Blog

Yesterday I was reading an article by Steve Kovach about Spotify and its six month free (ad supported) listening period coming to an end. There seemed to be quite a bit of buzz about this ploy to lure US users in my Flipboard too. I have to admit, I was a huge proponent of Spotify but more importantly I was a huge supporter of streaming music. Pandora was great until it became ad laden and required me to manage a series of playlists/channels just so I could get the perfect experience for whatever it was I was doing. Grooveshark was fantastic but the licensing issues and potential legal battles they could face at any moment warded me off. Spotify seemed to be that shining beacon of streaming music services that I wanted. I went all in on Spotify and signed up for a Spotify Premium account. ...

Julie and I have been pass holders to Biltmore since Labor Day weekend 2010. The Biltmore Estate is a very special place for us because it seems every time we visit we somehow manage to fall deeper in love with each other. I had decided several months prior that when the time was right I would propose to Julie somewhere on the Biltmore Estate. I made reservations at the Inn on Biltmore for Saturday, January 29, 2011. We arrived on the sprawling 8000-acre estate around 1:30 PM and stopped by the Bass Pond and Waterfall to see them since neither of us had been there before. After trekking across a series of muddy paths for a half an hour or so we made our way up to the Inn on Biltmore. The valet took my car and made sure our luggage was situated. We checked into our room where a wonderful bottle of Biltmore Riesling sat on ice awaiting our arrival. Our luggage was delivered promptly and Julie and I enjoyed a glass of wine. I nervously waited for the absolutely perfect time to spring the ring that was neatly tucked away in my camera bag. ...

I have to say that I was not too enthusiastic about Nintendo Wii Sports Resort when its release was announced. What intrigued me, obviously, was the addition of the Wii MotionPlus functionality. Wii Sports Resort is essentially Wii Sports 2 with a resort/spa theme. Note: I may earn compensation for sales from links on this post through affiliate programs. All sports activities take place on an island which is explorable by plane (which I do enjoy). The added gyroscopes and spatial awareness added by the Wii MotionPlus accessory is pretty awesome. ...

My daughter, Aubree, laid into me hard today about getting her ears pierced. Aubree, her mother and I had a fairly long conversation about it this afternoon. Which ended with me having to consider it; not think about it but, honestly consider it. All decisions I make require some data. I posed a question on Twitter and Facebook asking, “Ladies: How old were you when you got your ears pierced?” I also sent a text message to ten personal friends asking the same question (the responses to which immediately crashed my phone). After my phone got some rest I made a few phone calls to ensure a wide swath of demographics were covered. ...

A tragedy has happened here in Denver; a good friend, co-worker, and fellow Airman has passed away. In a nutshell, it was a sudden and tragic end to a life that was way too short and full of people he touched. The emotions that flow through those that he touched after they heard the news are shock, numbness, sadness, anger… And I really haven’t figured out what is going to come after that. ...