Quincy University

I went to the Quincy Univeristy on Friday night to speak to the 150th (Class of 2010) Class of the school. Freshman Orientation Weekend! The city of Quincy is about 2 hours north of St. Louis on the Mississippi River. For more information on the school, please click on "Quincy University" above.

I had a lot of fun talking with the students. I talked to the students about relationships and dating; I also did to games and ice breakers. The students and staff treated me GREAT. For the students who stayed and talked to me until 1 AM (the nursing students and undecided gentleman)......Thank you! I enjoyed the convo! Please e-mail me the pictures you took!

Below are a few pictures from the trip.


Terminal at O'Hare airport in Chicago. Yes that's a dinosaur in the terminal!

Main building on campus

Quincy Univeristy

Great sign I drove by on the side of the highway!

The Bruise

You're probably looking at the picture above and asking, "What did you do to yourself Frank?"

Here is the story of "The Bruise." The picture is ugly, the story is funny. For anyone who's worried about me, the picture/bruise looks worse than it feels.

I was as a friends party/bbq this past weekend. They have a trampaline in their backyard for their grandaughter. Being the big kid I am, I had to go jump up and down with the kids. I used the excuse that I was helping "watch them!" " I'm making sure they don't get hurt or fall off!" =0 )

While I was watching the kids, someone came over and made the comment, "Frank are you going to do some flips like you used to do?" My flipping days were about 10 years ago. I said no, but my friend's daughter (3 years old) asked me to do a flip. She proceeded several times to show me how to do it, and told me it was easy. Ughhh peer presure from a 3 year old. Then came the sad face with the sad question of "Uncle Frank, can you please do a flip for me?"

I agreed, this is the point where your brain forgets how old the rest of the body is. So, the big kid in me started bouncing on the trampaline. I didn't want to flip off the trampaline, so I backed up. At this point I've got about 20 people watching me and cheering me on. More peer presure. I heard there were a lot of bets of me killing myself and comments about getting a video camera and putting the video on the internet. So, the moment of truth came, no turning back! I bounced I went into my flip, and I landed it! I didn't die! I didn't kill myself! Wow

Somehow though I kneed or kicked myself in the arm doing the flip. My are was sore the rest of the night. People were laughing at me. It was no big deal. Two days later I went to work out and look what I saw in the mirror!

I hope everyone had a good laugh at that story! Just remember, you may not be old, but we all get older and there are just some things we can't do like we used to! =0 )

I hope you liked the flip from your "Uncle Frank" Nkaya! =0 )

Glory Road

Glory Road Website

I got some free time this weekend to watch a movie. I picked up "Glory Road" from the library. Good movie. If you like underdog stories, pick it up or rent. It's the story of the 1966 Texas Western Men's basketball team. They were the first division 1 college basketball team to start five black players.

9/11

This week the new Oliver Stone movie "World Trade Center" comes out. I was reading a newspaper article and it listed some interesting "conspiracy" websites. Definately some good/interesting reading. If you're into all of the conspiracy type stuff, click on the links below. When you go to the 911 courage site, be sure to look at all the links to other websites listed on the left side about halfway down.

http://911courage.org
http://911lies.org/

Dave and Sue's Wedding

One of my good friends (Dave) got married this weekend. Here are a few pictures from the wedding and the reception! Congratulations Dave and Sue!

Robert and Deb
Scott, Teresa, the happy couple, me, Brain, Chad and Tracy
Dave and Sue Whittaker

My Mission Statement

A lot of people know that I do leadership development with college students. I get asked to speak at conferences and workshops. I'm always giving groups and businesses advice on how to improve themselves. I talk to groups about setting goals and figuring out what their purpose is. The people I work with told me the input I gave them is great.

Their comments got me thinking. I like analogies. Setting goals is like running a race. You have to train yourself to complete the race. I'm always telling people you can't prepare for a race if you don't know what type or race you'll be running in.

I'm always setting goals for myself, but I was never really setting those goals with a main purpose in mind. Life is a marathon, but I've been training for short races. So, recently I decided to make a personal mission statement for myself. A mission statement for my life. I figure I can't reach my goals if I don't share them, so I'm posting my "mission statement" on the internet for all to see. Talk about pressure! It's a good pressure though! =0 )

Here's what I came up with. it's my mission statement and objectives. When I make goals, I'll make sure my goals are ways for me to complete one of my objectives.

The Mission Statement of Frank Cornelius Kitchen

The mission for Frank Kitchen is to live a life full of positive experiences.
This mission will be achieved by constantly pursuing the following goals:

#1. Sharing my dreams, goals, feelings, and thoughts with people close to me.

#2. Dealing with others with honesty, integrity, tolerance, compassion and respect

#3. Sharing, teaching and coaching what I’ve learned with people

#4. Having a positive influence on the people I meet and know

#5. Making things fun and enjoying life

#6. Practicing what I preach

#7. Being financially responsible

#8. Finding opportunities to constantly learn, improve and educate myself.

#9. Taking care of myself physically

#10. Putting myself in positive situations and environments

#11. Traveling as much as possible

#12. Being open, respectful to new ideas To try new things

Dave’s Bachelor Party

Congratulations David Whittaker! A good friend David (Dave) will be getting married this Saturday, to help him celebrate, six of us joined him in upstate New York to celebrate. We went to the Turning Stone Casino/Resort outside of Syracuse. It was a good time for most. My wallet didn’t enjoy the trip too much, especially my adventures in the casino. I didn’t loose a ton of money, but I definitely didn’t win any. I’m definitely the reason why casinos stay in business. Fear the blackjack table! I think everyone else in the group came up winners! When money wasn’t involved, poker in the hotel room, I was a BIG winner. The funniest part of the trip was the fact that the casino was on a Indian Reservation that bans the sale of alcohol. That’s right the casino was completely alcohol free! That disappointed a few people, but they made due with their cokes and cranberry juice.

Three of us (Scott, Chad and I) stayed 2 extra days to hang out in the area and take a mini vacation. We went into to Syracuse to tour around and went to visit the baseball hall of fame in Cooperstown. While in Syracuse, we had to visit Syracuse University. Took a tour of the Carrier Dome. Here are some pictures of the trip.

Dave, have a GREAT wedding day. You and Sue have a great time in Alaska for your Honeymoon!

The crew...Lou, Todd, Brian, Dave, Me, Chad, and Scott
The Turning Stone Casino
Me on the driving range
Me inside the Carrier Dome
Syracuse University..buidling on campus

Comedy Club

Went to a local comedy club last night. I scored some free tickets to Pickwick and Frolic/Hilarities. The comedians were great. A couple of my friends had never been before and they loved it. Here's a group shot!

Becca, Ally, Me and Rachel

Baseball Week

Week of baseball!

July 24th to July 31st will go down as Baseball Week 2006! Tuesday, I went with my best friend Scott to watch the Cleveland Indians play the Detroit Tigers. The tickets were free and the Indians won! On Friday, Scott got some more free tickets, so we went and watched the Indians play the Seattle Mariners. We sat about 5 rows behind homeplate. Great seats! The Indians won again! To keep the baseball theme going, we went up to New York for our friend Dave’s Bachelor Party. We went up to Syracuse and saw the Syracuse Skycheifs play. A fan came up and gave us free tickets. We watched the game and again the home team won! The next day, we got in the car and drove a hour to Cooperstown to visit the baseball hall of fame. Talk about a week of baseball! Enjoy the pictures from the games and the hall of fame!



Me and Scott behind home plate at Jacobs Field
Baseball Hall of Fame - Coopertown, NY

Flood Pictures

Here are some pictures I took of the flood and the after effects. President Bush came into town yesterday to view the damage. I drove through some areas and you can't believe what you see and smell.

Picture of the clean up after the flood
Flooded Park
Flooded Building

Floods!

http://www.weathernet5.com/weather/9590285/detail.html
Wow! We had up to 12 inches (1 foot) of rain in the area last night. Everything around here is flooded. It's so bad the highways are closed in certain areas. One of my co-workers can't make it to work because all of her streets are closed from flooding. It normally takes me 10-15 mintues to drive to work. This morning it took me about an hour and 20 minutes. I took some pitures on the way to work and I'll post them when I get a chance. You usually only see stuff like this on the news, but it was crazy this morning to see everything in person. There is a river near me that normally has a 6-8 foot warterfall, drove by it last night; no waterfall! The river was over it banks and flooding a park, road and everything else. Click on the link above and read the story and see some of pictures!

Happy Birthday! Mom, Grandad and Little Brother!

July is a busy month for birthdays! I need to say Happy Birthday to my little brother Jim (not so little, he's 19). Jim your gift is on the way.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY MOM! I'll give you a call on Monday!

Happy Birthday Grandad! Sorry I couldn't come and visit on your b'day but I'll be down to visit soon!

Week Off!

I was planning to go out of town this week to see some friends and family. Plans didn't quiete workout the way I wanted too, so I ended staying home. I took this week off just to relax and get away from everything. That meant getting away from the blog too. My time off is almost over, so it's back to the blog and the real world. The time off has been great, and I've caught up on a lot of things. It always feels great to knock out things on our personal to do lists. It also feels great to just relax.

Here are some pictures from my day on Scott's fishing boat. I didn't catch anything, but it was still a great time to relax and hang out with my best friend!

More comments on life and the world will be coming in the future.

Frank

Diet Coke and Mentos

Check out the link below. It's a video of what happens when you put mentos into a 2 liter bottle of Diet Coke!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IK48lNuNSyk&search=Mentos

Writers Block

I haven't had much to type about lately. I think I have writers block. Or I just need to go out and search for some interesting things to write about. I have a trip to the East Coast coming up to see some family and friends. That trip should provide some good stories. Until then, here are some random photos I've been taking around Cleveland.

More Museum Pics

US Air Force Museum

Since I was in Columbus working, I decided to stay a extra day to see an old friend and visit the United States Air Force Museum in Dayton. The Conference gave everyone attending free movie passes, so I went to see Superman Returns. It was good, but nothing to write home about. I agree with the people I went with...Spiderman is a lot better when it comes to superhero movies. After the conference let out, I met up with my friend Shannon and some of her friends. Did some bar hopping and catching upin Columbus. I haven't seen Shannon in about 3 years. Thanks for the couch to crash on and some good laughs around Columbus Shannon!

Finally, I took a short 1 hour drive over Dayton. I went to visit the US Air Force Museum. The museum combines two of my favorite things, History and Planes. The place is huge! I really can't describe it. The museum is free to get into and has a huge park/memorial on the outside and three HUGE hangers full of planes on the inside. The first airplanes all the way to the B-2 Stealth Bomber are on display. If you're ever in Ohio, stop in. Click on the title above to be linked to the Museum.

Guest Speaker at Conference

My friend Rodger and I have been working hard over the past couple of weeks. We've been asked over the years to be guest speakers. We've been asked to give motivational speeches, goal setting tips and leadership information. Rodger arranged for us to be guest speakers/consultants for a conference at Ohio State. Things went great, and a couple of the schools attending asked if we can come and speak at their schools.

To find out more information on our speeches, go to: http://www.badbadapples.com

The pictures above are some pictures from the Ohio State Campus.

Thunderstorms and hail

Crazy week for weather here. It's pooring today after being 90 yesterday (30C). Earlier this week, the skies went black, then I heard are weird noise when I looked outside. Hail was everywhere.

A lot of people had problems with flooding in the area.

Australia Reunion

Last Saturday, I got together with my friends who went to Australia. We went as a team, so we met for a barbeque at our team leader's house, April. Her house is on Lake Erie. She and her boyfriend have a boat and some kayaks. The weather was great, so I went kayaking down the coastline. I think I need to buy a kayak in the future. Hope you like the pics of the water and coastline.