• CapTex Triathlon – sprint distance
• Capt’n Karl’s Endurance Race – 10k trail run
• Austin Triathlon – olympic distance
• The Dirty Du – off road duathlon

This has motivated me to make some pretty substantial changes in my lifestyle. I’m already reaping the benefits.

Exercise: I’m working out about three times each week. Lots of swimming, cycling and running. I’ve already made significant advances in my overall endurance, and I’m looking forward to increasing even further. Swimming is the hardest for me, by far. I’ve never done it before so I’m woefully inefficient and way uncomfortable. I can swim, I’m just not very good at getting anywhere fast. Running is work, but I can do it. Cycling is just fun. Reminds me of being a kid. I do a bit of core training and yoga every once in a while, too, but am not focused on these.

I have found that I like competing in events much more than training for them. It takes quite a bit of discipline to work out just because I know that I need to. Events are more like a game, I have a target, pass THAT guy (the person in front of me). Plus, there are a bunch of people cheering, water stations, and a clock that’s running. In each of the events that I’ve competed in so far, I’ve realized when I was done that I could have pushed myself harder, that I was too easy on myself. This is encouraging.

Diet: In February Liz & I decided to try being vegans for 30 days, following Rip Esselstyn’s Engine 2 diet. Once the 30 days were complete, we agreed to continue. We aren’t strict, when we eat with friends or family we eat what everyone else is having. We’re social people so this means that we “cheat” about once a week. We get some pretty dramatic reactions when we tell people about this, but the bottom line is that we like the food we’re eating, and we can definitely see results. This is worth a blog post of its own, so I’ll stay focused on how this applies to my contest.

Results: So far I’m behind in our competition by about 15 minutes. I wouldn’t consider myself out of the running though. And, the personal benefits are pretty fantastic.

• Endurance: When I started this in January, running for 20 minutes was excruciating. Yesterday I ran 6 miles non-stop and could have kept going.
• Health: I haven’t gotten sick once this year, in spite of being around sick/recovering friends, family & coworkers. Normally I would have caught a cold at least once by now.
• Toughness: I can’t easily quantify this, but I’m learning that I’m too easy on myself while training and competing. I can push myself harder than I have. It is VERY difficult to keep this in mind while in the moment. I need to have this tattooed on my arm or something.
• Weight: I’ve lost almost 35 pounds since Christmas. If shedding almost 20% of your weight isn’t freaking awesome then I don’t know what is.

Look at those results. Heck, even if I lose the bet I’ll count this year as a victory. I haven’t lost yet though, the bet isn’t over. We’ve only completed two of the four events, the shortest & easiest events at that. I’m still in this.

Tonight Gene Kranz, the famed NASA mission controller played by Ed Harris in Apollo 13, came to speak at UT and I was able to make it. I went with low expectations because I didn’t know much about him other than what I had seen in the movie, and just wow. This man is awesome. The speech was really inspiring and gave me renewed pride in being an engineer and being an American. It was that kind of speech.

Before Kranz came out, one of the professors involved in bringing him to speak at UT introduced some of the students and people present in the audience, and he did one of the coolest things that I’ve seen at any speech. He had the veterans stand to be recognized, and then he asked the military members awaiting a commission stand and be recognized. I’m proud of America, and I’m proud of my service, and I think its awesome that he gave credit to the military’s future leaders.

Mr. Kranz spoke for over an hour, most of it spent walking us through his thoughts and decision process during the Apollo 13 mission. Based on what he said I believe that the movie is pretty accurate (I’ve seen it dozens of times). What really came through in his speech, that I hadn’t noticed in the movie, is the amount of trust and cooperation between the team members. He pointed out a couple of times when he made a decision in the interest of moving forward, that some of the other engineers disagreed with, but once Kranz announced the decision the whole team got on board and worked together for the benefit of the mission. The whole story is inspiring, but hearing it from the perspective of this man in particular is something that I won’t soon forget.

When he was done he got a standing ovation, which he was aparently uncomfortable with because he quickly had us sit back down for a question and answer session. This was my favorite part of the event, the questions were great and he had some very good answers. I don’t remember all of the questions, but here are the ones that struck me.

He was asked if he was pleased with his portrayal in movies. He said that he thought Ed Harris did a great job, and that the story line of Apollo 13 was pretty accurate, with one notable exception. In the scene just after they realize the extent of the problem a few of the engineers state that such and such can’t be done. In the movie Harris (playing Kranz) blows up and says something along the lines of “failure is not an option”. Tonight Kranz said that he would never blow up at anyone who was within his authority, he wouldn’t allow himself the luxury of emotion or losing his cool when leading his team. I thought that was particularly insiteful.

Someone asked him what he thought of NASA’s decommissioning of the space shuttle and planned absence from spaceflight. He said he thinks this is a travesty because America needs awesome challenges to inspire and bring out the best in its people. Leaving a gap in the flight plan also means forgetting things that we’ve fought hard to learn.

When asked what he thought of privatized spaceflight, he said “its the greatest thing since canned beer.” There is nothing like advancing technology to stimulate the economy and capture the attention of the world.

My favorite response came when he was asked how he found or acquired the leadership skills to bring out the absolute best in his team. He said that he grew up in a time when his father’s generation fought in WWII. He and his peers were too young to go, but looked at his parent’s generation as heroes which challenged him to achieve something great. Then in the early days of supersonic flight men like John Stapp, Joe Kittinger and Chuck Yeager risked their lives for advances in aviation technology. During Project Mercury John Glenn climbed into an Atlas rocket, and at that time three of the first five of them had exploded on launch. Everyone at NASA had a clear understanding of the risks involved and chose to participate anyway because we saw the greatness within the goals. This brings a very clear focus that is difficult to achieve in any environment. Kranz said that he’s spent a lot of time ruminating over his carreer and isn’t able to point to any one thing that makes him a leader, but that he does recognize that he wanted to live up to the greatness that he saw in his father’s generation and believed that he could.

I just can’t express how awesome it was to hear Kranz speak. His involvement in Apollo 13 and NASA makes him an American icon, and his story is definitely inspiring. I was tempted to skip because I had homework to get done last night. I’m really glad that I didn’t.

During her memorial, my family asked if I would give the eulogy for her. I’m quite honored to get to share my view of Oma and the relationship that we shared, so of course I said yes. Since then a few family members have asked me for my notes on what I said, so I’m posting it here. Liz encouraged me to talk about Oma’s character, and I agreed.

One of the first things that you would notice about Oma was that she had a spark about her that was truly unique. When she met you for the first time, she liked you instantly. She was warm and friendly and inviting right from the start. She didn’t need to know anything about your background or where you were from or what your interests were. It was enough for her that you were present. As her grandson I got to witness this in public, in her home, at church… this was jush how she treated people everywhere she went.

Oma was always happiest when hosting. All of my earliest memories of the family were in her house on Westmoreland. Every Christmas, Thanksgiving, wedding or baby shower, Easter… we always went to Oma’s house. Before the event she would spend an entire day in the kitchen, making a roast, baking pies and making every side dish imaginable. Whether the Murphys or the Meischers, every room was filled with people. And Oma just beamed the entire time. She’d float from room to room visiting with people, making sure that everyone had a drink or piece of cake. She loved hosting.

Oma had a servant’s heart. She loved serving people. Professionally she was a manager at Frost Bros, but I can tell you that the thing that she loved about that job was that she got to help customers. If you came to her house she’d offer you a sandwich, and if you didn’t want that she’d offer you a slice of pie, and if you didn’t want that then she’d make you a cup of coffee. You just weren’t going to leave her house without something in your stomach, which I always loved because the always had sweets. She loved serving people.

I believe that Oma’s most salient quality is that she was loving. Everything that I’ve said so far indicates a loving person, but the place that this becomes most visible is in her marriage. She loved her husband, my Opa.

A quick story. When I was younger I once had an assignment in which I had to interview someone and then write a report, so I decided to interview Oma. She told me about growing up in Fredericksburg and school in Austin, etc. I asked her how she met Opa, and she told me that she met him on a blind date, and that they were married a few weeks after. I said, “Wow! That must have been some date! Tell me about that.” She told me that one of her girlfriends set her up on this date. Opa picked her up and took her to a BBQ restaurant in Austin called the Bloody Bucket. Now, there is no way that I believe that there was ever any restaurant called the Bloody Bucket. But, going with it for a moment, it strains the imagination that this could be the place that a girl gets swept off of her feet. Oma stuck to this story for the rest of her life. I have asked her about this many times over the years, and she always proclaimed the Bloody Bucket.

Whatever I beileve about how they met, we know that she really did cherish Opa. In his later years my Opa had Alzheimer’s, which meant that he needed attention around the clock. Oma never faltered. While holding a full time job she took care of him, and she served Opa joyfully. She never took pity on herself or wished for another life. She loved him just as she vowed to. And we know that she would have loved the opportunity to care for him until she expired, because in the 25 years since his passing there has never been one hint of regret. Every time she spoke of Opa it was “how handsome he was” or “he loved all of you so much” or “he would take me dancing…”. She would fall in love with him all over again right there before your eyes.

My favorite memories of Oma are laughing with her. She always loved to laugh. I would say something witty or teasing, and we would either start laughing, or she would play off of it and make it even funnier.

When we were moving her into Esplanade Gardens (her retirement home), the whole family was there, Larry & Pat, Mom, Phil, my brothers. Oma had a heavy heart that day, but she was looking for the good in the situation. She was a real trooper. As we were bringing boxes and furniture in, we’d walk past the residents, and they’d say hello or welcome Oma to the community. I noticed that some of the men would stand up a little straighter or smile real big at Oma, and I just remember thinking “Good grief, settle down.” A few moments later we were back in Oma’s room, and I made the comment “Oma, I see all these men making eyes at you. I don’t want to hear any stories about you dating a man.” She looked at me and said, “Okay, I won’t tell you.” I have dozens of memories similar to this one.

Oma was one of the most beautiful people that I’m sure I’ll ever know, and I miss her terribly. I’m so glad that I got to give the eulogy at her service because it prompted me to go through all of my memories of her. I’ll hold on to them for the rest of my life.

I wrapped up the fall semester a little over a week ago, and it was a great semester. My classes were challenging, I learned a ton, and I earned good grades. All that remains between me and this degree are two classes and one lab. I’m going to earn a degree in aerospace engineering from the University of Texas at Austin. This degree has been the most difficult thing that I’ve ever done, by a wide margin. I have questioned my decision to return to school, and wondered if I would even be able to complete this degree many times along the path. Now its all but certain. This last semester won’t be too bad.

One of the (several) reasons that I decided to go back to school was that I wanted to be able to earn enough to one day provide for a family. I’m not sure what direction my career will take once I graduate. Because of this degree and my background, I have options. Whatever the direction, I am fairly certain that I’ll be able to provide. This is a testimony to God’s goodness. I am humbled. It feels like I am achieving something here. Its so awesome I could cry. When I graduate I probably will cry.

I can say without hesitation that completing this degree has been significantly more challenging than I anticipated. Apart from the academic difficulty I have struggled to keep up with finances, time management, and of course separation from friends and family (often there is no time for anything other than studying). I can honestly say that I haven’t ever been tempted to quit, I WANT this. I can’t even count the number of times that I’ve wondered if I would be able to complete the journey.

One time I was visiting with a few friends, and I mentioned that I had just completed a difficult course and had heard from other students that the follow up course was even more difficult. My buddy said “Isn’t that the way it works? The courses become more challenging as your skills develop?” My heart fell, I went home and prayed. At that point I had no idea if or how I would get through the next course, much less the degree. Of course, I did make it through the material. And God has always been faithful in providing for me.

Honestly I’m not sure which I’m more proud of, earning a degree in aerospace engineering, or the fact that I’m a Longhorn. When I was 18 if you had told me that I’d get a degree from UT I wouldn’t have believed you. Likewise, if you had told me that I would ever earn this degree (from any university) I’m not sure I would have believed you. In my mind these two things are about equal.

I am a Longhorn and an engineer, and I quite literally could not be more proud.

This is all the culmination of more than a year of thought and prayer on the matter. No, I’m not broke, and whether its dumb luck or the grace of God my job is secure for now. I also have some savings (of course I’d be glad to have more). I think the real issue is that I’m just tired of having all of this stuff, and I’m tired of seeing all of this money go out. Why hang on to an instrument that I’m not playing? Just so it’ll be there if I ever get the urge to play again? Its now been more than a year, how much longer am I supposed to wait for it?

At the moment, the thing that’s the most exciting to me is getting a fair price for my guitar and amp. Someone else will love them as much as I have, and I’ll have a few extra dollars in savings. Between that and my lowered monthly expenses I’ll have a few more inches of margin in my budget. And if the urge to be a rock star ever rises again, I’ll practice my face melting solos on an acoustic. If that gets old then I’ll go buy another guitar and amp.

It doesn’t even really feel like I’m giving anything up. Quite the opposite, it feels like I’m being smart.

Image by lenwood via Flickr

So, I gotta start by saying that this year’s ACL festival has taken it up to a new level. It was our fifth year in a row to attend (fourth year together), and Liz and I both had a blast. If you live in Austin and you like music, then you need to be here.

Once again the day started later than planned, partly because I had stuff to do, and partly because we wanted to pace ourselves to be there for the entire Foo Fighters show. By Saturday night the dust was getting to me, and I knew that being there all day Sunday would drive me nuts. We intended for the afternoon to start with the Stars, but we bumped it back to Silversun Pickups. We heard Stars as we were walking in and they sounded good, I was bummed that we missed them.

Silversun Pickups were great. I was afraid that the guy was going to sound like a girl, because I think he does on their radio tracks, but they sounded awesome. The lead guitarist got a few nice solos in, too. That guy can rock. I didn’t pay as much attention to the last few songs because we bumped into some old friends. It was pretty fun to catch up with them, even if only for a moment.

We then walked to the other side of Zilker to get a good position for the Raconteurs. We heard Okkerville River playing, which was a bonus. They were also great, and it looked like they had a fun interaction going with the crowd, too. I’m interested in hearing more of them.

Then, oh-my-freaking-gosh The Raconteurs came out. LOUD. Like, Dinosaur Jr loud. Holy cow was it fun. Jack White told the crowd a couple of times that he was suffering from a slipped disc. Before he told us I hadn’t noticed anything. After I realized that Brendan was singing a few of his parts, and the band was picking up some of his guitar parts. Wow. I never would have noticed if White hadn’t said something. I have a new respect for this band. I’ve liked them since I heard the first track, now I like them more. Plus, they freaking rocked. They did a 12 minute version of Top Yourself, leading right into Broken Boy Soldier.

Everyone in my group loved the show. A few of them even said it was the best performance of ACL 2008. I couldn’t agree with them at the time, we hadn’t seen Foo Fighters yet. I was thinking Dave Grohl is a rock legend, he’s gotta have something good in store for us.

We walked back across the park, and listened to Band of Horses while staking out a good spot. While walking we ran into one of Joe’s college buddies, so we visited for a few minutes. Band of Horses sounded great. If they hadn’t played just before Foo Fighters I probably would have moved closer so I could hear them better. I want to hear more.

Foo Fighters started 4 minutes early. The totally trumped Band of Horses, and they started loud, too. I don’t know if Band of Horses went long or not, but either way, once the Foo Fighters started there was no point in continuing. I’ve said it so many times this weekend that I’m almost getting tired of saying myself, but Foo Fighters were awesome. Dave Grohl was funny, they played songs from each of their releases, some were full band and some were just Dave and a guitar, everything they played sounded great, there were a few awesome solos, and on and on. They had a long, pregnant pause in the middle of Everlong, long enough that I was like, you can’t just not play the rest of the song. Even the encore was great, they came back out and played for twenty minutes, going well past the 10pm cutoff. I screamed a lot during this show, as did everyone else in the crowd, which I’m sure is one reason why I sound awful right now.

Image by demandsw via Flickr

Day two of the Austin City Limits music festival. Today was a very good day. We didn’t get there as early as expected because I had schoolwork to do. The first show that we planned to see was the Fratellis at 1:30, and it actually worked out because we heard two songs while we were walking in, and several of our friends told us that those were the best two songs of the show. The first full show that we saw was Sharon Jones and the Dap Kings, and wow. Just wow. The band is tight, and just fun to watch. And Sharon Jones is a great performer. She really knows how to get the crowd into it. We connected with Simoneau for a few minutes, too, which was cool.

While we were watching them I saw a few people carting around trashbags, and learned that if you fill a bag with cans and bottles, you get a free shirt. I decided to go for it, so I went to get a bag. We split up from our group to see Man Man. I was done in about 3 songs. The percussion was great, but the vocals were kind of annoying to me. So we walked over to see CSS. I worked the crowd for cans & bottles while we walked between stages. CSS was good, I really enjoyed them. They wore pretty audacious jumpsuits, and one of the girls had some pretty wild hair, but the music was great, and from what I saw they really gave a great performance.

Right after CSS Robert Earl Keen started, and he was of course great. Liz joined our friends, I walked a bit more, getting cans & bottles from the crowd. I got my t-shirt about half way through the show. I’m glad I did it, and I don’t want to do it again. Keen played most of the songs I knew, though I was hoping for Five Pound Bass or Merry Christmas from the Family, but didn’t hear them. It was still a great performance.

Next up was MGMT and I really enjoyed them, too. We were pretty far from the stage, but could hear them well enough. This was kind of a lull in the afternoon, so our group visited pretty much, but it was still a lot of fun. We decided not to move until Beck, so we stayed put for Jon Fogerty. Man, that dude still has it. I had very low expectations for that performance, but he was great. Lots of energy, and a good mix of old and new. Plus, the whole crowd got into it when he played classic CCR tunes. It was a very fun show.

After Fogerty we walked across the park to the AT&T stage, to be in a good position for Beck, and we heard Iron & Wine playing. I own Our Endless Numbered Days and love it, but he didn’t sound very good live. I assume this is because we were too far from the stage.

And then… Beck came out. He opened with Loser and the crowd loved it. Plus, he was freaking loud. Awesome. He played songs from every CD that he’s done, which I enjoyed. And, he mixed it up on a few songs, too. The songs from Guero were Black Tambourine, I Think I’m in Love, Nausea, and most of them were done as a rap with a beat track. From Sea Change he played The Golden Age and Lost Cause, those were played with just him and his guitar. All of the others were full band. Hands down, Beck has been my favorite performance so far this year.

The dirt wasn’t as bad as on day 1, but its still bad enough that you know its there. Oh, and an update on the chair check, they stayed open until 10pm, so people could actually use it. Brilliant.

I have to agree with Simoneau, who said that this year is more awesome than in the past. Though I can’t understand why he’d choose Robert Plant and Allison Krouse over Beck. For day three I’m looking forward to Silversun Pickups, Raconteurs, Band of Horses and, of course, Foo Fighters. Rock On!

Image by mjecker via Flickr

The Austin City Limits music festival is underway. Liz and didn’t get there until about 5pm on day one, we both had work to do. Fortunately we didn’t miss any bands that we were dying to see, so it worked out. We started with Patty Griffin, Liz was excited about seeing her. I don’t know any of her music, but just as you’d expect she put on a great show.

The next show on our list was Mates of State. After years of attending these festivals we’ve learned that the good t-shirts go early, so we stopped by that tent on our way over to the Austin Ventures stage to grap our favorites. Mates of State were great. I had never heard their music before, but we really enjoyed them. I couldn’t distinguish the words they were singing, but the music was pop. They had two cellists and a violin on stage with them, which I thought was cool.

David Byrne was next. Man, that dude is awesome. He had a full band plus several dancers and backup singers, and they all wore white. He played several originals, and at least two Talking Heads songs as well, Once in a Lifetime and Life During Wartime. They sounded awesome, and the crowd really got into the show, too. After a while all the dancers in white were a little much, but the show was still a LOT of fun.

After David Byrne we walked over to get some food and catch a bit of Alejandro Escovedo and The Swell Season. Escovedo was great, but I’ve seen him a few times before so we didn’t stay long before walking over to Swell Season. I wasn’t really impressed with them, but to be fair the acoustics were poor where we were sitting and we couldn’t really hear them.

At this point the dust started to get to me, and I only had 3 hours of sleep the night before, so we left right after that. At this point it was 8:30, we stopped at the chair check so that Liz could leave her chair over night, but they were closed! They close the chair check before the shows end? WTF?? By the time I got home I was coughing and sneezing pretty regularly, which means that the dust in Zilker Park is pretty bad this year. The weather was perfect. Temps in the 80′s and lots of big puffy clouds floating by. But, its dry, and when thousands of people walk through Zilker they kick up the dust. I’ll be taking a bandana with me today.

Just in case anyone reads this within the ACL management reads this, please please please water Zilker. Breathing dust is aweful. And to the bands, we don’t give a rip about your comments on Obama, McCain, or the bailout. We want to see great music. Focus your attention there and we will love you for it.