Good Bye TR Month

Well it has been amazing, but it is time that TR Month ride off into the sunset with his savages. Thanks for everyone's participation in any or all of the events. I hate to say goodbye to good friends but like the Lion King teaches us... it's the circle of life. It surprises me how much I feel that my life has been enriched by getting to know Theodore. TR has taught me that hard work is adventurous and fun... and that it's okay for grown men to fight each other with sticks. To send off Teddy I have added a few pictures of his quotes that are on the walls of the Natural History Museum in NYC.



I'm sure this won't be the last we hear from Theodore.

Reenacting TR's many titles

The main entrance to the Natural History Museum is dedicated to Theodore Roosevelt. Theodore's father was one of the founders of the museum. Out front is a stately statue of Theodore astride a horse with two Native Americans beside him. A wall with the many titles of Theodore runs along the front of the museum behind his statue. Collin and I have acted out each of Theodore's titles. No animals were hurt during this photo shoot. (TR would probably be disappointed. If he had done this same photo shoot, at least 45 animals would have been killed.)

Reghan Sybrowsky loves cartwheels

Reghan found TR's house so enthralling she did cartwheels out the front door and down the hill to burn off the excitement.

Battles with sticks on TR's lawn

after coming out of a tour of Teddy Roosevelt house what do 30 year old single men do? Fight with sticks.




Can you tell which fighter has been trained by U.S. Military in hand-to-hand combat?

Sagamore Hill Trip

So we went to Sagamore Hill Home of TR
Here we all are in a fifteen passenger van. Look at the great smile on Alisha's face. She is happy in the pursuit of history.
Here is the front porch when we were all gathering for our tour. All together our group numbered 22 TR enthusiast. Because we were such a force they gave us a special tour time of 12:30.
Collin was our driver. He did a great job. Later I will show you a picture of the van... it was awesome.
After the tour we all tried to figure out where we would go for lunch.
Chaunte and Arthur, after eating chicken pot pie at a local dinner close by Oyster Bay.
Here is that van I was telling you about. It was amazing. Black... I've never seen a black van for rent. It was a good omen for our trip that we got Lord Vader's personal rental.
I used the bathroom at the gift shop and it was great to see that the rangers have scotch taped up a picture of TR. It reminded me of missionaries taping up a picture of Jesus on the bathroom mirror.
Here is me looking stately with the house in the background. I think that this is the type of place that "This Old House" would visit on one of there builds.
Here is detail of the house. You just can't find craftsman like that anymore.
Another detail shot. Total cost of the house when it was made in the late 1880? Under $20,000. TR knew how to live.

Ping Pong Glory Goes Down

UPDATE: One of my two ping pong photographers has posted some excellent photos of the event on his blog please see here

The last few weeks the Manhattan Stake YSA wards have been battling it out in a furious and deadly ping pong tournament. The honor of the respective wards has been at stake. I made it through to the finals. Going into the finals I went in an under dog.
My stoic frame and pose adorned in colors meant to confuse and disorient my opponent did not help me to obtain victory.
My ability to infuse the ball with insane amounts of spin did not bring me victory.
Not even my severe serves of death brought me any closer to glory.
In the end I was left with my raw emotions to deal with. Good thing my manager, home teacher, and roommate Kristian was there to help me cope with the loss and make the transition back to civil life from near ping pong greatness.

I have received word that congress is convening a special committee investigating rumors of steroid use by my opponent. This news is difficult for me to hear. My only comment at this point is... I hope justice will be swift and exact.

TOM WOLFE CAME TO VISIT

When I found out that Tom Wolfe was coming to the Union Square Barns and Noble I immediately wrote Brigham knowing that he would be highly interested in attending this event. You can always count on Brig for stuff like that. The problem of going with Brigham to see cool things like Tom Wolfe speak is that his blog report will be much better then anything you could write. This has held true in the current circumstance. Therefore, I have decided to link to his blog so you can read his encompassing review (the man takes notes) and I will focus my comments on items that were a particular interest to me not mentioned in his blog.
First... let's be honest folks... the white suit always worn by Tom Wolfe is amazing. He has many suits of various shades of white. I don't believe he ever makes a public appearance without his chosen uniform the white suit. Tonight he was wearing a rather creamy white. I wonder how often he gets his suits cleaned. I also wonder if he has ever lost a suit to a stain, and if so how many, and if there are multiple suit decommissioned due to staining when he gets a new stain does he say, "darn it... not again! I really liked this one." He's probably use to it and has dealt with it over many years.

Tom Wolfe is 77 from Richmond Virgina and has that nice southern demeanor about him complete with a slight southern accent. To be honest when I first saw him and heard him speak I thought of General Lee and a comment made by a northern woman upon seeing General Lee ride through her town she said, "I wish he were ours". Tonight Tom showed solidarity with the south by wearing a tie with the shape of Florida repeating in a diagonal stripe.

He wore a black with white pinstripes french cuff shirt with white cuff links. His shoes where two-tone white and black. It almost looked like he was wearing spats. Which is awesome. One of the best parts is when he stood up at the end I could see his waist band. It was around 4" tall.

I've never read any Tom Wolfe books. But I always knew that I would like them if I did and now that I've seen him speak I'm interested in getting around to reading some of his work.

Scabble with Collin

Collin and I had a great game of scrabble. It was neck and neck the whole time. In the end my neck was slightly longer. Final score 234-232. I must also mention that earlier we played Ticket To Ride with Stephen and it was another close game but Collin was the victor.

My personal best move for the day was NOIR off the side of DOORS making in total four words: NOIR, NO, OR, IS. I know what many of you are thinking, "Jeff you can't use foreign lanuages in Scrabble". Do not worry folks, not only is NOIR french for black, but it is also a type of film genre. Film noir is a cinematic term used primarily to describe stylish Hollywood crime dramas, particularly those that emphasize moral ambiguity and sexual motivation. Films such as The Third Man (1949), Kiss Me Deadly (1950), The Maltese Falcon (1941), Double Indemnity (1944), Touch of Evil (1958) are good examples of film noir.

My personal favorite word Collin played came in one of his last three moves when he played GHOUL. When he laid that down I knew he meant business.

TR Month Starts Now

March is Teddy Roosevelt Month. It has started out great! The assigned reading this month is "The Rough Riders". It's a great book and Teddy is a wonderful writer. Teddy was asked if he wanted to command the Rough Riders. He turned down the offer because he didn't have any experience commanding and would have to spend time training. He couldn't wait to get into the fight so he offered to be second in command. The commanding officer was a army doctor named Leonard Wood. Speaking of him Roosevelt wrote, "He was by nature a soldier of the highest type, and, like most natural soldiers, he was, of course, born with a keen longing for adventure; and, though an excellent doctor, what he really desired was the chance to lead men in some kind of hazard".
So, Yes.... Welcome home Teddy.