Warning: squirrels.

Rocky Top

As an alumnus of the University of Alabama, I did not think it was possible for me to hate the song "Rocky Top" any more than I already do.

I was wrong.

I'm back!

After finishing my first semester at USC; speaking at ed tech conferences in Montana, Georgia, and North Carolina; dealing with my dad's stroke; I am happy to say that I'm back and plan to start posting a little more regularly to my poor, pathetic blog.

Thank you for your patience and continued support.

Podcast: My on-air bachelor party

One last podcast.  A few days before heading out to Vegas to get hitched, Steve and Johnnie held an on-air bachelor party for me.  While it was more of a roast than a bachelor party, I can assure you that fun was had by all.

The greatest campus ID photo ever

At most college campuses, if you want a campus ID you need to visit the campus' card services office to have your picture taken.  USC is a different.  They let you submit your own picture online, provided the picture has a light blue background [a la US passport pictures].  Since I have both access to Photoshop and a rare moment of free time at work, I decided to make my own campus ID picture ... by taking one of my wedding pictures, removing the background, and adding in a textured, blue background.

Yep.  I'm a geek.

More wedding photos

Since I spent a grip of money to secure the copyright for all of our wedding pictures, I figured I should just post them all online.  Check out http://picasaweb.google.com/crispen/

Enjoy!

Meet the Crispens

Click the image to enlarge

Vegas bound

Well, I am off to Vegas to get married [the wedding is at 1:00 PM on Saturday, July 7th].  Check back next week for an update and maybe even a few pictures.

One month and counting

Well, in one month I will be in Las Vegas getting married ... on apparently the most popular wedding day in years.  In hindsight, it looks like Christine and I were fortunate to be able to easily book a chapel and reception hall when we did, even though we made our reservations back in September.

Stay tuned for updates as we get closer to July 7th.

Vegas trip report

Well, Christine and I spent the weekend in Las Vegas finalizing our plans for our July 7th wedding.  We had the misfortune of staying at the Best Western Mardi Gras Hotel and Casino [motto: "As seen on COPS"].  The place wasn't horrible -- well, the maid did steal the remote control and we never got it back -- but I'm not sure I would recommend it to others.

After breakfast at Bouchon, a visit to the tuxedo rental place, and a quick stop at the county clerk's office to get a marriage license and be accosted by dozens of salesmen asking us if we have a chapel, we spent the rest of our time shopping and losing money in the casinos.

If you are headed to Sin City anytime soon, some of the places I recommend visiting include:

• The Carnival World Buffet at the Rio.  Sure, it's no Joël Robuchon, but if a buffet larger than many grocery stores doesn't excite you, you have no soul.  Oh, and the Carnival World Buffet is a favorite with Vegas locals as well.
• The Buffet at Bellagio.  While the Rio offers a staggering quantity of food, the Belagio offers great quality ... especially for a buffet.  Rated the best buffet in Vegas by the readers of the Las Vegas Review-Journal, don't be surprised to see both buffet mainstays like roast beef and shrimp next to stations serving duck, venison, and fresh sushi.
• David Copperfield's An Intimate Evening of Grand Illusion at the MGM Grand.  Even if you have seen illusions like the squeezebox, reunion, and man versus steel on TV, Copperfield does one heck of a live show.  No, really.

Wedding registry

One of the reasons why I love Christine so much is that she and I hardly, if ever, fight.  Oh, sure, we have our disagreements.  Take, for example, our wedding registry.  I suggested that we register at NewEgg.com.  To me, nothing says "I love you" more than a gigabit ethernet switch and some thermal paste.  Christine's response, unfortunately, was less than enthusiastic.  [I seem to remember her saying something to the order of "over my dead body."]  Christine wanted to walk up and down the aisles of our local Target store with a bar code scanner.

But since most of our friends and family are spread throughout the United States [including some states where there aren't any local Target stores], Christine and settled our disagreement by registering at Amazon.com.  No, really.  Amazon.  Think about it: Amazon has pretty much everything we need, there is an online Target store built into Amazon, and Amazon offers free shipping for orders over $25.

Problem solved.  :)