My seat for the '09-10 season at the 5th Ave Theater has been confirmed. I got the same seat as last year. I was hoping a few rows closer, but it is a good seat all the same. Here is what I'll be seeing this year:

 

Today I tried to the most complex cooking endeavor I've ever done by myself. Four things cooking simultaneously! Yes, I know, I'll give you a minute to catch your breath.

 

I made Moco Loco for lunch. It is a hawaiian dish consisting of a bed of rice with a hamburger patty on top, topped with a fried egg, and covered in brown gravy. Yes, it is as delicious as it sounds. I saw it on the menu of a Hawaiian place we got lunch at with coworkers. I didn't try it then, but have been talking about it and my coworkers urged me to just try to make it on my own.  So my first taste of this dish was the one I created.

 

The finished product was pretty darn tasty. I used hamburger that had been in my freezer for I don't know how long, so it was a bit hard when it came off the George Foreman grill. My timing was pretty right on getting the gravy, rice, burger and egg to all end at once--I honestly have no idea how that happened.

 

My kitchen is intact, Zoey finally got to see me do something other than take something out of the oven. Below are a couple of pictures of the kitchen mid-experiment as well as the final product.

 

ddv

This past weekend my dad and I got to go up in one of fourteen flying B-17 bombers left in the world. Words can't really describe the experience (other than completely amazing) so I took pictures.....lots and lots of pictures.

 

 

ddv

I'm back from New York City. I had a great time, walked a ton, and took loads of pictures.

 

check em out

 

 

ddv

It has been quite awhile since I've done any mods on my beloved BMW, so I broke down and got some upgraded lighting.

 

The rear tail lights were replaced with smoked, LED tail lights--eliminating the orange color from the OEM lights.

 

In the front the blinkers got upgraded. I went with clear lenses on the front and side--again eliminating the orange from the mix. The bulbs inside are amber now, so it is still street legal as the appropriate color shows up when the blinkers are on.

 

I'm very pleased with the results. take a look at the photos and see for yourself!

 

ddv

Hello, I wanted to share the good news about the woman in my life. She is 4 years old, weighs about 25 pounds, and is the sweetest more adorable lady I've met. Her name is Zooey, and she is a Boston Terrier.

 

I'd been trying to adopt/rescue a dog since Christmas, and been looking at a few select breeds. Everything fell into place this morning and I was able to bring her home.

 

She has investigated the house, we've played a bit, and now she is sleeping on my lap (and farting up a storm!). I haven't heard her make one noise other than the usual snorts and snores of the breed.

 

I think we will get along great! Check out the photo album I just put up for pictures. :)

 

ddv

 

 

Part of my job at Microsoft is to produce the quarterly show, "Behind the Code". It is an hour long, one-on-one interview with a legend of Microsoft. We base the show off "Inside the Actor's Studio" if you've seen or heard that.

 

Today was the first show that I fully produced. I spent all morning at Microsoft Studios, working and watching the crew at work and the show unfold. I took some snapshots of my experiences behind the scenes.

 

The show we shot today won't be ready to distribute until February, but you can see the previous shows on Microsoft.com.

 

I really enjoy this part of my job!

 

ddv

"If you can see your path laid out in front of you step by step, you know it's not your path. Your own path you make with every step you take. That's why it's your path."

~Joseph Campbell

I'm stoked, plain and simple. This past weekend I fulfilled a decades-old dream--I saw the broadway production of Phantom of the Opera. I've been wanting to see this since I got involved in music. I had came oh-so-close twice before: once in NYC and once in London. Both times circumstances dictated me going to Les Miserables instead (which is my all time favorite musical). So you can imagine how happy I was that the traveling production of POTO was coming back to Seattle. It was magical, brilliant and everything I could have hoped for.

I am already planning on going to the Broadway production of Lion King when that hits town next Feb, and I'll probably go see Spring Awakening as well--I don't know too much about it other than it won a ton of Tonys last year, including best musical.

For the last few months I've also been trying to decide if I should be a season ticket holder at one of the local theaters. they have a really good package for the under 30 crowd and a good line up of shows. Today I got a courtesy call from the theater thanking me for attending Shrek: The Musical. It ended up being a sales call and I bought. I'm now going to get to see The Drowsy Chaperone (Best Musical winner), Memphis, Sunday Afternoons in the Park with George, and Grease. I get to park free and get dinner discounts. Overall I'm really excited to see that much theater. and yes....I'm still straight. :)

 

ddv

well, We finally closed on the house this week. I ended up making a small sum of money. I wish it would have been more considering how much we put into the house over the last 3 years, but at least I didn't have to pay anything and I don't have to worry about it anymore.

 

I'm mostly moved into my new apartment. I still have some coffee tables to assemble and sort through/organize the office/storage room. But I'm taking my time and all the essentials are in place. I absolutely love my new apartment. It felt more at home the first night when I just had a bed and the TV set up then the house did the past 3 months. I'm so glad I was able to move back here (we lived in this complex before we bought the house). This is the right place for me to start my new life.

 

I've posted a few picutes of the new place. Check them out.

 

ddv

My mom is a great artist. For as long as I can remember she has been sewing, cooking, baking, doing stained glass, etc. Arts and Crafts were always a part of my childhood (but sadly, not part of my persona that contained any skill).

This past weekend my mom was featured in the local paper for her Brazilian Embroidery--a sweet new 3D technique she has been mastering. I'm so proud of her and thankful she is being recognized. She has already taught a few classes around Billings and is planning on teaching more.

The story: http://www.billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/09/20/features/life/22-embroidery.txt

The pictures: http://www.billingsgazette.net/shared-content/gallery/?galleryid=2&albumid=97

The video: http://videos.billingsgazette.com/p/video?id=2145616

As most of you know, this last weekend was the weekend I finally got to move into "my own" place. I've been living alone for months now, but it really felt like I was just living in the half-empty version of "our house". It felt like I couldn't move on until I moved out and had a place that was just mine.

I got the signed the lease and got the keys on Saturday morning. I headed down to the signing with a car full of breakables and art--no sense driving that way empty handed! After I did the final walkthrough of the apartment, unloaded the first of my belongings and then headed all the way up to Lynnwood to meet Abi and the realtor to get some papers signed and notarized for the house sale. Then I grabbed a tasty gyro for lunch and went back to the house to break down my home theater system.

I had decided a while ago that I would treat myself to a new/upgraded Bose home theater stereo with the proceeds from the house. They give a credit for turning in an older system, which mine definately is. So I got my perfect new system with all new cables and dropped that off at the apartment along with more art and breakables.

Sunday was move day. My buddy Rob and I went and picked up the uhaul and then headed to the house. Another co-worker got to the house about 9:30am and he and Rob started loading boxes while I broke down and packed up the bed and bathroom. The move was supposed to start at 10, but by the time I got downstairs around 10, nearly all the boxes were already in the truck! I guess it pays to do all the packing and get all the boxes in 1 room ahead of time. 4-5 others showed up around 10-10:30 and helped load all the furniture and larger items. Then we loaded up and headed to the apartment. There was no trouble unloading and hauling stuff to the 3rd floor, so we were all done and cracking open the beers just after 12:00pm! Not too shabby if I say so myself.

It was so nice to have that many friends show up to help a guy start his new life. I got most of the boxes unpacked already... I just have books, movies, music and "office" stuff left.

Home Sweet Home!!

 

ddv

Well, I'm back from vacation a bit sunburned, tired, and content. I had a great time with my friends in Billings, Montana and my family in Hayden Lake, Idaho.

In a year full of change for me, I figured it was time to really pile it on. So I went out and got myself a new job! Don't worry, I'm still with Microsoft, but now I will be the Communication Specialist for the Technical Community Network--an internally focused group designed to bring the top techincal people in the company together to colloborate, communicate and share information.

I'm really excited about this opportunity as I've been building and running websites for Microsoft for about 7 years now and want to try something new. This role will have me managing communication to and through the community and executives (apparently Steve Ballmer will know my name soon enough!), help out with events (one is going to be at Bill Gate's house later this year). I'll also get to explore working in Human Resources ( a goal of mine for the last few years) as part of my role will be working with them on a variety of issues. I am also stoked to become the "producer" Behind The Code--think of it as an Inside The Actor's Studio for developers. This will give me a taste of my dream job as a hollywood movie producer!

I don't know when i start yet, my old and new managers are working out those details now. I imagine it will be in the 4-6 week realm.

I'll keep you posted as I get settled into my new job. :)

ddv

I recently ran across a very cool Microsoft-focused blog called Microspotting. Ariel, the quirky author, has the enviable job of finding cool, inetersting people around Microsoft and profiling them--finding out what makes them tick both at the office and during their free time. It really puts a human face on a company as huge as Microsoft and hopefully shows people that we Microsoft employees aren't all corporate stooges, drones, or geeks.

 

Perhaps one day I'll be cool enough to get profiled in Microspotting, now I should come up with something clever to say about my job! :)

 

check it out: http://www.microspotting.com/

 

ddv

Please help spread the word on our house!

 

 

 

ddv

I've added a new photo album with all the pictures I took of our recent kitchen remodel. It was our biggest project to date, both in terms of cost and "life disruptence". But we are thrilled with the results.

 

The job only took 1 week (not counting the issue with had with the faucet supplier that didn't give us running water until 4 days after the job was "done"), which wasn't too bad. We only replaced the countertops and added a backsplash, new fan and fridge.

 

Hope you enjoy!

 

ddv

I just posted some pictures of the quick and improvised trip we took last weekend to Portland. we were planning to head over to Spokane WA to visit family while our kitchen remodel was getting started, but a spring snow storm prevented us from being able to make it over the mountains. so we headed down south to visit Portland.

 

we had fun walking all around downtown, shopping and visiting galleries. we even splurged on a fancy steak dinner at Don Shula's steakhouse to celebrate my birthyday.

 

hope you enjoy.

 

ddv

 

PS~ i'll post kitchen remodel pictures when the job is 100% complete! :)

One of my favorite artists is Piet Mondrian (1872-1944), a dutch painter prominent in De Stijl style. I'm a sucker for modern art, thus i do love me some Mondrian--dare i say he is probably my favorite.

Most people know Mondrian from his very angular, "basic" paintings consisting of black lines and colored squares. for example his, "Composition with Blue, Yellow, Black, and Red" from 1922:

most of his later work was in this style. sometimes he would rotate the canvas so it was a diamond shape, or add more colors, less colors, more lines, etc. He was always experimenting with the ideas of angles and colors--taken to the "extremem" with his "Broadway Boogie Woogie" from 1942-43:

Now, i'm presonally not all that fond of "Broadway Boogie Woogie", it is too busy and too yellow for my taste.

what i love most from Mondrian is his transition period from traditional Dutch landscapes to his mature style. Here is his "Mill in Sunlight" from 1908:

Most of this work occurred between 1910 and 1920. I was lucky enough to see a special exhibit at Paris's Musee d'Orsay that featured nothing but his transition work.

In this work you can see him started to experiment with a limited pallet and more angular lines, even though he continued to paint "real" objects (not his mature work of just lines and color boxes).

my absolute favorite is his "Gray Tree" from 1911:

it is an amazing journey to see Mondrian make. and to me, the journey period is much more fasonating and resonate than either the starting place and destination.

 

ddv