Let's be honest...we like pictures, right?

The whole point of "creating" a blog was because I though people might like it if they had the opportunity to read what I write.  And let me tell you....at least 5 people have told me they enjoy reading this.  Sure, that may have been over a long period of time (10ish years), but nonetheless, I thought it was important that I continue to write.  That was about 2 years ago.  Actually, I wrote my last piece in June, 2010.  I had pretty much relegated this blog to the basement archives of my Internet footprint, when a few things in my life changed that lead to its re-birth. 

1) I got a girlfriend.  She moved to Denver-  Before she left she started a blog and said I should write on mine and she could write on hers and we could communicate that way.  And while It hasn't completely worked out as a real tool for us to maintain our relationship, it has lead to a renewed for me to communicate with the rest of the world...via me writing, and then crossing my fingers to hope people will read. 



This is Hannah.  And maybe i am a little bit strange, but to me noting is more sexy than a woman on roof that she built herself, while wearing grey and khaki.  Well, ok...maybe if she had a real toolbelt instead of a nail apron, that would be better.  No worries.  that problem will be solved in a few days.

 2) I discovered the page view analytic- So, apparently, blogger is a bit like Santa, in that it knows when you're sleeping, knows when you're awake, and it knows what blogs you are reading and keeps track of that.  So, as a blog writer, I can go to the blogger dashboard and look and see how many people have viewed my page.  And let me tell you...if feels so good to see that graph spike upward when I post something new.  So, tell all your friends.  Make more friends, then tell those friends.  As for me, I will be sitting here, pressing refresh, waiting, and getting immediately excited the moment it goes up (or sinking deep into a malaise if nobody "views" the page.  that's right, you don't even have to read!  just "view."  i wont know the difference....unless....you comment!)

3) I got an iphone-  now I take all these extra pictures and I need to outlet for posting and writing about them.  Facebook is just too short to do that and my pics are just too many.  So, i am going to post them here and answer all the questions that might arise. 

Which leads me to my title.  Maybe y'all just want to see pictures and not have to wade through my prose?  For now, I am going to assume your silence is a yes.  Prepare to be 1000-worded!




This is Jahkeem.  He is my Little Brother.  (make note of the capitalisation)  Every year, Big Brothers Big Sisters hosts a gathering at the Discovery Place.  This year, they gave us these nice white shirts with blue lettering.  Somewhere in the BBBS promo material, there is a picture of ALL of us wearing the same shirt.



Like I said....white shirts....we all got 'em. 





"My girlfriend joined AmeriCorps and all I got was her crockpot..."





"...which I then filled with chicken, sweet potatoes, regular potatoes, kale..."



"....and chick peas, red beans, onions, and Siracha.  It was good.  What were we talking about?"



For the month of December, I have taken "off."  This means none of the hard physicality of Jiu-Jitsu.  Yep.  Nothing but laying on the couch, over-eating, drinking egg nog, hot yoga, cycling at least twice a week (road and mountain), and 6 am MMA Circuits that require hand wraps so I can punch harder.  Ah the leisure of December.

 



Its been at least 4.5 minutes since I mentioned Hannah in speech, so let me go ahead and talk a bit about her.  She is just finishing up working with San Antonio Habitat for Humanity...or HFHSA as we call it in the biz.  As a way of showing thanks, they made out engraved plaques for all the Sun 1 team.  Super nice of the HFH crew down there. 



While I of course cant escape thinking about her, she apparently cant get away from me either...since all the world is plumbed with PVC made here in Queen city.

Ahhh...the season is upon us.  Christmas lights are decorated everywhere.  My house projects are all wrapping up.  And we have already celebrated Festivus with its many toiletries and candies.  It wont be long now.  So excited to have a bunch of the people I consider to be family coming to see me.  So excited for warm nights by the fireplace.  So excited to just generally laze about and do whatever comes to mind with people and food and drink. 

I hope this reaches all of you with Happy hearts and warm tidings.  Hold tight to the ones you love.  and get ready for more pictures ending out the year and into the new one.

Will DAlen Rice

XOXOX to everyone

From BoingBoing

Gravity Light

http://boingboing.net/2012/12/12/gravity-powered-lights-cheape.html

This is so cool.  Something along this same concept line was going to be part of the power plant gym, whereby a person would run up a flight of stairs with the weight, deposit it onto the line, which upon descent would crank a generator.  Then, you run back down the stairs, retrieve the weight, and start over.

This idea is way better.  Fund it if you can.

be great

December it is...or as some call it...Christmas

Merry Christmas everyone!  yes...it is that time.  The month-long event we call Christmas.  Or, as some of you will be happy to refer to it... NOT Movember.  I have shaved, and now have regained my youthful, non-creepish-ly '70s, face.  Stay tuned for next year, in the 11th month, when my mustache will return!

no mustache!

One last note about the end of November.  I am grateful for thanksgiving, when we are reminded to be thankful.  This time also coincides with the thing I am most thankful for, so, it should be easy for me to remember.  For about 25 years ago, Hannah Raines was born.  And although I didn't meet her until about 21 years after she was born, it has been pretty awesome having her in my life, both as a friend and as the woman i love.  Its been about 3 or 4 years, and I hope it will be many more. 

Also no mustache! (now with a crown!)




Thanks to the internet, I can figure out where there is a local bakery no matter where she goes.  And everyone loves cupcakes...especially on their birthday.



Cake...AmeriCorps Style (from her TL)

So, now, its December.  This means slow times, cold weather, and eating.  I have been eating so much junk.  This would normally be a problem, but I am not training this month.  Which means... friendship bracelet time.  I wouldn't really be able to wear a bracelet while training since it might get caught on someone's finger or something.  And although I have been itching to get it on (Hannah made it for me...twice!), I am not in a hurry to remove a training partners finger.  Imagine the bleeding!

Two of my most important reminders. 

December also means Men's Shelter.  The first Friday of every month, I end up at the Uptown Men's Shelter.  We cook and feed about 300-400 men.  They know when they see Beth walking in, that the food is going to be good.  All the smiling and warm hearts of Holy Comforter Episcopal come out and cook up a storm.  Occasionally, they even get some bonus items when we are around.

Doritoes and TicTacs.  Score!

Not too much longer for Christmas...for real Christmas.  In an effort to make time go by, "Operation Keep Busy" is in full effect.  Justin and I went off to the woods this weekend.  It was nice to be out in the middle of nowhere.  We encountered some rain, some cold, much wind, and a general bleak calm and quietness that really resets the soul.  Now my room smells a bit like a used REI, but no matter.  Everything dries in time. 

In case I don't see you.  Merry New Year, Happy Christmas, and blessings to you in whatever form they may take. 

Some Miscellany:



Yep...L-shaped carrot.  Tastes the same.



Little did I know how important this would be to my relationship



Hannah claims in her most recent blog post that I am "doting."  could have something to do with this little bit of voodoo she has done on me.
http://hannahmraines.wordpress.com/posts-are-here/



I guess i got my own little bit of voodoo too though.  Here is a sewer cleanout cap made in Charlotte...which she came across in San Antonio at her Habitat site.  There's no escaping thought of me.



Movember!

First off...old business.  A few posts back I mentioned I was going to talk more about my driveway project and about my porch project.  Well, i moved on and never mentioned them, and nobody seemed to really notice.  I never did take any pictures of the "new" driveway, but it looks much better.  Well, it looks blacker and newer because it has a new layer of seal on it.  As for the porch...well, no progress has been made on that front.  The threat still remains though.  If I don't build the porch around the holly bush BEFORE Hannah gets back to NC, then she is going to try and force  me to cut it down and build a porch over its dead and burnt remains.  Yes, she hates holly and all things living and plant like and if she had her way she would pave over my yard and cut all my trees down.  So, i must preserve the plants before she can stop at nothing to destroy them!  (anyone believing she is a villain yet?  yeah...prob not.  she is afterall donating a year of her life to serving others...maybe even two.  yeah...she's awesome.)

Onto new business...its Movember.  I watched an awesome TED video about Men's Health and mustaches and the Movember Movement.  It was inspirational enough to get me to grow a mustache.  And along it has come!

http://www.ted.com/talks/adam_garone_healthier_men_one_moustache_at_a_time.html

 

 

And now there are just a few days left.  I will be excited to see it go.  Its getting a little crazy.  Its long...not thick...long.  And it feels weird.  And it captures food!  I don't need anything capture food growing on my face!

And it okay really....because I don't need a mustache to show I am manly.  A little over a week ago I ran a 13.1 miles.  Not only did I run that far...which is silly far...I ran it more than 10 minutes faster than last time.  I was smokin' the last few miles and almost finished sub-2 hours.  Now I have to decide if my new goal is sub-2 hours or to run for another 2 hours...and do the full deal, for real! 



Before



After (yes...those are armsleeves)

After a lazy post-race weekend, I inherited some dogs to watch.  A friend of mine was dealing with the true chaos of thanksgiving and family and dogs and babies.  So, he asked if I could, and I said yes, and he released his hounds into my life.  Its interesting having things that really rely on you for life.  you have to plan your whole life around them.  I presume its like having kids, which means i am certainly not ready to do that just yet.

 

After thanksgiving weekend was over, the dogs went home and peace returned.  Since Thanksgiving was over, that meant time for Christmas preparation!  For me this meant....

1) Decorating-  using the pine tree in my front yard, some sticks from my backyard, some hemp from my drawer, and some zip ties to make it stronger, i built a wreath. 



Combined with the green light bulb out front, I'm done decorating

  2) Fire Wood- thanks to a generous donation, I now have enough firewood to last me through the nuclear winter.  Oh man am I excited to have some fires! 

3) the table...oh my goodness!!   THE TABLE- 

I got a bunch of people (4) coming to Christmas.  This means I have to finish my table project ASAP!  Luckily, it is really really getting close to completion now.  I know I have told many people many times that I am almost done...but for real now, its almost done.  Oh and it looks awesome.  Just like i imagined. 



that's it for now.  As always...read Hannah's blog.  Read my blog.  COMMENTS COMMENTS COMMENTS!

Love you and seasons greetings.

DAlen



Denver to TX...and i didnt even leave home

Quick Note: 

Hannah and I are both writing blog posts...partly to document our own lives (vanity), but also so that other people can know what is going on (communication...sort of).  The thing is, when people don't write comments, we don't know if anyone is reading our gibberish (well, i know people are at least going to my page, because I am constantly refreshing my page view score...that vanity thing).  So, please...if you're reading this or if you're reading Hannah's blog, leave a comment.  It means the world to us and few things are more great than seeing "3 comments" at the bottom of something you have posted to the Internet.  (i mean for real...even if they end up being bad comments, i am still excited that someone took the time to respond.  i just need a 5-10 word reply...please, please pretty please?)


On to the stories....

At the last writing, Hannah had finally finished training and was headed off to San Antonio.  Some of you are probably saying to yourself..."wait a second.  She was in Denver for like a month.  What could possibly take that long to learn?"  Very good question.  As I recall, much of that time is sort of spent acclimating people to what its going to be like living on an episode of the Real World while still be required to serve the needs of the country.  There is some more concrete training though...resulting in Hannah learning to use a Saws-All.  What is a Saws-All you might ask....

As the name suggests, it saws through almost anything.  Some might call it a reciprocating saw.  Its basically a blade that sticks out and moves in an out rapidly, allowing for some flection.  Its great for cutting out mistakes. 

Sometimes they can be used for crafts...

...which works especially well if your boyfriend loves handmade things...especially things made of OSB.

But anyway, once Hannah's skill training was all done, she got in a van and drove to TX.  Some might say its a bit stalkerish, but I prefer to think its Nick Sparkish, but I followed her.  On the internet.  She texted me where she was and told me how pretty it was.  And from my desk I went there.  It almost felt like I was in the van with her.  Except I was at my desk.  And super jealous.  And wished I was travelling across the great plains of Texas to go work with the large Habitat affiliate in the country.   



So, I did what any man wishing to change his situation would do.  I went to my local Habitat and worked.  Take that!  I totally one upped her.  She was actually still travelling and I was framing...the greatest, most fun task that you could do.  I ended up with blisters, tired arms, sore hamstrings, and a few little nicks from run-ins with materials harder than my skin. 

And although she wasn't there with me, that dang Mumford and Sons song was, which basically means that even if I could stop thinking about her, I cant and wont be able to ever stop thinking about us.

Epilogue

Hannah made it to Texas.  Proof can be seen below.

She is doing part of her work in the office...which, like all office employees in this country, means moving paper.  

Dropped ball...and we're off again!

It turns out that I dropped the ball on this one.  Here I was waiting for Hannah to write something for me to respond to, and she had already done it.  The calls-and-responses on her blog will be tagged as "Who's will?"  Didn't even know categorizing things was possible. 

http://hannahmraines.wordpress.com/whos-will/

So, in response to this post, I thought I might talk a little more about the whole "Will" issue and about what Hannah is going to be experiencing for the next few days.

1) Will- because I'm tired of repeating myself 14 times every 6 weeks. 
In NCCC, you not only travel around, but you work with a variety of people.  And you work with new people at every project.  And you get new projects every so often (6-8 weeks).  Now, as many of you know, the name I chose to use at the age of 4 or 5 was Dalen.  You see, at that age, I had the feeling that William was just a little too formal.  Oh how wise I was.  So, DAlen was the name I used.  this worked well for the next 20 years of my life.  Then, partway through the year, right around our 3rd project, I reached my limit.  NO MORE!  We were working on a fire crew and meeting new people sometimes on every burn!  Easily 10 new people per week.  OH THE HUMANITY!

You see, nobody gets Dalen right the first time.  I have to repeat it.  And nobody ever spells it right either.  This was fine for people who would become friends or family.  I could take the time and be patient with them.  But for people I knew i might never meet again, I decided to go by "Will."  This is where many of you probably become insulted because I wasn't making long term plans with you the day we first met.  But this is also the moment where you realize you have made it to the next level...the Dalen level.  If you call me Dalen or refer to me as Dalen, you are either 1) a long term friend, or 2) family, or 3) Hannah has told you to call me Dalen, because she doesn't like Will.  If you call me Will, then either 1) you only know me professionally speaking or 2) this time next year you wont know me or 3) you agree, that's its just easier, and hey, it sounds kind of strong, and you prefer it, right?

2) Riding in Vans...FOREEEVVVEERRR
As Hannah mentioned before, it seemed like they were prepping and teaching her how to ride in a van. 

http://hannahmraines.wordpress.com/2012/10/26/riding-in-vans-with-corps-members/

She couldn't have been more correct.    As I write this, she is on her first of many long-distance trips in a van.  Driving from Denver to San Antonio is going to take about 17 hours, but must be broken up into 3 days (safety is a huge concern for NCCC).  So, the 1000 miles will pass a little slower than it might in a car, but its all part of the process.  I remember our longest trip being from Charleston to Little Rock.  It was only 900 miles, but it still seemed like forever.  And with all of our seats full, I was ready to never be near another person by the time we got there.  But, alas we persevered, and Hannah will too.  If there's one thing NCCC can instill, its resilience and patience.  Send her positive vibes.  She'll need it in the beginning.  Those van rides are like a war of attrition.  They are like marathons of sitting.  And everything out west is further away.  Hold her in your thoughts...you know, unless you already constantly do.  :) 

The photo edition!

Hate reading?  well today is your day.  This posting is almost made entirely of pictures (which i count as worth at least 1000 words each).

I finally finished up the string.  What was once a jumbled knot of roughly 0.75 miles in length is now a series of wrapped bundles.  I gave some away to some adults during trick or treating, but i have plenty left.  if you need some, let me know.

Speaking of trick or treating...i gave out candy....

...dressed as a donkey!  (i didnt drink the beer until after...which for those of you who KNOW me...is a big deal.  i am trying out this whole "beer" thing.  this one was supposed to taste like pumpkin.  tasted like beer to me.  

Wednesday night, with halloween over and the string done, i was able to focus and get a major task done on my house.  check my fireplace!  it works!

Friday was a good day.  Went on a field trip to the country to look at a biosolids application farm.  Got to see some baby cows.  Sure...cats on the internet can be great.  But nothing beats a real life baby cow.  So cute!

Friday night I went to the men's shelter...where i received the glamorous task of prepping salad.  I ended up on dressing duty.  Somehow, the dressing we had gotten a hold of was meant for single serving use.  I was in charge of fixing that...and fix that I did!

I hope you enjoyed this photo edition.  Keep visiting and tell all your friends.

http://hannahmraines.wordpress.com/posts-are-here/