My part time job where I don't receive a W-2

Picture it....

Orlando...

Saturday, January 16th, 2010...

Kristen's house...

Excitement...

Enthusiasm...

Why???

That was the time I proposed to Kristen.

Now, I could go on and on and on about how I proposed (all the women saying, "YEAAAA", all the guys saying, "NOOOO"), so I won't, but I did surprise her. And, that alone is an accomplishment. Trying to surprise Kristen is like trying to surprise the Secret Service. They have everything planned out for days and have run every scenario in their heads beforehand. So much so, that about a year earlier, we have this conversation...

Kristen: "Honey, just in case you ever want to propose this is the ring I want. (Hands me the Tiffany's catalog)."

Me: "What?"

Kristen: "Here is the sales lady's business card with her information. You see how I wrote down the ring size, the clarity and the cut."

Brian: "Not the cost?"

Kristen: "Make sure it's a Princess Cut. Remember PRINCESS CUT."

Brian: "A what?"

Kristen: "I've always wanted Tiffany's.ever since I was a little girl, my mom and I would go to Tiffany's in New York City and look at the rings...we did this for years...I love Tiffany's."

Brian: "Breathe, Honey."

Kristen: "We can have whatever kind of wedding you want, I just care about the ring. Hey, I'm doing you a favor. I'm already telling you what ring you want. You don't have to guess. We know how you are with guessing."

Brian: "Hey, the Christmas 2008 debacle was an anomaly. That was our first Christmas together ( she returned 80% of what I got her)."

Kristen: "This is helpful. Remember Princess Cut and no Yellow Gold. Oh and....no pressure."

At that moment, I knew if my apartment had a fire, I HAD to take the Tiffany's catalog out with me. I couldn't lose that thing. Learning from past gift giving adventures such as the Bag Clip of Valentine's 2009, I had to nail this.

Fortunately, I did.

But, that's not what I want to talk about.

I want to talk about the huge, glamorous, expensive, gaudy business of...

Wedding Planning

Proposal Day we spent a day and a half calling friends and family. Conversations went like this...

Kristen: "Look!!! (holding out her ring finger)

Women: "OOOOOHHHHHH!!!!! (with a high pitched squeal that would wake up any dog within a half mile radius) I'm so happy for you (jumping up and down). When are you getting married?"

OR...

Brian: "I got engaged."

Guys: "Congratulations. I'm happy for you. Want to get some Tijuana Flats?"

Brian: "Sure"

Shortly after that, Kristen wanted to go right into Wedding Planning mode. I wanted to spend a month during Engagement mode. So, which one do you think we lived out?

Wedding planning mode it is. I should get used to this decision making hierarchy, shouldn't I?

First thing we did...wedding venues. Kristen looked up fifty different places to get married and have the reception. We would have loved to have the ceremony at our church (Summit Church in Orlando), but it's an old movie theatre, so the layout isn't really conducive to a wedding that we want. So, if we could double down at a site, that'd be perfect.

And we did. First place we looked at...

Women's Club of Winter Park. We could have the ceremony outside (October 23rd, worried about rain in the fall, but what can you do? We'd move it inside. Don't worry Mom. You're done up hair won't get ruined (frizzed up otherwise in the Florida heat), and we could have the reception inside. Perfect. Except for the fact that when we went there to look at it, the air conditioning wasn't on and I didn't like the men's bathroom. And because of that, I was hesitant about the place. I was told I was crazy. We booked the Women's Club (remember that decision making hierarchy). One down, 500 more decisions to go.

Next up...wedding photographers...one of the most important aspects for Kristen. She wants our wedding to be well documented. I want her to have what she wants ("AWWWW"), but come closer and I'll let you in on a little secret...

Little closer...

Closer...

I don't care that much about the pictures. Just not really my thing and that's saying something since I shoot video for a living. But, this is different. This is a person that follows you around for five hours, taking 1500 pictures and you'll buy maybe fifty of them. And you'll never look at them.

Fortunately, this is how I used to feel about wedding pictures until I met Ashley McCormick of Mount Dora. Kristen found her on The Knot (Her electronic BFF the first month of our engagement), they met in person and she's loved her ever since. Everytime she gets on her website: ashleymccormickblog.net, Kristen becomes starry eyed and says, "I Just Love Her". If we turned those four words into a drinking game every night, I'd constantly call in sick the next morning due to Hangover-itis. It'd be an epidemic in my world.

A week and a half ago, we took our engagement pictures. They took three hours and she shot more than 600 pictures. Amazing. Kristen may leave me for her. I wouldn't put it past her. We'll post the pics when we get them.

Next up...let's get us a DJ. Kristen went back to her Internet BFF, The Knot. It was between Jay Edwards aka Jay Liquid (maybe he's constantly thirsty), and Al Dee. She spoke with them first and then, like a relief pitcher in baseball, I came in to close the deal.

Oh, COME ON!!! Let me think that's my role.

Got a great feeling form Jay. Talked to him on the phone for thirty minutes. He daylights as a radio DJ at a local Orlando station. The thing I learned the most from him...he loves what he does and he gets so involved, people think he masquerades as the wedding planner. A year ago, I never thought I'd know or care so much about wedding planning.

And then there was Al Dee. We wouldn't actually get Al Dee, we'd get one of his DJ's Indio. Latin, boisterous, and fun loving. Right up Kristen's alley. She had a great feeling when we left that meeting, but since I'm the closer (stop laughing, honey), I was more hesitant. I felt deep down he wasn't the right fit for us. I didn't think our personalities matched. But, Kristen was so into Indio, and DJ was the most important aspect of the wedding for her, I didn't want to disappoint her. So, I prayed for the right moment to tell her that I really didn't want to go with him, and if that moment didn't happen, then apparently, he would be the right fit for us.

Five days later, my prayer was answered (thank God) when she randomly said to me, she wasn't sure about going with Al Dee and she wanted to change her mind. I always liked Jay the best, because he's a safe, quality choice for us. He'll make sure people are always dancing, and that's why Kristen loves him. She wants, no, I should say, Kristen needs people to be dancing the entire time. It's a dream wedding for her if the dancing is great. She loves to dance and she said she's not going around to the other tables to say, "Hello", if they want to talk to her, come out onto the hardwood and catch her in between songs (are you really going to drag my sweet 89 year old Granny out onto the floor just to get in a quick, high pitched, "HIIII KRISSSSS"), but be quick, because she plans on dancing the entire night ("KRISSSSSS...HOLD UPPP"), until the next morning when she complains, like her birthday dancing night, that she's not 21 anymore, because her knees hurt, thus completing another epic run on sentence that cannot be challenged by even the most ardent writers. Oh, and did I mention she works on the wedding playlist almost everyday, and yet the wedding is still six months away?

Solid.

So, the kicker for her was she was driving past Al Dee's office and she swears that Al Dee cut her off while trying to pull into traffic. And that's how you lose business. Whatever it takes. I'll take Jay and not look back.

Last but not least, the caterers.

Oh, the caterers.

Oh...oh...OH...the caterers.

That will be an entirely separate blog.

I thought I knew you...

The last two months I've been going through a very emotional time and it's difficult for me to talk about it, so please have patience and understanding as I talk my way through this.

I wonder if this is the right forum for me to express these thoughts, and ultimately I decided it is. The Internet is my friend and my best hope is that it will receive these feelings as genuine and true. In turn, my hope is that I will be received in a heartfelt way that will continue to help me move on during one of the most difficult times of my life.

Have you ever been in a situation where you're really good friends with someone? You laugh, you cry, you can't wait to see them again. Then, all of a sudden, like with the flip of a light switch or the snap of your fingers, everything is changed forever, that person acts, treats and looks at you differently. You don't know how it happened, why it's happening or if you'll ever get back to that same place. You hope that it gets back to "great times", and you continue to put yourself out there. However, you keep getting hurt, as if you've forgotten the recent trend of disarray. You're confused, you're sad, and then, you start becoming bitter. Bitter that this is out of your control, bitter that you feel you didn't do anything wrong, and bitter that someone you trusted and loved, has wronged you.

Yet, you keep going back...hoping...praying...wanting it to change. And in the end, it doesn't and you're left heartbroken.

This is how I feel about the show "LOST".

SPOILER ALERT*************

For the last six years, I have looked forward to my "Lost" date nights. I felt connected with Jack (the doctor), Kate (the criminal with the next door neighbor good looks), Sawyer (the bad boy), Locke (the old, disabled man miraculously healed on the island), Ben (the former villain turned...we don't know what side he lies on), and the rest of my "Lost"-ies.

Six years, I've devoted my heart to these characters and in the end, all I've ever asked for is entertainment, and a decent cliff hanger to make me yearn for next week's date. During the season finale, they leave me hanging so much, I wonder how I'm going to make it nine months for questions to be answered.

Six years ago, the creators of Lost left a bunch of people on a deserted island with many trials and tribulations to overcome. They've had to deal with a monster, the Others, the Hatch, multiple injuries and deaths, a nuclear bomb, all with the premise that those who had a vision for this show, knew from the beginning how it would end. So, I've been watching, and watching, and watching, wondering what's the climax...what's the meaning for all of this...why are they still on the island? What's the draw to this island?

For five years, I've loved every minute of the show. Great drama, lots of action, and mystery upon mystery loaded into our brains for us to come up with our own theories on what the show is about and how it's going to be solved.

Sadly, this is the last season, and we have a handful of episodes left and so many things are left unanswered...why did Kate see the horse on the island in Season 1? What about the Polar Bears? What do the numbers mean? How did the island disappear? Why was Lilly in the mental ward with Hugo? Who exactly is the Smoke Monster? How did Jacob escape the island and touch all the future candidates? What are the candidates vying for? That, and about 100 other questions. Problem is, they're not really answering a lot of the questions.

One week we'll see an episode devoted just to Ben. Next week just to Kate. Week after, Jack, then Sayid, then Hugo, etc., etc., etc. Here's the thing, I need things to start mending together and making sense, not more questions or flash sideways; I don't care about an alternate reality. I WANT ANSWERS!!! As you can see, this bothers me.

My reputation is on the line here. For years, I tried getting my brother Kevin to watch. Telling him it's the best tv drama I've ever seen. He poo poos it and "West Wing"s me. West Wing...good, but it's not Lost. For years, tried getting my mom to watch, she couldn't keep up. Finally, my fiancee Kristen aka "Sweet Heart" (cue all the women saying, "Awwww") threw me a bone and watched, and I love her for it. She holed herself up for three months in her house, and watched every episode of the previous five seasons. She wanted to know what went on, before the last year. Now, she has context.

See, you can't pick up Lost in the last year. Heck, you couldn't start watching in the third year. Either watch the first season or you're going to be very confused at some point, not knowing all the backstory. However, they haven't explained all the backstory, and time is running out. I feel like the guy with his head on the table, staring intently at the hour glass right in front of him, as the last remaining flecks of sand fall to the bottom. And I'm hoping that the sand will defy gravity so I can have more time. However, I'm not in outer space, so defying gravity will be an issue for me.

I've put all my trust into two gentlemen: Damon Lindelhof and Carlton Cuse, the two producers of Lost. They're running the show, and they've written the finale and they're happy with how it turned out. I hope they're right.

I don't know how I'm going to react when it comes down to those few remaining moments in the last episode. Are they going to Bob Newhart me and tell us it was all a dream? Are they going to Sopranos me and abruptly fade to black as if your cable was cut? I don't know. But, I'm growing more nostalgic, yet more mad at the same time. Nostalgia for I won't have my Lost date nights anymore. Mad for I wish this last season flowed better. I wish they didn't drag it out. I wish we all got more answers to the questions that have alluded us all this time.

The other day, I thought to myself "I bet Lost will mean so much more a few years from now, when we re-watch them on DVD. Then, we'd know all the hidden messages that just confused us the first time we saw them." Maybe our eyes will be opened to what the creators were trying to tell us in the first place. To be patient, and to just watch, remember the promise in the following week's promos: "Questions will be answered".

I hope they're right. I want to believe. They've just made it so hard.

I thought it'd go differently, like losing your best friend. You didn't know you'd lose them, they just kind of went away, abruptly. You thought you would have more time. You thought it'd have more meaning. You don't want to regret it. At the end of the day, you end up questioning, "Was it worth it?" I hope so. Otherwise, I want my six years back.

A Classic That Almost Was...

Write it down, April 5, 2010, was "almost" a date in infamy.

It was "almost" the most talked about sporting event of this newly born decade.

It was "almost" the famous, "Do you remember when..." moments.

It was "almost" the witnessing of dreams coming true.

"Almost".

For three weeks, we were taken on the annual ride called "March Madness". We're witness to 64 games which include blowouts, nail biters, overtimes, coaches yelling at refs, fans yelling at refs, me yelling at the tv with desperate pleas for Syracuse to "Run Your Offense", you get the drift.

Well, it's over now. But, not without some drama.

You see, a small Indiana school named Butler University "almost" did the unthinkable. They "almost" beat Goliath. Little schools, anywhere, aren't supposed to make a huge impact in the tournament. One problem: Butler didn't get the memo.

Granted, they had a 20 game winning streak entering the tournament and were ranked in the Top 25 all year, so people knew about them, but they didn't have any highly recruited players, big athletic school budget, or famous basketball alumni. How have they been doing this? In the tourney, they beat their first opponent UTEP by 18, including making 13 3's, a tournament record. Second round, they squeeked out a win against Murray State 54-52 (you'll see a trend coming soon) by forcing a late turnover (14 total) to seal the deal.

Turnovers were the key as they beat my Syracuse team 63-59, creating 18 turnovers, and crushed my hopes of winning a National Championship. Crushed was an understatement as Kristen's friend came over to watch the game. Did I mention she went to Butler? Imagine my delight after the game listening to her talk to her family about how shocked and excited she was. I had to walk outside Kristen's place without my sneakers, in the rain, just to get some fresh air.
I didn't want to hear an emotional play by play while I was riding a different kind of "feelings roller coaster".

I digress...not really, but emotionally I HAVE to move on. Butler did the upset dance again, this time beating Kansas State 63-56, in the Regional Finals, causing another 13 turnovers. See the trend here. Little mid major school beating big time schools, while playing stringent defense and causing turnovers. I thought I would have wanted Butler to make the Final Four, but the more I watched their style of play, the more I wanted them to lose. Defense isn't sexy to me. I want points, and ball movement, and three pointers and fast breaks, and I wanted Butler to lose. Plain and simple.

Now, they're in the Final Four, playing essentially a home game, in Indianapolis, six miles away from their campus in a football stadium that seats 70,000. Surely, they're going to lose to a big time school at some point, right?

Michigan State, Tom Izzo, five Final Four appearances. They'll take them down. Nope, Butler 52-50 in another game that set back college basketball thirty years. 16 more turnovers. I got the joy of watching Kristen's friend celebrate AGAIN. The motto of Butler should be...Butler, where points go to die.

Now, they play Duke in the Finals. Vaunted Duke. One of the best coaches in college basketball history Mike Krzyzewski. Don't worry about knowing how to say his last name, even he's not sure. He does know how to win though. 867 wins, three national championships, eleven Final Fours, one Olympic Gold Medal. Meanwhile, Butler's head coach Brad Stevens is 33 years old, and looks so young he probably gets carded every time he wants to buy cigarettes.

What happens made a believer out of me for Butler basketball. I thought I would need a shower after saying those words, but I dislike Duke that much. It could be because they always get McDonald's All Americans (best of the best high school recruits), or I feel they play dirty when they need to. Butler lulled Duke into their "Allergic to Offense" routine, slowed the game down, forced 12 turnovers, kept the score low and hoped to pull it out in the end.

All game, the lead was never more than six for any team, and there were 16 different lead changes. The more the game progresed, watching these kids who we may never hear from again, compete against the powerhouse and stay in it, the more I wanted to see a 21st Century David beat Goliath And so did the crowd. We were witnessing something we may never see again. That's why college basketball is so great. One game, 40 minutes, anything can happen. I mean, Hoosiers was shot in the Butler gym, and Butler was living out this version, thirty years later.

Down 60-59 with five seconds left, Butler's Gordon Hayward missed an eight footer off the back of the rim, and really looked like it was going in. Should have gone in, so we can always, "remember when". But, it didn't. Duke basketball, three seconds left and going to the free throw line. They make one, go up two points. They miss the second, rebound Butler, no timeouts and running up the court as fast as their Indiana legs can take them. Hayward again, another chance to be a national legend, a chance to make Letterman/Leno/Kimmel and even Carson (not Johnny, but Daly). A chance to make believers out of all of us that we can see movies play out in the real world, not just on the screen with popcorn in our hands.

Hayward launches it from half court as the buzzer sounds, and your heart stops, his heart stops, 70,000 hearts stop, while the ball caroms in mid air. It has to come down at some point. The moment of truth, the ball bounces off the backboard, hits the rim and hits the floor. Unfortunately, it didn't pass through the net. Duke celebrates. They won their fourth national championship. Coach K wins again.

And for Butler, our real life Hoosiers moment "almost" happened. A chance to tell our grandkids about the best shot in college basketball history. Nothing would have beaten it. Would have completed the most improbable run in NCAA history. A team that would have beaten Syracuse, Kansas State, Michigan State and Duke, finishing with 26 straight victories. David would have slayed Goliath at home in front of all its hometown fans on the grandest stage of all, from a half court buzzer beater. A bunch of kids who never saw the light of day on a national stage three weeks ago, would have become the darlings of every water cooler for weeks to come.

"Almost"

That's why they play the game. For those moments, for those chances of greatness, for those stories to tell your grandkids. In that moment, Butler even made a fan out of me, one of it's most ardent haters since that crushing defeat. They made me believe in a fairy tale. Maybe that's why they call it a fairy tale. Or maybe we'll truly see it. One day. It's possible. But for now, I'll take an "Almost" because without an "Almost", what's the point in trying at all?

Hello World

Information Super Highway, meet Brian.

Brian, meet Information Super Highway.

"Hello"

"Hello"

Let me introduce myself. My name is Brian.

"HI BRIAN."

I'm 31 years old, live in Orlando, and have a wonderful fiancee Kristen. We plan on getting married in October and for the time being, outside of work, this has consumed me. At first it was venues, and photog. Then, it was DJ and caterers. Now, it's wedding songs, color themes and more caterers.

Here's my rant...

I thought shopping for a caterer would be the most fun thing. WRONG!!! You give them a budget and it's almost like they look you in the face, and don't take you that seriously. They say they can get you within the budget, and we have yet to meet a caterer that has done exactly that. When you look at their menus, they have over 200 things to choose from. Fun, right? Except for the fact that NOTHING has a price. NOTHING. And yet you're supposed to construct a menu with no prices. WHAT?!?! How is this effective? Days later, they'll get back to you with an email and say, give you a price that is six hundred dollars overbudget, but they won't tell you you're overbudget. NO KIDDING!!! I'm shocked!!! Really, I mean, YOU'RE the experts and yet I'M supposed to make the menu, without a PRICE! For the last three days, I've been telling anyone I see what a joke this is...Kristen, co-workers, the pimply faced high school kid bagging my groceries.

I have a confession, I have a food addiction problem. I should go on that show on A&E called Addicted.

Take tonight for example. I had the Black Out Cake from Cheesecake Factory. But, can you blame me? The desserts over there are ridiculous. Today, when I went in there, looked at all the cheesecakes and made a pact...if I run three times a week, I'm going to eat one slice of their cheesecake a week, until I finish all of them. Hopefully, it will take less than a year. Hopefully, I won't gain 50 pounds (hence the running). AND, hopefully, I won't induce a sugar coma in the end. We'll see. First one up...let's do it randomly and bring up the cheesecake factory website...

www.thecheesecakefactory.com

Chose randomly and vanilla bean cheesecake it is. Oh, my fiancee Kristen is going to hate this. Constantly bringing cheesecake over, considering she's one of only 8% of Americans that don't like cheesecake. Yes, I made that figure up, but who doesn't like it? OK, besides those who are lactose intolerant. And, those who hate dessert. But, we don't count those people as Americans, anyways.

Right now, would you believe I'm watching Dancing With The Stars instead of the NCAA Basketball Championship between Butler and Duke. Why? Well, as much as I LOVE March Madness (enough that for the past three years I've spent the first three days of the Tournament holed up in a Las Vegas sports book for 12 hours each day), I have no interest in who wins between Butler and Duke. On the one hand, Butler beat my favorite team, Syracuse and that was disturbing. And saddening. And, any other negative adjective that ends in -ing. So, doesn't give me much enjoyment to see them continually succeed. And, look at the other hand, and there's Duke. As they say, Duke is Duke. Even though, I don't like anything about them (constantly get the best recruits, I think the players play dirty and their Coach constantly swears), they continually win and that's all that matters in today's sports. Why am I watching Dancing With The Stars? Kristen and her mom love it. Sometimes you gotta take one for the team.

Throughout this blog, I'm sure I'll rant about...

Fantasy Baseball (I have eleven teams, I had a fantasy baseball draft addiction problem. Another episode Addicted could do on me)

Wedding Plans

Work

On second thought, NOT WORK!!!

Kristen

Her dog, Tucker

The Yankees

Food

And who knows what else. Stay tuned. I know I will. But, I guess I have to.