Me Archive

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I Wrote a Book!

So, yeah, I wrote a children’s book. And I’m finally doing something about it! I’m just getting started so I don’t have much to share, but Like us on FB and Follow us on Twitter. There will be a lot of information to come. Like us on Facebook – facebook.com/StarflyerJohnJackson […]
Starflyer Cast

Starflyer Cast

So, yeah, I wrote a children’s book. And I’m finally doing something about it! I’m just getting started so I don’t have much to share, but Like us on FB and Follow us on Twitter. There will be a lot of information to come.

Like us on Facebook – facebook.com/StarflyerJohnJackson

Follow us on Twitter – @StevenJamesShaw

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Let ME Officiate YOUR Wedding

Hey everybody… what? who is this? oh, right, its been almost a year since I posted… *AHEM* Hi, it’s me, Steve.  You may remember me from such posts as the Philly/Camden Trip and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. I like to post about me and my kids. I have become a […]

Hey everybody… what? who is this? oh, right, its been almost a year since I posted…

*AHEM*

Hi, it’s me, Steve.  You may remember me from such posts as the Philly/Camden Trip and the Kentucky Bourbon Trail. I like to post about me and my kids.

I have become a licensed Minister with the Universal Life Church and can perform wedding ceremonies. I have even registered with the City of New York to be able to perform ceremonies in NYC.

Recently, some friends of mine asked me if I would perform their wedding ceremony. I immediately jumped at their offer. Their reasoning was sincere, and their invitation was humbling.

After doing some research, and getting my Minister’s license, I put together a simple ceremony for them. The day of the ceremony I was very nervous. But everything went off without a hitch and I received so many compliments that I decided to try my hand at this for others.

Really, it was my wife’s idea, but I did all the legwork!

And with that, I am please to announce the official site for The NY Wedding Officiant…

www.theNYweddingofficiant.com

Also on Facebook:

www.facebook.com/theNYweddingofficiant

And Twitter:

www.twitter.com/theNYofficiant

Check it out and keep me in mind for ALL your wedding officiating needs!

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Ten Year Reunion

My God… has it been 10 years already? TEN?!?!?! I’m OLD! Okay. Now that I’m done with that. A few weeks ago the Shaw clan headed up to Loudonville, NY — a suburb of Albany — to attend our 10 Year Reunion at Siena College. We had a lot of fun. The […]

My God… has it been 10 years already? TEN?!?!?! I’m OLD!

Okay. Now that I’m done with that. A few weeks ago the Shaw clan headed up to Loudonville, NY — a suburb of Albany — to attend our 10 Year Reunion at Siena College.

We had a lot of fun. The family picnic was great. Jack was able to run around and play in a bouncy house while we caught up with some old friends. It seemed like we never left. Except for the whole kid and ten years older thing.

Jack kept telling us he was going to go there for college. I hope he does. We had such a great time there.

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The FiveFingers of… Vibram!

"Barefoot" running in Vibram FiveFingers.  Thoughts and observations of running in foot gloves.

Background

A few weeks ago I found an online ad for a pair of Vibram FiveFingers.  They were $60.  I had read about these shoes, and about how great they were supposed to be.  For $60, I figured I would give it a shot.

The first thing I needed to do was measure my feet.  Then, based on the measurements you find your size.  I was extremely nervous about this.  I felt the measurement was so precise, since the shoe was basically a foot glove, that I was going to mess it up.  But, the measurements were in 1/4 inch increments, so I figured I had a pretty solid chance of getting it right.

Then, they came.  I took them out of the box and they looked so small.  I am so used to seeing a regular running shoe, that looking at these looked all wrong.  Again, I figured it had to be right, so I tried to put them on.  They were tight.  I was certain I had them wrong.  It was time to do a little internet research.

I read on many sites that the FiveFingers are very tight when you first get them and that they will stretch with use.  If they feel tight when you first get them, chances are they are right.  I also read that the big toe discomfort I was feeling would also go away.  One thing I didn’t find was little toe discomfort.  I think I have odd shaped little toes so they weren’t exactly fitting right.  However, after fiddling around with them for a while, I got my little toes in their spot.

After wearing them around the house for a few days they started to feel better.  The toe pain went away and the shoes seemed to stretch and fit better on my feet.  I took a big step and wore them out of the house just to run some errands.  I still was a little hesitant about running on them.

Then, finally, I took the leap of faith.  This morning I ran in them.  I’m a little unsure about some of my observations since I haven’t run in a while, but I could definitely feel a difference.

Observations

The first thing I noticed (which I had read about) is that you will adjust your gate and running style when you start.  Most people are heel strikers.  You really can’t do that in the Vibram FiveFingers.  After about the first 1/4 mile I noticed my running style change.  I was landing more on the middle to the ball of my foot rather than on my heel.

Next I noticed that my knees and my ankles were hurting a little.  Again, this might be due to the fact that I hadn’t run in a while, but it felt different.  I was sure it had to do with the change in style.  Sure enough, after about the first mile I started feeling better.

With the change in running style, I also noticed I was running more upright.  I have a bad habit of hunching over when I run and it KILLS my lower back.  I normally have to make a conscious effort to stand up straight.  With the Vibrams, I felt I didn’t need to focus on it; my body just did it naturally.

An interesting observation is that you feel EVERYTHING.  Every crack in the road, every pebble, every twig… every puddle!  It’s a strange feeling, but not in a bad way.  Just in a I’m-not-used-to-this kind of way.

I only ran 2 miles, but I definitely felt good.  I was actually running about a minute faster than I had been when I was running regularly.  Again, this may be that I was fresh and was a little faster, but there is a chance it could be the shoes.  I’m going to say it was the shoes.

The last thing is that I noticed, which I didn’t notice until a few hours later, is that my legs feel like I was running on the beach.  My calves are starting to feel sore in places I don’t normally feel pain.  It definitely reminds me of when I ran on the beach in Maui.

Conclusion

I like them.  I’m looking forward to running in them again.  Hopefully, this will be the spark I need to get back into running regularly since I have taken over 2 moths off since I ran the Half Marathon.

 


Ignore the Hobbit feet...


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The First Annual Kentucky Bourbon Trail Weekend

What started as a cool idea and a shot in the dark actually happened.  I had first learned of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail a while back and thought it would have made a cool trip.  So many people go out on Long Island or up to the Finger Lakes to […]

What started as a cool idea and a shot in the dark actually happened.  I had first learned of the Kentucky Bourbon Trail a while back and thought it would have made a cool trip.  So many people go out on Long Island or up to the Finger Lakes to go on winery tours… why not go to Kentucky and visit some bourbon distilleries?  So, I mentioned it to some friends, and wouldn’t you know it we actually pulled it off.

Last weekend, me, Ed and Tom piled into Ed’s Fit and made the 11 1/2 hour journey to Kentucky.  We braved fierce storms, a scary encounter in West Virginia and an exceptionally questionable playlist, but we arrived.

The next day we began our journey, but were immediately met with a roadblock as I had some incorrect information and we went to a distillery that was not open.  According to Ed and Tom, I ruined the whole vacation because of this… Anyway, we got ourselves back on track and hit 5 of the 6 distilleries.  Along the way we learned some interesting facts.

  • Bourbon can be made anywhere in the US, but 95% of the distilleries are in KY due to the limestone filtered water with little to no iron in it
  • It must be made with at least 51% corn, but typically is made with more.  Other grains that are added are wheat (for sweeter bourbons) or rye (for spicier bourbons)
  • The bourbon is aged is charred white oak barrels.  Each barrel is only allowed to be used once.
  • Bourbon should be enjoyed with a little bit of water or a few ice chips to open the flavor.  It should never be consumed neat.

Aside from the Bourbon Trail, we also paid a visit to some Brothers in Lexington Lodge #1.  We had a good meal, met some great people and watched some excellent ritual work.  After the meeting we went out for a few drinks with some of the Brothers and had a great time learning more about Kentucky and bourbon.

Every place we went people asked if we were in town for Keeneland.  We had heard about it before we came down, but didn’t realize what it was, or that it was such a big deal.  Keeneland is a race track in Lexington that holds racing 30 days of the year and also conducts horse sales.  We got a tour from one of our Brothers and watched the horses.

It was a great trip.  We left 1 distillery unvisited so we would have a reason to come back (actually we just ran out of time) and would like to work in a full day of racing at Keeneland.

Stay tuned for Kentucky Bourbon Trail 2012…

 

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Just Me and My New Friends

This morning on the train going into work I was flipping through my Twitter (@sjshaw361 – for those who aren’t following me yet) and I saw that Sig Hansen and Jonathan and Andy Hillstrand were going to be on Fox and Friends promoting the new season of Deadliest Catch (tonight […]

This morning on the train going into work I was flipping through my Twitter (@sjshaw361 – for those who aren’t following me yet) and I saw that Sig Hansen and Jonathan and Andy Hillstrand were going to be on Fox and Friends promoting the new season of Deadliest Catch (tonight at 9pm on Discovery). On the off-chance I would catch a glimpse of these guys I walked over.

When I got there they had already finished up the live stuff and were taping a segment that would air later in the day.  There was no one around except the crew, the captains, me and 2 other guys.  When they finished taping the three of us looked at each other and said, “Should we go up there?  Yeah!  Why not.” So we walked up to the guys and said hello.  They were really nice.  They looked like they had just stopped partying about 20 minutes ago, but they were real friendly.  We all got some nice pictures.

I am the coolest person on the web right now.

 

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Run a Half Marathon: CHECK!

Well, after 8 weeks of training, the day finally came.  I was nervous as hell, but I hit the ground running (pun most definitely intended) and ran 13.1 miles. It was a challenge, and I was a little concerned about the end, but I finished.  My official time was 2:43:43 […]

Well, after 8 weeks of training, the day finally came.  I was nervous as hell, but I hit the ground running (pun most definitely intended) and ran 13.1 miles.

It was a challenge, and I was a little concerned about the end, but I finished.  My official time was 2:43:43 which put me at a 12:30 pace.  I was hoping to finish in 2:30:00, but once I hit mile 10 I knew that wasn’t going to happen.  Then I just wanted to finish.

My “Official” Time

I’ll have some photos from the race soon (I hope) but for now, here is a picture Frank took of me about 10 minutes after finishing.

 

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I Give You… THANKSGIVING CAKE!

Yes.  You read that correctly:  Thanksgiving.  Cake. Normally, when I see things like this, I think about how awesome they would be.  Normally, I would read the article, look at the directions, and realize its too much work.  Normally, I would not even bother bring it up to the wife. […]

Yes.  You read that correctly:  Thanksgiving.  Cake.

Normally, when I see things like this, I think about how awesome they would be.  Normally, I would read the article, look at the directions, and realize its too much work.  Normally, I would not even bother bring it up to the wife.

This time, however, I took the bold step.

I mentioned it to Jen and she immediately fell in love with the idea.  Let’s be honest; how could you not?  A layer of turkey, a layer of mashed potatoes, a layer of cranberry, a layer of stuffing, more potatoes, more cranberry, another layer of turkey, “frosted” with mashed potatoes and topped with mashed sweet potatoes and marshmallows.  Yum!

For anyone who is intrigued, here is the recipe: Thanksgiving Cake

I tried to be a good food blogger and take pictures as I assembled.  But I failed.  I missed taking photos of a few steps.  But I think you get the idea in the final two shots.

I don’t think I even need to say this, but it was DELICIOUS.

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I Baptize You Jonah Benjamin Needleman

“… Barzini is dead. So is Phillip Tattallgia. Moe Green. Slacci. Cuneo. Today I settled all family business so don’t tell me that you’re innocent. Admit what you did.” The Shaw’s traveled to Beantown this past weekend to see some friends and celebrate with the Needleman’s in the baptism of Jonah.  It was a […]

“… Barzini is dead. So is Phillip Tattallgia. Moe Green. Slacci. Cuneo. Today I settled all family business so don’t tell me that you’re innocent. Admit what you did.”

The Shaw’s traveled to Beantown this past weekend to see some friends and celebrate with the Needleman’s in the baptism of Jonah.  It was a total last minute trip as I had the flu the whole week prior and Jack was running a fever from his flu shot.  We weren’t sure if we were going up until 7am Saturday morning.  But we were all well so we packed up our things and headed NE.

Saturday we spent some time with Tara and Brian.  We got to see their new house.  Hung out in Boston for a little. Saw their photos from their recent trip to Ireland.  It was fun catching up.

Sunday we drove to beautiful Norton, CT… I mean MA… for the Baptism.  I’m fairly certain it’s not valid.  The ceremony was performed by a Steeler’s fan in the heart of Patriot Country.  If you look at the MA laws, I’m sure there is something that invalidates any ceremony performed by a non-Patriots fan within the State limits.  Regardless, it was a nice ceremony, Jack behaved himself and Mike eliminated all his enemies.  I think Ed got shot in the eye while he was getting a massage.

Afterward we all went out for lunch.  It was fun being with everyone.  Jack had a great weekend.  We all did!

Also, if you like the photos below, please drop me an e-mail to book me for your next baptism, bar mitzvah, wedding, etc.  No job is too big… no fee is too big!

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Out for a While

I have been knocked out by a horrible flu and haven’t made any posts lately.  I am catching up with some work stuff and then will post some pics from my sister’s wedding and the baptism of Jonah Needleman. In the meantime, enjoy these pics I took of Jack at […]

I have been knocked out by a horrible flu and haven’t made any posts lately.  I am catching up with some work stuff and then will post some pics from my sister’s wedding and the baptism of Jonah Needleman.

In the meantime, enjoy these pics I took of Jack at the park with the new camera.

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