Items by cek

• Thanks Bend for a Truly Nightmare Inducing X-MAS Parade

  —monkeyinabox

  12.06.2009 It was the nightmare after the Bend Christmas Parade. Truly. I wonder how many parents woke up last night to screaming children after having terrifying dreams after yesterday's parade. What you ask? Let me demonstrate my case. After getting my way and having our pre-parade breakfast at Jakes Diner, [...]
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  Posted: December 06, 2009, 3:48pm EST
  by cek

• The New Rules Of Cell Phone Use Demystified

  —monkeyinabox

  12.02.2009 Yesterday's Bend Bulletin featured an article: When January's cell phone ban goes into effect, what will be allowed? with the following graphic: Seems pretty clear to me, however the verbiage about what and who is exempt from the new rules was not. I can also say that I agree [...]
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  Posted: December 02, 2009, 5:01pm EST
  by cek

• 25 Days Of A November Christmas

  —monkeyinabox

  12.01.2009 "Do you have all of your Christmas shopping done yet?", The Teacher and I were asked as we drove through Burger King last night around 9:00pm after indeed doing some Christmas shopping. WHAT!?!? It was still November! Geez... Okay, now it's December. Ask me again later. Yeah, no post-turkey [...]
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  Posted: December 01, 2009, 7:54pm EST
  by cek

• Watch Out For Kids With Banjos

  —monkeyinabox

  11.22.2009 Saturday morning was not a morning for sleeping in. The Teacher and myself (along with the kiddo and the dog) hopped into the car and hit the road. There was only a light dusting of snow on the ground, so my earlier checking of Tripcheck confirmed the decision to [...]
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  Posted: November 23, 2009, 12:37am EST
  by cek

• The Roots - Part 2, It Was Meatastic!

  —monkeyinabox

  11.10.2009 Over this past weekend, the monkey, The Architect, me-myself-and-I, reached the numerical equivalent of 35. A new check box on surveys, but other than that not a huge change. There were a few surprises and the first one started at work with a morning cupcake surprise on Thursday. Why [...]
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  Posted: November 10, 2009, 3:31pm EST
  by cek

• The Square Root of 1225

  —monkeyinabox

  11.07.2009 Yep, I believe it is.... [...]
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  Posted: November 07, 2009, 2:38am EST
  by cek

• It Was A Bit Warmer Back In July

  —monkeyinabox

  10.23.2009 With a thick cloud cover overhead this morning, I seriously experienced one of my warmest October bike commutes in recent memory. No frost covering the numerous leaves and apples strewn across my route, just a warmish wind that was strong, but it blew in the right directions and didn't' [...]
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  Posted: October 23, 2009, 12:50pm EDT
  by cek

• The Upgrade, The Old Model, And The Fear Of Change

  —monkeyinabox

  10.22.2009 Are they the mindless sheep, or the cutting-edge adapters of change, or something else for all that matters? If It's not broken, then why fix it? If you got burned last time, why would you be trusting this time around? All are good questions, and maybe I'm picking the' [...]
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  Posted: October 22, 2009, 5:47pm EDT
  by cek

• Three, Two, .... Eighteen.

  —monkeyinabox

  10.07.2009 Well, that didn't go as planned. It seemed to be destined by fate, or some other form of cosmic destiny, but.... Oh, I forgot to mention, last night was the third annual World Series of Hold'em at Jake's Diner. In last year's tournament, I finished in second place, and [...]
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  Posted: October 07, 2009, 4:30pm EDT
  by cek

• More Words Than War & Peace, Easily

  —monkeyinabox

  09.25.2009 While the blogging engine isn't always running, it doesn't mean that wheels aren't spinning at monkey headquarters. Nope, things have been keeping the staff busy, and I'm certainly not at a loss for words these days. While some might suggest that if you don't write everyday on your site,' [...]
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  Posted: September 25, 2009, 8:26pm EDT
  by cek

• Right Pedal, Left Pedal, Rinse And Repeat.

  —monkeyinabox

  09.15.2009 This year has hardly been one for the books, as far as my bike commuting goes. Certainly big events and smaller ones have taken their toll on my totals. With all that said, it's week three of September's Bike Commute Challenge. I find it interesting that some of the [...]
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  Posted: September 15, 2009, 3:44pm EDT
  by cek

• Who Dialed In The Fog, Mist And That Wet Stuff People Call Rain?

  —monkeyinabox

  09.06.2009 Three-day weekends are almost as good as those buy two, get one free sales. Well, maybe a little better since you don't have to actually buy two first to get your free one. With that said, the monkey thought it might be a good idea to report on some' [...]
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  Posted: September 07, 2009, 1:22am EDT
  by cek

• Two or Three Things I Know About Her

  —monkeyinabox

  08.29.2009 Last Wednesday evening The Teacher and myself made another trip back to a couple of stores to return a few duplicates from our wedding present stash. Overall, we did very good thanks to all of our generous friends and family, but we had a few items that needed to [...]
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  Posted: August 29, 2009, 6:32pm EDT
  by cek

• It's All About The Details

  —monkeyinabox

  08.24.2009 Yesterday I was watching an older episode of Mad Men (yeah, I know, I'm late to the party) where art director Salvatore Romano had one of the female office workers hitting on him. One of the other staff in the art department commented on "they always can tell who'" [...]
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  Posted: August 24, 2009, 8:09pm EDT
  by cek

• Now That I'm Fed, I Can Recount Some Stories Of Recent Events

  —monkeyinabox

  08.22.2009 A couple of shredded beef tacos, a carne asada taco, a good beer and I'm ready to write once again. Ahhhhhhh... nothing like moving, unpacking and heat to zap away all of the inspiration for writing something for this site. Sure, I cold have written entries titled "unpacking: how'" [...]
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  Posted: August 22, 2009, 10:28pm EDT
  by cek

• North To The Future With Velveteen Rabbits And An Alligator Man

  —monkeyinabox

  08.06.2009 Time for a little recap on the events of the previous week. Let's see, what happened? Oh yeah, The Teacher and The Architect got hitched. Last Thursday we were preparing for rehearsal, while the rest of the state was sweltering in the heat. On the Tuesday prior, I did [...]
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  Posted: August 06, 2009, 7:26pm EDT
  by cek

• Consistent Inconsistence And How It Rivals Consistence

  —monkeyinabox

  07.23.2009 After a weak start to my bike commuting, I've gotten back on track in full force. Prior to last week, I was consistently not being consistent, and since then I've been consistently consistent. It's not like I was being a slacker or anything, but rather other stuff was taking [...]
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  Posted: July 23, 2009, 8:18pm EDT
  by cek

• My, How Dreams Change - Part 2

  —monkeyinabox

  07.21.2009 The first part of this series was written almost a year ago. A conversation with The Teacher last night prompted me to look at this. The question we asked each other was "a year ago would you have ever predicted where you'd be now today?" Where was I last' [...]
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  Posted: July 21, 2009, 4:40pm EDT
  by cek

• We Were Lying There On A Blanket By The Stairs

  —monkeyinabox

  07.17.2009 Sitting back in the easy chair has not been the typical activity lately. With frequent trips back and forth for The Teacher and myself, moving her and my stuff, attending showers, and planning the actual event, we've been busier than bees. Busy enough that I still have some things' [...]
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  Posted: July 17, 2009, 12:42pm EDT
  by cek

• The Recap Of All Things That Happen In Parade And Coffee Cups

  —monkeyinabox

  07.10.2009 How many times do you say to yourself, "First i'll do some work, then reward myself with coffee", or "First, I need some coffee, then I can do my work". Yep, it's almost as classic as the "which came first, the chicken or the egg?", but rather "which came" [...]
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  Posted: July 10, 2009, 7:24pm EDT
  by cek

• So That Was June

  —monkeyinabox

  07.01.2009 Not June Cleaver, Wally or the Beave, or anything resembling a relaxing month. When I last left you, I left you with some revealing news. Nothing quite as revealing this time around. A week ago today I received the keys to the new Casa de el Architect and la [...]
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  Posted: July 01, 2009, 3:38pm EDT
  by cek

• #700 Because You Can Only Write About Roundabouts For So Long

  —monkeyinabox

  06.23.2009 Things have been a bit sporadic with updates on here of late. Was the monkey kidnapped, held hostage, or on a long vacation? Nope. House hunting and other endeavors have taken up much of The Architects time lately and now the actual move has started. Boxes are being packed [...]
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  Posted: June 23, 2009, 5:56pm EDT
  by cek

• The Teacher and The Architect Sitting In A Tree

  —monkeyinabox

  06.15.2009 Over the past weekend, The Teacher and myself were given a surprise party (in a sense). I knew some of the details, but surprises were still all around. What was the occasion? Sort of a combined bridal shower, meet and greet, and cake and beer celebration type event. It's' [...]
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  Posted: June 15, 2009, 1:55pm EDT
  by cek

• Failure Was Not An Option

  —monkeyinabox

  06.11.2009 Over the last month, when I wasn't busy photographing roundabout art with the camera mounted on a ten-foot PVC pipe, or traveling for adventures with The Teacher, I've also been studying like a mad man possessed. Why? This past Monday I knocked out another test and became a LEED [...]
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  Posted: June 11, 2009, 5:08pm EDT
  by cek

• Cycling Shorts Aren't Made For This Weather

  —monkeyinabox

  06.10.2009 Wow Scooby Doo, that was freaky deaky yesterday. There was rain, there was thunder, there was hail, and there was a lot of it. Not really a big deal while I was at work, sitting behind my desk listening to it pound the skylights (yes, the rain was that [...]
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  Posted: June 10, 2009, 5:11pm EDT
  by cek

• Hey, There's A Mouse In My House

  —monkeyinabox

  06.03.2009 Today was the day of payback. Payback for the mouse I found at my residence. Gotcha! Melissa of She's Just Saying finally delivered my prize today. On my door knob was a small plastic bag containing this fine work of knitting. I think I guilted Melissa into giving me [...]
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  Posted: June 04, 2009, 1:09am EDT
  by cek

• Some Things Are Worth The Wait, This MIght Not Be One Of Them, Or Maybe It Really Is

  —monkeyinabox

  05.31.2009 Wow, how times flies. A short work week after a long weekend, yep, a long weekend with plenty of monkey business and historic moments. Ahhhhhh... Well, to start the belated recap, last Friday I headed for Eugene to meet up with The Teacher who was also a part-time coach [...]
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  Posted: May 31, 2009, 3:58am EDT
  by cek

• 10 Week Countdown

  —monkeyinabox

  05.22.2009 The Teacher and myself reached the 10 week mark until the big day. In some ways it still feels like plenty of time and at other times it feels like the date is speeding towards us at 150 mph. ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM. The creative wheels are also always spinning [...]
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  Posted: May 22, 2009, 1:09pm EDT
  by cek

• I'm Sorry You Don't Know Where Your Pants Are, But I Do

  —monkeyinabox

  05.20.2009 Rather a form of misdirected communication, rather than an act of common thievery. Huh? Well, I found it rather odd when I was checking one of my email accounts and saw I had an order for some Levi's pants that I didn't order. Oh dear, identity theft alert. But' [...]
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  Posted: May 20, 2009, 1:10pm EDT
  by cek

• It Always Comes Back To Chicken & Waffles

  —monkeyinabox

  05.12.2009 Dressing in layers, wearing a face mask or balaclava is key, as well as having a good pair of gloves. Yes indeed, it's Spring cycling in Central Oregon time again. Last year, snow kept falling into early May, which meant that my bike commuting was pushed back as well. [...]
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  Posted: May 12, 2009, 7:45pm EDT
  by cek

• The Teacher & The Architect Present The Sites

  —monkeyinabox

  05.02.2009 With the invitations now in our hands, things are moving along nicely. I can't believe it was three weeks ago that we finally decided on our site for the ceremony. Well, The Teacher had already procured the reception site, but we looked at a few different ceremony sites, and' [...]
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  Posted: May 03, 2009, 1:15am EDT
  by cek

• These Days You Never Know If It's Dan Deacon Or Swine Flu

  —monkeyinabox

  04.29.2009 It's certainly true that these days when a new blog entry pops up in your feed reader, your skeptical nature kicks in. Will it be about the weird April weather, with snow, hail, rain and sunshine all happening at once? Or will it be a silly or serious, or [...]
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  Posted: April 29, 2009, 10:24pm EDT
  by cek

• Save The Date On Top Of The Sheets

  —monkeyinabox

  04.23.2009 So, in a previous entry, I teased you with some photos of The Teacher and myself. What were we up to, you might ask. Well, we had plans in place to make some save the date cards, since we became engaged AND needless to say, we weren't going to' [...]
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  Posted: April 23, 2009, 10:56pm EDT
  by cek

• Los Campesinos & Sky Larkin in Portland

  —monkeyinabox

  04.17.2009 A bit of a delay on the recap of recent events. On Tuesday afternoon I had a small stye removed from my eye lid, which meant I was unable to wear a contact lens in that eye. It gave me the choice of either wearing my glasses (which had [...]
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  Posted: April 17, 2009, 3:46pm EDT
  by cek

• And We Exhale, And We Roll Our Eyes, And We Do These Things In Unison

  —monkeyinabox

  04.07.2009 So, as previously teased, a couple from a recent photo project we did: I'm not releasing the cupcake ones quite yet. ;)...' [...]
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  Posted: April 08, 2009, 2:56am EDT
  by cek

• The Man In The Rabbit Suit Wasn't Around In 1933

  —monkeyinabox

  04.03.2009 Less than a month ago in 1933, Franklin D. Roosevelt spoke some famous words during his inauguration: The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. It's hard to look at the news these days without some fear of the current economy. However, that fear alone is not [...]
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  Posted: April 03, 2009, 10:16pm EDT
  by cek

• Foolish April

  —monkeyinabox

  04.01.2009 No fooling the monkey on this day. I woke up well aware of what day it was and even the radio pranks that blared through my alarm clock didn't trick me for a second. Truly, April 1st is a day for fools and for fooling around. In some ways' [...]
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  Posted: April 01, 2009, 4:28pm EDT
  by cek

• A Frakkin Great Spring Break With PVC Pipe, Butte's And Photo Shoots

  —monkeyinabox

  03.30.2009 A serious lack of postings since my last entry (I know), but that hasn't meant there was a serious lack of things going on for the monkey. I have to admit that the video previously posted reached a far greater audience than I originally expected (Facebookers and blog readers).' [...]
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  Posted: March 30, 2009, 5:45pm EDT
  by cek

• Summer Movies Are The Best

  —monkeyinabox

  03.15.2009 Saturday was a slightly cooler day and most certainly had a lot more wind than Friday did. The sky was not blue, but rather overcast. Of course an overcast sky is great for taking photos outside, because it works like a giant softbox. Well, I had my gear loaded [...]
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  Posted: March 16, 2009, 1:15am EDT
  by cek

• So, I'm Dating An Ex-Cuban Cigar Smuggler

  —monkeyinabox

  03.10.2009 I'll admit that fresh off the Daylight Savings Time clock adjustment, starting with a profound statement like that is no easy task. Does it deserve further explanation, or is it good enough just as a juicy detail? Perhaps a better question is why has the monkey not been cranking' [...]
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  Posted: March 10, 2009, 4:58pm EDT
  by cek

• When He Played Chess Against A Computer And She Was Feeling Footloose

  —monkeyinabox

  02.24.2009 My, the times have changed. Kenny Loggins is no longer on the charts, but these two made a grand entrance on the red carpet for the Oscars. Oh dear, has this blog really reduced itself to reporting on events from last Sunday? Well, I probably had little intentions of [...]
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  Posted: February 24, 2009, 3:26pm EST
  by cek

• VD Cheapskates Who Like 80's Music REJOICE!

  —monkeyinabox

  02.14.2009 Yep, my recently released 80's mix CD is out there, but for Valentines Day, five copies are being placed in Downtown Bend for you to find and keep. Yep, free music Valentines Day doesn't get any better, especially if you like the 80's tunes. Here's what you can find [...]
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  Posted: February 14, 2009, 12:34am EST
  by cek

• It's Time To Come Clean, My Blog Used Steriods In 2004

  —monkeyinabox

  02.12.2009 Yep, the days of 2004 weren't always bright and sunny for this blog. I know it might make more sense to think that athletes alone required PEDs to produce at higher levels, but this blog also was under high pressure to perform. Let me explain... First up, it was' [...]
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  Posted: February 10, 2009, 1:25pm EST
  by cek

• Great, Now Bikers Can Run Stop Signs

  —monkeyinabox

  01.29.2009 It appears that momentum towards a law known as the Idaho Stop Law is gaining ground in Oregon. An article in The Bulletin today explained that cyclists can be ticketed for not coming to a complete stop at stop signs (yep, happens all the time), and this law would [...]
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  Posted: January 29, 2009, 4:07pm EST
  by cek

• Everything I Learned About Love Came From 80's Pop Music

  —monkeyinabox

  01.26.2009 What is this you ask? Well, for the record I have been making mix CDs and tapes for quite some time now. Some of them have been relatively simple, and others have had many, many, many hours of sweat poured into them. Of course after that, many of those [...]
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  Posted: January 25, 2009, 7:10pm EST
  by cek

• Almost Time For Something Good

  —monkeyinabox

  01.22.2009 No, I'm not talking about the economy, or the Angry Whopper from Burger King, but from monkeyinabox productions. Trust me, this one is going to be good, especially if you have fondness for the 80's. Sound interesting? Well, just know that the project began back in August, and there [...]
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  Posted: January 22, 2009, 1:05pm EST
  by cek

• The End Of The Asterisk

  —monkeyinabox

  01.16.2009 Springtime in January is simply amazing. No need for jackets, gloves, mittens or hats. It might be a bit too brisk for shorts and flip-flops, but with the lack of frost threatening my extremities, I made it up Pilot Butte twice already this week. Obviously, this was on the [...]
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  Posted: January 16, 2009, 4:40pm EST
  by cek

• Winter Everywhere - Part 3

  —monkeyinabox

  01.09.2009 Friday January 2nd After Christmas, everything melted and normalcy returned to Oregon. Portland was just wet, and the roads on the pass were hardly covered with snow at all. It was now a week later; after New Years Day. Time to head back over the pass another time. Nothing [...]
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  Posted: January 09, 2009, 12:14pm EST
  by cek

• Winter Everywhere - Part 2

  —monkeyinabox

  01.08.2009 Wednesday December 24th Christmas Eve and we were pointing the car back towards Astoria from Bend. The drive to Warm Springs was pretty easy, with the roads in good condition (plowed and sanded). Of course the winter storm was not quite ready to let up. It wasn't quite blizzard [...]
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  Posted: January 08, 2009, 3:22pm EST
  by cek

• Winter Everywhere: The Recap Part 1

  —monkeyinabox

  01.07.2009 Bear with me as I travel back in time. Back in time to when the thermometer was reading in the single-digits, the snow was everywhere and no matter where you drove it was treacherous. Ahhhhh, that was just a few weeks ago, when Sara and I made the drive [...]
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  Posted: January 07, 2009, 3:32pm EST
  by cek