around, but in the end, the team voted on Flux Capacitors.

despite how optimistic this picture looks,
I did not score (hit the goal post)

former UTC soccer coaches reunited in Nashville

sweet shirts, right? :)

"The rules of soccer are very simple, basically it is this: if it moves, kick it. If it doesn't move, kick it until it does." (Phil Woosnam)

"Too Fake" - Hockey

Colorado

Before my qualifying exam, I was trying to decide if it was a good idea to plan a trip afterward, with the dilemma being that if I didn't pass, I would have wasted my money. I decided to play it safe when Southwest had crazy awesome deals this summer by planning a trip to Colorado in October (two months after my exam). The timing of the flight purchase centered around seeing the Cowboys play the Broncos, but we actually ended up postponing our departure a couple days, as there was just way too much going on.

So we were able to switch our flights (one of the great joys of flying Southwest), which put us driving out of the Denver airport by 9am local time. Since we didn't really think about how early October wasn't the best time to go skiing, we decided to do a mini-brewery tour of Colorado, as Henry and I both enjoy good craft beers, and well, Colorado is the place to find them.

We started off in Golden, CO, where Coors is made. I'm not a fan of Coors, or any of the big three, but we figured we might as well see what all the fuss is about. After touring Anheuser-Busch in St. Louis this summer (hopefully to be blogged about one day), I was very disappointed in the Coors tour. It was self-guided (i.e. no tour guide, just a hand-held speaker), and the brewery itself was kind of plain. But we went anyway, and we can cross it off the list.

sadly this was the coolest thing to me at Coors...
if medical research doesn't work out, I can always give
beer quality control a whirl

We next headed up to Boulder, CO to tour Boulder Beer Company. The tour wasn't anything exciting, but at the end they did let you sample everything on draft, which is really all I wanted to do with our beer tour - sample good brews.

the bottling line at Boulder Beer

we got an amazing deal on this hotel right off the main
area in Boulder... this was our morning view

That evening we were exhausted, and after grabbing dinner we went back to the hotel and just crashed. This was a smart decision, as we got up the next morning and went up into the mountains to get some pictures.

my career as a photographer will blossom later in life

ignore how natural (read: horrible) we look
and just take note of the scenery

We then headed north up to Fort Collins, CO, which had several breweries we decided to visit. The first was Odell, and they probably had the best beer out of anywhere else we went. They don't distribute to Tennessee (closest is Missouri), so I am kind of bummed I won't be having their stuff again for a while.

we racked up on awesome Odell merchandise
(shirts, growler koozie, disc golf driver)

We had to schedule a tour at New Belgium, as it's a very popular brewery, with lots to see. Our tour guide had entirely too much energy, but she did make it fun, and she knew what she was talking about (not always a given on these tours) - and of course, there were samples at the end.

the signature bike for New Belgium Brewing Company

We went by the tap room at Fort Collins Brewery, but I wasn't impressed at all - with either their brews or their facilities.

A fortunate discovery I had when we landed was that Cheyenne, WY was only 90 miles north of Denver. To most, that fact means absolutely nothing, but to me, it was wonderful news, as a good friend from high school (Jennifer) was living in Cheyenne. So I gave her a call, and she and her husband met us in Fort Collins where we had dinner at a local brewpub. I really hope to go back early 2010 and stay with them to get some skiing in.

@ Coopersmith's Pub in Fort Collins, CO

it was great to see Jenn (not something I do often enough)

Wednesday was mostly uneventful, as we had to drive back to Denver to catch our flight. The trip was short, but quite successful - we were able to cram in several different breweries to see how different things are in CO versus here in TN. It was a beautiful state, with tons of things to do. I wouldn't mind living there one day.

the view from the interstate on our way back to Denver

"I expected the Rocky Mountains to be a little rockier than this." (Lloyd, Dumb and Dumber)

"Mountain Music" - Alabama

Back... to the Future!

This year for Halloween, Henry and I were Doc Brown and Marty McFly.

Great Scott!

if I had the time, I would so Photoshop in
flames from the DeLorean

"1.21 gigawatts? 1.21 gigawatts? Great Scott!" (Doc Brown)

"Back in Time" - Huey Lewis & the News

Chronology is Lost

After another two month sabbatical, I do plan to begin blogging again. Recent events are obviously going to be easier to write about, so I may have to come back to stuff that happened this summer. I'll do my best. At least I'm making an effort, right?

I've had an extremely busy couple of months, with the last couple weeks absolutely insane. Some of it was by design, while other unexpected turns I could have done without. Either way, I do plan to update soon.

"There's nothing like biting off more than you can chew, and then chewing anyway." (Mark Burnett)

"Time" - Hootie & the Blowfish