“Cory and lacey had to return to homeland, had the trifle moved! Once together was spending together the happy time regarding these two american, I now did not know had to say any! Only can be wishes their good luck! First time meets by chance is in Yucheng in the one, had not thought after the college entrance examination the summer vacation could in the more than half month time, at that time we become the friend together! Has the friend to come from the distant place, delight! Much less is two foreign friends! Did not know because any they must return to homeland ahead of time, the summer vacation distinction became parted forever!”

It was a really nice post. It was written in Chinese, and there are simply no good translators on the internet to make it sound right, but you get the idea.

Thanks Jared, we miss you too!

Henry Dean “Bean” Charlton was born on January 4th, at 5:26 in the evening. A special congratulations to R.J. and Abby, the proud parents.

Lacey and I’s prediction: “Hank” Dean will soon be a famous country western singer. Continuing in the tradition of Johnny Cash by singing about the downtrodden in prisons, jails, and legal institutions. When interviewed about this, he will mention his young years in the hospital, squirming, crying, and already dressing like a prisoner.

They’ve been dating since Columbus Day ’05, approximately a year and 2 months. Brian proposed after she had just returned from a business trip to Texas. On the way to a date at Valentino’s (where they’d shared their first date) she found a souvenir Ottawa book on the seat (a clue to the city where they first met). After that they stopped by the parent’s house, under false pretenses, and lingered in the hallway where they had their first kiss (historically, not ever). Brian, ever being the one to buck tradition, invited his bride to be on his lap. As he tells the story, “instead of me getting on my knees, I thought she could”.

Here, Brian asked “Anita, will you marry me?” After a startled look she quickly answered “Yes!”

They are tentatively looking at July 28th for the wedding date, and are planning getting married in Nebraska. Andy will be providing Flamenco guitar at the service, while Jeremy will bring his N64 as part of the reception festivities.

Speaking of weddings, Lacey and I are looking forward to Kyle and Yanan’s wedding coming up this Friday! I still gotta get that suit!

Contact Jim here.

I Still Believe a Man Can Fly

I have been a Superman fan nearly my whole life. When I was between the ages of 3 and 11, I know I drove my mom nuts watching the Christopher Reeve Superman movies. If it was on TV, we watched it. As I grew older, I maintained a deep appreciation of Superman; enjoying the comics, TV shows and all the T-Shirts. A little over a year ago I found out that Warner Bros. decided to make another Superman movie, Superman Returns. With breakneck speed, I became crazy with anticipation and excitement for the movie.

This time around I had the privilege of driving my wife nuts with all the Superman hype instead of my mom. In November of 2005, the first teaser trailer for the movie premiered with the TV show Smallville. I taped it and watched it repeatedly for the next 6 months, slowly becoming more and more pumped up for the movie. I scoured the Internet for even the tiniest bit of news while I waited, and of course I had to share my newfound knowledge with my wife. She’d just roll her eyes and walk away.

In my hero worship of all things Superman, I found out that Brandon Routh, the actor playing Superman in Superman Returns, was going to have a red carpet premier for the movie in Des Moines. I never had a chance to meet Christopher Reeve so I did not want to waste this chance to meet the new Man of Steel.

Armed with a digital camera, I arrived at the theater at Jordan Creek Mall in West Des Moines, two hours before Brandon Routh was due to show up. I waited patiently for the man who portrayed my hero to emerge from his limo and walk the red carpet. I knew this was as close to real Hollywood as I was ever going to get.

To my surprise he arrived in a minivan instead of a limo and started working the crowd of nearly 300 people that were there to see him. I figured he would just walk down the carpet, sign a few bits of memorabilia, talk with the news and maybe stop to pose for a few pictures. I was dead wrong. Wielding his own Sharpie marker, Brandon worked both sides of the carpet signing, pictures, posters, books and t-shirts for all who wanted an autograph. He’d even pose with people for pictures.

I waited and watched as he slowly approached my section of the line. He finally made it to me. I had him sign a Superman hat I had been wearing and after a few technical difficulties with the camera, I got my picture taken with the new Man of Steel. I thanked him as he moved on and couldn’t believe my luck. I had gone there to maybe get a picture of him passing by and instead got my picture taken with him and his autograph. I couldn’t shake the deep-rooted adrenaline rush I was feeling from having met him, Superman.

That was on Sunday and I was due to see the movie on Tuesday night. Monday and Tuesday lurched by with all the speed of a tortoise. The days couldn’t end fast enough, but like always, time does slip by and after 2 excruciating days at work, it was Tuesday night. Game Time. Time to put on my game face and bring my A game.

After an hour wait in line and fighting for some prime seats, I was ready to watch the movie. I was mentally prepared and I had eaten before leaving home so I was also physically prepared. The lights went down. The theater was dark. My heart jumped into my throat. I was in a cold sweat and a bit shaky. I was nervous. I was about to watch a movie that I had been anticipating for 20 years. Would it disappoint me? Would it still appeal to that little kid who sat in front of his grandparents’ television with a blanket clothes-penned around his neck?

Krypton filled the screen and Marlon Brando’s voice boomed from the speakers. I was still on a high state of alert with my fidgeting and sweating. Then something happened that I hadn’t thought about. The theme music started playing. Then the blue letters of the credits started blasting their way across the screen. My shaking stopped. My perspiration evaporated. A smile broadened its way across my face because as the images danced their way across the screen and the music bombarded me; the wonder, the excitement and the exhilaration of my 6-year-old self watching Christopher Reeve came flooding to the front of my mind. Here I was, 26 years old, and I could almost feel the blanket around my neck again.

The movie was great. Brandon Routh did a superb job as Superman. Not once did I ever think, “Man, I miss Christopher Reeve.” It wasn’t an option. The special effects were also fantastic. All of the flying sequences looked 100% real. I loved the flying from the first movies, but this brought defying gravity to a whole new level.

I walked out of the theater and thought about what I had gone through. Over a year of anticipation had just culminated itself into a few fleeting hours. All the bugging my wife, reading articles in magazines and on the Internet and even trying to get a picture of Brandon Routh had led up to what I had just watched. All I could do was ask myself, was it worth it? The only answer to that was “yes.” At 26 years old, husband and soon to be a father, I still believe a man can fly.

[tags]Superman[/tags]