living in a material world

the worst pies in london

i found this article on grantland on espn.com. if you don't like sports, grantland is still cool to check out for articles like this one. the article goes into the downward spiral that is the marriage of tim burton and johnny depp. it analyzes the roles of those two men and how those roles have changed over the years much to the detriment of their artistic product.

dark shadows?
alice in wonderland?
charlie and the chocolate factory?

seeing a pattern here? remade, rehashed, half-baked movies. great article. check it out.

also did anyone hear about jamie dimon and jpmorgan chase losing $2B on a derivative bet? a supposed hedge against risk? well they played that one right huh?

facebook's ipo is coming soon and supposedly interest is waning. probably because no one can answer this question: how can facebook make money? especially when they're paying instagram a billion dollars for a stupid program that turns pictures brown! good luck!

also read a great article by my favorite wall street punisher matt taibbi detailing the exact way that the government, hand in hand with lobbyists, took the life and few teeth out of the dodd frank bill. very much worth your time because this is how government now works. they pass a bill to appease the public, but they don't fund it, they don't enact the laws/rules and they let it be picked apart by courts and lobbyists. and the public still thinks they have their cloak of protection. brilliant.

mr. big shot

i took my ethics test this morning. i passed. because i have mad ethics. i had to pass with 90% and i did better than that. crazy ethics.

i can now introduce myself as a CPA. in fact, this blog is now called that birdhouse, cpa. how about that?!? i love it.

so get used to me saying it. because i'm going to be saying it a lot. because, damn it, i earned it.

holiday

just back from glenwood springs. spent two nights there. i'm totally exhausted. but tons of great pictures to come.

when the roses bloom again

i have some older photos from easter i wanted to add. the bottom ones show the feast we prepared for easter: deer, potatoes, spinach and pistachio cake. it was awesome. demitria is the best cook. i picked up those flowers from the greek store a couple days before. we just finished the cake finally. it was an incredible cake.

the rock on the top is in our garden outside, our 'rock garden'. we just planted some pansies and added the stone to our garden. thanks mom!

good day sunshine

i am proud to say that i know this little guy. he's one of those kids that i enjoy when they come around because he has a great sense of humor and is a sweet kid. he's demitria's brother's wife's nephew. but you don't have to remember that. but you do remember thomas when you meet him. when the grandmother says they didn't think he'd come home, she's serious. thomas had the stroke and it was basically over. everyone was preparing to say goodbye to the little guy. but somehow, someway, in a turnaround that surprised everyone, they found the organs, he went into surgery and thomas was going to be okay. it was that fast. it was amazing. and if you want to call it a miracle, i don't think you'd wrong. i'm glad he's okay. can't wait to see him and tell him i'm proud of him.

hey jane

is anybody else super duper excited about the new spiritualized album? i mean, check out the cover! how awesome is that? the immediate reviews are positive. the video for 'hey jane' is pretty rough. but the song is amazing. this, coupled with the alabama shakes new album, makes for a good weekend purchase. i also subscribed to the economist yesterday. need to be informed. need good music. that's really it. oh yeah, a roof maybe too. and water. minor.

weird fishes

checking out the radiohead set at coachella. i totally dig sitting in my living room watching as opposed to being surrounded by thousands of people, being forced to buy $7 water and standing in line for an hour to go the bathroom. my bathroom is free right now. the water is free. and there is only one other person and a cat in the house. love it. the set is pretty sweet. i'm only three songs in, but weird fishes is so sweet.

i still dig the concerts though. we're seeing wilco at the red rocks and maybe the avett brothers and beach boys at red rocks too. destroyer and wye oak are coming to the bluebird this summer. so i'm still with the concerts. it's the festivals i don't think i can do anymore. i'll leave that to the young kids.

i guess i planted

deviled eggs are a specialty in the wright house. we made six eggs and between the both of us, the six eggs didn't make it until dinner. poor guys. but they were delicious. demitria is enjoying one of those eggs and some of her special iced tea. i don't know what makes it special, but i believe her.

demitria colored some eggs this year for that easter flavor around the house. if you can't read them, they say 'kevin', 'demi' and 'smooch'. 'smooch' was my favorite. we also had some stickers to throw on them too.

here is the 'kevin' egg up close. the brussel sprouts are looking good. remember a few blogs ago, i told the story of hacking up the apple tree out back? well this is it. i have never seen something respond so positively to being hacked up. the apple tree is in full bloom and there are white buds everywhere.

here is a pitcher of the special iced tea. it was refreshing. speaking of refreshing drinks, i had an arnold palmer at the krameria cafe earlier in the day. i highly suggest everyone try one this summer. we have a patch of rogue tulips growing out back by the neighbor's garage. we didn't plant them. but we'll take them. i had to jump in there with them. this is how our day started, out back doing some yard work. we sprayed the front and back yard with herbicide to get of the billions of weeds we had last year. we rode our bikes up to the nursery and bought some stuff there. that's when we stopped by the krameria cafe and had a quick lunch. hope everyone had a great easter.

sounds like hallelujah

happy easter! it's a gorgeous day here in denver, colorado. we've got clear skies in the morning and afternoon time. highs should be around 70 with lows in the upper 40s tonight. perfect weather for the perfect easter egg hunt. i think when we talk about weather, we all should adopt the 'weather man' voice and discuss weather in the appropriate vocal tones. but seriously, it's nice here.

last night i made a pretty big purchase. i bought two tickets to.....paradise! pack your bags we leave tonight! i'm kidding. i love eddie money though. i bought two tickets to red rocks to see wilco. that's right. wilco will be at red rocks in june and the wrights are going! i'm so excited and it's two months away basically. my excitement will probably subside before the show, otherwise, that would be an unhealthy level of excitement to carry around for two months. agree? yes.

what else is going on? i haven't posted much lately. i should be uploading some new pictures of our emerging garden soon. maybe get some new sofie shots. i love pictures of that cat. maybe i'll take some of our easter dinner tonight? that's a great idea. okay. plan for that.

also, baseball is back. i emailed my official picks to my dad, so if anyone thinks i didn't make it in time, i have him to back me up. here are my official picks for 2012:

nl central: reds
nl east: phillies
nl west: dodgers
nl wc: braves
al central: tigers
al east: rays
al west: rangers
al wc: angels

the world series will be the dodgers and the rangers. this time, the rangers will finally win. i know going with the dodgers is a stretch, but there is no team in the national league that is a dominant team. they're all kind of sub-awesome. but the dodgers have a new owner and that will generate some liveliness out of them as they catch fire in the playoffs. the rangers are a statistical long shot to get back to the world series for the third year in a row. i mean, that's not likely. but i like them better than the rest. the rays would be my second choice. oh well. don't let me down guys! and the astros will finish in last place with a record of -54-108. that's right. they won't win any games. only negatively win them. figure that one out!

the season of the witch

i think the end of winter has been kidnapped. the calendar still says march as of today, but the flowers, the leaves and burgeoning spring say, well, spring. last year, as you can revisit on this post, we had a nice garden of strawberries, herbs and plenty of tomatoes.

this year, we've started the process with bibb lettuce, brussel sprouts and swiss chard. lettuce grows very well in the rockies. i've seen it. a dude up the street has a very impressive garden come august with tons of lettuce, tomatoes and such. we're going back to our roots with tomatoes again this year. but i'm going to try and branch out and get some peppers growing as well. i failed last year in the pepper department. the one dude i had fried in the sun.

last weekend, i also cut back our apple tree. being apple tree ignorant as we were, we both thought the tree was an apple factory and would keep lavishing us with tons of apples each year. we subsequently learned that was an apple fantasy and work had to be done. you have to prune an apple tree. and prune we did. i bundled up about seven bundles of branches.

that's our plans for the garden this year. of course, the natives tell us it's going to snow again. or at least freeze. but i maintain that winter is gone. hijacked. kidnapped. bound and jagged. not to be heard from again until december. it's a shame. i feel like we didn't get to say goodbye. winter was here one day and the next it was 70 degrees. i had a very good winter. and it would have been nice to hang out one more time. but we'll meet again.

the ben bernank

End of the Road Documentary Trailer

hurts so good

i never thought it would hurt getting feeling back. there's a small patch of skin right under my knee on the left side of my shin bone that was numb following the surgery. they didn't tell me that they were probably going to severe a small nerve there. however, during my checkup, they said most, if not all, of all the feeling would come back. and it's coming back. but i was not prepared for how tender the skin would be when the feeling did come back. it's a strange sensation because it's not 100%. i probably can feel about 70-80%, so when i move my finger over the patch, it's like touching your hand when you've slept on it and it's waking up, but there are no daggers in your skin as the blood rushes back. i have been running for the past two weeks, but not that great. it doesn't last long. but the strength is coming back. i predict no problems hiking this summer. i also predict eating sandwiches this summer. with chips.

peyton manning is coming to denver!!! no more tebow!!! i love it people. i love it. i have no idea if he has any gas left in him, but i do know that tebow sucks. and having peyton here will at least be interesting. also he's out of the afc south, clearing the way for a decade of texans dominance. it's fantastic. i'm ecstatic. in fact, i went out and bought some black spray paint and spray painted number 18 on all of my shirts, including my dress shirts. i subsequently found out he plans on not wearing that number. and i was informed that spray painted dress shirts are not acceptable work attire. i predict a polyester fueled fire this weekend.

it ain't me babe

as the political puppet politicians are dancing for us, making us believe that it is our decision who we elect and that they somehow represent our interests and not the interests of the major corporations and major banks in the world, other things are happening. things that aren't discussed on the nightly news or fox news or cnn news or whatever news cable source you choose.

this actually comes from wired magazine. the piece describes how by 2013 the NSA will have a system in place to collect information on you from every google search you make, every personal email you receive or send, every cell phone call you make and every bit of electronic debris you leave behind will be collected, assembled and put into a little folder with your name on it, ready to be used against you when the time comes. and do you know what the response will be from the american public? what is the NSA?

additionally, we have a wonderful monster of a bank called bank of america. it's our bank! it's the bank of america! sounds great! it's actually a gigantic festering sore that refuses to do anything other than systematically destruct their customers, the banking industry and our trust. the best part is that we refuse to let them fail. the government explicitly backs this monster and their mission to feed on us, the public.

finally, there is good news friends! someone, actually a guy named greg smith, wrote his resignation letter and mailed it to the new york times. where did he work? goldman sachs, the gigantic vampire squid. i hope that colleges, high schools, veterans halls, pension firms, asset management corporations, churches and everyone in between prints out his resignation letter and posts it for everyone to see.

in other news, i about to finish reading siddhartha. a wonderful book about a young man moving through his life trying to find meaning, understanding and holiness, a closeness to the spirits. i highly recommend it. he describes periods in his life as transitory and ultimately comes to find that life is transitory. what we knew or thought at one point in our life does not define all periods of our life. his story can easily be applied to our current lives or at least my life. i believe there are trials and challenges we must face and live a life that may be unsuitable for a period just to experience it. it is these experiences that finally allow us to move forward and travel to where we ultimately need to be in life, whether physically or mentally.

we i finish, i'm going to read the picture of dorian gray. i'm ecstatic to have time to read these amazing words.

and so it goes

my favorite fiction author is probably kurt vonnegut. his take on war and the atrocities of human nature are filled with sarcasm and wit. i immediately took to his views on the fractured schism of the human psyche. unfortunately, he died falling off a ladder a few years ago. i'm sure he would have had something witty to say about this end of his. a biography has been published about the man. if the book is anything as good as the review, i can't wait to read it.

meet me in the basement

a wise man once said to play this song when something epic went down.

this is that moment.

i passed my last test.

let me say that again.

i passed my last test.

let me say that again.

i passed my last test.

i finally landed this thing. what was seen as a curse was probably a blessing. when i tore my acl, i thought i had to turn this into something positive and beneficial to my life. so i studied. i was in the basement every day all day. i started around 11 in the morning and went until midnight stopping to sometimes eat and pet the cat. when i had to go back to work, i took a weekend off and i started again to finish it.

and i finished it. i'm done.

i have to say something though. although i took the tests, i never would have gotten through this without my wife. she was there for me each time it didn't go my way. she was there to do the laundry so i had something to wear. she was going to the grocery store and making dinners and lunches. she was cleaning the house and the cars. she was taking the cat to the vet. she was picking out birthday gifts, wrapping them and sending them. she was holding my head each time i felt like i failure. she was there each time. from beginning to end. i could never have done this without her help and support. i plan on paying her back throughout the next few years by spending each weekend with her and making sure she knows how much i love her and respect her.

so that's it folks. the plan i set forth in 2006 is complete. now it's time for the next plan.

got to get you into my life

i'm discovering all sorts of interesting aspects of life again now that i'm not studying all weekend. like yesterday, we woke up. had coffee. listened to 'wait, wait don't tell me' on npr. then we went and looked at a house. then i went to work out. i wasn't rushed. i wasn't in a hurry. i wasn't freaking out every second i wasn't studying. it was fantastic. it cleared my head.

we had dinner out last night at the capital grille. the dinner okay. our waiter was a nice guy, but his memory was a little off. demitria ordered a glass of wine and he never delivered it. not a huge deal. but then we paid with two gift cards. and we a had a balance on one of them, but he didn't give it back. so we asked for it back. he couldn't find it. so the restaurant gave us cash back. the waiter handed me money. how odd is that? have you ever been out to eat and the restaurant pays you? i have to say, i liked it. i hope it happens again.

then we went to a play at the vintage theatre, right next to the vine street pub. the play was pretty good. i'd say the playhouse had about 80 seats in the place. nice and cozy. the play was pretty good. it was a comedy about a woman who basically wants a new life and when that opportunity presents itself in the way of an older man who misunderstands her situation, she takes it. the play broke the fourth wall and had audience members on stage for like two scenes. it was interesting. i liked the play. and i would totally go back. demitria is thinking about maybe volunteering there. i highly encouraged it. i think she would love it.

today we're sitting in the house listening to 'breakfast with the beatles' about to have breakfast and go the garden show at the convention center. i'm hoping to get some ideas for an amazing garden when we buy a house. i want flowers, food and fragrance. i'm marketing that.

great weekend. these are the weekends i've been missing. i'm so glad to have them back.

sums it up

one more down

one more down people. i passed FAR.

now i can only hope and pray that i passed AUD this last week.

i've worked harder for this than anything i've ever done.

and i'm finally closing in on the finish line.

by the way, did anyone else notice that if the giants would have kicked the extra point instead of going for two, that i would have successfully predicted the exact final score of the super bowl?

awesome night.