Another Year Older and Deeper in Debt

Last Thursday was my birthday. A group of about 15 friends, including Ben, Adi, Steve, and Summer, joined me at the Karaoke Café in Murray to celebrate by singing karaoke and eating cheesecake---two of my favorite pastimes.

Getting older is acceptable as long as I can do those two things in the company of good people.

Day 277: Party Down! 2012

Yes, there was a presidential debate tonight, and Romney mopped the floor with Obama. But even better than that, today I had another birthday. It's one of those annual events that, you know, I'm finding keeps on happening whether I'm ready for it or not.

At any rate, family and friends were good enough to treat me very well for this occasion. Mom, Dad, and Biz treated me to a delicious lunch, while Mike, Jana, and the kids decorated the kitchen in my honor:

In what has now turned into a birthday tradition, Ben, Steve, Summer, and a handful of our mutual friends accompanied me to the Karaoke Cafe for an evening of great music and singing. Among the highlights were Ben's, Gary's, Steve's "Bust a Move," complete with some sweet dance moves of their own:

Pepe's many Beatles covers:

Steve's and Summer's duets:

and Jared's rendition of "Little Red Riding Hood":

I also sang to my heart's content but did not take photos of myself. Good times were had by all.

Day 198: Family Sing-a-Long

Whenever the family gets together, it's not uncommon for Ben and Mike to have a jam session together on their guitars. At the latest family shindig, I found Kylee joining in with them and singing along. Like her mother, she has a rather pretty singing voice. (And perhaps I'm a little biased here, but that's what I think.)


Anyway, knowing my love of singing karaoke songs, they goaded me into joining in with them, and I found myself having a good time singing a few favorite tunes.

Day 182: Pyper's Birthday Party

Earlier tonight, I was invited to attend a birthday party/barbecue for my friend and mid-singles Institute colleague Pyper, whose birthday is actually next week (usually lost amidst the hullabaloo on July 4, I would imagine). For this event, several of her family members and friends were present, and we congregated at Barnes Park in Kaysville to enjoy the festivities together on a sunny summer evening.

The food (including barbecued chicken, hot dogs, and pineapple) was delicious, the company was great, and we got to sing karaoke, to boot. What more could you ask for in a party?

Good times were had by all.

Day 21: Karaoke Party

A few days ago, Ben and Adi, Steve and Summer, some of Steve's friends, and I got together for an evening of tacos and karaoke. Is there a better combination for a fantastic evening?

I submit that there is not.

Here, Summer and Steve (and friend) sing - go figure - "Summer Night" from Grease.

Party Down!

I had another birthday yesterday. Try as I might, I have been unsuccessful at finding a way to stop them from happening since I turned, oh, probably 21.

At any rate, I arranged for a party of sorts at the Karaoke Café, my new favorite hangout, last night, and Ben and Adi, Steve and Summer, Biz, and Pepe were good enough to join me to celebrate the occasion. This night also marked Steve and Summer's first time returning to the spot of their first date six months earlier.

Some of the highlights from the evening included my getting to sing "Weird Al" Yankovic's "One More Minute," an old family favorite, with my three siblings on backup:

The girls collaborating together on the Dixie Chicks' "Wide Open Spaces":

Singing N*SYNC's "Bye Bye Bye" along with the other boys (actions included):

As well as the Soggy Bottom Boys' "I Am a Man of Constant Sorrow":

Good times were had by all.

Sorry you missed out on things? Join us for the next birthday party, won't ya?

A Night at the Karaoke Cafe

Tonight, I visited my new favorite hangout, the Karaoke Cafe in Murray, for the second time, and I must admit that I enjoyed myself a great deal.

In the first place, my date and I had the place all to ourselves for the first hour or so that we were there, and, as a result, we had free reign over the microphones with our choice of songs.

Secondly, by the time other customers finally began to roll in, I found myself making some new friends. The Karaoke Cafe is great in that sense; there's no competition or showing off involved, as on, say, "American Idol," but everyone takes turns singing their favorite songs, and everybody cheers whoever's turn it currently is. It's great if you love people watching, and overall it's just a win-win situation.

Among the new friends we made were Otis and Eunice, who have been married for 27 years and who, apparently, visit the café once a week on a regular basis. (I hope that after I've been married for 27 years that I can still enjoy the same hobbies with my wife as I saw exemplified by these two good people.)

My favorite moment of the night occurred toward the latter part of the evening, when Otis took another turn singing and mentioned to the crowd of us gathered there that, just this morning, his sister had passed away after a long battle with cancer. He then dedicated his next song, the Beatles' "Let It Be," to her, and when he was finished, there weren't many dry eyes.

I suppose that's the power of music and why certain songs appeal to us; they say what we're feeling better than we can much of the time.

If any you out there reading this ever want someone to karaoke with, just hit me up, and we'll go - especially if you're treating. I will drop (almost) anything to join you.

Saturday Afternoon at Bear Lake

Over the weekend, my ward's annual summer superactivity was held up at Bear Lake. For the second year in a row, the Hansons were good enough to host some 60 or 70 of us (I lost count) at their cabin on the west shore (Utah side) of the lake.

I was scheduled to perform in last night's Improvables show, so I couldn't go up to join the gang at the lake until this morning. Ben was good enough to carpool with me and even offered to drive us there. As a trade-off, I bought him one of LaBeau's famous raspberry shakes, which I think is a rather fair exchange.


This activity was a great opportunity for me to finally break in my new digital camera, which I must say I am very pleased with.

The weather all the way from Bountiful to Bear Lake (and back) was less than stellar and less than summer like, but we rolled with it the best we could. Inside the cabin, there was plenty going on and good friends with whom to pass the afternoon.

Shannon helped to kick-start the karaoke singing with her rendition of "The Wind beneath My Wings" - Happy Hands Club-like actions included.


I hadn't sung karaoke for quite some time, so I of course jumped at the chance. I chimed in with Neil Diamond's "Sweet Caroline" and had plenty of willing backup singers to help me out.


The weather began to look a little more promising after a while, so Sis. Hanson, Ben, Chelsea Greene, Jon Farley, Sara Squire, and I went out on the lake for a little while in the Hansons' boat. Ben and Sara were brave enough to enter the frigid water for some tubing.



Meanwhile, I stayed in the boat to hoist the orange flag whenever anyone fell off of the tube. It's an important responsibility, really.


On our way back to Bountiful, we stopped in Logan for some cheese curd and chocolate milk at Gossner's, which has become a family tradition whenever anyone passes through Cache valley.

In all, it was an afternoon well spent.