Christmas has come and gone once again. I really enjoyed the holiday, but once again I found that it passed us entirely too quickly. It was fun just hanging out with my family. Casual observers may find us to be flat-out crazy, and maybe we are, but I think it is all good fun. We really have a good time together. I found many occasions to laugh until I could hardly breathe, and that was the best thing of all for me.

Top quotes of the weekend:

"To Tom, our only biological son, love Mom and Dad." --Tom, ad-libbing the tags as he opened up his gifts.

"Caleb and I just aren't communicating." --Maddie, 5 years old, describing the relationship problems she had been having with her "boyfriend."

"I like my hair to be kept short, efficient, and German. Incidentally, that's the way I like my women." --myself, trying to explain to the women in my family why I won't grow my hair out so that it looks unkempt.

Seriously, what is up with that? It looks plain ridiculous to me. To paraphrase The Big Lebowski (the guy in the wheelchair, not The Dude), "Would you go out trying to find a job looking like that?" Am I wrong? Mind you, my brother Ross can pull it off, but he's 19. I'm 26.

The Nebraska-Michigan game finally goes down tomorrow night at the Alamo Bowl in San Antonio. This matchup hasn't been far from my mind ever since they announced a month ago. I think we can win, but it's going to take our A-game to do it. My new cousin-in-law, John, got me a mini-keg of Coors Light as a Christmas gift. I think I'm going to try to kill that thing during the game. Even now I hear it sitting in the refridgerator, mocking me, crying out to be consumed.

I picked up the latest copy of Men's Health last night. Every guy needs to read that magazine. Slowly but surely I've worked some of the things I've learned from it into my lifestyle, and I couldn't be happier for it. The trick is to incorporate them gradually, I think, rather than trying to put every single suggestion into practice at the same time.

I still haven't figured out what I'll be doing for New Years, although going to Omaha is looking like a possibility. It sounds like there will be a lot of fun stuff going on up there. I have a feeling that it's going to be crazy no matter where I end up. I can sense it in the air.

Currently, I've been trying to think of some New Year's resolutions. I had a fair amount of success with some from last year, and I'm confident that 2006 could be even better. As I flesh them out a bit more, maybe I'll post some of them here.

Yesterday, I went hunting with my dad, my brothers, and Dad's friend Dave. It was a good time. We hunted a huge section of CRP that we had never been to before, and the weather was gorgeous. I'm guessing about 50 hens flushed while we were out there, but only a handful of roosters. Next year could be a different story, I'm guessing. Even so, I still knocked one rooster down. I also accidentally fired at a hen. It flew up in front of me, and in the glare of the sun, it looked like a rooster. Reflexively, I took a "shoot first and let God sort 'em out approach". I missed, but Tom and Ross both shot at it, too. Ross hit it, but he wasn't able to find it. You hate to see a hen get shot down, but even so, it was all pretty funny.

Well, the year's Christmas shopping is almost done. I just need to pick up something for Tom and Maddie, my cousins/godchildren. I'll probably get them books, but I'm not sure. I give books as gifts an awful lot, and sometimes I wonder if the recipients think "Oh, boy. Nate bought me another stupid book. Joy." I hope not, though. Books are good gifts.

The new Real World/Road Rules challenge is on. I know, I know. It's lame. But I just can't help myself. Besides, take a look at some of the hotties on that show (e.g. Cameran and Kina) and tell me I'm not on to something. Some of these competitions they have are really stupid, though.

Also, Aneesa is nast. Seriously.

The weekend was pretty good. On Friday, Groove Puppet was playing at P.O. Pears, so Eric, Marc, Jeff, and I went to that. Ted and Kelly met up with us later on. It was a pretty good time. I did spend a little too long flirting with some girl who ended up disrespecting me. Propbably just as well because she was one of those "Nate, you can do so much better" types. It's funny how doing a few shots with Marc always makes some girls suddenly appealing. Even then, I hadn't really paid any attention to her, but she made a comment about my eyes so I figured I might as well have a conversation.

At Best Buy tonight, I saw the Aqua Teen Season 4 DVD. The front cover was Ignignokt's face, so of course I laughed when I saw it.



You see, Ignignokt here is the Mooninite Prince of Mayhem. I'd go so far as to say that he and his counterpart, Err, may be the greatest criminal genii on television, surpassing even Eric Cartman. I've dedicated a fair amount of study to the Mooninites, and eventually, I came up with the Mooninite Ten-Point Code of Conduct. Would you like to know more? Then check out my Myspace blog. :)

Daredevil is on now. It's coming up on the part where Bullseye kills Elektra. I can't say Jennifer Garner would've been my first choice to play her; even so, she looked most comely in the costume. Anyway, that scene was one of the few in that lamentable movie that I thought did justice to the comics. Hopefully the next Daredevil movie will be better.

On Saturday night, Eric and I decided to to check out the Opulence Ultra Club downtown. The place has potential, but I give it about five months before it tanks. Here's why:

1. They charge a $4 cover. I realize that a cover charge is standard practice in many clubs, but it just can't apply in downtown Lincoln. First of all, they're a solid two and a half blocks away from the strip of more established bars, none of which charge a cover. No one wants to pay a cover to be that far away from the action.

2. They're not targeting the college students who have money to spend. I don't care what your opinion is about frat guys or sorority girls; on the average, they're going to have more money to spend than other students. You have an assload of them a stone's throw away at the University, so you had better cater to them, as well as the young up-and-coming professionals. Their's is the money that will keep you in the black. So, the place to start is with an enforced dress code. That's right, I went there. A big part of successfully running such an establishment is understanding that popular is what sells, not what you individually perceive as cool. I know this may all sound a bit exclusionary; to me it's just common sense. If you want your establishment to be a haven for the financially challenged, get out of the club business and open a dive.

3. On a related note, your staff will at least need to maintain the illusion that they're as classy as you'd like your clientele to be. The bartenders at Opulence, to their credit, looked classy. The rest of the staff, including the manager, looked dumpy, unwashed, and in some cases, downright thuggish. The guy who directed me to the coat check, for instance, had a mouth full of metal. I don't think it's a bad idea to hire some tough looking brutes such as that guy as bouncers, but they still need to look respectable and discernible from the rest of the crowd. They can't look that way in shorts and a heavy metal or hip-hop t-shirt.

I wouldn't mind owning a club someday. If I do, I'll happily enforce a dress code and subvert what I think is cool if it means a bigger take at the end of the night. That's why businesses exist in a capitalist economy: to turn the highest profit possible. Booya!

Well, I suppose I'll call it a night. Must lift weights tomorrow before Nip/Tuck.

By the way, I'm on Myspace now. I'm still planning to use this as my primary blog, but check out my profile nonetheless.

Here's a little survey I decided to fill out. Just for fun.

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The Survey
Name:	Nate
Birthday:	June 24
Birthplace:	Fairbury, Nebraska
Current Location:	Lincoln, Nebraska
Eye Color:	green/blue-green
Hair Color:	brown, with tinges of grey
Height:	5'10
Right Handed or Left Handed:	right
Your Heritage:	German on my dad's side, Norwegian on my mom's
The Shoes You Wore Today:	black dress shoes
Your Weakness:	complacence
Your Fears:
Your Perfect Pizza:	cheese, beef, green peppers, 'shrooms, chicken
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	come into my own as a writer
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:	I dunno, LMAO
Thoughts First Waking Up:	...urghhh
Your Best Physical Feature:	my eyes or my chest
Your Bedtime:	11-midnightish
Your Most Missed Memory:	the Huskers dominating in the 90's
Pepsi or Coke:	Coke
MacDonalds or Burger King:	Burger King
Single or Group Dates:	Group
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	Lipton, I guess
Chocolate or Vanilla:	chocolate
Cappuccino or Coffee:	coffee
Do you Smoke:	socially, I do. Because it looks really cool.
Do you Swear:	more often than I should
Do you Sing:	in the car, at church, or occasionally some karaoke
Do you Shower Daily:	of course
Have you Been in Love:	I'm sure I thought I was.
Do you want to go to College:	been there, done that
Do you want to get Married:	Eventually, if it feels right
Do you belive in yourself:	Yes, though maybe not as much as I should.
Do you get Motion Sickness:	Rarely, after an extended visit to the bar or some such thing
Do you think you are Attractive:	Yeah
Are you a Health Freak:	I've been evolving into one over the past year.
Do you get along with your Parents:	Absolutely. I love my folks!
Do you like Thunderstorms:	Indeed. The more thunder and lightning, the better.
Do you play an Instrument:	No, but I want to learn the drums.
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol:	Uh, yeah.
In the past month have you Smoked:	Why, yes.
In the past month have you been on :	Been on what?
In the past month have you gone on a Date:	No, I don't think I've gone on a date in three years. Kinda lame, but it doesn't bother me.
In the past month have you gone to a Mall:	Yeah.
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos:	No, though it sounds good. Can't have 'em, though.
In the past month have you eaten Sushi:	No, though that sounds good, too.
In the past month have you been on Stage:	The world is my stage.
In the past month have you been Dumped:	Nope.
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:	It's December in Nebraska, take a guess.
In the past month have you Stolen Anything:	Well, I helped myself to my roommate's girlfriend's wine...
Ever been Drunk:	Yep.
Ever been called a Tease:	All the time.
Ever been Beaten up:	No.
Ever Shoplifted:	I stole an apricot when I was 6.
How do you want to Die:	As an old man, dozing in a chair at a Husker football tailgate after a win.
What do you want to be when you Grow Up:	Someone who did/is doing something great.
What country would you most like to Visit:	Norway or Germany
In a Boy/Girl..
Favourite Eye Color:	blue or green
Favourite Hair Color:	blonde (or dark in the case of Asian women, obviously)
Short or Long Hair:	LONG!!!
Height:	Girls that are much taller than me kind of creep me out.
Weight:	I dunno, somewhere around 100-110. I don't just go up to hot girls and ask how much they weigh.
Best Clothing Style:	I love it when girls wear those form-fitting white pants, especially with a hot pink top
Number of I have taken:	Uh, what?
Number of CDs I own:	I dunno, 50.
Number of Piercings:	One, but it has more or less grown shut.
Number of Tattoos:	One at the base of my neck. I'd like to get another.
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	I won't dwell on that kind of thing.
CREATE YOUR OWN! - or - GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS!

Who is the mask...behind the mask?

Because seriously, I'd like to know. And it looks like we'll all find out next week. The Carver will be unmasked at the end of Nip/Tuck's two-hour season finale. It's going to be a bloodbath. On his blog, the Carver basically said that he was going to make Sean and Christian suffer. I have a bad feeling that the way he'll do this is by making them watch as he kills Matt, their son. (Sean raised him, but Christian is the biological father.) That's the thing he could do that would hurt them both the most.

I'm guessing that he's Merrril, whom I referred to in an earlier post, but it's a pretty weak guess. Everyone else I've suspected ends up being Carved or otherwise innocent of being the Carver.

The Carver may be the most frightening character I've ever seen on a television show, and that's what makes it all so fun. You never know when he's going to strike, and the speculation as to his identity adds fuel to the fire. And since they set up a MySpace account for the Carver, there is even more intrigue.

I look forward to seeing how things turn out.

I don't have much else to say tonight, except that I found some pictures from this past weekend at the Omaha Night Life site. The pics were taken at the Cactus Cafe. It was a cool dive kind of joint.

We observed as this skanky gal in red fell down several times over the course of the night. She was literally that drunk. Most of the girls in the joint that night were right on par with her, unfortunately. Not the kind of gals you'd bring to family dinners, to say the least. I will admit, though, that our Lady in Red here certainly had some prominent qualities that were quite fetching and immediately pleasing to the eye.

Here is, left to right clockwise, Jason, myself, Debbie's boyfriend Chris, Brad, Jeff, Beth, Jenny, and "Future Wife" Debbie. We all went to the Cactus Cafe following Debbie and Chris's performance in Lord of the Dance that night. My friend Marc (also Jenny's husband) and Tara, Jason's girlfriend, were also with us that night.

Jeff, Marc, and Jenny are all planning on making a move to Vegas in April, and I'm sure we all look forward to visiting them as often as we can. :)

And now, I'll close out with a pic of a couple of hot bartenders from the Cactus Cafe. I thought the dark-haired one was particularly hot. She did some shots with us.

See? I don't always opt for the blonde.

My LAUNCHCast station started the night off with "Pour Some Sugar On Me" by Def Leppard. Good song. In past years, after Husker football games, my friends and I would go the Red Fox in the evening. Saturday night is karaoke night, and we'd always sing that song. Good times. Those were the days when Ted and Brad lived at Amy's house, which was in throwing distance of the Red Fox, and we'd usually just walk from there. Probably a good thing, too. We tended to get pretty crazy. One time, Ted's folks were upstairs sleeping, and all of a sudden they heard a loud bang against their window. You see, we had just made our triumphant return from the Fox, and I decided that it was time to throw Amy's wading pool on the roof. I think that was also the night Ted and I made a ridiculously futile attempt to kick down the old garage behind the abandoned house next door. From the inside, no less. Chalk that one up to capricious youth, I guess.

Ahh, now "Paranoid" is playing. That throws me back to high school and my trusty old 1979 Camaro. That song was a staple road tune on many a tour of the country roads. I'm sure we can all agree upon the sublime glory of country roads. Every one of them has a story, be it good or ill. You might not believe it, but the part of Nebraska in which I grew up has some of the most beautiful scenery in the world, and it can only be appreciated whilst traversing the gravel and dirt roads. Undoubtedly, most of you will scoff at this. Believe me when I tell you that I couldn't care less . I've been around the the block a time or two and seen some amazing places, and I still think it's just about the best place on God's green earth.

Anyway, back in high school, I was on our Student Council. The fall of my junior year, it was time to decide what the Homecoming theme would be. I made an impassioned speech about why the theme should be "Paranoid". (Here's the text of it: "We should go with 'Paranoid' because it's a bitchen song and I'm tired of all the pansy hippie crap we choose every year.") And you know, a vast majority of the council voted in favour of it. Unfortunately, at that point, our adviser yelled at us and cowed most everyone into voting it down. Blind fools.

Right now, Jason is watching Return of the King Special Edition. I think he has ADD; he keeps fast-forwarding through the dialogue heavy parts to the action. What a wasted. What's the point of reaching a destination if you don't first understand the journey? Anyway, what a great movie. Excellent books, too. Everyone needs to read them.

You know, I was a little disappointed in the portrayal of Denethor. He wasn't just a cold ruler who favoured one son over another. He was a strong leader driven mad by constant threat of Mordor revealed to him through his own palantir. I didn't care for Peter Jackson's elimination of Saruman, either. Ah well. They're still awesome movies.

Last night I went to Omaha to see Lord of the Dance with Brad, Beth, Jeff, Jason, Tara, Marc, and Jenny. It was an awesome show; absolutely amazing. So much craft and athleticism. Naturally, we were all biased toward the character of Jenny's twin and my "future wife", Debbie. (Disclosure: Note the quotations around "future wife;" Debbie has a boyfriend. Which means I'm still a hot commodity.) She played the role of Morrigan, a temptress. We all love a temptress, do we not? Anyway, it was so cool to watch the show and say, "Hey, that's my friend up there." After the show we all went out for drinks at the Cactus Cafe. It was fun to go out in Omaha for a change.

Despite not getting home until late last night, I still made it to church this morning. Those of you out there who are Lutheran...you know the part of the brief order for confession and forgiveness where there is a silence for reflection on our sins? It occurred to me that if I was to list all my sins for the waking hours of even a single day, I'd need a lot more than 15 seconds.


Grey's Anatomy just finished up. I'll take a moment right now to reiterate that I'm in love with Katherine Heigl. I know I'm always saying how I'm really into Asian women, but I'll always remain sucker for blonde, full-figured women. Really, I'm a sucker for pretty much any beautiful woman. Especially in scrubs. Because scrubs are hot.

You know, there needs to be a show in which Eva Longoria wears scrubs.

"Bad Medicine" by Bon Jovi is playing now. Another excellent song.

That's what you get for falling in love
You get a little but it's never enough
That's what you get for falling in love
And now this boy is addicted and your kiss is the drug

The Huskers landed several new recruits over the past couple days. It's looking like we might have another top 10 recruiting class this year, which is the step in the right direction. We really should have a good shot at winning the north next year. Colorado is in disarray, KSU will almost certainly experience a decline following Bill Snyder's retirement, and Missouri's best quarterback in the history of the program (and, consequentally, their best offensive weapon) is graduating. That leaves Iowa State and Kansas, both of which are very beatable. As much as I hate CU and KSU, I hope they get back to prominence soon, just for the sake of the conference.

I'm out. For cryin' out loud, watch The Boondocks! I'm going to grow my hair out long so that I can get some cornrows.

Wow, I've been slacking. Let's see...where to start...

Last Thursday, Matt was in town for an overnight stay, along with his mom and sister. It was great to see them. We had dinner at Fireworks, which is probably my favorite place to eat in Lincoln. The four of us had a really good visit. Allison recounted the exhausting experience she and her husband endured while trying to leave Houston during the approach of Hurricane Rita. It took them 25 hours to get from Houston to Austin, a trip that should only take about three hours. (I think.) Anyway, I really appreciated the chance to get together with them. I've always regarded Matt and his family as a surrogate family, and neither time nor distance has changed that. :)

This weekend was a pretty good one. On Friday evening, I went over to Mike's to play some No Limit Texas Hold'em. I ended up winning the main game and took home a total of $100. Can't complain about that. :) Saturday ended up being kind of a lazy day due to all the snow. That evening, though, I had supper at Granite City with Ted, Kelly, Brad, Beth, Jason, and Caleb. They have some good microbrews there. Good food, too. I recommend the ravioli.

After that, we all went down to Voda, where we met up with Mark and Jenny. I think that is my new favorite spot downtown. It's a small, chill kind of joint, with a fireplace, couches, and a heated outdoor area for smokers. It also connects to Iguana's, so it doesn't get very crowded. We snagged the couches around the fireplace and kept things pretty tame. We ran into my friend Jon and his new girlfriend, so that was cool, too. After that, a few of us went to Brad's, where I of course unleashed myself on the trap set.

Jenny also let me know that she snagged several of us some sweet seats for the Lord of the Dance show next Saturday. Debbie will be dancing the female lead, so that should be cool to see. After that, I'd imagine we'll hit one of the Omaha clubs.

Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring is on right now. I love those films, but I love the books even more. They're among my favourites; I used to re-read them once a year. My favorite character, for as long as I can remember, is Boromir. He's the most human of all the characters, and therefore the most real. Boromir is a noble, honourable warrior and a hero to his people, yet so tragically flawed and capable of evil. His death in the movie is a tough scene to watch, but is also one of the trilogy's best. And that's definitely saying something.

On a loosely related note, I really want to see The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch & The Wardrobe. I've always meant to read the books, but so far I haven't gotten around to it. It looks like a good movie, anyway.

I also still want to see Aeon Flux, and King Kong, too.

As I was getting ready for work this morning, I flipped to The Early Show. The gal who was being interviewed was going on about how the youth in America are getting fat because they're eating a lot of high-calorie, low nutrient food that's endorsed by SpongeBob and other popular characters. The interviewer, in a remarkable moment of clarity, suggested that parents to put their foot down in the grocery store and insist on buying nutritious food. The interviewee's response was that "that might be a place to start, but it can be very challenging for some parents to go grocery shopping with their children" but ultimately she thought that Congress needed to step in and regulate.

Great, some moron is afraid to be accountable and stand up to their fat-ass progeny, so it becomes the governments job to make sure that Fruit Loops are banned. You know, to keep them out of the mouths of the undisciplined.

It's this kind of thinking that sickens me. I just can't believe that some people are so stupid and desperate to have the government micromanage their lives. It absolutely fills me with rage and contempt.

. . .

I almost started a rant there, albeit one born of righteous indignation. My apologies. Except to those on the wrong side of the issue; you just deserve a beating.

My LAUNCH station is playing a lot of crappy music. So, unfortunately, I don't have any recommendations for you. Maybe we should encourage Congress to regulate bad music.

. . .

That was the rage talking again.

This season of Nip/Tuck is nearly over. Only two episodes are left. The burning question, of course, is "Who is The Carver?" I kind of hope that they don't reveal his identity this season. All this intrigue is a lot of fun. Most people I talk to think that it's Quentin, but that just seems too easy. Liz would be another possibility, but she has assisted Sean and Christian in repairing the faces of Carver victims. Some think it's Matt, but he's just too stupid.

Me? I think the Carver is Merrill, the homely plastic surgeon who was obsessed with fame and fortune. Think about it. The Carver believes that "Beauty is a curse on the world." Merrill, being a rather ugly guy, was ultimately ruined by his pursuit of beauty and the fame and fortune that so often go with it. Further, the Carver's cuts resemble those of a practiced hand. Merrill was a plastic surgeon himself, so he'd certainly fit the bill. I have more to say on this, but I'll wait.

It's official: Allegiant Airlines will be providing direct, low-cost, direct service betwixt Lincoln and Vegas. This is glorious news. I'd like to go to Vegas again sometime in 2006.

I'd also like to go to New Zealand sometime.

Maybe it's just me, but this seems like absolute sacrilege. I'm guessing we'll see Britney's child suing her and her waterhead husband for trying to bring the wrath of God down upon him when he was just a baby.