Zac Brown Band models first album after Good Tunes

Here is a little video that details how the Zac Brown Band came about writing their albums... with a little help from their buddy Sean O'Connor. Let's take a look at some of the behind the scenes action.

Hey Tiger Woods, look out for these shady characters...

Dear Mr. Tiger Woods,

Welcome to a non-Masters event. The following folk will be in attendance. Best of luck and stay focused on the hole!

Sincerely,
Quail Hollow attendees

Carmelo Anthony fans from Utah

This was an ad shown during game 1 of the Denver vs. Utah series on Saturday night. Definitely a bit strange and apparently something from Nike.

Check it out and share your thoughts...

St. Patty's Day

Well, we had a very fun and busy last weekend. It included an epic day of skiing, a nice Boulder hike up Sanitas, a tour of Avery Brewery and some intense Scrabble at the Mountain Sun.

Tony came in town to visit and meet Dylan.

Ranger helped teach Dylan the finer points of playing fetch.

There were birthday party's galore and Dylan figured out how cool balloons are! He erupted with excitement every time he saw one!

And at the end of the weekend, Dylan and dad took a nap together in mom and dad's bed.

Happy St. Patty's Day!

Hello Wisconsin!!

Saw this link on one of my daily readings this morning....


Having grown up in Wisconsin and with a majority of family in the state, this doesn't surprise me.

Jimmy Heuga

When I was a youngster I took a trip from Wisconsin to Colorado with my dad. We got to ski Vail a few days, went to a Broncos playoff game and had dinner with Olympic legend and Buff Jimmy Heuga.

My dad's boss was a pretty big skiier and evidently a friend of Jimmy's so we had the chance to have dinner with him. It's one of those one-time meetings that has stuck with me all these years later.

Most people know or have heard of Billy the Kidd. How could you not. But Jimmy was was an American alpine ski racer who became one of the first two members of the U.S. men's team to win an Olympic medal in his sport. After multiple sclerosis prematurely ended his athletic career, he became an advocate of exercise and activity to combat the disease.

Heuga was born in Tahoe City, California on September 22, 1943. He grew up in Squaw Valley, California, where his father Pascal, a Basque immigrant from southern France, operated the resort's cable car. Jimmie Heuga was on skis at age two and began to compete in the sport at age 5; he appeared in a Warren Miller ski film at age 9. Heuga was named to the U.S. Ski Team in 1958, becoming the youngest man ever to make the squad as a 15-year-old.^[1]

He attended the University of Colorado, where he was coached by Bob Beattie for the first time. A three-time letterman, Heuga won the 1963 NCAA championship in the slalom. With Beattie also leading the U.S. Ski Team, Heuga, along with fellow Buffaloes Billy Kidd, Buddy Werner, and Bill Marolt, formed the squad's nucleus for the 1964 Winter Olympics. Both Kidd and Heuga became the first American men to win Olympic medals in Alpine skiing, respectively capturing silver and bronze in the slalom.^[1]

Heuga died on February 8, 2010, at Boulder Community Hospital in Boulder, due to complications that stemmed from multiple sclerosis.^[2]

• finished sixth in the slalom and fourth in the combined at the 1966 World Championships at Portillo, Chile
• joined the pro racing tour following the 1968 Winter Olympics where he was 7th in the slalom and 10th in the giant slalom.
• was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis in 1970, which derailed his ski racing career at age 27.
  • early symptoms were first noticed in 1967
• founder of Can Do Multiple Sclerosis, formerly The Heuga Center for Multiple Sclerosis.
• the first NASTAR National Pacesetter (1968)

Jimmy passed away on February 8, 2010.

Pekoe

As part of my 2010 Mantra, I outlined a few things I would like to focus on this year.

Having a cup of tea a day is one of them.

This cup of tea can take many forms. It can be a morning tea (though I love a cup or two of coffee in the morning) or an afternoon refreshing drink. Sometimes it has caffeine, though often it does not.

One great place to get tea is at Pekoe sip house. The motto on their website says:

We want people to create quality time through things that enrich their lives. Our customers are able to slow down and enjoy the Pekoe buzz, the energy inherent in a healthy lifestyle. Pekoe tea revives, replenishes and heals.

I couldn't agree more!

This place is absolutely great. They have a nice and knowledgeable staff and a wide and ranging selection of teas. Think of your favorite, local coffee shop. Or if you don't have a nice local coffee shop, think of your nicest neighborhood Starbucks (though I hate to even make the reference).

You can even order online here.

Great tea house. Great setting. Great place to meet with friends.

Big boy car seat

Here are some sporadic photos from early January. Life has been really great lately, but also very busy. We are not complaining and enjoying driving the winding road!

Dylan in his new big boy car seat - giving it a test drive in the houseGrandpa's birthday dinner
with Dad after I was gone all weekend for a Business School retreat
The family at a CU basketball game on January 5th. The Buffs pulled out a victory to stay undefeated at home this season.
not sure who's more excited in this photo!

NFL Championship Sunday

In my opinion, today is likely the best football day of the entire year. You have the NFC and AFC championship games on back-to-back. It seems that year after year these are the best games of the NFL playoffs.

Here are some thoughts:

Vikings vs. Saints:
Old Man River (Favre) versus Captain America (Brees). This has all the ingredients of an amazing game. Potent offenses. Solid defenses. Tons of speed and two teams use to playing on turf in domes. High scoring and lots of offense! Over-under of 60 points, which I think they'll hit. Brett Favre on the cover of SI this week....

Advantage: Saints.
I can't stomache having 2 weeks of Favre coverage and people talking about how great he is at 42. Six months ago the press was bashing him for his inability to make a decision (for what seems like the 20th time in the past 4 years). Now, they love him. Me, I am sick and tired of Brett Fav-ruh.


Colts vs. Jets:
Young upstart Mark Sanchez versus Peyton Manning. There was a great article in the local paper this morning about Mark Sanchez and his best friend relationship with CU wide receiver Scotty McKnight. Pretty cool that these two guys have been friends since 2nd grade and are still close to this day despite busy schedules and distance apart.

It will be too hard for the Jets to come out of Indy with win, but some how...

Advantage: Jets.
Here's to long time friendships and the under dog prevailing. Peyton Manning's sponsors will be bummed he's not around for the Super Bowl. We'll still see plenty of him, just not playing.

** Enjoy the games today!

Introducing Dylan's blog!

With a start of new year, we've added a blog focused on Dylan. It's still a bit of a work in progress but looks really good so far! Click here to access the site.

I am going to stop sending out direct e-mails of new blog posts through my mailing list. If you get these blog posts via e-mail and want to continue doing so, please respond to the e-mail and I'll keep you on the list. If not, no big deal and no need to respond.

You can still come to this blog to check out my various Musings on your own and I have a link to Dylan's blog on the top of this blog page for all future needs. Just simply click and go!

Thanks for tuning in and.... Go Buffs!

Bobcats shout out

So I'm headed to a Nuggets game this Monday as they host the Charlotte Bobcats. Somehow, the Bobcats are 9-1 since January 1st and some folks are calling them the best team in the NBA as of right now (see video below).

Well, since my buddy works for the [lowly] Bobcats and as a result Dylan has a bunch of their gear, I thought it best to share a video and article from NBA.com.

Good work Bobcats! At least I can expect a competitive game at the Pepsi Center this Monday night.

2010 Mantra

I’m not a big New Year resolutions fan, such as “lose weight” or “hit the gym 5x per week” or “be a kinder person to X, Y or Z”. None of that really makes sense to me. It seems like people make resolutions only to know they can break them shortly into the New Year because they’ll get a chance at resetting them next year. I think you should always look at ways of improving and continually push yourself. So instead of resolutions, I prefer to set (and reset) goals. This year I'll call my goals my personal mantra.

[Please note “being a great dad and husband” is not a goal as I think that is part of everyday life.]

Here are my goals.

In 2010 I will:
· Focus on Personal Development in my job. Aide in development of co-workers.
· Really apply myself in school. Establish myself as a thoughtful leader and active participant in each class I take. The goal is active learning throughout the year.
· Do 1 really fun / unique family event a month.
· Travel 1 place I’ve never been before.
· Participate in Toastmasters and improve public speaking ability.
· Train for a long, local bike race and finish.
· Work on establishing a stronger network in Colorado. Attend at least 1 networking / business event a month and find a take away from each event.
· Follow up with old contacts and friends on a more regular basis.
· Develop Musings from Boulder from a Dylan focused blog into a leadership / thought provoking community.
· Drink a cup of tea a day.
· Hike a few 14’ers.
· Play guitar. (No, really.)
· Focus on what really matters and stay ahead on things (aka prioritize and manage time more efficiently).

I wish you all the best in 2010. Please feel free to share what you are focusing on this year!

Delurker Day 2010

Today is evidently being called Delurker Day. This is some sort of global movement of people who blog asking those that read their blog to actually stop lurking and leave a comment.

Kind of funny that bloggers would create such a day and even funnier that I saw a logo for it this evening:
So hey, if you check this out and see things you like, don't like or just want to say hi, we love the feedback and commentary! But given different technologies available, as a blogger you can see how many visits you get a day. When 150+ people check out your site a week, comments are highly appreciated and actually mean a lot.

I am also looking to overhaul a few things blog related in the future and want to bring Intense Debate on this blog as a way to leave comments, and well, debate!

Thanks again for checking out this blog!

Best buddies!

Dylan has quite a few little buddies, but he has one furry buddy who enjoys following him everywhere and playing with him as much as possible: Ranger. So far Dylan's pulled a few whiskers for Ranger but the dog just keeps coming back for more!

Here are some recent pics of Dylan with Ranger.

Visitors at Christmas

During Christmas we had the chance to see some family and friends. We enjoyed seeing everyone during the holidays.

So much fun!

Sean, in Colorado visiting his family from Charlotte. He stopped by Christmas weekend to say hi and see Dylan

my cousins, the Gzryzinski's

Uncle Jason in from Chicago

Christmas time

We got to spend this Christmas with my family. With tough travel conditions nationwide and airports closing down in the Midwest the days just prior to Christmas, our family had many challenges getting into town. But everyone eventually made it in safe and sound and we got to enjoy a great weekend.

Dylan enjoyed his first Christmas and of course enjoyed the wrapping paper nearly as much as his new presents. All of a sudden Dylan has become much, much more vocal and picks up on what's going on around him in public. It's really fun to see the changes and growth in him. It was also really great that a lot of this happened right around Christmas so family could see the changes (especially since Thanksgiving). Dylan became an eater of new fruits and vegetables around Christmas and starting mastering the ability to sit up on his own like a big boy. He's quite the little dude!

Here are some photos from Christmas weekend.

my new chair!

enjoying a good book on Christmas

my "Elmer Fudd" hat

playing with more wrapping paper with Grandma
playing with Uncle Jason
trying to eat Mom's Luna Bar

rolling and reaching for more presents
the wrapping paper is the best part of all the presents
with Dad on Christmas morning
Uncle Gregg teaching Dylan to use his feet to play with Ranger

having a good time in his new shirt from Uncle Jason

playing his new guitar in his new personalized chair

Dylan putting his feet up on the coffee table during a long period of rolling around and entertaining everyone

and a nice nap the morning after while everyone else was still in bed