birthday

The big 25

Jacob Redding — Tue, 03 Jul 2007 21:23:04 +0000

The cradle rocks just a little slower this year as Diana turns the big 25! Go say Happy Birthday to her on her blog and then stop making fun of me for "robbing the cradle"..

Three years folks, that's nothing!

She's 25. I'm 28, not quite old enough to be her Father or anything. Heck she probably learned how to read, speak, walk and run before I did (in a harder language none-the-less). Sheesh.. all of you!

Happy Birthday Diana.. We'll have fireworks for your birthday! In fact the whole city will celebrate your birthday with fireworks shooting over the Statue of Liberty (they love you just as much as I do!)

Now everyone go and say Happy Birthday to her

Vickie's Big 3-OH!

Jacob Redding — Fri, 01 Jun 2007 05:23:11 +0000

Vickie turned the big 3-OH today. She, Andrew, Diana, myself and several of Vickie's friends went out for a nice dinner at a Brazilian restaurant. Her operatic friend can sing! Powerful singer!

Happy Birthday Vickie!

28 schweet years

Jacob Redding — Fri, 11 May 2007 07:25:33 +0000

It is currently midnight in California and 9am in Sweden (my current location) which makes me offficially 28 years old right now! Wow... 28.

I'm getting old.

aaahh. I have so much more to do with my life and I'm so far behind the curve. I'm not married yet, I don't own a house and I don't have any kids. My life is ruined what am I going to do! Oh wait... that's right I don't care so much for cultural standards!

Ha! I'm not old, I'm just getting started. F* the house, F* the kids and marriage t.... oh wait, I'm engaged. Ok the marriage thing can stay (now we'll just have to decide on a wedding date.. oh some day, some day).

30 is, however, right around the corner and I still can't fluently or conversationaly speak a second language. A while back I blogged about learning spanish with the goal of fluency and/or conversational by the age of 30. Unfortunately I fell into a very typical routine and focused more on work than on my personal development (i.e. learning a language).

No more!

I will be conversational in a second language by the time I'm 30 and if I have to move to a foreign country to do it, so be it! I'm putting Spanish on hold and Diana and I are moving to China. If I can't learn Chinese in China then I'm hopeless. I'll move back to the states, buy a trailer home, park it in an old drive-in movie theater and sell beer can wind chimes until I finally drop dead at the ripe old age of 50.

Ok so now that I'm professed my desire to learn a second language lets move on.

Today for my birthday Diana and I are going to wander the streets of Gothenburg, Sweden where we have been for the past two days. In the evening we're meeting up with Lisa and Damien, whom we've been staying with, for Dinner and then we're off to Kiel, Germany!

We have absolutely zero idea of what is in Kiel, Germany and apparently, according to Wikipedia, after WWII there isn't much left to Kiel (80+% what destroyed in bombings and never rebuilt). The only thing we are doing is tracking down Döner, Kebabs and possibly getting train tickets to Hamburg ;). I think we can find something to do for a day (or two) before we head up to Copenhagen, Denmark.

Every day you travel without having a clue with what to do is a good day.

I'll write again when we're in Germany or Denmark! Pictures in the gallery!

Diana's Birthday

Jacob Redding — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:22:12 +0000

Diana is hitting the big quarter of a century this year. 25 years. She is going to celebrate like she does every year; with fireworks.

Except a week long celebration.

28 schweet years

Jacob Redding — Mon, 30 Apr 2007 05:17:18 +0000

The big 28! I turn 28 this year. wow..

I really don't need much in the form of gifts. Visit, call, write. Say Hi. I'm cool with that. Oh and cake.. I like cake. I mean I really like cake. I reeealllly like cake. (Devil's Food with fresh strawberries.. if you're wondering. oh and homemade whipped cream mmm.. devil's food)

The morning light

Jacob Redding — Sat, 13 May 2006 13:24:07 +0000

    The morning light ran through my windows, pierced the thin-white curtains and wiggled its way past my eyelids. I woke up later than usual but still early enough to see the surrounding buildings still glistening with the morning dew. I took my time showering and getting dressed eventually carrying my bike downstairs at around 9:30am.

    It was a perfect day for a ride. The sun was showing but not high enough in the sky to be bothersome and the temperature was perfectly settled in the low 60s, which was perfect for the light jacket I had on. The roads were clear of the morning commuters and, best of all, neither Brooklyn nor Manhattan had been inundated with tourists yet.

    This was my day and it was perfect.

    I decided that instead of taking the short and fast 5 1/2 mile route to work I would take the longer, slower but more scenic 8-mile route to work. Miss Liberty, on my left, was apparently smiling upon on me as I slowly crossed the Brooklyn Bridge because I did not have to ask a single walker, jogger or tourist to move out of the bike lane. The lane was clear for the entire length of the bridge. A first.

    On the other side of the bridge I started up Broadway passing City hall and Canal Street before I finally made a left near Astor place. I slowly made my way past Washington Square Park and continued up town on the Avenue of Americas (6th ave). That far south it is usually a horrible mess of taxis, camera crews, tourist buses and potholes almost big enough to hold the egos of those that live nearby. But today the cars cleared out of my way, didn’t honk at me and never once did I have to slam on my brakes or stand up and pedal fast to get out of a potential dangerous situation.

    I continued up 6th to Bryant park (42nd) taking a left to skirt along the south edge of Times Square, just close enough to see the madness but right on the edge to avoid it. Normally this would lead to an incredibly hectic and maddening area around the Port Authority at 8th and 42nd but, like earlier in Brooklyn, traffic was light and the tourist buses weren’t out in force.

    The rest of the ride up 8th avenue was smooth, the bike lane worked (as it should) and I hit a perfect mixture of green and red lights. I stopped to pickup a good cup of hot chocolate and a croissant two blocks from work at Café’ Simpatico (57th and 10th) and walked my bike the remaining two blocks to work.

    I turned a typical 30-minute ride to work into a 1 hour and 15 minute blissful journey from downtown Brooklyn to midtown Manhattan.

    I was a perfect way to start my 27th year.

Now…

    Where are my presents?

Photos and updates

Jacob Redding — Mon, 31 May 2004 00:18:00 +0000

Again it has been quite some time since I last posted anything to this blog, so here come the updates (in Order, oldest to newest).

Chris Graduated!!!

A while back chris graduated from his training at the State prison, he is now an official Prison Guard and can officially kick your butt. Although he may look tough in his uniform he ain't that tough later that day I pinned him with one armed tied behind my back. He's such a wuss.

MY Birthday!!!

Honest I had a birthday and Tina threw me a surprise birthday party. Heck up until all these people starting pouring into the house i didn't even know I had a birthday coming. Well OK, I did. Tina got me tickets to see Primus, my sister bought me travel gear and a new backpack and my parents hooked me up with a REI gift certificate which I have already used! ;)

Whitewater River Rafting

Yet another trip with the Outdoor program at Portland State University. This time I went on a whitewater rafting trip. It was a half day trip down the Clackamas river in Oregon, which is a mild timid river. The trip was so-so, not because of the trip leader but rather because of the tameness of the river. I've seen bigger rapids in my bathtub, ok not really but still. OH and just to freak my mom out, when we hit one of the rapids myself and another guy fell out of the boat. Him and I had to float through the rapids with just our lifejackets and a helmet to protect us. I'm pretty sure the other guy didn't enjoy that part but except for hitting my booty on a rock, I Loved IT!!! Next time I'm forgetting the boat and just using my life jacket to hit the rapids, so much fun!

Spring Wedding

My cousin has met the man of her dreams and she married him. The ceremony was held this last friday and it was rather nice. Her new husband seems like a great guy and I am sure that they will lead a long and happy life together.