What a blast!
At the time of this writing, it is Thursday and I think I may have finally recovered from our adventurous trip to New York City to meet up with David Crandall and Tim Morris (and their wives). Google Earth estimates that round trip, the three of us traveled a combined 3,468 miles approximately.
The deep stuff first, and then the fun stuff second.
I love these guys. Plain and simple. When someone has had a significant impact on your life, you tend to get wrapped up into who they are, what they’re doing, because you know they care. I wasn’t heading to NYC to meet up with a business partner (Tim), and I wasn’t heading there to meet up with a new friend for the first time (David). I was heading there to spend time with my brothers, to spend time with two guys who have invested part of their lives into me.
Why would they do such a thing?
I really have no idea.
But they did, and they still do.
Man-love
(I just re-read everything I’ve written from the top down from here and saw that I just wrote “man-love”. I hope to get some funny comments on the use of that phrase, so I’m keeping it. Ok, lemme be serious again for a minute…) In a few days, I’ll post a little Animoto-fueled music video chronicling our little adventure in the Big Apple, but let me share two pretty cool details about our trip. There were a TON of memories made, most of them incredibly hilarious. There were also some very serious (but not like scary-serious…we still had fun, it was just deep stuff) moments that I won’t soon forget as well. Two highlights:
- When Tim and I both met David for the first time Wednesday, there was a lot of dude-hugging going on. Usually, the typical man-hug only involves a quick pat on the back, and then a “get the eff away from me” shove back to a comfortable distance. Not with us. There were a few manly lifts off of the ground, and a lot of love. I think about the Scots in Braveheart showing affection much like this. Very manly. Totally acceptable. What I’m trying to say is this – I love these dudes, and I want them to remember it. This comes easy to women, so I’m only going to address this next question (that needs no audible or written response) to the guys – Do you have another man in your life – be it a father, brother, son, or friend – that you can share deep thoughts, be accountable to, and just have fun with like these guys? If not, something’s wrong…because us dudes need to have other dudes in our corner. Guys who have our back, who have our best interests in mind. I was overjoyed to spend Wednesday with two guys who do exactly that.
- Before I went back upstate, Tim went back to PA, and David went back to his hotel, we did something that’s not talked about much in our online circle of friends. We prayed. You see, the three of us are Christians, believing that Jesus Christ was exactly who the Bible said He was, and that He did exactly what the Bible said He did (and will do). Praying together brought a whole new facet of our close and growing friendship to the trip, and something that the three of us were very encouraged by. Bottom line – it was incredible to pray with these two men!
What was equally just as cool was to watch these guys interact with their wives, and also to see the wives interact with one another. By the time we sat down for dinner (which lasted about 3 hours – 4HWW style baby!), it was like the six of us had always been friends. Very cool!
Now for the fun stuff!
Yes, we did have some serious stuff that we did and talked about…but we also had FUN! Don’t forget however, that the two of them are not far from one another, and can OFTEN be intertwined (much like they were on this trip). C’mon…the site IS called “Taking Fun Seriously”, isn’t it? 
So on to the videos…There will be more to come of this, but first I wanted to give some of the shout-outs like I promised in the previous post (thanks Joel Runyon for the idea from your London trip!).
I apologize in advance for the crappy sound quality. Somewhere in the last 3 months my camera’s microphone started to perform badly. I’ll post a Paypal donation button below for anyone wishing to give to the “Josh needs a new camera so he can better document meet ups like this and post them online for all adoring fans to see” fund.
Without further adieu, here is the first batch of vids:
Our first video shout out goes to Mr. Matt Koenig, who requested that we give him a holler from Radio City Music Hall. Cheers Matt!
Next comes a shout out to Mr. Joel Runyon himself, aka “The Most Interesting Man in the World“. Joel, I’m sorry, but we weren’t able to make it to the requested Statue of Liberty. However, we did manage to have an interesting conversation on the subway on our way to Wall Street. I think you’ll understand the significance of the topic at hand, and realize that this is the most Joel Runyon-esque thing we could talk about
Our third shout out goes to a mysterious tweeter known only as poco5k. He is a financial guy that requested we give him a shout out by the Bull located near the NYSE. Since no one knows his real name (as he is also a very interesting man), I will refer to him on here as “Roach”.
The fourth video is a fun game of real-life “Where’s Waldo” that we played in Grand Central Station. This was a great time!
Finally, this short film documents a typical moment during our stay in NYC. Yes, this is really the kind of stuff we did all day
And for those wishing to donate for a new camera (I was halfway joking, halfway serious ), here is the button to click to do that.
Cheers!
- JC
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Mr. Josh Crocker,
I have so happy you (and Bethany) had a wonderful day with @RustyTim, and @davidcrandall. We will need to coordinate a visit for them to come up here to meet the whole crew. Now that could be a crazy “thursday night”.
I appreciate the Bull shout out. I will think about it tomorrow morning as I send out my morning update.
You’re the best!
Roach
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 16th, 2010 at 10:01 pm
Thanks Master Roach!
I’m so glad that your real name is still a secret…whew!
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Why do I feel like david was on twitter as you guys were recording my video?
Thanks for the shoutout guys.
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 17th, 2010 at 7:17 am
@Joel – I’m not sure what exactly it was that he was doing at that moment, but he WAS squirrel happy, and then the camera came out and he got silent…
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That sounds like a great day!! Spending time with great friends and then ending it in a time of prayer!!! Keep taking fun seriously and you never know what opportunity will come your way.
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:21 pm
Thanks Josh! Enjoy your trip to NYC coming up…we’ve still left everything in a relative state of order there, so it should go smoothly. Just don’t start singing when you get on Wall St and you’ll be fine.
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I wasn’t on Twitter.
I was checking in on 4Square…which probably posted to Twitter.
hahaha
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:23 pm
David wasn’t on Twitter or 4Square…we were 500 feet underground where there’s no service…he was secretly using the “mirror” app to check his hair. Ha!
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Thanks for the shoutout! I love that you guys did that. It’s been a real blessing to have made connections with all three of you guys recently and looking forward to attending the next get-together for some man-love. But we’re going to have to work on pronouncing my last name.
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:24 pm
@Matt – I double checked with Tim and he said we were pronouncing it correctly. Maybe it was too loud to hear, due to the hustle and bustle of the Avenue of the Americas, and the magnificence of David’s hair…? Either way, you’re very welcome to attend the next get-together!
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How flipping awesome guys?!!!!
You guys are challenging all the assumptions about online friendships…you guys are MAD rebels and I like it. Fun times it seems you all had.
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:25 pm
@Wilson – 2 extra points for using the word “flipping”! You’re the man!
We had a great time, I don’t think any of us can emphasize that enough. I’ll be posting more videos to come in a few days
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Hey Josh, that must have been what it was. I was thrown off by the magnificence of David’s hair and how he must be about 7 feet tall. When I listen to it again without focusing on the hair it does sound correct.
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 17th, 2010 at 5:31 pm
Matt – Maybe I should’ve put subtitles…no way we could’ve pronounced it wrong then! Ha!
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This whole post and the comments are a perfect example of how the whole day went in the City. We had a blast. My favorite part of the entire day was the 3 hour dinner that we had at Ashton’s Alley on 50th St. We had a blast.
To help illustrate that you really can begin positive relationships online, while we were at dinner we pulled out a camera and asked each guy what he learned about the other. This was REALLY difficult. I already knew Crandall, like really well. So all I could say was how he walked and his height were interesting. I eventually came up with something for the video but was really excited that I went last. I will not give the whole thing away because Josh might share that video later.
You guys really missed out. You all have to start thinking about how you can set up a meet up with those that you interact with most on line.
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 17th, 2010 at 10:05 pm
@Tim – I was actually not planning on publishing the “what did we learn about each other” video #1 because of how long it is, and #2 so Joel wouldn’t cry any more because he was missing out on the MUSH…
However, I may share your “Welcome to Ashton’s Alley” video…
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HAHA!!! I wish there was a like button for individual comments on wordpress! Like, Like, Like. HA, great interactions and funny vids.
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 17th, 2010 at 11:33 pm
Thanks Mark! I think we should do a Chicago meetup next. Agreed?
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That Dave dude is pretty tall, who knew?
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 17th, 2010 at 11:34 pm
@Nathan – When I eventually DID find him in Central Park, I spotted him from a mile away. Not sure if it was the height or the hair…
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I just checked back in on the comments here. I believe I have some things that would enhance the interactions here:
1) I’ve tried to tell people I’m tall before…NOW you can all believe me.
2) My hair is magnificent and has actually inspired spiritual pilgrimages.
3) The people who commented on this post are all people I’d love to meet in real life
There. I have spoken.
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 18th, 2010 at 12:24 am
1. Truth be told, I would put you around 6’3″…however you were wearing Vibrams, which factors into it…I’ll give you 6’4 1/2″
2. The sheer power of your #2 above has left me speechless…Here is my response: _______________________________
3. I’ve love to meet them as well.
Time to plan the next one! I’d like to recommend a neutral zone…like Clearwater Florida, or maybe in a bungalow somewhere in Southeast Asia…?
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1. My most recent doctor visits all put me at 6’5″. Like I said, no one ever believes it. (I think it’s because I don’t have that odd elongated look that some tall people have. Oh well.)
2. Perfect
3.
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Josh Crocker Reply:
September 18th, 2010 at 9:49 am
Your doctor is a midget, isn’t he? I’m still standing by 6’4″.63573 inches tall.
And yes…I responded to this to keep this hilarious conversation alive
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