Jimmy John's I Believe

I was eating lunch at Jimmy John's today (as I do most days) and sat next to their "I Believe" sign.  I've read this many times before, but it really rang true with me today. 

I Believe-
that sometimes when I’m angry I have the right to be angry but that doesn’t give me the right to be cruel.

I Believe-
that just because someone doesn’t love you the way you want them to doesn’t mean they don’t love you with all they have. 

I Believe-
that maturity has more to do with what types of experiences you’ve had and what you’ve learned from them and less to do with how many birthdays you’ve celebrated. 

I Believe-
that it isn’t always enough to be forgiven by other. Sometimes you have to learn to forgive yourself. 

I Believe-
that no matter how bad your heart is broken that the world doesn’t stop for your grief. 

I Believe-
that our background and circumstances may have influenced who we are, but we are responsible for who we become. 

I Believe-
that just because two people argue, it doesn’t mean they don’t love each other. And just because they don’t argue, it doesn’t mean they do. 

I Believe-
that you shouldn’t be eager to find out a secret. It could change your life forever. 

I Believe-
that it’s taking me a long time to become the person I want to be. 

I Believe-
that you should always leave loved ones with loving well wishes. It may be the last time you see them. 

I Believe-
that you can keep going long after you can’t. 

I Believe-
that we are responsible for what we do, no matter how we feel. 

I Believe-
that we don’t have to change friends, if we understand that friends change. 

I Believe-
that no matter how good a friend is, they’re going to hurt you once in a while and you must forgive them for that. 

I Believe-
that true friendship continues to grow, even over the longest distance. Same goes for true love. 

I Believe-
that you either control your attitude or it controls you. 

I Believe-
that regardless of how hot and steamy a relationship is at first, that passion fades and there had better be something else to take its place. 

I Believe-
that heroes are the people who do what has to be done when it needs to be done, regardless of the consequences. 

I Believe-
that money is a lousy way of keeping score. 

I Believe-
that my best friend and I can do anything or nothing and have the best time. 

I Believe-
that sometimes the people you expect to kick you when you’re down, will be the ones who help you get back up. 

I Believe-
that two people can look at the exact same thing and see something totally different. 

I Believe-
that your life can be changed in a matter of hours by people who don’t even know you. 

I Believe-
that even when you think you have no more to give, when a friend cries out to you, you will find the strength to help. 

I Believe-
that credentials on the wall do not make you a decent human being. 

I Believe-
that the people you care about most in life are taken from you too soon.

Amsterdam & Utrecht - Business Trip

This is REALLY late.  Work and wedding planning have kept me away from blogging.  They also decided to block Blogger at work, so my blogging is now confined to after work hours.  Even though I was only blogging on my lunch hour...

I did a lot of wandering around Amsterdam.  As a result, I don't know the names of a lot of these places, but I'll describe them as I see fit :-)
 


My trip started in Utrecht, the Netherlands.  Utrecht is a smaller city about 40 minutes outside Amsterdam.  Sara Lee's international headquarters are located in Utrecht, along with my boss and colleagues.  I had the nights to myself, so I enjoyed the local scenery.  Utrecht, like many other European cities, has a system of canals that run through the city.  Supposedly (according to the hotel TV channel) Utrecht is unique that they are the only European city to have a lower level concourse next to their canal.  However, I think they have this in Paris as well, I could be wrong.

Utrecht is also a college town.  There are three universities in town.  This fact became very obvious, even to me as an outsider, as I walked passed scores of students in the streets.  My hotel was across the street from a dormitory.  This sign was on a walkway near my hotel and the dormitory, my translation:

Cows go here to sleep

I think we can all agree this is 100% accurate.

After three 13 hour days of training, I headed back to Amsterdam for the weekend.  I started the weekend by going to dinner with my Uncle Jack's partner, David.  He is a flight attendant for United Airlines and flys the ORD-AMS route (due to the fact he speaks fluent Dutch).  In fact, he was working my flight on the way over.    He took me to this cool hole in the wall bar where they sold homemade liquor in about 75 flavors.  If I remember correctly, I had raspberry and butterscotch (per the shop owners' recommendation).  He showed me around the city a bit and then we had dinner at an Italian restaurant (the Dutch aren't really known for their cuisine).  Our waiter was from Texas and apparently spoke terrible Dutch...and was also a crappy waiter.  But, it made for a memorable story.  Unfortunately, I forgot to take a picture of us at dinner, bummer.

I had the following day all to myself, so I decided to go for a long run and explore the city that morning (notice the headphones in most of these pictures).  The picture at the top of this page is me in front of the well known "Amsterdam" sign in the center of the city.  Perhaps best known from the Amstel Light commercials.

 Another picture from the notable Amstel Light commercial - life size chess board.  This old guy was awesome.  I athoroughly enjoyed watching this.

I'd like to point out the gray box like things in front of the sign.  These are public urinals and they are scattered all around the city.  If you look close you can see each one has 4 urinals, one on each corner.  At first, it sounds disgusting.  But after you've had for beers and you're wandering the streets, they are amazing.  The Dutch are genius for inventing (I assume) and using these.

This is "Dam Square."  That's right, Dam Square.  Its a WWII memorial.  That's really all you need to know about it.  It is really large, and very impressive.

Right in the heart of the city, there is a comedy club named "Boom Chicago."  I didn't go, but I couldn't help but take a picture of a placed named after my hometown.

After my day of exploring the city, Is went to dinner with one of my colleagues, Yaprak.  We went to dinner at a nice Italian place and enjoyed finally being able to speak face to face.  It was really a please to spend some time with her.

Before heading to the airport on Sunday, I stopped by the famous Amsterdam flower market to buy some flowers for the women in my life: Kate, my mom, Kate's mom and both of my grandmas.  I bought two bundles of tulips for 15 euro a piece.  Each bundle had 50 tulips.  I had to carry the flowers by hand, and overhead compartment, back to Chicago.  I caught some flak in customs in Chicago, but I told them how it was gonna be and everything worked out.

I'll close out this blog post with some pictures of the scenic system of canals in Amsterdam.  I took a 90 minute boat tour of the canals and it was incredible.  There are over 300 houseboats on the canals in Amsterdam.  Notice the example in the second picture.  The tour went past a Anne Frank's house (where she hid from the Nazi's), the flower market, the largest harbor in Holland, and numerous other sights.  My favorite part of the tour was the view of the canals and bridges themselves.

I Misplaced My Camera...and an April Update

 

It has been a while since I have posted anything on FFF.  April has been a really busy month for me - or as my fiance Kate has affectionately called it 'the month of Adam.'  I had intentions of blogging, but I had a few roadblocks:

1. While in Europe (which I'll fully explain in a moment) my laptop wouldn't connect to the hotel internet

2. My camera, with all of my photos from 'the month of Adam,' is missing.  Most likely, it is packed away in the garage with most of my belongings as I wait to move into my new place on June 1.

So, without further ado, here is a chronological synopsis of 'the month of Adam' (disclaimer: I'll update some photos as soon as I find my camera, so for now these are mostly crappy iPhone pictures or from friends):

 

April 1 - April Fools Day

Uneventful.  This was for the best. 

April 2 - Mitch Hedberg Day

Alright.
 

April 4-11 - Business Trip - Utrecht & Amsterdam, Holland 

As part of my new position, and the roll out of the MyTalent system, I went to The Netherlands for training.  MyTalent is a talent management software solution that combines our performance management, compensation and talent planning processes onto one global platform.  Sara Lee's international headquarters (so to speak) is located in Utrecht, The Netherlands, about 30 minutes outside of Amsterdam.  The training was in Utrecht Tuesday-Friday.  It was nice to meet everyone in the Utrecht office, but the nights alone in the hotel were pretty boring.  Who knew business travel was so lonely.  But, I got to spend Friday and Saturday night in Amsterdam - which was amazing!  First of all, the entire city smells of pot, no joke.  Amstel is delicious, especially from the motherland.  This is a picture in front of the Amsterdam sign from the Amstel commercial.  See those gray boxes - they are urinals, in the street.  Each one has four spots for men to pee in.  They are amazing; I used them multiple times - mostly after enjoying a few pints.  My uncles' partner also happened to be in Amsterdam at the same time as me.  He speaks fluent Dutch, so he took me out on the town Friday night.  We went to this cool, hole in the wall bar that served about 100 flavors of liquor - it was delicious, and very strong.  Great way to start an evening.  He showed me around the red light district which is hilarious.  I spent some time later that evening just walking up and down the alleys of the red light district, just because I couldn't believe it. haha. Then we had a nice Italian dinner (the Dutch aren't known for their cuisine - other than the fact that they have milk with every meal) over a few pints of beer.

I could, and will, write a full blog on this - as soon as I find my camera.

April 13-15 - Manager Development Center

This is a three day conference for twelve  participants that I facilitate.  Three full days non-stop at a hotel.  15 hour days.  Exhausting.  Rewarding, but exhausting.

April 17 - Miami of Ohio Triathlon - Oxford, OH

 Kate and I went to Miami of Ohio in Oxford, OH for the 5th Annual MUSF Triathlon.  Kate's brother JB and his girlfriend Laura competed too.  Here are my times:

Place       Tot Time   Swim Time   Bike Time   Run Time

136/650   1:20:10        09:16            42:01        25:23
 
April 24 - Chicago Cubs @ Brewers - Milwaukee, WI

Along with Rusty and Leslie, Kate and I trekked up to Milwaukee (Algonquin for 'the good land' prnounced Mill-e-wah-kay) for the Cubs-Brewers series.  We bought awesome club level seats on stubhub for <$50.  The Cubs won 5-1 (exactly what Leslie predicted).  Miller Park, aka 'Wrigley North' was beautiful as always - especially when its filled with 50% Cubs fans.


April 27 - Accepted to Elmhurst College's MBA program

That's right, I'm officially an MBA student.  I start the first week of September and will be done May of 2012.

April (all month) - Our lease at 'the tip' ends 4/30.
We have been moving out all month long.  It has been really stressful.  Unfortunately, for legal reasons I can't get into details.

You need kids like me...???

I am not easily shocked; but, this is pretty crazy.  Marc Klasfeld of Rockhard Films put on a remake of the 1983 gangster movie Scarface...with kids.  Seven to ten year old children to be exact.  Scarface is one of my favorite movies of all time, but that doesn't make me at all interested in this child abuse stage version.

You can check out the article on CNN for the full story.

What a twisted individual.  The video above shows a few highlights (or lowlights depending on how you look at it) of the production.  The full version can be found on YouTube if you are so inclined.  Throughout the play the children actually do a pretty good job of re-creating the Brian DePalma film.  From piles of popcorn filling in for cocaine, NERF guns for actual weapons or abreviated curse words for expletives the children are eerily close to the film version of Scarface. 

Call me old-fashioned, but I don't think replacing "fudge" and "B" for the actual swear words is acceptable language for a 7 year old.  Introducing these children to this culture at their formative ages is a disgrace; this is especially true because the children are in the spotlight.  They are incouraged and rewarded for their acceptance and proficiency in swearing and gun waving.  It doesn't take a child psychologist to know that the children will now see this as acceptable behavior and replicate it later in life.

Klasfeld claims that it is all in the spirit of the 'viral video.' The producer goes on to say that he thinks the experience is positive for the children as it prepares them to deal with violence that exisits in the world.

Mr. Klasfeld, you are an idiot.  You should be put in jail for taking advantage of these children for your own benefit. 

The Dude Wins an Ocsar - Far Out Man

This is my first post in a while.  Unfortunately, work took over my life for the last few weeks.



So, as most of you probably already know, Jeff Bridges won the Oscar for Best Actor in a leading role, this past Sunday.  He was awarded for his role as 'Bad" in Crazy Heart.  In the video above, you can see Bridges' reaction to winning the award - it's pretty funny.

Kate and I saw the movie earlier this week, and I absolutely loved it.  Bridges performance was spectacular, especially so in conjunction with the mediocre performances of his supporting cast (strangely hot - strangely ugly Maggie Gyllenhaal,  the far past his prime Robert Duvall, and the never had a prime Colin Farrell).  The movie was a love story with a strong commentary on alcoholism - not what I expected to say the least.  Bridges' character, Bad, was even shown going to rehab and getting clean.  Despite catching me off gaurd, I really did love the movie.  Bridges was the perfect person for the role.  He absolutely killed the part and explored every facet of the character.

Another character that Jeff Bridges absolutely killed was 'Jeffrey The Dude Lebowski' (not the millionare). Many (including this writer) agree that The Dude was Bridges' most defining role.  Bridges paid homage to The Big Lebowski and declined to write off the role as many reporters prodded him to.  In the clip above he even made an anology to his life with a quote from The Dude "you know man, strikes and gutters, ups and downs."

It is an interesting observation that one easily can find traits of Bridges in all of his characters.  However, each character is distinct and unique in its own way.  I look forward to enjoying Bridges' acting for many years to come.  And with every role he plays, I will be sure to drop in a number of Lebowski references.  Until then, I raise my caucasian to you Jeff...I mean his dudeness, or El Duderino (if you're not in to the whole brevity thing).

Valentine's Day Dinner

Yesterday was Valentine's Day. Instead of fighting the crowds and making reservations weeks in advance, Kate and I decided to stay at home and make a nice dinner ouselves.  We've been getting more adventerous in the kitchen anyway, so we thought this would be a fun and romantic way to spend the night.

The photo above does a nice job of portraying how good of a job Kate did at creating the "ambiance" as she put it.  Candles and music in the dining room (she downloaded a bunch of new tunes, it was really nice). The entree was fresh caught salmon with a wine/shallot/butter reduction, asparagus and roasted red potatoes.

Kate was very ambitious with dessert and made a lava chocolate cake.  I wasn't too happy because it used semi-sweet chocolate instead of milk chocolate - but I was wrong.  It was amazing!  Kate really did a great job and cranked it out in 30 minutes!

Kate had ice cream with hers, but I wanted fresh whipped cream with mine as the receipe called for.  So i whipped it up from scratch with the blender.  But, just as i was finishing up, the wisk attachment for the hand blender snapped off and got whipped cream EVERYWHERE (notice the collateral damage on the microwave) and cut my finger in the process.  But the whipped cream was delicious and all is well that ends well.  It was a romantic Valentine's Day and our last time celebrating it as single people, crazy!

Blackhawks Season Ticket Holder Road Watch Party

Thanks to Heidi's dad, we were able to go to the Blackhawks Season Ticket Holder Road Watch party.  This was back on January 16th, 2010; I just got around to downloading the pictures to my computer, hence this blog is a little delayed.  If you remember back to my inaugural post, I intended FFF to be my attempt at photojournalism, this post will be the first time I'm following through on that promise.

Above, you can see (from left to right) me, Kate, Heidi and Jon on the ice at the United Center.  Every time the four of us take a picture together I realize how tall I really am - or maybe how short they are, either way.  As a perk for season ticket holders (us vicariously through Heidi's dad), the Blackhawks welcomed us to the Madhouse on Madison to watch the game on the jumbo-tron as the Hawks took on the Blue Jackets in Columbus.  In addition to watching the game, we were offered $1 snacks from the concessions bar, a 30 minute open skate on the ice, and tours of the locker room and press box.  The game was a lot of fun; the Hawks ended up winning 6-5 after blowing a 3-0 lead in the first period.

While on the ice, Jon and I were fortunate enough to meet the Blackhawks Ice Girl.  They were really nice, and not so bright, but that's to be expected.

 

We took the obligatory holding hands picture, then Heidi and Jon did too.

 

 Before we skated, we decided to take the zamboni for a spin...not really, but we took a cool picture on it.  Kate rode shotgun, don't miss her, you can only see her head!

 

 Heidi and Jon got a picture too, Heidi wanted to drive, but someone must have told them about her because they wouldn't let her.

 We checked out the locker room which is pretty plush.  It was kind of a disappointment because we couldn't go into each locker like last time we visited.  That didn't dampen Kate and Jon's spirits!

 

Heidi and I got jealous, so we went up to the press box and took a picture.  What a great view!

I had to snap a picture of the Bulls dynasty championship banners from the press box.  Double 3-peats, won't ever get old.

 

Before we left the press box we stopped by and met the organist.  He might have the best job ever.  Heidi asked him how he makes the effects during hockey fights - he showed us a small box just to his right (by the small 6 on his arm) which was not as impressive as we had hoped.

 

Lastly, Jon wanted to remind everyone that he hates Impact - Thumbs down Impact!