I, Shane › Shane Adams’ personal weblog

So I think that I get tired with blog designs easily because I am starting to tire of the all orange action that I’ve got going on here. I like it, but not TOO much. I sense a redesign coming in the future, but I’m likely still going to incorporate the random movie quotes into the header (aren’t those sweet?).

I want some user interaction for my next design and I also want to know what content you prefer on the old bloggy blog.

First question: What should be the predominant color on my new blog design?

1. Blue
2. Red
3. Green
4. Black
5. Other

Second question: Is there content that does not exist that you would like to see, or content that you would like to see more or less of?

Third question: Would you like to see me add a movie review sidebar? (I found a sweet plugin that will allow me to do really quick, on-the-fly movie reviews.)

So…it’s up to you…

The Five People You Meet in Heaven
by Mitch Albom
Rating: 9 out of 10

I have always been hesitant to read this book and Tuesdays with Morrie because I had heard so many people that liked them and thought they were so wonderful and I didn’t want to be unfairly manipulated into liking a book because of its sentimentality or what other people thought about it.

The book actually showed up at my house unannounced (I think that Ashley left it here) and I found it one day and thought that I would give it a crack when I had some time. Last week, I had time.

I’m really glad that I did. What a terrific book and a great version of what heaven might be like. Part of me didn’t want to read the book because I’m familiar with Mitch Albom’s work on ESPN’s The Sports Reporters and I had never really been impressed with his opinions in the times that I had caught that show. I’ve always been more of a Mike Lupica kind of guy. I always thought it was weird that a sports writer had authored Tuesdays with Morrie and The Five People You Meet in Heaven. But that wasn’t going to stop me this time. Since I had named it on my book list, I was determined to at least give it a shot.

The book follows an old, grizzled war veteran named Eddie who dies after a freak accident at the theme park he’s worked at his whole life. Eddie soon learns that heaven isn’t just about utopia, it is the place where you learn the meaning of your own life. That meaning comes to you through 5 people that you meet in stages of heaven. Some are predictable and some are not, but each have a special reason for being there, even if you don’t understand it at first.

I thought that this was an interesting take on the concept of heaven. As humans, we are constantly searching for that meaning of life, whatever it might be. Albom’s book gives us hope that while we may not discover the meaning during our time on earth, there are five people waiting in line when we die to help us understand the importance of our own life and the meaning that it brought to others.

I recommend this book to anyone who ever wonders why they are here or what their purpose in life is. Even if you are not religious or don’t necessarily believe in heaven or the afterlife, I would recommend this book because the story draws you in and helps you to make sense of your own life.

I ate about half a large bucket of chicken today. I have been craving fried chicken for about two weeks.

Here’s the aftermath:

That’s a lot of chicken. I won’t be eating it again for about two years. It was that awesome.

Holy Blood, Holy Grail
by Michael Baigent, Richard Leigh, and Henry Lincoln
RATING: 4 out of 10

OK, so after about a month and a half of struggling (last book I finished was on May 4th), I finally finished this behemoth of historical non-fiction.

Man, was it ever not worth it.

Holy Blood, Holy Grail was the source material from which Dan Brown likely got most of his information for his controversial novel (and subsequent film), The Da Vinci Code, which I loved. Wanting to hopefully recapture some of the magic of Brown’s book, I decided that I would read Holy Blood, Holy Grail. Someone had given it to me as a gift so I figured I would give it a shot.

It was really interesting. I learned an awful lot about some history that I had no idea about (the Merovingian dynasty, the Templar Knights, the history of the early church, etc.). However, it just took way too long to get there. I understand the importance of context, but after you have heard the authors drone on for several hours about wars and heresies and crap that really doesn’t have a lot of bearing on the ultimate story, you get a little bored.

Usually, I don’t have a lot of trouble finishing books, but I almost abandoned this one 100 pages from the end. Fortunately, the authors finally get to the point in the final 100 pages.

So here’s a synopsis: some documents were found that alluded to a secret society (the Priory of Sion) and these guys started investigating the documents, not realizing what they had stumbled onto. What they found was a lot of possible evidence of a very large secret being protected by a very powerful organization. They postulate what this secret might be (Jesus having a living bloodline) and VOILA! everything falls into place in their story.

Now there was certainly some cool stuff about the Bible that I never had heard or realized or thought about for that matter (and if you want to know more about those, comment and I’ll email you some stuff), but those “oh, that’s pretty cool” moments were largely outnumbered by “oh man, if this book doesn’t start moving soon, I’m going to send it back to the 4th century with the Merovingians!”.

My analysis…if you like history, read this book. If you don’t, read The Da Vinci Code. It’s a better novel. And you aren’t really missing much. Dan Brown accomplishes in about 15 pages what these authors take over 400 to say.

Las Vegas is truly a spectacle.

The last time I was in Vegas was about 4 years ago with Alli, Rich, Sarah, and the Beckmans. It was a great time, the first time I’d spent multiple days in Vegas as an adult. I was anxious to come back because a lot has changed in 4 years. In addition, I had the excellent fortune of being a part of a conference where I got to stay at the gorgeous Mandalay Bay Resort, one of the newer (and definitely one of the nicer) resorts on the Strip.

Shortly after we got settled, we hooked up with the rest of our group and went to a fantastic dinner at the Red White and Blue Bistro in the hotel. I had this seafood dish that was absolutely incredible. It was albacore tuna, salmon, shrimp and scallops in a parchment bag with red peppers and seasoning cooked extremely well.

After a relatively painless flight, we checked into the hotel and got settled in. It was my first conference that I’ve been to in a while that I roomed with someone that wasn’t Kevin, so I was certainly wondering how it was going to go. The first night, we didn’t do much. There was an opening keynote speaker named Michael Moschen, who was, in a word - CRAZY. Moschen is a juggler and performance artist who has helped bring the explosion of circus performances to Las Vegas (read: Cirque de Soliel). Speaking of that, I don’t know if there isn’t a major hotel in Las Vegas that DOES NOT have a Cirque show. There are a bunch of them now…back when we came 4 years ago, the only one around was O at the Bellagio. The one that I really want to see is Love at the Mirage…it’s entirely choreographed to Beatles tunes…totally sweet.

What made Moschen’s presentation so crazy was that he didn’t really say anything…he just talked about his “studies” of circles and spheres and then would show us cool juggling “techniques” he had developed, but really there wasn’t a lot about risk, which was supposed to be the premise of his talk. He ran a half-hour over his allotted time, and by the time he finished, the room (which had been almost to its 4,500 capacity at the start) was at least half-empty. People clapped, but I think that they may have actually been slapping the people around them to wake up.

The Opening reception was just OK. Not much to it when your opening reception is just in a big convention center adjacent to the Exhibitor Hall. Afterward, we walked up the Strip a bit before turning in for a big first official day.

OK, so I realize it has been a while, but with all the crazy traveling I’ve been doing (Friday Morning to Sunday Evening in Florida, Monday afternoon to Thursday night in Las Vegas), it’s been difficult to sit long enough to compose anything worthwhile.

No worries, though. I’m back. I have several updates upcoming…I hope that you like them.

Let’s start with Florida.

OK, so I should preface by saying IT WAS SO FREAKING EARLY IN THE MORNING WHEN WE LEFT. 6:45 a.m. flight…had to be at my mom and dad’s by 4:30. I made it around 4:40. I had only gotten another 2 hours of sleep, bringing my 3 day total to about 10 hours. To say I was tired would be like saying to Hulk Hogan that he looks like he’s been lifting a little.

Friday was filled with travel. Flight to Tampa, then Fort Lauderdale, then a 3 hour drive to Islamorada. The weather was pretty crappy…lots and lots of rain coming in ahead of Tropical Storm Alberto. I ended up falling asleep in the back while trying to read Holy Blood, Holy Grail (that book has put a serious cramp on my reading list). I woke up and we were in the Keys, driving along the 2-lane Highway 1.

The Keys weren’t really what I expected at all. They were kind of dingy and significantly older than I expected. With all of the development happening all around the country, they seem to be the Land that Time Forgot. The people were surprising too. I expected wealthy, beautiful people, but I walked into a Jimmy Buffett concert. And our hotel (if you can call it that)? It looked like something out of a horror flick…similar to the one in the movie Identity. It was surreal.

Once we got settled and took a nap, we were off to enjoy the first wedding event, dessert at the Marker 88 Restaurant and Bar. It was pretty cool and I got a really good shot of the sunset going down over the dock there. It was also the first we got to see of our good friends, the Steeles. It’s been about 3 years since I’ve seen Gabe and Kristi and it was the first time I met their adorable little boy, Zane.

I was so excited to see them and obviously, the bride, Shannan, Gabe’s older sister who has always been something of a sister to me as well. We got to reminisce and talk and I also got to reconnect with one of Gabe’s old friends, Pete, who I last saw about 7 years ago at a different wedding. Pete is an actor who has been in and worked on a lot of really cool stuff. He had tons of stories to tell us about how he got into the movie Seabiscuit and who does what in L.A. and stuff like that. Me, being the total entertainment junkie that I am, totally soaked it up. (Alli would have loved it too…I’m sorry you missed it, honey!) Anyway, we turned in somewhat early because the wedding was the following morning at 6 a.m.

The wedding was really neat. Shannan and her husband Joseph really planned a great service, set to occur at sunrise on the property of Shannan’s mom and step-dad, Rodney. It was an amazing property that they manage for someone who lives there 2 months out of the year, a pretty sweet setup for them and a great setting for the wedding. It was a great, short service and you could tell it was totally personal to them. Gabe sang the Beatles song, Blackbird and played it on bass and it was awesome. To further add to the awesomeness, 3 blackbirds flew over as he was singing it…totally sweet.

Once the wedding finished, we had a great brunch. After that, we were all so tired and full that most everyone dispersed to their respective hotels and beds for some more nice naptime. We returned later (after some rain) to basically hang out, play some volleyball, and walk around on the sand, much further out than before because the tide had gone out. It was really weird though…it was so humid that my camera got fogged over…check it out:

We stayed as late was we could, talking and hanging out with our good friends. Jake and I hung out with Gabe and his friend, Pete a lot. Pete’s an actor and he’s worked on a lot of really cool stuff. He’s got some great stories about actors that he’s hung out with, shoots he has been on, advice he’s received…all great stuff.

Here’s Pete (foggy camera again):

Look for him in American Wedding…he’s the football guy who is the mock minister when Stifler stages the wedding prior to the real wedding (”Dearly beloved, blah blah blah”). It was fun hanging out with him…I’m looking for him in all the movies and TV shows he told me to now…it’s pretty cool.

We got out of Florida just before the Tropical Depression hit. I was glad to go home. In my opinion, Florida is really overrated and not all that pretty. Plus, I really missed Alli a lot. It sucks going to events like that without her. I was ready to go home and see her. Unfortunately, I wasn’t home for all that long…

Tomorrow morning (EARLY!) my mom (Happy Birthday!), Jake, and I are going to be traveling to the sunny state of Florida to the Keys, a locale I have never been before. I really wish that Alli could go, but she is off at drill team camp with her girls.

I am looking forward to seeing my good friends from Wyoming and Colorado and am psyched because it sounds like it will be a fun event. We get back Sunday and then it is off to the HOW Conference in Las Vegas on Monday. It will be a crazy next week for me, but I’m going to keep trying to post regularly (although wirless might be spotty in the Keys…should be fine in Vegas) and I’m going to post lots of pics to flickr so keep an eye on the sidebar for new pictures.

My day was pretty interesting considering I got no sleep last night. More on that later…if I can remember it.

I just wanted to wish my mom a late birthday. I got to take her to Sheridan’s for some custard tonight (I had a strawberry-peach smoothie…so GOOD) and give her these sweet pillows that we got them for their new furniture in their basement. Alli picked these totally sweet accent colors to compliment their awesome new Barn furniture that we had shopped for with them.

I just want to say Happy Birthday to my awesome Mom…what has been so terrific about my mom over the years is that even though we were really close as I was growing up, I would still consider her one of my best friends. I think it is pretty cool when you can designate your own parents among your closest friends.

What has amazed me is that, even though she has been a great friend to me, I never DIDN’T think of her as my mom. Jake and I may not always have given her the respect she deserved outwardly, but I think that she did a pretty good job with us. It’s something that a lot of parents of present-day teens have a problem with, in my opinion…they are so concerned with being their kid’s friend that they let them walk all over them and forget that kids need parents to give them rules and guidelines and a frame of reference for life. My mom has always been really good at that.

Sure, I kid her as she becomes more and more senile in her old age, but she is always a good sport about it…must have been pretty tough growing up with three brothers and then having two boys, although I’m sure the former helped prepare her immensely for the latter.

I’m really proud she’s my mom and I hope that she had a great day. I’m really looking forward to spending time with her this weekend in Florida.

Happy Birthday, Sidna!

How DUMB am I?

I pulled an all-nighter last night. I just can’t hang like I used to.

What was I thinking?