sledge-o-matic

my dad always loved gallagher. he is a comedian who was really popular in the 80's and was best known for his 'sledge-o-matic', a giant sledge hammer what he would use to squash watermelons and other things.
i remember watching a bunch of his comedy specials on comedy central and liking them. he was mostly known for doing humor about the difference between the sexes, poking fun at the english language (an example: 'why do we call them buildings when they are already built?').
once he was touring around our town, so my mom and dad went to go see him. i dont remember if they were in the splash zone (squashing watermelons tends to be a bit messy...), but they had a great time. they came back with this key chain for me, a small version of the 'sledge-o-matic'.

michigan deer

not quite sure when i got this one, but i think it accurately portrays my love for both hunting and outdoor activities.



please note the distinct sarcasm of that last sentence.

busch gardens ride

another key chain from our visit to busch gardens in florida. ive run out of fun memories from this trip. oh wait! i just thought of one! i doesnt have anything to do with the key chain, but i remember there being a cool ride that i really liked. it was one of those rides that you are put into a room with a moving floor and it tilts and turns along with the video on the screen so it feels like your flying around. i dont remember what the theme for this ride was, but it was the first ride like it that i had ever been on and i just totally loved it! i think my dad needed to sit down for a while after we got done...

pop mart

back in high school my friend sean got tickets to go see u2 in chicago. one of his brothers wasnt able to go, so he offered it to me! it was during their 'pop mart' tour in support of their 'pop' album, which to this day i still consider their best (i know, i am in a very small minority on this one...) i asked my mom and dad if i could go and was told no. can you imagine?!? i had the chance to see u2 live, and i couldnt go! oh, cruel world! i would rank this as one of the biggest missed opportunities of my life!
sean found somebody else to go, but felt so bad for me that he brought back this key chain for me. every time i see this key chain it taunts me with what might have been...

cypress gardens

another keychain from florida. i must have run my parents wallet dry with these things! i guess i got this one so i would remember my name... those synchronized water skiers sure are amazing looking, huh?

nashville cutter

another purchase from one of our trips to florida. i got this one in nashville. its a pouch with a few random knives and a nail cutter. the nail cutter wasnt in the pouch because i think this is the one that i still use all the time to cut my nails...

cedar point

one vacation my family would often go on was a trip down to cedar point. this was always a blast, we would go with my aunt, uncle, and two cousins. we would often go there at the beginning of the spring, the first weekend they were open. it meant that it was a bit chillier than later in the summer, but it also meant that an average wait for a coaster was about five minutes. certainly a fair trade off! usually it was a day trip where we would get up really early and head down there, and drive back that night after the park had closed. cedar point is amazingly fun, it is just jam packed with roller coasters and fun theme lands. one of the roller coasters is the 'blue streak', which is this super old wooden coaster that looks like it could fall apart at any moment. its kind of a wussy ride with quite small hills. because it doesnt really stack up at all versus the newer coasters, it was always imperative that we go on that one first- if we went later it would seem lame in comparison, so out of respect, we would hit that one first! they had a ton of amazing rides, on this particular trip the newest coaster was called 'the raptor', it is one of those where your feet get to dangle below you. and it is amazing!!! my cousin jeff and i went on it as much as we could. the best time we went on it was at the end of the night, the sun was setting and the sky was filled with beautiful pinks and purples, and we had finally scored the front seats. we were terrified, but thats what made it so great!

face it

i grew up in the calvinist christian reformed church tradition. this particular denomination has a youth convention each year as a place to get together and get to know other crc kids from around the country, get away from home for a week, go to seminars about interesting God stuff, and just generally reenergize a passion for christ. my brother and sister went on to it once or twice, so when i was old enough i was really pumped to go too. by the time i was in high school we no longer attended a crc church, but i was still able to go through my friend nathans youth group.
i went twice: once to the event in san diago, and once to the convention when it was in indiana. a bunch of buddies would always go too, and we had a blast each year! there were fun classes and worship meetings. in general, it was just a blast to be able to be with friends nonstop for five days! this particular key chain was actually for the following year, but it reminds me of all the fun we had the years we went.