To Beard, or Not to Beard

I haven't shaved for about 2 weeks now, and I've got a decent amount of facial hair. I've been growing it out for a production I'm going to be in for Christmas. But I just found out that the decision to have us in facial hair has been revoked. Now they're telling us that we CAN'T wear facial hair for the performance.

So that leaves me with the dilemma: what should I do with my facial hair now that I have it? I wondered about whether or not to celebrate Movember, but decided I will want to shave LONG before the end of November. Instead, I think I'll trim my face down for a Halloween costume and shave it all off after that. But I don't know what I want to dress as for Halloween anymore. I was going to be a werewolf, but I had a bad experience with the costume at Monday's Halloween dance. The hair kept getting all in my eyes, nose, and mouth - and when I went to wipe it away, the hair on my face kept tickling me. Also, I found myself "shedding" within 2 hours." Here's a picture of me at the end of the night:

So I want to be something else. Problem is, I don't know what. What costumes can you think of that would incorporate some facial hair? Also, what should I shave off first? Should I get a good picture of myself with a child molester porn-stache? or should I sport the Brigham chinstrap? Knowing that it'll only last a day or two, I'm willing to go crazy with it. So please! Tell me your thoughts!

Sticky note prank

My birthday was about 2 weeks ago. I don't announce my birthday to people; I don't see the need. It's just another day to me, and has been for years. Besides, if someone doesn't know when my birthday is, I don't have to feel bad when they either don't remember, or don't treat me any differently. Imagine my surprise when I left for work on my birthday, only to be stopped in the parking lot. Apparently someone knew when my birthday was, and wanted to make sure I celebrated it - with Post-It notes.

That's right - sticky notes all over the car! Quite a good prank if you ask me. I thought it was a work of art.


About an hour and a half later, I finally showed up to the office. I only worked half a day that day, because of a trip I had planned to go down to Cedar City (yes, on my birthday) for an improv festival. I had an enjoyable weekend. When I came home, I had a second surprise:

About 30 gallons later, I was finally able to go to bed. So to the person who left these birthday presents for me: watch your back. I know who you are and am waiting for the perfect time to strike back! To everyone else: I'm open for ideas.

Summer European Tour: Austria

The last country we visited on our tour was Austria, home of the delicious soda, Almdudler:

Almdudler isn't the only good thing to appreciate in Austria. Here are a few other things you can find in Austria:

Water! The first stop was the city of Bregenz, which is located on the shore of Lake Konstanz (Constance). The lake borders Austria, Switzerland, and Germany.

Opera! Bregenz is known for its unique Opera House, where the stage is located on the water (it was used for a scene in James Bond). Aida was just opening
Don't ask me why they used pieces of the Statue of Liberty as the focus of their set, painted blue with stars. They wouldn't let us in to see the show, even though we were willing to pay (it was a preview night for the sponsors). From what I could see from further along the shore, Aida was dressed as a nun, there was a warlock scene, and the actors got rides from the cranes.

Statues!

Mozart! Mozart was born in this building...

...in this city (Salzburg):

Higher Learning: We stopped at Melk Abbey, a monastery/school that had some really cool things:

the Holy Grail

the "beautiful blue" Danube

this library has secret passages in the bookcases

this skeleton on display is REAL

Style! Our first place to eat in Vienna was a restaurant in which they gave everyone a hat to wear. Nobody chose their own hat, which made it even more awesome!

The High Life! Schonbrunn Palace is in Vienna, where the Hapsburg monarchy lived. The Hapsburg family is still alive, but due to events surrounding the World War, they're not allowed into the country. So the Palace is now a major tourist attraction.



Smart People! Don't know if you can see it, but all these people are playing chess against one woman, who didn't seem to spend more than 5 seconds coming up with a move as she went down the row.

Architecture! The streets of Vienna were awesome.

Mozart ended his career performing regularly at this church:

Other Composers! Mozart isn't the only classical musician to come out of Vienna. Here's a picture of our tour guide at one of Beethoven's homes:
And here's our entire tour group posing in front of the Strauss monument.
Other Pictures: Just for fun I included another picture of the "beautiful blue" Danube as it runs through Vienna. Also is the best picture I got of the city of Vienna (it was an overcast day, so you really couldn't see much).

Re: Dear Autumn

What happened? Was it something I said? I was so excited for Fall. But instead of being able to enjoy the season I've longed all year for, Summer lingered a little too long and BAM! This is what I see when I wake up:

It's not fair. The average temperature didn't make a gradual drop to cold weather. One minute it's warm enough to wear shorts, the next minute it's snowing! I'm pretty sure Autumn is supposed to come between Summer and Winter. I'm also pretty sure that it goes like this (at least, as far as my opinion counts):

Winter < Spring < Summer < Autumn

So why did we only get 2 days of real Autumn? I feel cheated.

Summer European Tour: Germany

On to Germany! Our first German stop was the Wieskirche. It was a fun little stop.

On to Neuschwanstein Castle! On the way, I started to see how the Grimm Brothers were so inspired to write fairy tale after fairy tale. In fact, I started wondering myself how many trolls lived in the many forests that surrounded Bavaria.



I took this picture of the bridge from Neuschwanstein Castle. Then I made my way over to the bridge to get a good shot of the castle and surrounding area.


Soon I started climbing the mountain opposite the castle, to see how high I could go.

Our other stop in Germany was Mt. Kehlstein, where the Eagle's Nest sits. Nicknamed "Hitler's Teahouse," this building was meant for a 50th birthday present to Hitler, designed as a vacation spot and place for him to entertain guests. The building is at the very top of a really really steep mountain. One wrong move, and it's very likely you could roll all the way to the bottom of the mountain before stopping.



Conclusion: I love Germany!

Summer European Tour: Switzerland

I know it's been 2 months since I went to Europe, but I'm finally getting around to uploading photos. The first part of our trip to Europe took us to Switzerland! Switzerland is popularly known for the Alps, cuckoo clocks, watches, knives, cheese, and of course chocolate! We landed in Zurich and spent half a day exploring the city. I climbed one of the towers of the Grossmunster Church, where Huldrych Zwingli preached, to get some pictures of the city:



After leaving Zurich, we went to Lucerne. Probably the biggest landmark in Lucerne is this water tower, that was once used as a prison:
But one of the biggest tourist attractions in Lucerne is Lake Lucerne. Check out these pictures I took on a ferry ride through the lake:

(Cliffs of Insanity?)

At the end of the ferry ride, we rode a cable car up to the top of the very steep Mt. Pilatus. The top 1000 feet were immersed in clouds, so I'm glad I got these pictures when I did:




Going down the other side of the mountain, we stopped to spend a little time at a fun tourist trap. They had a real Alpine slide in the real Alps. It was funner and cheaper than the one in Park City, and they dragged you and your toboggan up to the top when you were done:

Back down the mountain.
Exploring the city, we found a way to get up on top of the city wall, where there were more incredible pictures to be taken:




Our last stop in Switzerland was Rhine Falls, the largest waterfall in Europe (it's measured by gallons that go through it, which is why the waterfall isn't very high):

Yes, I made it out to the little island in the middle of the falls.
Switzerland was a great country, with wonderful food and great people. He's one of my favorites: