Facial Hair Art & Beard Team USA

Atom III
Originally uploaded by akkleis

I came up with this brilliant idea while I viewed a friends photography art exhibit of "facial hair art". I would grow a beard, then cut it into a specific style. Then my friend would come take a picture of my facial hair. After a series of shots of different facial hair "configurations", as I like to call them, the pictures would become her next exhibit at an art show. The idea was genius. It was one of the very few good creative ideas I've had in my life. Wouldn't you know it, my artist friend thought it was a brilliant idea. It's a collaboration.

It turns out the pictures have had themes. The one in this blog entry is a Teddy Roosevelt or 19th century safari expedition theme. It was my first Rollie Fingers style handlebar moustache. Check out what the collaboration has produced so far-http://www.flickr.com/photos/angelakleis/sets/72157601595879753/

In the midst of all this, I read an article about the World Beard and Moustache Championships and Beard Team USA. I thought to myself "what a coincidence. Here I am working on a facial hair art exhibit and there is a competition out there for facial hair. I must find out more." Well I did, and now you are looking at the newest member of Beard Team USA. The next championship is May 23, 2009 in Alaska. That's plenty of time to grow something curly and crazy for the competition. For more details on the World Beard and Moustache Championships and Beard Team USA visit http://www.beardteamusa.org/.

Mii love Wii

Chronic and I got a Wii (pronounced "we") for Christmas. If you haven't heard of the Wii then you must live on another planet. What is Wii? It's a video game system, but not for the hardcore gamer types. It's interactive. It's addictive. It's for everyone. I'll let Nintendo give you all the details-http://www.nintendo.com/wii/what. You can create your own Wii character that looks like you, called a Mii (pronounced "me"). My Mii is my Blogger profile pic and Chronic's Mii looks like this:

Euromoon

Shock the Eiffel
Originally uploaded by chronic-shock

Europe + Honeymoon = Euromoon. We took a whirlwind two week tour of Europe for our honeymoon. I created a Google Map of the trek, complete with Chronic's travel journal and pics of each city. The map is embedded below. It's interactive! Zoom in on the Europe part so the placemarks aren't so bunched together.

View Larger Map

Hitched!

pucker up
Originally uploaded by chronic-shock

I got married to Jennifer "Chronic" Shock on October 20, 2007 in San Marcos, TX. The wedding and reception were held at the Crystal River Inn. We had a great time. We had about 85 family and friends in attendance. Check out the wedding pics on Flickr-http://www.flickr.com/photos/chronic-shock/. I'll post the video soon.

Up, Up and Away In My Beautiful Balloon

deflating balloon
Originally uploaded by chronic-shock

For Chronic's birthday, we went on a hot air balloon ride in rural Virginia. Yeah, I know, I'm good. Most of the guys we know are pissed at me cause I raised the bar too high. Here's all the pics of the experience: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chronic-shock/sets/72157601393423375/

Shock Summer Concert Series

Jenn & Atom
Originally uploaded by chronic-shock

We went to a number of concerts over the summer. We started off on April 25 with the Wolfmother show at the 930 Club in DC. On May 29 we paid another visit to the 930 Club for the Keane concert. Our first outdoor concert of the summer was the band Live at the Celebrate Fairfax festival on June 8. Next we experienced the classic rock of Rush at the Nissan Pavilion on June 23. We made my first trip out to Wolftrap to see the lengendary Morrissey on July 2. We ended our summer with the two day Virgin Festival in Baltimore Aug 4-5. That's us sunburnt at VFest. The festival featured The Smashing Pumpkins, The Police, The Beastie Boys, 311, Bad Brains, Spoon, Fountains of Wayne and tons of other bands. Here's all our VFest pics: http://www.flickr.com/photos/chronic-shock/sets/72157601254332630/

Metro Is Stinking Up the Joint

The Washington Metro Area Transit Authority issued a press release on December 14, 2006 called "Metro makes commuting more enjoyable". How is WMATA going to do that? "Musicians, dancers, thespians and other artists will perform at Metrorail station entrances next spring as part of MetroPerforms!, a one-year pilot program designed to showcase the talents of area performers. The program, developed in partnership with arts councils served by Metro, will enhance the experience of transit users and pedestrians." I know what you're thinking "That sounds (pun intended) awesome!" NOT. My suggestion to enhance the experience of transit users and pedestrians would be to make the stations smell better. The stations stink. I'm a daily Metro commuter and the Rosslyn station either smells like thousands of rotting fish or burning tires. I've literally vomited in my mouth more than once. The smell is unbearable. Want to improve the experience of transit users? Drop a 10 megaton potpourri bomb in the stations. Just my $.02.

The Big Day

This posting is long overdue. Jennifer and I got engaged in late October 2006. Our wedding will be October 20, 2007 in San Marcos, TX. For complete details, see our "The Knot" webpage here http://weddings.theknot.com/pwp/view/co_main.aspx?coupleid=3295294646718257.