My brain hurts

With the completion of the Freedom Fest invites, Briana and I decided we should probably get to work on our wedding invitations (priorities!). She, not surprisingly, loved the most expensive invitations we could find. Here’s how the conversations went:

Briana: These are my favorite.
Matt: Yeah, those are cool, but, uh, I don’t think we have $600 to spend on invitations.
Briana: But these are so perfect.
Matt: I forget, which kidney are you selling to pay for this wedding?
Briana: (angry face)
Matt: You know, we could totally make these ourselves.
Briana: How?
Matt: I don’t know, but I’m sure Tamisha could figure it out. She’s craft and whatnot.

Low and behold, Tamisha was indeed crafty and whatnot. She tossed out some ideas, we got to work, and it has since been a serious pain in my butt. This whole do-it-yourself wedding invitation thing is going to save a ton of money, and I’m sure I’ll have a warm, fuzzy feeling about the end result, but right now it’s making my eye spasm.

Briana and I spent 30 minutes last night scouring the Internet in hopes of finding cardstock with a hibiscus print on it. It couldn’t be just any hibiscus print, though; it had to a very light color so the invitation’s text would still be readable. Keep in mind that Briana was ready to settle on a different print, but I was being stubborn. I eventually had to go with the DIY route, taking this graphic:

And turning it into this:



Why I didn’t think of doing that in the first pace is beyond me.

All the pieces are starting to come together, and I’m beginning to think the invites will turn out really well. Plus, they should cost less than $100. Of course, we still have a long way to go before they’re ready to be sent out; I’m just being optimistic for once.

The End Is Nigh

In a sure sign of the impending apocalypse, Creed has reunited and is recording a new album. Why do I care? Because Creed represents everything that sucks about rock and roll. Specifically:

• Terrible lyrics
• Wannabe Eddie Vedder vocals
• Uninspired and unoriginal song structures
• An undeserved sense of self-worth (watch ANY of their music videos for Scott Stapp’s Jesus Christ pose)
  

I think of Creed as the waste product of a giant, music-eating monster that consumed all the elements of 90s hard rock, digested it, and pooped it out. The resulting steaming, musical pile of crap—named Creed—was the undigested remnants of great bands like Stone Temple Pilots, Pearl Jam, Tool, and Metallica. It was awful, yet they somehow sold millions of albums.

Creed is a lot like Nickelback (another bunch of no-talent-ass-clowns), in that no one ever admits to actually liking the band. No one, that is, except for the guy I parked next to last summer at a triathlon who was BLASTING Creed from his car’s stereo. I’m sure this moron will be calling Tickmaster the second tickets go on sale for Creed’s upcoming tour where they make tons of money that they don’t deserve.

In short, I hate Creed. Please do not support this terrible, horrible, no good, very bad band. Perhaps only then will they fester away into the obscurity they deserve.

Way Off Topic: The Extinction of the Dinosaurs

An asteroid didn’t kill the dinosaurs? Say it ain’t so! A recent article from The Journal of the Geological Society (Time reports on it here) claims that perhaps an asteroid wasn’t the cause of the mass extinction of dinosaurs 65 million years ago.

For those less familiar with the death of the “terrible lizards,” the common theory goes like this: 65 million years ago an asteroid hit the Yucatán peninsula resulting in a massive dust cloud that cooled Earth, thus killing the cold-blooded dinosaurs. There’s lots of proof for this theory, including a telltale 65-million-year-old, 112-mile crater on the Yucatán peninsula. There’s also a layer of iridium in the sediment layer at the 65-million-year depth; iridium is rare on Earth but common in asteroids.

Geoscientists Gerta Keller and Thierry Addate—don’t laugh, they’re Swiss—did some digging around the Yucatán and discovered that just below and above the layer of iridium were the same 52 fossilized species. These findings would indicate that there wasn’t an immediate, massive extinction caused by the asteroid. It was only after they looked at sediment 30 feet above that they found species disappear. According to Keller and Addate, that 30-foot layer of sediment would have taken 300,000 years to accumulate.

The research by Keller and Addate is controversial because it contradicts the findings of other digs from around the world. According to the article, theirs is the first survey that looks at the sediment record so close to the impact site. They claim that their research is more accurate because it was close to the impact, but, of course, other paleontologists say that its proximity makes it less accurate. Wait, the experts disagree? Shocking.

So what does this mean for amateur dino-nerds like me? Unfortunately, not much. Until there is further disproof of the asteroid extinction theory, it seems to make the most sense. Although I think Gary Larson figured it out a while back:

Inn Reservations

Ok kiddies, there are officially nine rooms left at First Colony Inn. If you haven't reserved your room yet, then you'd better better do it soon. The following rooms are still available: 3, 7, 8, 15, 16, 19, 21, 23, and 26. You can get the details about each room here: http://www.firstcolonyinn.com/Rooms/.

'Bout Time

The Sea Pig is back! You know it! It’s getting to be about crunch time in terms of wedding planning, so I’m starting to get motivated. Since I often rely on procrastination as a means of getting my work done, it’s only fitting that I would wait until the last minute for this as well. Plus I’m running out of things to do since my student teacher is essentially doing my job right now; all I have to do is come to school. My students aren’t happy about the arrangement, but I am.

After attempting to determine all the stuff we’ll need to rent for the reception, I quickly learned why couples hire wedding planners. I much preferred when planning for a party consisted of deciding which keg to buy and where to put Outkast’s “Ms. Jackson” on the playlist. In addition to those two crucial aforementioned elements, I now have to think about things like what size tables we’ll need and whether we have to provide our own trashcans. Apparently hanging trash bags off the poles of the tent is unacceptable—even if the trash bags are white. I mean, come on, they’ll match the tent! Maybe if I decorate them with flowers…

Snow!

Snow?!?! In Richmond? Surely not! Oh yes, my friends. It is a sign that all is right in the world.

We have about seven inches in our backyard and it appears that even dirty ol' Richmond is beautified by a blanket a snow.

Kona is having the time of her life. This is her first real snowfall and she has been spending as much time as possible outside. I'm pretty sure she would have enjoyed sleeping in it last night. We went to the dog park this morning where she roamed in her natural habitat. She is currently passed out at my feet; even sled dogs get tired sometimes.

Update

All has been quiet on the Sea Pig Front lately. Why, you ask? It seem that the main contributor--and I won't mention her name for anonymity's sake--has become addicted to World of Warcraft. That's right, I'm calling her out.

Please stand by because we may have to stage an intervention shortly. I'm getting worried. She has attached fake ears to herself to more closely resemble her Elfin character in the game*. Occasionally she will attempt to cast spells on me**, which, as of yet, have not been successful.

We may or may not be able to pull her away from the computer long enough to finish wedding plans. Stay tuned..



*ok, so that it hasn't gone that far just yet
**I can neither confirm nor deny the accuracy of this statement