What Happened?

Well, it's been almost five months since there were any updates.  I'm not sure what the future holds for this blog, or whether Nicole will be contributing going forward.  She's been extremely busy at the Brain Injury Assoc, but that doesn't mean I can't at least keep you guys updated with recent happenings, including some news about various cool things and the usual movie reviews.

A lot has happened.  First up, we've moved!  We're no longer in the Polaris area, though you might not be able to tell by looking.  We're off Hilliard-Rome Rd. in Hilliard, and still surrounded by the usual medley of restaurants, grocery stores, movie theaters, etc.  It's a great little neighborhood that some of Nicole's family already lives in, including a couple cousins and her aunt.  We've upgraded size-wise, and we even have a bunch more of the storage space that we needed so desperately.  We've got the patio set up for a good grill'n'chill anytime, we're all unpacked, but still deciding what to do with our half-finished basement.  Some combination of a dining room/home theater/lounge looks likely.

We've taken a couple of amazing trips since we posted last.  The first of which was a trip over to Boston to see the sights and catch my sister's Senior Recital.  She was a music major (drum set performance) so this was a kind of final exam show that she organized herself.  Here is a link to the photo album on Nicole's Facebook where she posted a ton of phenomenal pictures of the concert, the historic sights, and an amazing aquarium.

Most recently we took a trip to Pittsburgh.  I was born there and have spent a lot of time in the area, but Nicole hadn't and I wanted to show her the sights!  Needless to say she was impressed.  We crammed a lot into two days, including a rib fest at Heinz Field, PPG Place, Primanti Bros (both the Market Sq. and Strip District locations), the Duquesne Incline, a riverboat tour, and even had dinner with Nana at Pasta Too!  It definitely made the short list of my favorite places in the world a long time ago.  Here are some pictures, the majority taken by the lovely and talented Nicole Kirch.  As she put it, "Yeah, Pittsburgh really is this great!"

Some other recent developments: I got a new car, I'm working mainly from home at this point,  and I've developed a bit of a Starcraft 2 addiction.  I haven't seen any movies since Inception came out, as the summer selection usually makes me want to bang my face on the curb, though I will be posting some reviews I've written since April.  This is getting a bit self-involved for my tastes, so here's a bit of movie news.

Often movies will generate a lot of buzz way way before they come out, whether it be from aggressive early advertising (Inception), revolutionary technology (Avatar), or just really weird trailers.  Black Swan is firmly in the latter category.  This film is the latest from one of my favorite film makers, Darren Aronofsky, and definitely looks to be the most interesting movie about ballet I've ever seen.

When I first heard about it a few months ago, I assumed it was an adapted version of a very interesting looking book my Dad recommended about the fallacy and uselessness of commonly accepted methods of predicting future events.  After seeing the movie's trailer, it's obvious they are completely unrelated.  What little information is available about the movie can be found easily online, but I recommend an unbiased peak at the trailer before you look into it.  Oh and save your judgment for the end, it gets a LOT weirder in the last 5 seconds.

That's all for today, I'll be sure to post another update soon.  However, football season has just begun and the Buckeyes are making a title run, so you may not hear from us again for another five months ;-)

-Dan