Headshot

So I need to pick a picture of myself for my new employer and thought I'd solicit your input. I can pick two. Let me know which ones and no laughing. ;-)

Kisses!
-M

Broncos Basketball & Bowling

Just wanted to let you guys know that the Intramural basketball and bowling seasons are upon us and that the Broncos will be looking for your support. In our first basketball game of the season the Broncos beat the C.D.O.'s 55-47. The other team was made up of the video coordinator, strength and conditioning coach, manager, and academic advisor for the Indiana University men's basketball team so 4 of the IU players showed up to watch their staff get smoked. Tonight's action includes the "four horsemen" Sam Fennig, Doug Oetting, Justin Garcia, and Jeremy Rauch (or me if Rauch is busy) bowling for bragging rights against Shore Party. Should be a classic battle. GO BRONCOS

Servitude

A picture of me at work. I know you're all jealous. You could all leave your jobs and we could open up a Chinese restaurant in Decatur. I've got experience. Plus I'm smelling a reality TV deal in the works. It'd be great!

Monday's shaping up alright. I've got to study weapons proliferation as a security threat tonight for a brief presentation tomorrow. So I can't type long. I'm sending you all an email with an attached mp3 file of a band I like. Those of you cool cats who listen to the NPR may have heard of Beirut, but those who haven't sampled the goodness can get a taste of the good life to see what it tastes like. It sounds something like music from "the old country." I listen and I get the images of spooky gypsies and the Bosnian war in the early 1990's. In a good way. Hope ya LOVE it!

-Rusty

Sunday evening

Richard and I are just sitting here on this Sunday night eating popcorn. Do you all remember eating popcorn for dinner on Sunday nights out of the wooden bowls. I also think we would make popcorn in the orange bowl. Which also doubled as the puke bowl...but whatever!

Richard was asked to teach early morning seminary tomorrow, just for one day. I'm going to help out as well. Teenagers at 6:30 am can be brutal, we are hoping that maybe that with a tag team effort, we can take them on.

I was just cleaning out my Christmas cards and found the adorable card that Stacey sent. She also send a little note about ordering pictures from her wedding. She sent instructions about ordering copies of the pictures. If you haven't checked out the pictures yet you should...there are a couple of great ones, including Margie doing the chicken dance, Claudia dancing in a congo line, and some sweet ones of Dad dancing with Stacey. I ordered a few myself and when I sent the email to Stacey, I told her about the blog, since she is also a Gimbel (okay...she is a Phipps now...but a Gimbel in coolness)

I hope you all have fun plans for the week....Happy Monday!

a new post!

Hey guys, I just thought that since I got introduced as a "future daughter in law" by Claudia tonight, I should post on the Gimbel blog. Here are a couple pictures of your handsome brother and I. The first is us at a Bulls game, and the other is from our trip to Cali:::

Gimbel Family Movie

I'm hoping that you'll be able to play the movie. I had to decrease the size in order to get on to YouTube. There is a 100MB limited and my original file was about double that. Let me know what you think.

I love you!
-M

i'd like to introduce you to my little brother karl. he has grown a bit since i've seen him last. he is now 6'9" and 250 pounds. other than that he grew up in Tuscaloosa Alabama and went to hillcrest high school where he averaged 20 pts, 15 rebounds, and six blocks as a senior and shot better than 60% from the floor during his career at hillcrest. he earned Parade Magazine All-American, Alabama Gatorade State Player of the Year, Alabama Super 5 6A Player of the Year, first team all-state and first team West Alabama honors as a senior. he was rated No. 14 in the final Insiders.com Top 100 rankings, had 10 points and eight rebounds in the 2004 Jordan Capital Classic on April 17 and added seven points and five rebounds in the March 31 McDonald's All-American Game. he came off the bench with four points and four rebounds to help the United States to a 99-79 victory over the World Select Team at the 2004 Hoops Summit Presented By Nike. Karl averaged eight points and eight rebounds as a freshman; 16 points and nine rebounds as a sophomore; 19 points, 10 rebounds, four blocks and four assists as a junior. Karl was a member of the South team at the 2003 USA Basketball Youth Development Festival, where he started all five games and averaged 18.6 ppg, 10 rpg, 7 bpg, 6 apg and 6 spg. he finished the Festival with 20 points and 10 rebounds in his team's 135-116 gold medal victory over the North team. Karl attended Nike Camp and NBA Players Association Camp in 2003. Karl is the son of Edward and Claudia Gimbel, was born on Aug. 31, 1986 and is enrolled in University Division.

Livin' in a fantasy world.

So I'm a big fan of HGTV. Here's their dream home for this year. All you have to do is sign up for a chance to win on their website. Wouldn't that be cool. We could all move in and live in the same house again. The place sleeps 14 so we all could fit. Then we could start the Gimbel advertising agency that marjorie wants to.

Anybody else doing the stuff we're doing?

Is anyone else engaged in an exercise regimen? Meridth has been a huge fan of Billy Blanks' workouts since the first days of Tae-Bo, and as much as I am loathe to admit it, I have a man-crush on the guy. Lately we've been doing Billy Blanks Boot-Camp Elite (tm) which has been tough, but great. I stopped running in early December, sure that it would soon be too cold, but it never really snowed and only now is it too cold to run. Oh well, Billy is keeping me motivated for some hard-core indoor training. What (if anything) are you guys up to?

Other than that, Meridth and I have been loving pirated episodes of "Ugly Betty" on the internet. Betsey, Margie, have you guys seen this show? Guilty pleasure? Yeah, but it's charming and zany. Plus, it was originally an Argentine show that was popular during Meridth's mission. Because of her thick black glasses, she was often called "Betty la Fea." That's my wife.

-Rusty

Fields of Corn

Greetings everyone!

Hoping this blog finds you all enjoying the evening. I absolutely LOVE Friday nights. They are, by far, my most favorite time of the week. You have the whole weekend ahead of you. Saturday morning, it seems, starts the count-down to Monday. But Friday nights. Ah! No worries. No Stress. Just the calm of Fridays

Our Saturdays are usually spent running errands and doing all the things that we couldn't even think about doing during the week. Home Depot. Bed, Bath and Beyond. ;-) All those great adult errands that you got to get done. I went to the book store last weekend and pick-up a book on container gardens. I'm thinking of planting some things this spring to enhance the small outdoor space that we have here. Historically, though, I've been like Mom -- blackest thumb in all of Chicago. But I'm hoping this book will help show me the way. I'm going to research a bit more tomorrow and see what I need to do when.

I've also got to work a little tomorrow. Now, I know. I know. You all think that all I ever do is complain about my job and while that might be true. I think the complaints are warrented. This job / industry SUCKS. Or maybe it's just the pace of work nowadays. I'm connected at all times. Got two client emails at 8p today. Why? What in the world are you doing that you need to email me on Friday night at 8p? Why? We're a culture so CONNECTED, that we never, ever let it go. Relax. Enjoy the moment. It's all, "Who needs what now?" And, "What else should I be doing?" There are times when I think, "God, it'd be nice to have been born in 1831." How simple a time. You worked and provided for your family and that was that. I mean, granted. I work and provide for my family. But it's not as direct. It's toiling away at a completely oblivously thing - like creating an ad. Who cares? What's the strategy behind the ad? What are you trying to sell? Bla. Bla. Bla. Makes me want to move to Montana and plant a field of corn.

Anyway. I'm just venting. I'll post some pictures of MY CUTE dog. Lilly.

I miss you and love you all so much!
-M

Karli Mowery-Gimbel

Hey everybody! I don't think any of you have seen Emily's dog. She is super cute and annoying!!





Thank you all for participating so far. Thursday set a new record for posts in a day. It is also good to see Meridth on here. Keep it coming team.

Gimbel Family Contact Sheet updates

Hello all!

I wanted to update the Gimbel Family Contact sheet this weekend. Will you all either post a comment with any updates to your contact information or send me an email with that information? I know that Margie has a new email address, Edward and Meridth moved and we moved too. Mom also told me that Don and Marietta asked to be put on the sheet and asked for a copy too.

Thanks! love you all!

Where are they now and other wacky pictures.

So here's a picture of Jonathan Johnson in Iraq a few weeks ago. America's front line in the War on Terror. For those who may not have heard, Jon-Jon is a Special Forces operator (a Green Beret). It's odd for me to see the skinny kid I hung out with all through elementry school with a Beretta 9mm strapped to his hip.

I'm sure you're all curious about the 'stach. I probably shouldn't post so much about facial hair, but maybe it's a metaphor for growing up. He's said he's growing it mostly as a joke, but he's been thinking he'd feel naked without it. I tried to be gentle, but the thought that came to my mind was "Hulk Hogan." Or a firefighter.

Now I don't know these people, but I sure wish I did. They participate in a live-action role-playing game (LARP). Cool kids, huh? I'm sure intimidated by their make-up and duct-tape weapons. I DID in fact play a LARP based on gothic-y vampires in a modern setting. It required less ren-fair costuming and I look back on those days with a certain chagrin. I am comforted, however, by the realization that even in the midst of the deepest nerdiness, I played with a certain tounge-in-cheek self- awareness. I have no shame now admitting to anyone who asks that I've spent a great deal of time rolling dice and controlling the actions of pretend elves. In fact, I think it's cool. I know the model number of the Millenium Falcon and I know Boba Fett's real backstory, before those awful prequels were made. Dungeons & Dragons 4 LIFE!!

Here's my wife with ultra-famous illustrator Brad Holland. He's done numerous magazine covers for the New Yorker. He did a long stint with the New York Times op-ed page, and he's generally beloved and extremely well paid. I like the piece he did below. It's a portrait of Osama bin-Laden done shortly aften September 11th, 2001.



-Rusty

random pictures

i just wanted to throw some random pictures up. nothing really insightful to say at the moment. i'm a little tired and getting ready to clock out here at work. the first picture is chloe doing her best to look like a grown up. ashley had "crazy hair day" at school today. i'm sure that was fun to wash out. anyway. does anyone know if dad reads this? i was just sitting here wondering. anyway. love you all. have a good day.

ryan

Hong Kong Hawkins and my favorite family with 15 children

It is official...Richard will be in Hong Kong from May 11 through August 3rd working for Skadden Arps. I will be there from June 3 through July 4th.

AND I found out today that my FAVORITE family (other than ours) THE DUGGARS have a website

http://www.duggarfamily.com/

If you haven't seen the Duggar's on Good Morning America or TLC, you need to check them out. They have 15 kids! It is pretty incredible

Decatur...a very violent place.

Sometimes at work, I check the Decatur Daily Democrat for interesting articles. They recently changed their format and no longer post really interesting police blotters or wedding announcements. But today, this particular article caught my eye.

http://www.decaturdailydemocrat.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=2366&Itemid=27

In part, because Kathy Baker (Anne and Christy's mom) was the main witness of the crime...AND I think it took place at the Holsinger's old house...where Margie and I spent many days babysitting for the Holsinger kids (okay, it could have been the house on the other side of the Baker's, but I figure, a 50/50 shot isn't bad.)

Speaking of news, did anyone watch the State of the Union? Any assesments or observations to share? I didn't watch, I was in class and Richard and I don't have tv (we are too lazy to set it up). I jsut heard the review on NPR afterwards.

And so...

And I have to tell you all, I'm completely BUMMED. I made this fantantic SLIDE show in iPhoto. I changed the pictures to Sepia, used this great Ken Burns affect and added some music. Its of all the shots from our LA trip. Seriously brings a tear to the eye. It's just like the Mac commercial. Right out of the box, making movies. Watch-out Speilberg. Karl, if you know how I can post a movie up here, let me know. In the meantime, I'll just post another picture from the photobooth.

Kisses.
-M

Nothing serious... ever.

So i'm looking through all my posts and realizing that I don't really ever post anything serious or insightful. Oh well!! Here's a picture i enjoy. AAAAAHHHHHHHHH, I'M FUNNY!!!!!!

Looking like people, old architecture, Mom's Childhood Challenge...and more!

This is probably the most beautiful part of the town I live in. It's a moderately large place (pop. 200,000). But with less cars, less traffic, it feels smaller. The area we live (Oxford Road) is supposed to be a pretty rough neighborhood, but what does that mean in a place with zero handgun crime? (I should amend: Reading is supposed to be the "stabbing capital" of England. Right.) It's all moot cause I never have time to do anything after 9pm. Too many texts to read. It gets dark here around 4:30pm, if you can believe that. Too far north of the equator, I fear. It's wierd and Meridth gets a little stir crazy. I guess she'll do better come spring. I suppose I shouldn't mention it, because it's essentially a non-happening, but we had a pregnancy scare here. (Don't worry, it's over no. No ninos en route.) Meridth really wants a baby, but we both recognize that it'd be a fairly foolish endeavor at this juncture. Anyway, we've been married for nearly four years and Meridth turns 28 this year and she's finally done with university and, if I play my cards right, I might just be employed at a "real job" by the end of this year, so maybe then. Luckily we avoided any accidents, unlike another couple I can think of. (Ask Mom about her experience with spermacidal foam. Or don't.)

This is the ruins of an abby that used to be in the middle of Reading. Funny to think that this thing was abandoned before any of our ancestors set foot on American soil. Wierd that the rest of this town grew up around its ruins. I remember an unfinished hotel off of I-69 on the way to Muncie. In those idyllic days of Decatur, I drove the hour down there and explored the abandoned concrete skelleton of what was potentially a Holliday Inn or Ho-Jo. Took some pictures for Mr. Reith's photography class. I looked for it again a few years ago, but it's long gone. Even the ruins of what we never finished can't stand still.

Here's an interesting thing that the UK and the US have in common. This statue is dedicated to some 300 soldiers that lost their lives in Afghanistan in 1878. The scale of the statue isn't communicated in this photo, due to a lack of context, but it's huge.

Anyway, mom mentioned in one of her comments that she'd love to hear about our perspectives on our childhoods (Childrenhoods? What is the plural of "childhood?") I wonder if I can manage the kind of honesty requisite to fulfill that request, but it's an interesting question nonetheless. Is anyone game?

A few years ago, when I was home for Christmas, Meridth and I were looking through Grandpa Gimbel's flight logs from the war. I never thought I looked much like Dad. (Too much face-fat.) But Dad's always looked a lot like his dad. Anyway, there was one photograph of Grandpa's silhouette. It was uncanny, but it looked just like mine. I don't know if I look like Dad now (Too much beard.) but Meridth says I do. And we DO look a lot like a family. Everyone says so.

But then again everyone used to say I look like Hugh Grant. I'm not kidding. I used to get it once every two months, sometimes more. I really never thought I did, but consistantly for five years, I heard it a lot. Another reason to grow a beard.

So finally, here's a couple of photos of the cutest set of Gimbels in the land. I don't know if I mentioned it, (or if she did) but Meridth was so surprised and pleased that you made it out to her show, Ryan. Thanks a lot for that. It meant a whole lot to her, and it meant more to me to know that you were taking care of my wife after I abandoned her guts.

I don't know exactly what's going on here, but I do know it's super-cute. Three cheers for the Utah Gimbels! So I miss you guys and I'm stoked that we get to blog. Good show Karl. I'll post some more photos if I can muster the impetus. I do get lazy. Ciao!

Book club book

I have my book club tonight. We are reading Malcolm Gladwell's The Tipping Point. I only got about 1/4 of the way finished. Anyone else read it and have any thoughts that i can add to the discussion? I'm such a book club slacker.

5:49pm Reading Blog

Greeting Family!

Thought I'd test out the technology and take a picture with the camera in my computer. This is me, reading the Gimbel Family Blog. I love that Mom and Rusty have finally decided to contribute. Now, we just need Dad. ;-)

I think I have to agree with your old lady friend, Rusty. You're 25 and never had a real job!?!? I'm 28 and feel like I've spent my whole life working. I got back from Kansas City and actually the trip went well. I was there shooting Ceiling Panels. I'll have to post the image when it's done. It's a great shot highlighting Sustainable Design. I know Brad Pitt will dig-it. He and his Greenbuild in New Orleans and all. And while the trip was good - I'm just so tired of photoshoots, traveling, meetings and clients, client dinners. Ugh.

Oh and Karl, is your little friend so excited about the COLTS win? I heard that it was a good game. Chicago is abuzz with BEARS fever. We had planned to go to Washington DC for a Super Bowl party called "SnackerBowl"

Our friend Alex hosts this party every year where all good-for-you food is baned. Everything has to be fried and wrapped in bacon. You have to wear stretchy pants and eat until you EXPLODE! I was so looking forward to it and with the Bears in the bowl -- what fun! But alas it's that weekend that we'll be in Erie celebrating Papa's life at his Memorial.

Alright I need to run. I have to finish up this report before I head home.

Kisses!
-M

Well that was easier than it looked. Wierd thing is this, my beard has a real red tinge to it. It makes my whole head look, according to the kids in my sunday school, "ginger." Which isn't very macho. Oh well.

Expatriate.

Okay, it's the second time I've lived abroad. I was thinking It's be easier this time around, (no suit and tag, no geeky hair parted on the side, no spine-tingling constant fear of having to talk to people, no foreign language.) Instead, it's a lot harder. Maybe it's because it was so much simpler the first time. I knew my place in life, and even though I hated talking to perfect strangers all the time, I knew my role. There's a certain simplicity to that.

This time I'm older. It's like Ryan posted, we're all getting older. For me, the pressure's on to actually manage to develop some marketable analytical skills. I was invited to eat at the home of one of the church member's out here several weeks ago. It was partially a whole family affair because the husband's mother was there. We made small talked and I schmoozed with expert skill. All in all it was fairly pleasent. But the granny mentioned something that stuck with me. We were discussing my previous studies and my mission and everything and she commented that I was 25 and I'd never had a real job. "Ugh, she's right." Furthermore, I'm 25 and I work illegally as a busboy at a chinese restaurant.

In some ways, I feel too young, not too old. And the wierd thing is that I'm approaching the apex of my field. One of my professors (a guy who honestly looks like he might be six years older than I) said that he enjoyed his Master's year the most because you achieved the highest level for the first time in the field and everyone took it a little more seriously. At this level, in the field of international relations (and I suppose any field in politics or social sciences) one begins to realize that easy answers are, at best illusions and at worst platitudes, and holding any position at all is a tenuous exercise. How could President Bush order troops to war, to die, based on assumptons? Of course I recognize the fallacy of his judgement and I condemn it, but studying this topic has brought me to the point where I can see the potential costs of inaction, the arithmatic that may have gone into the decision. I suppose I can see the benifits of being "the decider."

At any rate, I've strayed. (I still hate the guy, don't worry.) What I'm really asking is when will I feel confident enough in what I know to act decisively? I write papers that examine the pros and cons of various cources of action and in academe, I'm allowed to remain aloof from certitude because it has no real world application. I applied for a job as an analyst at the CIA last week. There my analysis, my papers could have real world outcomes. Am I ready for that?

I feel old. And sick and tired of life-on-a-shoestring as a student. But I feel way too young to be "an expert in the field of terrorism." So I grew a beard.

so whats in your cd player

karls post gave me an idea for a bit of a poll. so i'm curious what you punks have in your cd players right now. i'm not looking for your top 10 greatest cds, i'm just curious what you punks are kicking it to right now. i expect everyone to chime in for this one. i'll give you mine right now

i've got a 6 disc changer in my subie, so my 6 are

1. rise against
2. rise against (yes i have 2 of their most recent cds in my first t2 slots. what can i say, i like them)
3. cat power covers album. very mellow bluesie kinda thing. there is really only a couple songs i like
4. modest mouse (i can't remember which one, but older stuff. came out in the 90s)
5. me too and the gimme gimmes (punk covers of country songs. fun stuff)
6. tenacious D (my buddy lent me the cd and to be honest i haven't really listened to it.

thats it. i think casey has the latest death cab for cutie or the plain white tee's hey delilah single.

anyway, lets hear it folks. is brandon rolling to some guns and roses? is betsey jamming to some enya? post it up!!!

-ryan

Suggested Music

I'm not sure how many of you have met my friend Vince, but he's a very talented musician. Here is the address to his bands myspace site. There might be some objectionable lyrics, but I suggest you take a listen... and yes that is a thundercat tattoo on his arm. What you can't see is the "don't tread on me" with a snake on the other arm or the guns and roses tattoo on his back.

www.myspace.com/terryshivosmile

No I don't get it.

Thank you all for the participation (except rusty and mom, who I think probably doesn't realize what the blog is and thought our email correspondense was it. Mom is techno-slow), but in response to ryan's post, isn't it crazy how old everyone is? I'm 22!! There is a girl from my graduating class who has a kid in 2nd grade. Obviously this isn't a pleasent example like ryan's but it makes me feel old none the less.

OH - EL - DEE. get it?

so i'll tell you whats been on my mind lately. its hard for me to believe, but chloe will be starting kindergarden in the fall. i remember just a few short years ago, we were walking ashley to her first day of kindergarden. i couldn't imagine that children of mine were about to enter a world that i hold so many memories of. now ashley is in 4th grade (my last year in wisconsin). i remember the thoughts and feelings i had at that age. it just baffles me to think that ashley is there now. i think that summer after 4th grade i never left the house and wore the same sweat pants for weeks at a time. yeah, i don't make new friends all that well. i usually need a little bit of coaxing.


now its chloe's turn. she is getting so big. i can see her little mind puting together new thoughts and making connections that she never has before. i am so excited to have her start school in the fall. she is currently enrolled in a pre-school with a music focus. she loves going to school and everyday says "dad, you forgot to take me to school!". i tell her "chlo, its sunday. there isn't school today". of course she is absolutely positive and can't be swayed. what conviction. :) anyway. i could ramble on about my kids. oh, one last thing, santa claus brought ashley a game boy advance for christmas this year. the funny thing is she relies on her dad for and level advancement. i've been getting quite a bit of practice with mario and luigi. its funny. ok, love you guys

-ryan

Kansas City. Where are you?

Greeting from Kansas City!

Well I hope you don't think it overkill that I write again, but wanted to say hello from the beautiful Kansas City, Missouri. I'm here for a photoshoot and have attached a shot of the background that we're trying to capture. Granted it's January and we'll never capture this so it's somewhat pointless that we're here for the shoot tomorrow, but whatever... I did get to ride first class on the flight out here. Not sure why, but -- whatever. Take what you can.

So I have to ask - Rusty? Mom? Where are your blogs? I know that I'm online all the time because of my job, but I'd like to see some representation. And Betsey, no more crazy cut & paste blogs from NPR. A letter to yourself - Isn't that so 2 years ago. ;-) I'm teasing. I love it. I just want more of it. So write away, Gimbels. This is the new medium. Let's take part.

Miss and love you all.

Moving along the x-axis

Greeting Gimbels. Hope all is well this fine Friday evening.

I'm just getting back from Cincinnati. There was an interesting company retreat today where we heard speakers on teamwork and building better communication channels. Bla. The cynical side of me just wants to roll my eyes. "How do you build TRUST?... What do you do to midigate CONFLICT?" It's one self-help book title after another. Have you ever noticed the amount of motivational marketing / sales books at the airports? There are TONS of them. And TONS of theories, thoughts and best practices, experts, models, drawings, graphics, bla, bla, bla...

I mean, REALLY. Who is this guy to tell me how to deal with people? There is no secret formula for conflict resolution. No secret formual for teamwork. Who in the world buys into the idea that there is a formula that can be replicated and work in every instance for any corporation in the world. Come-on. If there is one thing I learned from Calculus, it's this - Even if you have a formula, there are going to be instance when it doesn't work. You've got a formula, thinking its working, X toward 3...and BAM there's a hole. For no reason. Nothing you could have done to predict it. It just happened. There are no absolutes. You take-in all you can. You write a formula and you move along your x-axis. But you do also have to continue be flexible. You have to vigilant. You have to listen, learn, re-write formula and move on.

Anyway. I'll get off my soapbox. I've had enough of that today.

The good news from my trip is that I'm now typing this blog on my new 15" MacBook Pro. It's a beautiful machine w/ remote and built-in camera. I also received my first-ever blackberry. Yup. I'm on of those really important people that can't wait to check their email and needs to be connected at every point in time. Similar to doctors, my craft is so important that I have to be constantly on-call.

Crazy.

I love you and yes, I love to swear!
-M

Letter to your future self

I saw this on the NPR website this morning and thought it was pretty cool. You can write yourself (or anybody) and email and it will deliver it on a specific day for you. How cool is that!

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6906956

D-liver D-letter D-farther in D-future D-better
by Melody Joy Kramer

The Details
Web site: Future Me
What It Is: A Web site that will deliver e-mails ... in the future!

January 18, 2007

Dear Five for Friday,

I know that things come and go in the Web world. So a year from now, you might not even exist. And everyone will probably forget that you provided us with cool stuff to do each weekend.

But just in case you stick around, we're sending you this letter. That's because we stumbled across a Web site called Future Me. The premise is pretty simple: pen an e-mail to anyone, including yourself, on Future Me's Web site, put any date on the e-mail (between tomorrow and Dec. 31, 2037) and Future Me will deliver the contents of the e-mail to the inbox on the specified date. You can send yourself grocery lists for next week, or memories for the next decade. (But be sure to use an e-mail address that you know will last.)

So, Five for Friday, what's it like in the future? Is American Idol still on the air? Is Steve Jobs still releasing products. (He'd be almost 90 now, right?) Is Susan Stamberg still making Mama's cranberry relish? Maybe, maybe, definitely yes.

See ya later, Five for Friday. Hope the future for you contains a lot of lists of things to do.

Love,

Melody

Melody Joy Kramer, who's spending the year at NPR as a Kroc Fellow, will be old – but not as old as her editors — in the year 2037.

This just in...

So Sam saw randy and derek from real world fame at our student union yesterday. They go around campuses promoting some rental property group called bradford properties. What winners. Speaking of winners... ryan... what's with all the karl bashing? You better watch it or i'll knock out your tooth like I did to some punk playing ball. AAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

Blogging is for Hoosiers

Richard and I are enjoying a relaxing Wednesday night at home and we thought we would post to the new Gimbel Family blog! We are getting ready to go to Richard's Aunt Mary's house. Each Wednesday, we go to Aunt Mary's to watch the TV show "Top Chef" on Bravo. We enjoy the show primarily because we could never make all the delicious things they come up with. I especially like when they make incredible dishes out of limited ingredients. Like a few weeks ago, they were limited to what they could buy with $2 from the vending machine. Very impressive.

I thought I would post a few pictures from my trip to Dallas this weekend. I went to visit my friends from College. Cami and Amber both live in Dallas. Emmalee and I flew in from LA and Tiffany flew in from Florida. It was really great to get together and fun to meet Amber and Tiffany's little boys.

This is Zac, Amber and Jamie's little boy. He has just turned one and will be a big brother in 3 months when Amber has another little boy. We nicknamed her Britney Spears. She is kicking out these kids like a champ

This is Tiffany and her son Dylan. Dylan is going to be one in February and has the biggest smile ever. Tiffany is a dental hygienist and her husband just finished law school. It was nice to commiserate about law school husbands together.

And finally, here is Cami and Emmalee. Emmy is still teaching school in LA. She lives in Pasadena and we get together about once a month. Cami lives in Dallas and works at Nordstrom designing the windows and displays in the mens department. We went to a Texas Barbeque and I had fried corn! Delicious! Right at the moment they brought out our food, Zac starting throwing up all over the place. The server was a little alarmed...

Blogging is for losers

Title says it all... Peace!

MASHED POTATOES

So you know what I love most about the pictures that Ryan posted? Not the spiked Chloe hair. I mean, that's great don't get me wrong. No, what I love most about the pictures that Ryan posted... THE BIG BOWL OF MASHED POTATOES! I mean, look at that bowl of mashed potatoes. It's overflowing. Do you all remember how many mashed potatoes I used to heap on to my plate? I mean, really? I used to pile those on so high. YUM!

Thanks Ryan for posting those. I've got a few here that I'm going to post of us and Lilly.

We are just getting home from dinner out with some friends. We talk about starting our own agency and what that would mean. I'm inspired by the thought of it but terrified of the prospect. No steady paycheck yet the ability to garner the wages your work truly deserves. We'll see what happens. I'm too much a Gimbel to take those sort of risks, but feel like I'm spinning my wheels if I don't.

Till tomorrow.
-M

Introductions

i just wanted to try this out....post a couple of fun pictures. you know. hello all!!!

-ryan

Why do we have to login as Karl?

As I mentioned, I like the idea of a blog as a way for us to communicate and 'manage our stress' though I'm not sure I want the world thinking I'm Karl Gimbel. Is there a way to have our own identity on this thing?

I'm also pleased that this blog will help distract me from my BORING new job. As it turns out - Yes, I can STILL complain about my work! No fears everyone. I know you might have thought, "Hm. Margie has gotten a new job. Maybe she'll bitch a little less." NOPE. NO WAY. NADA. Still not happy. Still dread every morning. Still need to figure out what in the heck I want do for the next 30 years. UGH. But I guess that's that's for me to solve tomorrow. Because I think it was Goof-Off Goose that said it best, "Why do today what you can do tomorrow."

Peace and Bacon Grease.
-M

Don't mess with Karl.

I knocked a kids tooth out with my forearm while playing basketball. Watch out or you could be next.