Flick or Treat

After our epic trick or treating with the boy, we made our way back home and ordered some pizza from the local place. The boys were in no hurry to leave, so we filled our plates and went downstairs into my movie lair! I got to show it off to Adam. He actually lives in LA where the movies are made, so he appreciated my shrine to all things film. After telling him all about it when we came to visit him last year, he was very pleased to see it for himself in all its glory! (Aaron wasn't all that impressed, he's seen it many times before).

With it being Halloween, we had to pick a horror movie, of course. Everyone was down for some cheesy horror fun, so we watched Critters. The movie was surprisingly better than expected, throwing in random sci-fi elements, which of course I loved. After some good food and good laughs, it was time for them to pack it up and call it a night. We had a blast- we'll definitely have to do it again sometime soon!

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Trick or Treat Gang

It's Halloween! About a month ago my friend Adam said he was going to be in town for Halloween and asked if he could hang out with us for it. Of course! I talked to Aaron and invited him to join us as well, you know, make a whole party out of it.

That afternoon the boys came over, the boy got his alien costume on, the wife all set up to hand out candy, and the four of us went to mosey around the neighborhood and enjoy the holiday. I know I often talk about how much I love my small town, but this particular day was one of the best! The cool weather, the spooky time spirit, and the local kids wandering around getting candy all mixed together to create a perfect small-town evening! It genuinely felt like a scene out of a movie: the beautiful town, the kids in cute costumes, and a joyful fall scene. It hardly felt real- and what a perfect evening to share with my favorite people in the world!

Ledge stopped by each house, getting more and more candy, as he laughed and mingled with all the neighborhood kids along the way. The three of us following at a distance, laughing and commenting on the different costumes and decorations. I really was able to show off how great our little life is here.

The whole thing just really made me feel like I'm a middle-aged dad doing stereotypical dad stuff. I mean that in a good way! I've said it before and I'll say it again: I love this town!

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BSG Con

It's been a few years since they held a Stargate convention, much to my despair, but I happened to notice a few months ago that instead they were holding a special convention for Battlestar Galactica. Now, I had never actually seen the show before, but I knew Jon absolutely loved it and was obsessed. So I had a little talk with him to see if he would be interested in attending the BSG Con in the fall, and he almost exploded with excitement at the very notion!

With our tickets purchased and our hotel room booked, I had some homework: I had to actually watch the show! Over the next month or so I made my way through the mini-series, 4 seasons, and 2 movies. After watching the first few episodes I am relieved to tell you that I totally loved it! What a relief, how much would it suck if I didn't like the show and still had to go to the BSG Convention and pretend like I did?

Finally, October came around and it was time to head off to Chicago for the weekend and nerd out! Jon picked me up and we made the long trip. We scored a pretty good hotel room at the hotel it was being held at, so that made it so much easier for the rest of the weekend. Before we could settle into our hotel, we got to attend a few events with the special guests who were there for the convention. Turns out it was basically every single main cast member of the show! It was awesome to see them in person and hear their great stories about their time on the show and what other projects they have been up to since then.

I know there are a ton of attendees who take this whole show and convention really seriously, but that's not how Jon and I do it. We are super laid back, attend the panels we want to, otherwise we wander around the merch room or wander down to the seven eleven and get a slurpee or something. 

That night we walked over to the bar and got some great Chicago style pizza and hung out. I wasn't able to stay up too late that night. All this messing around with my sleep schedule had me a bit loopy and I zonked out pretty quick. By morning we were both up and ready for some more Battlestar Galactica love!

After two full days emersed in all things BSG, it was time for us to pack up and go. We had a total blast- a chance to leave our family worries behind and just be really nerdy. I loved it!
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Cali Reunion

Looks like we made it! Adam had just gotten home from a long week of filming, ready to receive his special guests! Adam welcomed us in and introduced us to his roommate and cousin Aaron (we knew him from our last visit), his girlfriend, and Adam's delightful coworker Cadeau!

We got a quick tour of his amazing house, shown our accommodations, and quickly got busy catching up. It didn't take long (about 20 minutes) for Ledger to pass out asleep in his bed, leaving the rest of us to have a grand ol' time enjoying Adam's libation concoctions and have a few laughs. 

Finally the night caught up with us and the reality that we had an early morning ahead sunk in. Maybe we should follow Ledge's lead and hit the hay! Not to worry, there will be plenty more opportunities to hang out in the week to come. Can't wait!

Cabin Trip 2023

Pure joy fills my heart as we finally get to the event I have been waiting months for: It's cabin time, baby! Every year I get to gather together with my favorite friends and head up to that most beloved of towns: beautiful and lovely Balwin! We met up Friday afternoon at Aaron's house, as has become the tradition. After taking a few minutes to catch up, we pile into one vehicle and begin our trek up north.

Man, it's been too long since I spent time with these guys! The unfortunate reality is that we all have such busy lives that, for some of us, this is the only time each year that we get to see each other.

We stopped at Ruby Tuesday's in Big Rapids, filled our bellies, and finally arrived to see a beautiful newly (partially) redecorated cabin! Apparently there have been some issues with little varmints getting in and making themselves at home, so my cousin (who owns the place) has put in the effort to strip it and rebuild much of the inside. We walked in and felt pretty fancy with all the upgrades! With it being so warm outside, building the fire wasn't as urgent as usual. We took our time and settled in. 

After our standard visit to Sporty's bar and grill, we came back and got up to no good, as is our way. We forgot to bring up some of our favorite games, so we made due with what we had. It was an uproarious night, as always, but eventually we all tucked in for the night.

Like I said, this is one of my favorite events of the year, a time to play and chat with some of the guys I've known the longest of anyone on Earth. And Jon. We always have a rowdy time as well as heartfelt conversations. It's the best of both, really. We've been doing this for over twenty years now, and I hope we never stop!

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Greg's 70th Birthday

My best friend Greg turns 70 this year! His son Adam invited me and Aaron to a special birthday celebration to honor the milestone. Aaron and I were the first ones there and got to help Adam set everything up in preparation for all the guests. A few years ago we had a special celebration at Greg's for his retirement. He spent his career as a philosophy professor at Calvin College and has really been enjoying his retirement. Adam invited a bunch of Greg's friends over to celebrate. After chatting and laughing together, we filled up plates from the delicious spread, and gathered in the living room. Adam suggested that we should go around the room and each share a special memory of Greg to celebrate him. I spoke of the time he brought Adam and I to a Star Trek convention back in middle school and how much fun we had while he just hung back and listened to a football game on his headphones. It was really fun to hear all the loving stories from everyone else who was there as well. I'm certain Greg felt the love and appreciation we all have for him on his special day!

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Finally, The Cabin

Finally! After a couple years off, we finally get to go back to the cabin! The guys were just as pumped as I was to finally get together again and visit that blessed land up in Baldwin! Two years ago we skipped due to the pandemic, and last year we had to miss out because of an infestation, but this year we are going no matter what!

We bypassed the usual stop for lunch and just went straight through to the cabin. It didn't look much different, but we basked in it's beauty once again, and that was enough. Aaron drove us up there, Dusty, Jon, and I. We got up there and found the place looking nice, and pumped to be back where we love to be! After our celebratory tradition as we pull in, we made it back to the cabin. It was crazy how little snow there was up there- it had all melted so quickly! 

We whooped it up a bit all afternoon and then headed over to the ol' Baldwin favorite: Sporties! A delicious meal as always, filled with a great time being silly with friends. When we got back we stoked up the fire, the drinks, and the fun. We pulled out Cards Against Humanity, and got to work having a blast! Soon after the game Jon called it quits. Dusty held on a bit longer, having some good talking time with the three of us. Eventually, as usually happens, it was just me and Aaron. We got pretty deep and honest, which is the real point of the cabin trip, if I'm being honest...

In the morning we hung out for a bit, ran to the gas station for our morning constitution, cleaned up, and were on our way. Another successful cabin trip! What started as a silly little night away all those years ago has become the cornerstone of our friendship.

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Avatar: The Way of Awesome

I have been waiting for this for 13 years! Way back in 2009 the movie Avatar came out and I absolutely loved it! I got to see it several times in the theater in 3D, even once with family and friends in IMAX 3D. Granted, it's not the most original movie ever made, but the world it created and the astonishing 3D effects made this an instant favorite. Soon after the movie became such a huge hit they announced a sequel. Then they announced 4 more sequels. And then we waited. And waited. As time passed, the idea of 4 sequels to the film seemed a bit ludicrous, but my opinion has always been 'if James Cameron says we need 4 sequels, then we need 4 sequels'. That man cannot make a bad movie!

So I have been patiently waiting for a new Avatar movie. I even had the opportunity a few years ago to go to the Pandora land at Disney World, and it was amazing. 13 years of waiting and it's finally here! Now that we finally have a second Avatar movie, I knew I needed to see it in the best format possible, so I roped in Aaron to go to the IMAX 3D showing in Grand Rapids. I got the tickets and made our plans. As usual, my work tried everything it could to screw up my plans, but even though I had just worked a 22 hour shift, I wasn't going to let that ruin my excitement. I met up with Aaron and we were both giddy with excitement to finally revisit the world of Pandora. And wouldn't you know it, The Way of Water did not disappoint! James Cameron, you crazy man, you did it again! I will definitely be going to see it again in theaters! 

Adam's Dad

 Whenever Adam comes home to visit he stays with his dad and we always see him when we stop by. Now, Adam's dad is really cool. He is retired now, but he spent his career as a philosophy professor at Calvin College. He's published half a dozen books, and he's a young at heart. Every time we go over there we joke that we should hang out with him while Adam's gone in California. Well, Aaron and I decided to do just that! I had been texting with him on Facebook and suggested that we should go out for dinner sometime. He took me up on it and the three of us met up at a restaurant by his place and enjoyed a meal together. It was kind of weird at first, having dinner with a friend's dad, but Greg is so cool that the weirdness melted away quickly. We talked with him about what we are both up to these days, and chatted with him about his earlier life, before Adam was even born. It was really interesting and a lot of fun!

I never did tell Adam that we were doing it, so I guess he will have to hear it from his dad that he spent the evening with us...

Adam's Meet Up

Adam always loves a good get together! A great friend since elementary school, Adam lives in California and isn't able to see all his Michigan friends as often as he would like. That's why he loves a good get together. Knowing he was going to be in town, he decided to invite a bunch of people to drop by and join him for drinks at a restaurant. Aaron and I, of course, took the bait and dropped in for the evening. A bunch of other old friends showed up too! Most years we have a little reunion of sorts for the ol' Kelloggsville gang, but we haven't been able to have once since the pandemic. This served as our alternate reunion this year. I picked up Aaron on the way and the two of us were the first to arrive (other than Adam, of course). Over the next hour a bunch of other former classmates rolled in; the drinks and nostalgia was flowing! I always love catching up with everyone. It's kind of weird, but I like to hang out with the people I went to middle school with, but our last reunion showed me that I don't have any interest in catching up with the people from my high school. Weird, huh? Maybe all the cool people from middle school went to the other high school...

Brakes

 It's that time once again, dear reader, where I go and pester Aaron with my car repair needs. He never seems to mind, in fact he actually said he enjoys it. Who am I to deny my friend happiness? It was a relatively easy ask this time, I just needed the brakes done and he was happy to oblige. Don't worry, when we were done I treated him to dinner and a movie. As always, the highlight of these things is just getting the time to get together and joke around and have fun together. He's my best friend and has been since 2nd grade, and we still aren't sick of each other!

Cabin Substitute

Every year since I was in college, the guys and I have gone up to the cabin for a night of fun. Unfortunately we were not able to go last year because of that whole pandemic thing. We were pumped to be able to go back up this year! We started making plans and getting excited. And then I got word from my cousin (who owns the cabin) that there had been an infestation over the summer and he recommended that we do not go up there until it is dealt with. Oh no! Needless to say, we were absolutely crushed! Now we have to wait another year to go back to the cabin? Heartbreaking. In order to console ourselves, we decided that we should at least still get together. Dusty volunteered his house for us to enjoy an evening together crying about missing the cabin. All the usual suspects got together at Dusty's place: Aaron, Adam, Jon, Dusty, and I. Dusty had prepared a delicious meal and we spent the night laughing and catching up. Some of these guys I hadn't seen all year! It was so fantastic to see everyone again and have lots of laughs together. When Dusty's wife got home she even took a photo for us as we realized that this was an unofficial reunion of the Sidestreet Guys!

Moving Jon

 It's been a long time in the making, so when it was finally moving day for my friend Jon and his family, of course I had to help them with the move! Jon's family lived only a mile or two from my parents but with his family continuing to grow (baby number three was just born!), the house was no longer big enough for everyone. They decided to build a new place in Caledonia. With the build finally complete, they were ready to move in. It took a lot of packing, and several trips with the trailer, but they finally got it all moved. The day I helped was super hot and rainy, which meant a ton of sticky sweating. But to help out a friend it was worth it, even if he didn't provide pizza...

Aaron In the House

Now that I've got my movie den in the basement looking tip top, I had to show it off! It has been a while since my dear ol friend Aaron had stopped by, so I made sure to correct that as soon as possible. One of our favorite comedians, Brian Regan, has a new special on Netflix, so it's the perfect time to have him over and watch it! 

We spent the evening hanging out, catching up, and watching the hilarious stand-up special. Though we don't see each other as much as we would like, we both have so much fun and so many laughs when we do get together! 

losing a best friend

there's no way to be prepared for something like this.  i was at work covering for someone else when jon called me with the devastating news.  he was gone.  my best friend, the guy who was the best man at my wedding, the guy i had spent so many late nights watching crappy movies with, or having deep and life changing conversations with, was gone.
he had lost control of his car the night before and hit a tree.  and now he's gone.  i'll never be able to call him, we'll never be able to laugh at our inside jokes, i'll never be able to go over and play with his transformers while he tells me how he's figured out life's grand puzzles.  he'll never be able to tell me all about his next project that he's got planned that will sit in in basement untouched, i'll never get to bribe him with beer to fix my car, he'll never again get to hear my boy repeat our inside jokes as if he actually understands them.  he's never going to show up late for our cabin trip and be the one to get the fireplace roaring.  there's so much he will never get to do. 
i miss him so much. 
but at least i got him for a while, and even though it wasn't enough, it was something.  and boy, was it something!  i will miss you and think about you for the rest of my life, jeff.
static brothers forever!

back to the hoevs

it's been too long since aaron and i had a good hang.  well, it turns out that the theater in town, the regent, wanted to fix that for us!  on the last friday of every month they screen an older movie.  they call it 'flashback fridays' and its a ton of fun!  i've gotten to see jurassic park and batman returns on the big screen again because if it!
it didn't take much convincing once i told him what they were showing, but aaron was all on board with coming down to little ol' allegan to see his favorite 'back to the future' on the big screen!  he even invited his friend don, who lives in allegan, to join us.  we met up at the local pub before the show so we could hang out and talk before the show.  after a fun chat and a couple drinks, we walked over to regent and stocked up on popcorn and snacks for the big show!
i've got to tell you, the movie itself is even better than i remembered it! 

jon's baby

well, look who is a daddy again.  jon and allison were in the hospital celebrating the birth of their second girl, so i gave aaron a call and the two of us headed over to congratulate them and see the new bundle of joy!  jo-jo was as cute as can be and jon was beaming about the whole thing.  as we were talking to jon he shared with us that his car had some issues down in the parking garage, so aaron was all about that!  its always helpful to have someone who knows how to fix a car- even at the birth of your second child!  aaron got the car running again, which was a welcome relief for jon, who had a little bit bigger issues on his mind...

bush!

i was hanging out late one night with jeffry lee and we found ourselves down a youtube rabbit hole and noticed that the 90's band 'bush' had a new single out.  we checked out the video for 'the only way out' and thought it was amazing- both the video and the song!  we got talking about how much we love that band and then realized that they were coming to down in a couple months!  we did the only logical thing- we bought tickets to see them at the orbit room!  we talked jon into going as well.
the day of the show i got out of work early, met up with the guys and we headed out.  after a stop for dinner, we made our way to the show!  i haven't been to a concert in a very long time, and especially someone as big as bush, so i was really thrilled.  we had so much fun, it was great to hear the hits from gavin himself!  it was fun to see which songs he seemed most excited to sing- the ones that got him going and got his energy up the most were 'swallowed', and 'the only way out'.
we totally had a blast!
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grand day out

in order to give diana a little break, ledger and i spend the day out and about! on these special days, as is so often the case, we just headed out with no real plan of what we were going to do to fill the hours.  we decided to head over and see if jeffry lee was up to anything.  he didn't have any plans, so he joined us on our grand day out.  we drove around for a bit, stopping at meijer and getting drenched in a flash rainstorm!  we ended up making our way to chuck e cheeses, which is always a hit with ledge!  jeff was feeling a bit weird about the whole thing, being a childless adult at that place, but eventually he got over it and felt comfortable playing around with ledge and i.  after going through all of our coins, we went out driving again.  this time our drive took us to aaron's house!  he happened to be out working on his car so we stopped in for a minute to pester him and check it all out.
what an unexpectedly fun day we got to have!
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civil war

as i've written about before, one of the things about allegan that i really love is the regent theatre!  i go as often as possible, and every once in a while i am able to bring friends along too!  well, they were showing 'captain america: civil war' and none of us had seen it yet, so i invited the guys and they took me up on the offer.  the movie was great, and so was spending the evening with these two guys!