Blog Archive
I Meet Denny in One Month
I've known Denny for years, but have not actually met him in real life. He started visiting my web site (daveheinzel.com) after a referral from my cousin Sarah's husband Jason. I think it's possible that Denny and I were both at their wedding, but I can't find him in any of my photos from that weekend.
Denny and I spent several months last year working on new websites in parallel. I ended up launching mine in early December (the updated daveheinzel.com), and I think Denny was at the point of starting over and going in a new direction. Working with him was pretty fun, and we had a good time sharing information and learning from each other.
Sometime in December we started kicking around the idea of making a website that would let people set up their own websites like his and mine. I had tried to do this a couple times before, but each time it fizzled out and never came to fruition. I was a little hesitant to start over again, but after working with him on our own sites, I knew that we'd be a good team for the job.
Over the next two months, we worked at a feverish pace to create Humzoo. We communicated exclusively through iChat and email. Although it was very time consuming to type out every single word, both methods of communication allowed us a little more time to formulate our responses than we would have with face to face meetings.
We've started a business together, have a joint bank account, a certified partnership in the state of North Carolina, and I've never even met the dude. We didn't actually talk on the phone until late February, and we've only spoken one more time since then.
So I figured it was a good time to meet the mysterious and potentially fictional character known as Denny Deaton. Courtney and I secured babysitting for a whole weekend in early April, and we're heading to North Carolina. It should be a good time, and I will fully document everything.
Dave, I just want to let you know that Denny is pretty much fictional. All of the people on his web site are made up. He is actually single, childless and those are all actors he has hired on his web site to make him look like he has a life. It is going to be a big shock when you come to find out he lives in a van down by the river and works off of wi-fi from the local Starbucks. My real name is Renee Smith and he pays me $50 an hour to pose for pictures and pretend to be his wife. Just want to prepare you for the truth, everything is not always as it seems on the internet.
On an unrelated note, I swear this is the back of my head at Sarah and Jason's wedding: http://www.daveheinzel.com/photos/?year=2004&gallery=7&...
That is my friend's mom sitting at the table, I just can't remember if I pulled my hair back for that wedding. I do remember sitting next to a table full of loud and crazy people though.
If that's you in that photo, I might have Denny in another photo from the same angle. I really can't make this look like Denny to me, but it was a long time ago, so maybe it is him. Here are the two photos in question:
http://www.daveheinzel.com/isthisniki.jpg
http://www.daveheinzel.com/isthisdenny.jpg
Unfortunately, that second one (which may or may not be Denny) is at the very edge of the frame, so he's kinda cut off there. But yes, our table was pretty loud and rowdy. We were flinging food into the water and trying not to get caught.
YES, that is totally me and totally Denny. How crazy is that! It is like you and Denny were in arms reach, and probably even made eye contact at some point. I guess at that point you guys weren't each other's type (in the business sense I mean) so he did not commit to memory for you or you for him.
Ha, that's awesome. I do remember looking over at your table and quietly judging all of you, basically assuming you were all very dull people that I would never want to meet or every talk to under any circumstance. I believe I sent a small piece of my entree flying through the air in your general direction too.
Kidding of course. I have a ton of photos from that day, but Courtney and I looked through them all and couldn't find you guys anywhere else. Now that I know what you were wearing, maybe I'll look again. Did you stick around for the evening festivities? I seem to remember dancing, music, disorderly conduct - the usual.
Back then we weighed 500 lbs a piece, so I can understand how you missed us. Yes, we stuck around for the festivities, but did not partake in the midnight swim. I do remember the cops stopping by multiple times talking about some kind of noise ordinance, and I do remember having to walk back to our motel and finding our keys in the grass somewhere in the parking lot the next day. You can say that we approved of the alcohol at the wedding.
Here's another photo of Denny from that same night:
http://www.daveheinzel.com/thisISdenny.jpg
Yep, that's him, minus the 10 lbs of facial hair he has now. Actually he said he might shave, and maybe he already did, I don't remember if I paid attention tonight.
PS- We are mailing you and Courtney a package tomorrow. I just want you both to be prepared for the awesomeness in the box!
Dave, I was going to leave a comment but it turned into a blog. My first blog.
http://www.humzoo.com/dennydeaton/blog/1/
http://www.humzoo.com/stevenheinzel/photos/3/1/
Could these be the Deatons??
OMG! You Heinzel's are total stalkers! That is us. You totally took that photo from the 3rd floor of the Stallings House too. If that doesn't say stalker then I don't know what does.
(btw, I think you need to still publish your album so everyone else can see it)
Yo Dave,
I was just reading your "about" page....as for movies. Where is "Spinal Tap?"
Dang - thanks for the reminder! Can't believe I forgot that. It's super hard to remember all the awesome movies that I've seen, but that one is right up there for sure. Hmmm... also just remembered Billy Madison and Fletch. Classics.