Global Warming 2009

That is the White House in the Background

With the recent snowfall, we went down to the White House to play in the snow. President Obama was late from returning from Denmark, due to the weather conditions BO was unable to take a Helicopter to the White house. He had to drive.

We we were booked to fly out of Washington last night. For some reason all the flights out of the East Coast were canceled or delayed. The next flight we could get out of Washington wouldn't be until Tuesday. The situation was only made better by reading Facebook status updates of how warm it is in California. However we could get a flight out of Columbus on Sunday, so we loaded up the 4runner and traversed the snow doused Appalachians to the Ohio.

I did read that the first plane to land at BWI last night, was the Chicago Bears Charter.

This is Christy: So while we were down by the White House a couple of middle aged women walked by the National Christmas Tree and asked each other "Why aren't the lights on?" Reza told them "We are cutting down our emissions and trying to save energy, that's they they are off during the day." They saw his "Stop Global Warning" sign, and one sighed under the breath "give me a break, do you think they are tourists?"

Unintentional Comdey

Golf Digest, January 2010.

ETA 12/30

I get asked all the time, how do I like DC? Well now thanks to MTV there is a show that will "truthfully" depict life in DC.

This season's Real World House is just down the street where my friend Jack Muir used to live, 20th and S in the du pont circle area.

MTV Shows

A Little Puzzle*

*Did you figure it out?

Duh

"We'll beat Ohio State when we have a better team than Ohio State."

Rich Rodriquez
Head Coach University of Michigan

Primos

Reza just went to El Paso for literally 24 hours to attend a "Welcome Home from your Mission" party for his cousin Paul. Reza's mom, sister and niece all came in for the event as well. Reza hasn't seen some of these cousins for 15 years.

He said it best...

Being a Buckeye fan is frustrating and tense. Pat Forde---writer at ESPN summed it up the best...

Buckeyes, The Vest do it their way

COLUMBUS, Ohio -- Jim Tressel, this is your life:

You sing "Carmen Ohio" with the band after glorious triumphs. You listen to the victory bell ring. You watch the field at the Horseshoe become a teeming sea of celebrating scarlet as fans pour from the stands after beating Iowa 27-24 in overtime to win a Big Ten title.

[+] Enlarge

Andrew Weber/US PresswireJim Tressel and Ohio State can look toward the Rose Bowl after beating Iowa in overtime.

And when you walk into the postgame news conference in your trademark vest and tie, the personification of Midwestern primness, you are greeted with a bouquet of roses.

You are Rose Bowl-bound. You have done it again -- clinching a fifth straight BCS bowl bid, your seventh in nine years at Ohio State. You will demolish Michigan next Saturday, extending a record winning streak over your hated rival to six. You are a relentless, perennial, inevitable winner.

You might be the most conservative coach in America, but you don't care. You obsessively play not to lose, instead of playing to win, but you don't apologize. You often allow less-talented teams to stay in games -- like the gutty Hawkeyes -- because of your buttoned-down dogma, but that's who you are.

You don't worry about your three-game bowl losing streak, or your recent futility against ranked nonconference opponents, or the fact that being the best team in the Big Ten means being a cut below the best teams in the nation these days. You don't listen to the people who squawk about the squandering of quarterback Terrelle Pryor's talents, or the people who howl at your affinity for punts, or the people who wonder what unholy circumstance would force you to ever take a certifiable football gamble.

You shrug when critics wonder why your team is 10th in the Big Ten in passing offense, attempting the fewest passes per game of any team in the league. You prefer the stats that show your team at the top of the league in rushing defense, total defense and turnover margin.

You point to your record -- now 92-21 at Ohio State -- and let it speak for itself.

Your 92nd victory was TresselBall in a microcosm. All that was good about it. All that was bad.

Your team pounded between the tackles for 229 rushing yards. Your team did not commit a turnover, while forcing three. Your defense made the last stop, when it had to. And your kicker made the last kick, when he had to.

But this is TresselBall, too:

Your team blew a two-touchdown lead in the fourth quarter in part by crawling even deeper into your familiar offensive shell. You were conservative in coming from ahead at home against USC, too, but this took it to another level.

The longest of your team's three passes in the final quarter went for 3 yards. Your final three offensive possessions of the game featured 12 runs and two passes, gaining a total of 31 yards and resulting in three points.

[+] Enlarge

Jamie Sabau/Getty ImagesTerrelle Pryor threw for only 93 yards against the Hawkeyes.

You recruited the No. 1 quarterback in the country two years ago, a player of lavish physical gifts. Yet here at the end of his 21st career start, with the Big Ten title on the line, you trusted the sandlot sophomore about as much as you'd trust a felon to be your house sitter.

You sat on the ball in the middle of the fourth quarter with great field position, starting on Iowa's side of the 50. You ran up the middle six straight times and left your backup kicker with a 47-yard field goal try to clinch the game. He missed. And then Iowa drove 70 amazing yards to tie the game with 2:42 left.

You got the ball back with plenty of time to go for the win. But from the moment you gave Pryor his most urgent instruction ("Don't turn the ball over") it was obvious that going for the win was hardly the first priority.

You took 1:38 to run five tentative plays, then punted it back to the Hawkeyes. You ignored the boos emanating from the 105,455 fans in Ohio Stadium, because you adhered to the TresselBall dogma: you avoided mistakes.

Your conservatism was rewarded when Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz responded in kind, running out the clock and playing for overtime. This suddenly seemed like the famous 10-10 tie between Michigan State and Notre Dame -- a game played in 1966, when the hurry-up offense was far from its current modern science and the passing game was rudimentary.

You and Ferentz are kindred spirits. Good coaches. Successful coaches. Yet your combined management of the end of this game is why the rest of the nation rolls its eyes at the bland Big Ten.

But do you care? No. You don't care. Because here in this tunnel-visioned, tradition-addicted conference, going to the Rose Bowl is just about as joyful a result as playing for the national title.

And you don't care because even after the fans voiced their dismay, hyper-conservatism triumphed in the end. Your painful-to-watch pragmatism was rewarded. The Vest knew best.

Your tight end, Jake Ballard, said this: "Tressel's way usually works out. He's our leader and we'll follow him everywhere."

To Pasadena now. But not after some tension Saturday night.

You should have heard the guy walking out of the stadium when it was over, shouting repeatedly, "Jim Tressel is a genius!" Twenty minutes earlier, when the lead had been squandered and overtime was upon us, he might well have been shouting, "Jim Tressel is an idiot!" But not at the end.

[+] Enlarge

AP Photo/Mark Duncan Devin Barclay's game-winning field goal set off a celebration in Columbus.

You were a genius at the end because your backup kicker had a fantasy moment. Devin Barclay, a 26-year-old former Major League Soccer player who just became your No. 1 kicker two weeks ago after an injury to Aaron Pettrey, won the game with a 39-yard field goal in overtime. Then Barclay lost his mind.

"I just took off running," said Barclay, who accidentally mimicked a soccer-goal celebration by sprinting away from his onrushing teammates. "I don't really know where I was going, or what my plan was. Apparently I took my helmet off."

In the postgame scrum, someone ripped Barclay's name off the back of his jersey. It is the souvenir of the night in Columbus.

You cherish the kicking game, so you loved seeing it come down to a successful field goal. It helped you forget that 99-yard kickoff return your coverage unit surrendered. That play will have you rewinding the videotape over and over Sunday.

But Saturday was for celebration -- and nobody knows how to celebrate like you, Jimmy T. When last we saw you, your wife was driving a very sensible, pragmatic Toyota Venza underneath the Ohio Stadium stands. You were sitting in the passenger seat, placidly eating a sandwich.

Surely, there was a glass of milk waiting for you when you got home.

Counting Cars and Calories*

While commuting here in the Metro Washington area, I proclaim the following observations:

There are lots of decals, stickers and license plates supporting universities. Lots of Virginia Tech and Penn State. I do see a random BYU sticker here and there. Today, I saw a University of Maryland-Virgina license plate. I have seen the Notre Dame-Virgina plate several times. I notice lots of really expensive cars. I also see lots of Obama Stickers. I would say that the correlation between the former and later is really low.

Maybe this is one reason:

"Washington, DC – In light of the economic forum House Democrats are holding today and based on new statistics released this morning by the Department of Labor, Ways and Means Ranking Member Dave Camp (R-MI) released a state-by-state table showing 49 states and the District of Columbia have lost jobs since the President signed the stimulus bill into law.
“It is clear from today’s jobs report that stimulus has failed to do what it promised and failed to create jobs for American workers,” said Camp. “Eight months after the President signed the stimulus bill, we are all still asking: where are the jobs? Instead of jobs, the American people got record deficits.”

From:

http://www.republicans.waysandmeans.house.gov/News/DocumentSingle.aspx?DocumentID=150826

*Just curious, does anyone knows who sings the song that shares the title of this post?

Links of note.

Good read about taking your bike on business trips:
http://www.nytimes.com/2009/10/20/business/20road.html?ref=business

Great blog on how social media effects movies after opening weekend:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/the_big_picture/2009/10/is-the-twitter-effect-a-big-media-hype.html

I have been watching and following the Dodgers playoff run, I wish I could mute the awful TBS announcers and listen to Vin Scully. The worst thing about being a Dodger Fan outside of Southern California is not being able to watch and listen to Vin Scully. Below is a good read about Vin Scully's career:
http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-tobar19-2009oct19,0,1408346.column?page=2

Memo to boise st. from an Alabama paper:
http://deas.blogs.tidesports.com/10278/memo-to-boise-state/
(note I strongly dislike bosie st.)

I don't trust them...

You know that game "Worst Case Scenario"? Well I've never played it, but sometimes I make plans for the worst case scenario in my head. So DC has black squirrels. They are more aggressive and creepy then the regular gray kind. The other day one was very close to the sidewalk and I started thinking "What if it has rabies? What if it bites me? How would I catch it? Who would I call first? What street am I on, what would I tell 911?" Then I started wondering if rabies shots were safe for pregnant women. A quick google search revealed that rabies is 100% fatal to pregnant women and their babies and the shots for rabies are safe. I felt better about life. Although I still don't trust these guys...

I turned 26 at Virginia Beach

My birthday was on Sunday. I also happened to have Monday off in honor of Columbus Day. (I've never actually had that day off, ya for private schools!). So I made Reza take the day off too, so we could go somewhere. We went to Virginia Beach and stayed at a lovely hotel we got on Priceline. We enjoys a comfy king size bed and took several naps a day. Virginia Beach has a lovely boardwalk full of crappy suveniour shops, hotels and resturants. We rented that funny looking bike for a delightful ride. It was a bit cold to swim, but just being near the ocean makes me happy.

On our way home we planned to go to Jamestown, but Reza asked if we could stop in Norfolk, VA to look at the big ships. We ended up taking a 2 hour river cruise through the Naval and Shipping docks to look at A LOT of big ships. It was quite cool. The aircraft carriers were Rez's favorite (apparently he had a poster of them as a child). It also apparently was "Fleet Week" so we took a tour of a fighter ship and took turns sitting in the captains chair.

It was fun.

Matching Birthdays

This is a great way to spend time on the internet: find out what famous people were born on your birthday!

We have a birthday coming up in the family. So this is her birthday blog post.



I have searched the internet and found out you share a birthday with:

• Luke Perry, beloved actor well known for his role in Beverly Hills 90210!


• Steve Young - A Hall of Fame Quarterback for the San Fransisco 49ers


• Michelle Christine Trachtenberg - Harriet the Spy, Penny from Inspector Gadget the movie and Dawn Summers from Buffy the Vampire Slayer! And she is only 3 years younger than Christy!


• Michelle Wie - A well known female golfer!


• Joan Cusak - Sister of John Cusak, and Voice of Sally the cowgirl from Toy Story!


• Paige Turner - Adult Film star, born on the same day and year as Christy!

In the interest of wasting time, I researched famous people who were born the same year as me!

• Johnny Unitas - Hall of Fame Quaterback for the Baltimore Colts (not really, but we do have the same birthday)


• LaDainian Tomlinson - Running back for the San Deigo Chargers.


• Jason Taylor - Linebacker for the Miami Dolphins and Dancing with the stars superstar!


• Kevin Youkilis - Baseball player


• Heath Ledger - RIP


• ESPN was also born in 1979


• Three days before I was born Margaret Thatcher became prime minister

Knocked Up.

April 7, 2010

Yom Kippur

On Monday I set personal best commute time, both two and from work. It took less than 30 minutes each way! It seemed like there was 25% less cars on the road. I directly correlate this with the Jewish holiday, Yom Kippur. I knew Yom Kippur was a big deal when the New York Jets asked the NFL to change the start of their game last Sunday, they asked for an earlier start so the Jewish fans could get home by sundown. I have never lived in a place where traffic patterns changed because on a Jewish holiday.

To learn more about Yom Kippur click here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yom_Kippur

While living in Utah I learned that traffic patterns are also effected for religious reasons. For example, the first weekends in April and October Utah traffic is awful. Especially the Friday night before the Conference weekend. And for our friends in the Provo area this will be compounded with the Cougars of BYU playing their conference football game on Friday night.

Take Care,

The Ghazimoradi's

DC Numbers

• I really like living here; it has been 28 days.
• I work with 5 women and live with 1.
• Christy walks 17 minutes to school.
• Driving to work on the 66 takes 35 minutes and costs $1.25
• Driving home on the 123 takes 45-120 minutes and costs $1.25.
• Our apartment has 750 square feet.
• It is 1.03 miles from our front door to the "Exorcist" stairs.
• We live 2298 miles from the nearest In-and-out Burger
• We live 211 miles from Ocean City, I think this be the closest beach like location.
• We live 2.9 miles from The White House.

Oops

So the front door to our apartment building locks automatically. A great feature for feeling safe and secure. An annoying feature when you walk out without your keys. Luckily we were just taking this coffee table to the garbage and it was able to help Reza break in.

Pet Peeve

Blogs with music.

I remember

So we moved to D.C. I'll be honest...I expected more talk, more flags, more events to commemorate and remember this day. I work at a school which only goes up to 3rd grade and it was weird to realize only a handful of children were even alive when Sept. 11th happened.

That day shook me to the core, and changed the way I think about my country, religion, family and security. It increased my already present patriotism and gratitude. While it seems many have forgotten. I have not.

Let's continue to defend America and help other countries avoid terrorism as well.

Pelotonia 2009

After the finish with Christy and Farrah.

Lance Armstrong signing autographs after finishing.

A HUGE thank you for everyone support to Pelotonia! It was a huge success! Over 4.5 Million dollars was raised in the first year!

Honestly Peletonia was the best, most well organized, most efficient, best staffed event I have participated in. Everything was great! The volunteers were amazing, the music was great. Seriously everything about this event was fun and worth it. Christy, My Mom, sister and Niece all volunteered down in Athens.

And the ride was as blast. The climb over the Hocking hills was harder than I thought it would be, but more beautiful that I thought it would be.

Frequently Asked Questions

It sounds so cliche, but we have had a busy August, and it's only getting busier. With some life changing things going on, we get asked the same questions frequently. We decided to put together an FAQ for our friends and family:

Q: We didn't know you are moving, can you tell us why?
CG: I graduate next week, and I have found my DREAM job in Washington, D.C.!

Q: Wow! That's exciting what is your dream job?
CG: It is at a private school that specializes in helping hearing impaired kids, read, talk and be integrated. You can check out my new school at www.riverschool.net . I'll be in a Kindergarten classroom.

Q: What is Reza going to do?
RG: I have transferred within the company to our Dulles, VA office.

Q: Do you have a place to live already?
RG: Yes, we will be sub-leasing a place two blocks from Christy's school. Its in the Palisades neighborhood. Our apartment is across the street from the Georgetown reservoir. And what I am really excited about is living right on the C&O Canal Trail. I am looking forward to riding and running on it.
CG: I'm excited to have a ten minute walk to school!

Q: When are you moving?
RG: September 1st.

Q: Pelotonia is coming up, How is your Pelotonia training and fundraising going?
RG: It's been great, I loved training for this. It has been a great excuse to go do some long rides. As far as the fundraising, we have raised $595! I feel apart of something big, I hear commercials for it on the radio, there are billboards all over town. Lance Armstong has "tweeted" about it. It feels great to be apart of something like this.

Q: How much more do you need?
RG: First of all we would like to thank all those who have donated. We committed to raise $1500, obviously we are short of our goal. I know most of you are like me and are waiting until the last minute to do things, well this is the last week. Pelotonia is this Saturday. It's for a great cause. If half of our regular readers donated $10 we would surpass our goal. That is not counting our friends who follow us on their google reader. I am asking everyone to please give what they can. Like I said if just half our visitors gave $10, we would exceed our goal by the end of the week.

Q: How can your readers donate?
CG: There is a link at the top of our blog, click on it and its self explanatory from there!

1st and 2nd

From Christy: So I did my first triathlon this weekend. It was in a charming town called Granville. The best part was I actually had fun doing it, which was a pleasant surprise. My race was a 400 m swim, 20 K bike, and a short 5k run (or quick walk in my case). My internal motivators included singing Miley Cyrus' "The Climb" in my head over and over again (especially on the big hills on the bike ride), channeling my inner Lance Armstrong via the liveSTRONG bracelet, and not letting Reza catch me on the run. (His triathlon was 2 times as long as mine, and he beat me on the bike.) My mom came to watch us, and it was great to have her there.

Before the swim

Reza's Transition Area (How awesome, a tree!)


Reza coming out of the swim running. (the water was warm, pushing 80 degrees, few swam with wetsuits)


Me coming out of the swim grateful I didn't drown, and grateful the water was warm.


Finishing with a smile.


I got second in my age group!


Focused to the finish!


Rez got 1st in his age group!

From Reza: The Killers "Hot Fuss" was on repeat at the finish Area, great album. It provided for a killer soundtrack for the day (pun intended). As far as races go, this was one of my favorites. It was a low key, "lets just go have fun, and race" feel to it. I loved my swim/bike transition, with the bike racks full, I found a tree to rest my bike on. The bike course winded through corn and soy bean fields, spotted with idyllic farm houses. At one point a farm dog came out and tried to chase me. It had lots of short, steep climbs, which suited me well. I was not passed at all on the bike. The run was on a paved running trail, along a small river/creek. On the run, I was caught by a mature man at least in his 60's. We ran together for a moment. He passed me, and finished before me. I would later talk to him, he said he is too old for Ironmans. That made me feel better about myself. I would definitely come back next year and race this race!

3 weeks away

Reza will be riding in the first ever Pelotonia. It's a great event where 100% of the donations recieved go directly to cancer research. So far 1960 riders are signed up (including Lance Armstrong). We know that cancer is a serious disease, and we want to do our part to help find a cure. Please help us by donating to the cause here.

Central Ohio top 10

Time in some places may be limited. I have lived in the Ohio for almost two years! It is about time I shared my top ten favorite things about living in Central Ohio. Counting down Carson style.

( Not having to celebrate "Pioneer Day" just missed the cut)

The Top Ten things about Living in Central Ohio!

10. Costco. Nothing says value and quality than Kirkland's Signature!

9. Low Traffic. Remarkably there is little traffic for the size of this city, the freeway system is very adequate.

8. Our Ten Friends! I may have 695 on Facebook, but ten live here!

7. "Club NCI" Boom! It's a Columbus thing.

6. Jeni's Ice cream. With flavors like Cherry Blossom and Thai Chili Pepper, why go anywhere else? (Bonus point as they sponsor a cycling team)

5. June/July 2009. It may be 75 degrees every day in San Diego, but here we get June and July!

4. River Trails! Columbus has above average, great, fun and delightful river trails. Great for running, cycling and fishing!

3. Temple. It is where we were married!

2. Tommy's Pizza. AMAZING, PHENOMENAL, TASTY, DELIGHTFUL pizza and subs.

And the number one thing about Central Ohio is....

1. Pam's cooking! Christy's mom always has delicious food for us! I love it! Not just dinners, but breakfasts, desserts etc. Her pantry is always stocked with snacks and tasty vittles ant there are always leftovers for me to take for my lunches!

Goodwill was good to us

Yes, that is a mint condition, lime green velvet rocking chair. I am in love. (Oh ya it was 10 dollars)
Yes that is a mint condition pull-down school map. Reza has wanted it forever (Oh yeah, it was 2.99).

Yesterday...

I found my first gray hair. Tear.

Run Barefoot

Seriously:

http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2009/07/barefoot/

The Can Bank

Growing up we recycled aluminum cans. Before "going green" was trendy there was the "can bank" outside Albertsons. We would trade our cans and plastic bottles for CA$H! My Mom would let us keep this CA$H to get a treat. I followed the price of aluminum, like I followed the Dodgers winning percentage. Do you know how much candy redeeming a small bag of cans could buy? Well when the price would be close to a dollar a pound, my sister and I could both get a candy bar. For as long I could remember, I got $.75-$1.25 a pound.

After I signed up for Pelotonia, I thought redeeming cans would be a great fundraiser! I would have a bin at my office and collect cans from my colleagues! I sent an email asking everyone at work to contribute. Over the past month I collected four large trash bags full of cans! Yesterday, I redeemed them; lets just say I got $5.00, rounding up. Apparently it does not pay to recycle in Ohio.

I am going to need a lot of cans to reach my goal! So far 1501 riders have signed up!

To Donate please go to: http://www.pelotonia.org/ride/riders_profile.jsp?MemberID=1299&RiderName=Reza%20Ghazimoradi&SearchStart=0&PAGING

*Note: I could only find a 15 year chart on the price of Aluminum, I was much younger during the above story.

Who is Kim Jong-il?

As we walked away from the Upper Arlington fireworks, a young lad no older than 4 sat on his fathers shoulders. This boy was chanting " Kim Jong-il Sucks, Kim Jong-il sucks". Random I know, but so was our weekend.

Friday we headed out to Alum Creek State Park. We went out with our friends the Tomans. Eric and I cycled out to the lake, while the women and child drove. Meeting us there. We enjoyed very intermittent moments of sunshine. Later that evening our friend Mark came to visit. He was my former roommate and currently lives in Indianapolis.

The Columbus firework display known as "Red, White and Boom" left something to be desired, it didn't seem to last as long as last years, and there were moments of darkness. I'll chalk this up to the economic times. The following night the UA fireworks show was more enjoyable. The the prefirework enternainment performed a cover of Nelly's "E.I." Along with other pop hits from this decade.

I'm sure most of you went to family BBQ's, friends parties etc. I too would like to share my thoughts juxtaposing two gatherings this weekend.

Event one: a Pre-Red, White and Boom party

Location: an Urban House in Downtown Columbus
Food: homemade pulled pork sandwiches, chips with queso, salsa and homemade quacamole, Adult beverages on ice
Disscussions held at event one: New home modificaions, Facebook and the workplace, gardening, downtown. New aquanitances were made. A good time was had



Event two: The friend of a friends 4th of July BBQ

Location: A Hillard, OH home decorated with blocks of wood and other homemade handy crafts. Food: Hot dogs, bratwursts, watermelon, pasta salad, cold diet soda.

Since I had already eaten more than I should have eaten at a previous BBQ I did not eat much. My hosts were very generous and friendly, I could not turn them down! I grabbed a pink plate, which I was told was left over from a baby shower. (note: one should always eat off pink paper plates when available. It seems to make the food taste so much better!) When said hosts noticed I did not take much food I was offered any thing they had, even a bowl of cereal. I held back the comment "dude, thanks but no thanks, I had all you can eat Marshmellow Maties at the Cannon Center." To not offend I took seconds on the Pasta Salad (which was really tasty.) Since I did not know anyone there I was asked the following questions:

"Are you married?", "What are you doing here [in Columbus]?", "What TV shows do you watch?", "Do you have any children?"

The men sat in the living room watching a recorded reality show about a man on a horse tracking two random strangers in the Canadian wilderness. The women sat in the kitchen talking about the young women's classes at church.

Yes, two random thoughts about two random parties that when contrasted with each other is humorus (if to no one else but myself). And so is a small child yelling "Kim Jong-il sucks"



*Note if you do not know who Kim Jong-il is, here is his wikipedia :

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kim_Jong-il

Greatest American Football Player

I have wanted to go to the Pro Football hall of fame since I have lived in the Ohio. I had an open Saturday so I went. It was an delightful experience. I had time to go from display to display reading what I wanted and soaking it all in. I think any and all Football fans should make a visit sometime. Pictured above a statue of Jim Thorpe "The Greatest American Football Player"

I had time to stop by and visit the Johnson's, good friends who live in Akron, Oh. I spend the evening with them and their two girls. We had dinner together and caught up on old times. It was fun visiting with them, I am sad they moved out of Columbus the same weekend I moved here.

While in Akron... I went searching for "Goodyear World Of Rubber Museum." The map of Ohio at work lists "The World of Rubber" as one of Ohio's Premier Places of Interest! with a name like "World of Rubber" I had to see what this was all about. I followed the signs from the freeway... I found the Goodyear World headquarters. But the "World of rubber" was no where to be found! I felt like Ralphy not getting his red rider BB gun. I think I made a wrong turn somewhere. I will have to make another trip to find this "World of rubber"

Comments on Comments

I like to joke that the internet, brings people together. It does. Since we have had our website and Blog several people have come back into our lives.

Recently-I came back into contact with a former Missionary companion, he left a comment on this blog. Turns out he ran into a former friend of mine at a restarant in Sandy, UT. A connection was made, and this friend told my former companion about this blog, and he was able to leave a comment. Several other out of contact friends have left messages, or sent emails via this blog.

So if you are a freind stopping by or someone whom we've lost contact with. Pleaes feel free to contact us.

Resently Christy was attending a dinner function at our Nations Capitol. The kind of dinner you have name tags. She was sharing a table with a girl whom she was not aquainted with. When Christy was introduced to this girl, the girl said "Wait, where are you from?" and she replied "Columbus, Ohio" and then she asked "What's your name again?" and Christy said "Christy Ghazimoradi". The girl then exclaimed "Oh you're Reza's wife!" Christy said "Yes, and who are you?" The girl said she was "Nicki Sycamore"

A fathers gift

When I was four I remember watching the Saturday morning cartoons, then all the sudden it switched to what must have been a college football game. All I remember is that Michigan was playing and I was upset that the cartoons were no long on.

Oh, how I have changed! I have a great love and passion for American Football. I can say that I get this from my Father. My love of football has been a journey, but the beginning of this passion was all because of my Dad. My Father came to this Country in the 70's and the Dallas Cowboys were becoming "Americas Team" so my Father became a fan. And as long as I can remember he has watched football and has been a Cowboys fan. When I was little he used to make me lay on the couch and watch football with him. At the time it seemed like a chore to have to do this with him but it's because I didn't understand that game. I remember that he would try to explain to me the difference between 1st and 10, and 3rd and 10.

When we moved to California in the Mid 80's, I got a Los Angeles Rams jersey and a purple Laker hat. When the football season ended, I remember watching Laker games. I had no idea that they were the "Showtime Lakers". Back then there was no Sportscenter, or no 24 hour sports new channels and we didn't have cable so we only watched the games that were on network TV. On top of that we only had 1 TV so I watched whatever he liked whether I wanted to or not!

My dad does not really like baseball, but I do remember watching the 1986 World Series with him, I was 7 years old and I liked the names of "Oil Can" Boyd, and Daryl Stawberry. I remember the Mets won. It wasn't until recently I put together the significance of the '86 series. I have no recollection of the Red Sox error that arguably cost them the series--I do think that this is where my dislike of the Red Sox started though. We also went to watch the Bakersfield Dodgers (single A for the LA Dodgers) and I later found out that Mike Piazza and Eric Karos played on those teams.

While our family changed my Father was still around to spend time with me. And if it was a Sunday during football season we spent it watching the NFL together. He also took me to all sorts of other sporting events that I asked him to take me to. I was able to see watch Wayne Gretskey and I went to 2 49er's games during the 94-95 season when they won the Super Bowl.

One of my best sports memories with my dad was during the Summer of 1994, unannounced my Dad took my sister and I to Palo Alto on July 3rd. The World Cup was in town. With out tickets or a hotel, my Father scalped three tickets to the second round match between USA and Brasil, which was played on the 4th of July. To this day, that remains one of my favorite sporting event. It was one of the most patriotic events I have ever been to. (And I still have the t-shirt I got at that game!)

My Wifey Is Hot

Christy sent me a message via text today, asking if she should turn the air conditioning on. Today was a warm/humid day. You see, we have yet to turn our A/C this year. I keep saying that not having to turn on the A/C is a benefit of living in a cold weather climate. As is it does not get really hot in Columbus. We also have a large tree blocking the southern sky that provides ample shade and keeps our house cool . So to our friends in warm weather climates: you may laugh at us when its below zero in Ohio, but we can laugh at you and your energy bill. And you can know that running your A/C is probably killing polar bears and baby pengins somewhere.

For your Listening Pleasure: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkoY8t1VFSI
It's Brilliant! The Killers covering "romeo and juliet" Its my new favorite song right now. Sorry Miley...

A great read on how the US state department asked twitter.com to delay scheduled maintenance of its global network, to allow the people in Iran to tweet about the election.

http://www.nytimes.com/2009/06/17/world/middleeast/17media.html?_r=2&scp=2&sq=twitter&st=cse

Sports Wishes...

Photo: COURTNEY HERGESHEIMER DISPATCH.COM

Yesterday coach Jim Tressell rode an indy car down Kenny Rd. to the OSU golf course. Under police escort of course. A perk of being the coach at Ohio St. Courtesy of the Rahal family.

This prompted a discussion on local sports radio: "What cool sports related things (attainable sports dreams) would an average person do?" (if given the resources). Chris Spielman said he would caddie for Tiger. I would also like to caddie for Tiger! I thought about what my wish list would be:

• Take batting practice at Dodger Stadium
• Play HORSE with Shaq. No dunking allowed, duh
• Drive a NASCAR at Talledega
• Sing "Take me out to the Ball Game" at Wrigley
• Skydive onto the field with the game ball for a BYU Football game
• Ironman Hawaii
• Ring the starting bell at the NYSE (not sports related, but still would be really cool)
• Swim Laps with Michael Phelps
• Go on a ride with Lance Armstrong

Feel free to leave your comments on what you would like to do.

The last on my list will come to pass this August, I will get to ride with Lance! I will be riding in Pelotonia, a grass roots bike tour with one goal: to end cancer. Pelotonia raises money for innovative and life saving cancer research at The Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center- James Cancer Hospital and Solove Research Institute. Driven by the passion of its cyclists and volunteers, and their family and friends, Pelotonia's annual cycling experience will be a place of hope, energy and determination. Leveraging Netjets' transformational gift, Pelotonia directs 100% of every dollar raised to research.

Please visit My Rider Page: http://www.pelotonia.org/ride/riders_profile.jsp?MemberID=1299&RiderName=Reza%20Ghazimoradi&SearchStart=0&PAGING

Monday Night Thoughts

I took this photo from Morgans blog, who got it from someone Else's blog... I think its a happy photo to celebrate the Lakers 15th Championship.

It has been a great two months of Playoff basketball. Christy has been a champ and staying up late to watch most of the games. And now it's over, with a happy ending.

A great post from Rick Reilly's blog today: http://sports.espn.go.com/espnmag/reillygofish.

(I really want Aunt Pat to read it)

Flag City Triathlon

I missed my age group start, all the sprint distance runners were in the water... all the Olympic distance racers under 40 were in the water.... I jumped in the water with the 40-50 age group wave. It was a dock start where in pairs we ran down a wooden dock and jumped in feet first. I swam the first quarter mile, then at the turn I saw and heard Christy cheering me on, soon after that the photo above was taken.

The Flag City Multisport Celebration slogan is "to play hard on Saturday and pray even harder on Sunday" Prior to the swim I was chatting to this guy, in talking to him I noted that I appreciated that this was a sanctioned race on a Saturday; as I don't race on Sundays. Turns out he is one of the race directors, and welcomed my comment.

Once I found a rhythm in the water I felt I had a strong swim. On the bike, I hit 30mph coming down the hill from the swim. It was a flat and FAST bike course that ventured through young corn and wheat fields to Mainstreet in down town Findlay, OH.

It was a beautiful day for a run, It was 75 degrees and overcast. The Run was around the reservoir and back down to the finish area. I finished strong. Our friends the Thomas's were waiting for us at the finish. Mitchell Thomas who is 9 ran next to me as a sprinted the last 200 yards. He told me he wants to do the sprint race next year.

On a forgetful note I did not take my swim cap to the swim start, I asked a race official if I was allowed to not have one. He looked at my head and replied "dude you don't need a swim cap."

Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

I want to win.


Marseilles Dress SHABBY APPLE GUEST GIVEAWAY!!!!

Life as of late.

Sorry we have been MIA--our camera is sketchy and I just don't feel good about blog posts without pictures. Basically Reza turned 30, we went camping in kentucky, and I got a bike (that will get it's own blog post later).

A lovely double rainbow as seen outside our apartment a couple of weeks ago. The weather has been wonderful.
The table for Reza's big birthday dinner--we had salad, steak and asparagus.

I designed this shirt for Reza (it has the enterprise logo thing on the back). I got it printed at this cool store----www.skreened.com. You should probably check it out--you can design your shirt upload it and they print it on American Apparell shirts. They are just a little store here in Columbus, on High St. They are very cool.

We went camping last weekend in Kentucky at the Red River Gorge area. Reza has been climbing there before---it's beautiful. We went with our friends the Steven's, and we also stopped at a great grocery store called Jungle Jim's which is Cincy. It's like the Walt Disney world of grocery stores. It was fabulous.

See all those little tent's at the bottom? That's at Miguels--the pizza place all the climbers go and camp at. This is Reza after I convinced him to jump from Lover's Leap.

...tells everyone, even the Mayor...

Today I cycled to work. I got a typical weekly ride email notice, and it mentioned a ride of silence today, cyclists meeting at the OH Capitol for a ride. I would be riding past the capitol on the way home. When I got there; I found hundreds of cyclists meeting for a "Ride of Silence". It is a slow, silent ride though downtown to remember cyclists who have been killed or injured while ridding. Our Mayor Colman spoke. We proceeded to ride under police escort. This ride was put together by www.considerbiking.org

Here is a link to the media coverage: http://www.nbc4i.com/cmh/news/local/article/Ride_of_Silence_Honors_Fallen_Bicyclists/15919/

It was a pleasant diversion, that I sort of stumbled upon.

I am riding to work tomorrow as well, I wonder what surprise I will find.

Handling Our Sessions I

May 16, 2009

5K Race for the Cure-Handled
46,000 people made it awesome, and not so awesome. Ran with my friend from work Mel and Boyfriend Bob. Cool Idea to have motorcylces reving engines near the finishline, not so cool to inhale the exhaust whist trying to finish strong.

Swim/Hot Tub Session- Handled
As I was walking back to the car, Dr. Stevens rang. He was headed over to the gym to work out. We handled our swim session.

Lunch-Handled
Handled a Jersey Sub combo. While at lunch we plotted our day.

The new Honda Insite test drive-Handled


Wiffel Ball Session-Handled
For official rules: http://www.wiffle.com/about_rules.htm

All this before 5pm.

Weekend Reading: Great, Interesting piece on "Oil Fixers"
http://www.harpers.org/archive/2009/03/0082414

I want one.

I think this is awesome.

Benjamins buttons...

It hit me like a Mac truck, even when I knew it was coming. I had been expecting it. Regardless it straight smacked me upside my head.The other night I was registering for a triathlon, I HAD to select my age group that I will be competing in. Out of habit I selected the 25-29 age group... then suddenly my heart stopped, my head down fell downward. That's when it hit me. I'm not in that age group anymore. I had to select the 30-34 age group.
I don't feel thirty, I don't look thirty. I sure don't act thirty. And unless I can forge a new birth certificate, to the world I will be. I still feel like I am twenty-five. The past five years of my life have been some of the best years of my life, really they have been. I hope the next five will be just as awesome/fun/spry/agile and steep and deep. Or I'll just tell people I'm 27.

P.S. Thanks for having me Mom.

Lately

So my friend Alexandra told me I had to post because she doesn't know what is going on in my life. I simply told her "not much". But here is what has happened lately----

1) We bought a 1998 Honda Civic (for real--not for jokes). My only regret is that she isn't red.
2) I travel to Cleveland every Monday to work with Dr. Don Goldberg--an internationally known expert in the area of children with hearing impairments and cochlear implants and most importantly auditory-verbal therapy. While I love working with him, I do not like waking up at 4:45 am and driving to Cleveland once a week. It pretty much wipes me out for the rest of the week.
3)I spend Tuesday-Thursday working 8-5 at a school/therapy center for children with autism. I love it.
4)I spend Fridays doing comprehensive language/articulation assessments at the OSU clinic. This entails writing a 10 page report following the evaluation. It's tedious.
5) We went to St. Louis this weekend because Reza's brother and sister live there, and their mom was graduating from grad school.
6) Reza has been staying up very late watching the Laker's in the NBA playoffs.
7) We are deciding what we should do when I graduate and where we should live. Currently we are thinking Nashville. Any other ideas?

That's about it. Life is busy, we are tired...but overall no complaints. Life should get more exciting soon.

(Was that enough detail Alex? :) )

Run Barefoot

A must read for anyone who runs/joggs (or is it yogging?)

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/home/moslive/article-1170253/The-painful-truth-trainers-Are-expensive-running-shoes-waste-money.html

Vans are cool

Christy was Making fun of Shaq's van in this video:

http://www.nba.com/suns/video/2009/04/14/shaq_prank_090414.mpg.suns/index.html?mid=TwitVid

So I dropped this on her:


Some of you under the age of 27 may not think this that cool. I had a toy A-Team van that would do sweet tricks and jumps.

America's Outback: Southern Utah

If you haven't had a chance to watch the video Christy posted earlier please do.

I came across this article from this Sundays NY Times. Its a great travel piece. Reading this brought back many great memories! I have been to almost all the places he writes about!

http://travel.nytimes.com/2009/04/12/travel/12outback.html?em

*Coyote Gulch is a top 5 hike on my list. Other than at the trail head we did not see anyone else for 24+ hours.

*Calf Creek falls, Also amazing.

*I've also eaten at Cafe Diablo, I ate one of the most AMAZING steaks I have ever had at a restaurant.

*On a Geology field trip to the Waterpocket fold. I remember my professor telling us that the Henry mtns was the last place in the Continental US to be surveyed, and is one of the most remote places in the lower 48.