"The dreams in which I'm dying are the best I ever had"

What a fun night of doing nothing with good friends. It seems like some of the better nights are smaller groups. Brian, Parliament, Rogers and I for The Nile and House of Wax in the Spring. Phil, Amber, Ricker, Shannon, Rogers and Me for Dinner and hanging out at Kohl's and Wal-Mart and Ritters tonight. Of course Rogers was working at Kohl's but then joined us at Ritters.

Then we watched Donnie Darko tonight. A pretty good, yet confusing movie. I expected to be confused and was delighted to be able to follow most of it. Neverthless, some repeat viewings or interpretation would be helpful.

Work is ending up poorly. Well at least this week was bad. I just couldn't get things done. I had no work ethic and no motivation, so I pretty much didn't do very much the last couple of days.

Next week, I've got to buckle down. 10 official work days left!

"'Children behave!' that's what they say when we're together"

Today I decided to take off of work. I had afternoon plans anyway, so I got up, did some SIFE e-mailing and reading for about an hour and then played some halo for an hour or so then took a short nap and proceeded with my afternoon plans. A good day. Buca Di Bepo's for Jason's birthday party.

Rogers bought a wedding dress today. Glad she found one pretty easily. Can't wait to see her in it. Too bad, I have to wait so long. I wonder where she could possibly store something like that so that I wouldn't find it. hmm... maybe I'll have to go on a scavenger hunt. Or maybe I should just ask if I can see it. Either way, I'm excited. This reminds me of Zach and Kelly's Wedding in Vegas the 2nd made-for-tv Saved by the Bell adventure...

Song of the Day: Memories - Eisley

"Your teacher pops a test, you know you're in a mess"

I would venture to say that the average kid between the ages of 25 and 19 had similar afternoon entertainment habits in elementary school: Saved by the Bell. It was on literally five times every weekday afternoon. The Disney Afternoon offered some pretty stiff competition, but Saved by the Bell was generally on in my household. At least two episdodes a day. I never got into the middle school "Good Morning Miss Bliss" Episdodes, but everything else I loved. High School, College. Whatever.

What could be better than spending your afternoons laughing at Screech and hoping that Kelly won't dump Zach for Jeff this time, even though she always does. Zach was such a stand-up boyfriend, Kelly. What were you thinking? From Malibu Sands to Bayside High every episode was memorable for some reason or another.

When I was in Lithuania I watched Saved by the Bell with the other Americans and a few Lithuanians on a projector. Everybody loved it. It's a shared memory for our generation. Bring an episode up in a coversation. See where it leads. Today I bought the 5th season on DVD. I now own all of the high school episodes that I've seen so many times in syndication. Sure they include the infamous Tori episodes, but even she was involved with the Teen Line, which led to the wheelchair charity basketball game in the half-gym.

"Still thinking about, not living without it"

Today I felt rather crappy. Won of those days where it seems like most things ache and you should just be sleeping. Unfortunately, I had a lot of work to do, and I don't feel like I did a good job. Tonight Rogers and I got a stuffed crust pizza and vegged out watching 3 episodes of Big Brother. I'm addicted to bad tv. I mean come on: Big Brother... and Felicity?

Oh well. Tomorrow, I head to Fort Wayne for one of the last times. I then have two weeks of work left, and maybe one more wrap-up trip to Fort Wayne in mid-to-late August. Summer has gone way too fast. The best summer ever? Not yet. There's still time though. One month left baby, one month left.

Song of the Day: Spitting Games - Snow Patrol

"I wouldn't wish this indecision on anybody else"

A quick story from Myrtle Beach: My cousins who are 14, 14, and 18 went out with Rogers and I. It dawned on us that seeing a movie might be fun. The kids wanted to see The Wedding Crashers, the raunchy R-rated comedy starring Vince Vaughn and Owen Wilson. I want to see it too, but I wasn't comfortable with taking my 14 year-old cousins who were under my supervision.

After about 10 minutes of deliberating and peer pressure, the youngest called his Dad and said we were going to see an R-rated movie that had sexual content in it. He actually said "sexual content." Anyway, his dad said it was okay, but be back by midnight. No problem. However, I still wasn't comfortable with the idea of sitting through the movie with my underaged cousins.

After finally convincing me that they'd seen it all before, I gave into the pressure and we lined up for tickets. The too-young kids in front were turned away by the grandma behind the window. "Your parents have to be with you," she said. So the 18 year old bought a ticket and Rogers was going to buy 2, one for her and one for the youngest cousin.

"How old is he?" asked grandma behind the window.

Rogers, looks around contemplatively. "Sixteen.?." she says.

The cousin throws his arms up in disgust.

"You have to be 17," says the grandma behind the window.

Denied. I like to think Rogers was just playing cool to the cousins, but still siding with me, by not letting them get in.
-------------------------------------------------------

It's like I've never been gone. Things are getting back to normal. Sharp is back in town after being gone for about 4 months.

I redecorated my room last night after returning home from Myrtle Beach. I added 3 posters, moved 2 posters, and made a Better Than Ezra wall and added about 35 Marilyn Monroe playing cards. Redecorating.

I have a bunch of work going on right now, but that didn't stop me from finding time to order The Wizard starring Fred Savage and Christian Slater off of eBay. My first eBay purchase in a very long while.

Song of the Day: Nothing Better - The Postal Service

"Smiling at everybody she sees"

Myrtle Beach 05 Highlights

• My very own MB2005 Martin Family T-Shirt
• Being with Rogers, Noel and the Fam
• Not Seeing the Wedding Singer -- thanks to Rogers --
• Hanging out with the Cousins
• Seeing Neice Noel choose Rogers over everyone else in the family all the time
• Walks on the Beach
• Riding the Waves
• Of Course Ice Cream every night
• Seeing Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and Mr. and Mrs. Smith
• Watching Felicity, Sopranos and Blow on the way home
• Overnight in Gatlinburg area
• 1989 Donruss Baseball Cards
• 1967 Billboard Hits CD
• New Posters for my Room
• Having a super-fun time with everyone

Perhaps the Last in a Series of about 15 to 20 Myrtle Beach vacations has come to an end. It was different as it was with all the family, but it was good. It was sad to say goodbye to my summer vacation destination. Time to find a new destination with 'gers next year!

Song of the Day: Windy - The Association

"I guess I must have just been dreaming, when I thought I heard myself say no"

Falls School of Business student seeks Advice
Anderson, IN -- A student at the Falls School of Business at Anderson University recently sought advice from various business personalities. Anderson native Andrew Rosenberg, a management major, was seen talking to prominent Anderson-area businessman and President of the Flagship Enterprise Center, Chuck Staley at a Subway restaurant, Thursday.

"Opportunity is knocking at every door you turn to," said Staley. The pair discussed a variety of topics. Staley described his career path to Rosenberg who listened intently. Rosenberg shared his various interests with Staley hoping for feedback.

"I'm definately interested in Consulting. Then there are things that are attractive about big corporations, and I'm also interested in entrepreneurship," explained Rosenberg.

Earlier in the day, Rosenberg was spotted on his front porch in nothing but boxers also discussing his career path. Witnesses, who had left their homes to view the young man in his briefs, explained that Rosenberg could only get good cell-phone reception on his porch...in his boxers.

Our sources tell us this phone conversation was with an extended relative who works for a large Consulting firm. The relative attended Dartmouth for his MBA degree. Rosenberg gathered information about this businessperson as well. "The important thing is that you have time," said the unknown Sage. "After you work someplace for a couple of years, you have time to switch gears, especially if you are going for an MBA around that time."

Rumor has it Rosenberg is leaving for Myrtle Beach to ponder this advice for a week. www.andyrose.blogspot.com will update this story periodically. Before heading to Myrtle Beach, Rosenberg ate at the Hacienda, packed, finished watching his favorite movie, The Shawshank Redemption, wrote a press release for the Falls School of Business and played Halo for a little bit on Xbox Live.

His Song of the Day is Hold Me Down by the Gin Blossoms.

"If you don't expect to much from me, you might not be let down"

In two days, the Rosenbergs, Spires, Various Martins and Rogers leave for Myrtle Beach. Or as I like to refer to it MB2K5.

Growing up my family always went to Myrtle Beach. It was our vacation destination. I've been there at least 15 times, and I would venture to say that number's closer to 20. Over the years from time to time various friends have made the journey with me. Josh, Ricky, Darren, Drew and Stephen to name a few. This year, I'm privileged to be joined by Miss Lisa Ann Rogers, Bride to Be. It's a family reunion of sorts, so soon-to-be-Rosenberg, Rogers is coming along. I can't wait. Throw in a 1.5 year old niece that's never been to Myrtle Beach and I've got my two favorite females on the entire earth with me in my favorite vacationing spot. What could be better?

Lots of memories in Myrtle Beach, but today I'll simply describe the greatest junk store to meet mankind: The Gay Dolphin. It's a Myrtle Beach tradition to spend at least an hour or two in The Gay Dolphin. Tons of junk. The way I always describe the store is, that they never get rid of anything. I bought a book there, lost it, couldn't find it a couple of years later, and I finally bought it again at the Gay Dolphin at least 5 years after I had originally purchased it. There's old toys, glass trinkets, nasty jewelry and even a whole bookshelf of broken stuff that you can make an offer on. And the store is right on the main-night-life-strip also. The Gay Dolphin. The name says it all. Don't believe me that this is a great store, ask Josh or Ricky.

Song of the Day: Hey Jealousy

"I didn't mean to cause you trouble"

A fabulous Tuesday, a fabulous Monday. I simply forgot to Blog yesterday. A rarity indeed that I forget. Usually, I ethier consciously decide not to Blog or I don't have access to the internet. Rogers e-mailed me saying she was disappointed that I had forgotten to Blog. For all those, like her, who can't wait to read my thoughts, I sincerely apologize. Yes, if you are reading this, that was a joke, because I know that very few, if any, besides my loving fiance care.

On to better topics. Today I purchased a book by Chuck Palahniuk. After reading a note about his latest book in Mike Garrigan's Blog (Mike is a musician) and an article in Rolling Stone I was intrigued. Furthermore, I am going to the beach next week and need some capturing reading material. This should do the trick. Palahniuk is the author of Fight Club and other interesting and satirical tales. From what I've read he has some really messed up stories. It should be an interesting read...perhaps I'll even begin tonight.

Song of the Day: Switch - Will Smith

"But it's just a sweet sweet fantasy"

Radio hit a new all-time low in my book today...just 11 minutes ago actually as the clock struck midnight. More on that in a bit.

My sister had a Mariah Carey tape when I was a child. Musicbox. One of Mariah's classics with songs like Without You, Hero, Anytime you Need a Friend and Dreamlover, it was quite an album. I remember listening to it a few times and enjoying some of the songs. Specifically Without You really caught my attention. It was just a heck of a song and Mariah crushed it. Well when the album Daydream came out a in 1995 I had gotten into purchasing albums and I decided to get that album after the song Fantasy hit MTV. I still remember Mariah in those daisy dukes roller skating through that amusement park singing about her "Sweet, sweet fantasy baby, when I close my eyes, you come and you take me...on and on and..." (yeah, I still remember the words). Anyway I got the album and loved it. As a side note, Darren Rayl-childhood best friend and former Jon McLaughlin drummer-bought the album at the same time, if I remember correctly.

I later bought the Musicbox album to complement my one-disc Mariah colection. They slowly fell out of my rotation and were all but forgotten until miss Lisa Ann Rogers wanted to borrow them one day (She later lost them leaving me with no Mariah Carey cds, or as I like to say Mariahless).

Through the years Mariah had a mental breakdown, made a crappy album or two and was paid $28 million dollars by a record label to get out of a contract with her.

Now in 2005 Mariah is back, which brings me back to radios all time low. At 11:55 the American Top 40 hosted by Ryan Seacrest played her current hit We Belong Together as the #1 song in the country on Indy's 93.1 RadioNow. At 12:00 Midnight 93.1 played Mariah's current hit We Belong Together as the #1 song of the hour.

The song was played twice in a row on the same station! Congrats, Mariah Carey, you have truly arrived.

How could today's song of the day be anything but:

We Belong Together - Mariah Carey

"The door is still open"

The first use of the Lounge Basement was today after Phil's B-Day Cookout. We played a game or two of Halo 1 then went to the basement to have a nice time and smoke some tobaccy. It was a nice fun-filled evening.

Song of the Day: Wheel in the Sky - Journey

"My tea's gone cold"

Friday! Had our last church softball game tonight. It was a pretty fun season. They still have the tourney left, but Lisa and I will be gone. I ended up playing pretty good today. 3 for 4 hitting and I caught all the balls that came to me, except for one I dove for.

Then Brian came back for the weekend so we all hung out and chatted all night. A very nice Friday evening. Tomorrow some golf and Phil's B-Day party in the evening.

I'm tired!

"You're Holly Golightly, yeah I head you played that scene"

A good day of work and relaxation. Rogers and I went to the Texas Roadhouse with Jason and Eileen tonight on a whim, which was nice. I ordered a salad for the first time ever in a restaurant. It was pretty good, but after a ton of rools and fried onion stuff I was too full to eat much. I don't think I saved too many calories.

Then the season premier of Big Brother 6 was tonight. It was a pretty good episode. Got a haircut today too. And ran for awhile this morning. And walked the dogs with Rogers tonight. And burned a great better than ezra mix. And got some work done for a few hours. Overall... another good day in the life of Rosenberg.

There were terrorist attacks in London today, coinciding with the beginning of the G8 Summit where the leaders will discuss things such as giving monetary aid to Africa to reduce poverty. Those bastard terrorists...

Song of the Day: At the Stars - Better Than Ezra

"As it burns through me"

A busy day in Fort Wayne for Berg. Then back to the Lounge to hang out with Josh and Phil and play the new Halo maps. Also had time to start cleaning up my room. It's been really messy recently.

Tomorrow night is the season premier of Big Brother: The Rogers and Berg Summer Series of Choice. Seriously, the shows addicting. Maybe even more addicting than Felicity, if you can imagine that!

8 Days Until Vacation!

Song of the Day: Rhinocerous - Smashing Pumpkins

"Your skin smells lovely like sandalwood"

Rogers and I had a Softball game again tonight. We got slaughtered. Then we had a nice evening hanging out and eating at Hacienda. Overall a fine Tuesday. Man the summer is going way to fast.

Tomorrow I head to Fort Wayne then hopefully an evening of new Halo Maps with the gents of the Lounge. Save Ricker and George who are out of town. In Oil City I got a sweet Marilyn Monroe carboard stand-up. Phil said that we'll have to keep her and Brett Farve apart. I think he's probably right. Those two would make a hot couple. And we know Marilyn goes for the sporty types. Take Joe Dimagio as an example.

One.Five weeks til Vacation. Hip-Hip-Hooray!

Song of the Day: Snow Day - Lisa Loeb

"Let freedom ring"

Happy 4th of July. Rogers and I spent the day together today. In the evening we went to the show at Conner Prairie where the Indy Symphony Orchestra played. At the end of the show they had fireworks. It was the best fireworks show I have ever seen, simply because the finale was so rapid-fire. They really lit up the sky. Perfect weather too.

I'm so fortunate to live in a country of such freedom. What a nice 4th! It's Rogers favorite holiday, and she seemed to enjoy the show as well so that was great. Then singing to Coldplay on the way home.

Song of the Day: America the Beautiful

"Strobe lights and blown speakers, fireworks and hurricanes"

The Pennsylvania experience was good. I hadn't been to Oil City for over a decade so it was nice to see the town where my father grew up in a context that I will remember in the future. I had barely any memories of it previously. I feel like I can appreciate it better now. It was a nice small town. We saw my grandma's brother, my grandpa's sister and a couple of my dad's cousins. More importantly we walked around his old neighborhood, where his dad fixed up their old garage, he played basketball on this court, where the goals have since been torn down, where a family that had seven girls lived, where he used to play wiffle ball on the streets. A nice quick trip. I also was able to watch 5 movies over the weekend, traveling to and from and at night's in the hotel.

On the way there we saw the Ohio State Reformatory where parts of the Shawshank Redemption, my favorite movie, was filmed. That was pretty cool. I hope to go back sometime to get a tour.

Well tomorrow's the 4th of July. Today actually. Time to go home and get some sleep before a day of celebrating. (I'm at Rogers' house now)