Josh and Erin in the Twin Cities

Yesterday was Shelby's birthday, and for her event she wanted to go shooting at a local indoor range. After much deliberation E and I headed out with Curtis and Talia to meet up with everyone, and I am glad we went. The price was pretty reasonable, so I rented an HK USP compact .40 that was really easy to shoot and also quite accurate even with my limited experience. Kaleb of course went out and got a friggin assault rifle that was an absolute blast to shoot. We were indoors so the range was maxed out at 50 feet, but it was still a lot of fun. I got some great pictures of E shooting the assault rifle, I know! E shooting an assault rifle!! If I had not been there I would not have believed it either! She tried the .40 but didnt like the kick at all so gave it up after a single shot. She did run a full magazine through the assault rifle and was actually asking for more when it was all over. There were a lot of other people there shooting all kinds of stuff, from shotguns to AK47s to SKS. Shelby's dad came down from South Dakota and brought with him a whole bag of .22 target pistols that were REALLY accurate.

It was funny how everyone was kind of standing around nervous until they gave us a lane and allowed us to get out there to shoot. E and I were still a bit on the nervous side even then, it took a few rounds for me to calm down, but those were still my best shots of the day with the .40. I guess I was just taking my time more than I did for the rest of the day or something. Maybe it was being moved to a lane next to the guys ripping through rounds with an SKS, or it was the concentration thing. Either way, my best target was my first one, but they got more consistent as the day went on. I had a great target with the Sig at 50 feet, all 20 rounds going trough an area about 2 inches in diameter.

So, we had a great day, it was lots of fun, everyone came back alive, no one was missing any digits, it all went well. It was surprising how much effort it took to keep up concentration that long to shoot accurately, we were all pretty tired by the end of the day and ended up going to bed early because we were just plain beat.

Overall, I had a good time, I think E had a good time, and it was reasonably inexpensive. If bullets weren't so expensive we could have been there all day long playing.

Oh yeah, and in true Curtis fashion, his targets were an outline of Osama and a guy with an RPG over his shoulder. He didn't rent a gun, just bought a couple of targets and got to work shooting them up with whatever was on hand. Much hilarity ensued when he sent that target out the range.

A lot of really good movies. We just watched another tonight called 'We Are Marshall' and it was awesome. If you are in the market for a movie, I highly suggest getting this one. It is the true story of a college that lost its entire football team in a horrific plane crash in 1970 and their coping with it. Extremely good, well acted, I just can't say enough, it was awesome.

E and I have been watching a lot of movies lately and another we just saw that was really good was 'Dan in Real Life'. It is something like 40 year old virgin but a lot better.

If you have time, check it out.

Yeah, and I am inclined to recite my favorite movie line ever, from 'Stranger Than Fiction', "GET BENT, TAX-MAN!" We just got our tax info back from the accountant and it wasn't good news. ick.

Have you seen this film? If not, I urge you to go get it right now and watch it. You will thank me.

It's been 4 days since I saw it and I can't get it out of my head and heart.

I read the book years ago and forgot what an amazing story this is. The book really takes on a journalistic view (Jon Krakauer wrote it) so I didn't get the heart-felt view like in the movie. Since I'm heart centered, the movie resonated with me.

Emile Hirsch (as Chris McCandless) does such a spectacular job. And Sean Penn (amazing man, actor and screenwriter) did the screenplay.

This is a gem of a movie.

Thank you to Chris with all of his bravery and lessons. Forgiveness is the key to life's happiness.

I am done with plastic bags! That's right. Well, not completely. Due to the fact we have to have something to put our trash/cat refuse in. But that's it. My solution is to buy corn-based plastic bags that biodegrade in 3 months while using cloth bags to put groceries and shopping items in. Nice! You can even get drawstring bags for produce. See! Now you want some. You can go to this nice website where they have all sorts of bags to put stuff in. www.ecobags.com


I've also started looking at other places in my life where I can help cut out waste. For example, when I go to Subway to get a sandwich, I ask them to not put it in a bag. Why do I need a bag? They give you a bag even if you're eating at their estabishment. So wasteful.

I am starting to think about ziplocks as well as plastic storage so that will have to be something I'll tackle in the future. I think glass is the solution.
Another thing I am excited about is getting rid of my Nalgene water bottle. Look at this kick-butt Sigg bottle! I am all about re-using bottles so you Nalgene people out there, don't get upset. It's just I don't want to ingest plastic. These Sigg bottles are 100% recyclable and taste neutral. I can't wait to get mine! You can get one as well from the ecobag website.

I just wanted to expose my eco-nerd for all to see. :)