Man Pain

A communication of two brothers (Jared and Kyle Moore)

JM: Do you know what is painful?  It is 7:00 am my time and 6:00 am your time on a Saturday and we are both up writing about pain.

KM: Good morning brother!

JM: Seems kind of funny that the two of us are talking about pain without Natalie.  We probably should provide a little context.  

KM: Well our little sister is delivering a baby within the next 48 hours. She is pushing a small human being out of her private parts. What could be more painful? I mean, seriously, did you watch Jess giving birth?

JM:  Yes, that’s why I think that we should make it very clear that we are in no way trying to compare any pain that we have felt to the birthing process.  Anyways, when was the first time that you can remember feeling pain?

KM: I don’t remember a first time, but I do remember as a kid I always cried. I honestly thought Dad never felt pain because he never cried. I do know that your beatings were a source of physical and emotional pain to me.

JM:  Do we need to sit you down in a chair and have you discuss these feelings with a counselor?  

KM: I kind of worked it out during my psychiatry rotation last July, I’m good now. You were the child with all of the sports accidents though. How many times have you had stitches Frankenstein?

JM:  I have had to have stitches 6 times.  Usually small, deep cuts on my face from sports (basketball, football, extreme water tubing, etc).  Out of the different cuts that I have had, the most painful one happened when I fell and cracked my shin in a manhole in Venezuela.  Actually, it was probably more scary than painful because we had to try to find a decent hospital.  The nurse that cleaned the wound wasn’t particularly compassionate with this gringo.

KM: I thought the world was so much better at healthcare though?

JM:  Yeah we could do a whole other blog post about their health care system.  Let’s just put it this way, Chavez brought in Cubans to take care of his people.  Anytime you are bringing in Cubans to fix anything besides cigars it’s not a good sign.

KM: You’re being a little tough on Cubans, they have also helped fix several Major League Baseball teams including the Dodgers and Yankees.

JM:  Good point, I apologize to all of our Cuban readers.

KM: In the end nothing beats mom or dad to make you feel better.  Did you know that a mother’s kiss on a bumped head actually reduces pain? Essentially your body is getting tactile stimulation in the same area of injury so the electrical signal for the touch competes with the pain sensation.

JM:  I didn’t know the science behind it, but I had been told that is one of the reasons trainers put their hands on athletes that are injured.  What was your most painful experience?

KM: Well, I think I should start by saying I think my most painful experiences have been emotional. Losing Cameron (our cousin) last year, and some relationships have hurt me as much as anything.

JM: Agreed. That is a deeper subject altogether.  So how about physical pain?

KM: From a physical standpoint, I feel like I have a few that are all pretty close. I once got a large dose of pesticide on me while spraying trees and that burned like Hades. I also had a pretty painful appendicitis. But one of the worst was a football injury my senior year of high school.

JM:  Yeah I wasn’t around when that happened.  What exactly happened?

KM: I took a helmet just above the left knee. The final diagnosis was a deep bruise, but I always hated saying that because it immobilized me for months. In a weird way, I kind of wish I would have just torn my ACL. That sounds like a painful and legitimate injury. It’s kind of like when you have a bad cold for 4 weeks, I would rather just vomit for 24 hours.

JM:  Yeah I had something similar happen to me in an exhibition all area game that I played in after my senior season.  I had a knee slam into my quad.  After the game we piled in a car for a family vacation to California.  By the time we got to Salt Lake my leg was three times its regular size.  Official diagnosis was a deep muscle contusion, basically a fancy way of saying a bruise.  It kept me from working my construction job for 3 weeks.  

Jared (left) with a left thigh contusion and Kyle (right) in

Tijuana, Mexico-June 2003

KM: Yeah that was bad for you, but your wheelchair got us to the front of all of the lines at Universal Studios!!

JM:  The “pharmacists” in the streets of Tijuana offered me all sorts of pain meds.

KM: Well, I guess you always have a fallback in Mexico if your pharmacy job up here goes sour. It might be kind of fun to negotiate the price of oxycodone just like you were selling sunglasses.

JM: Isn’t it ironic that we both have had some of our severest pain in football, yet both of us desire our sons to play football?

KM: Well, in the immortal words of Shane Falco (aka Keanu Reeves in ‘The Replacements’), “Pain heals. Chicks dig scars. Glory... lasts forever.”  Was that contusion your most painful moment?

JM:  It’s in my top 3.  I have taken a couple of serious shots to the groin region in my lifetime that have left me without the ability to breathe.  At least with childbirth you know that at the end of the suffering you will have a newborn.  The exact opposite holds true after taking a shot to the family jewels; you wonder if you will ever be able to have kids.

KM: Amen brother. I’m glad to see a second child on the way for you guys despite all of your close calls. Well, my hat goes off to Natalie and all other women who go through childbirth. Seriously dude, an 8 pound human coming out of you?!

JM: It’s been a pleasure.  Always fun reminiscing about old injuries.  Good luck Nat!

KM: And just be thankful you don’t have to deliver in Venezuela...that could add to an already painful experience!

Our Mission

“Brother, I have the perfect idea for a blog post.” My brother, Kyle, exclaimed
excitedly. “What if all three of us write about why we hate dogs?” That’s when I
officially decided we were not going to have the broad, commercial appeal that we
originally sought when we first discussed creating a sibling blog.

I've been thinking about what blogs, podcasts, and books I like to read and listen
to the most, with the aim of finding a common theme. I like religious podcasts from
professors, business podcasts from Jewish New Yorkers, sports podcasts from Bill
Simmons and Collin Cowherd, and social commentary from conservative bloggers. I
think the one thing that I appreciate in any writer/artist/entertainer is 100% integrity.
Kind of cheesy I know, but I like what I read/listen to be heartfelt and genuine. Don't get
me wrong, the person has to be smart, witty, and sometimes controversial; but the most
important quality is complete honesty with oneself. One of my biggest pet peeves is a
lack of self awareness. The writers/commentators that draw me back continually
understand exactly who they are, weaknesses and strengths. People complain about
Simmons being a Boston homer, but I think it's funny because he doesn't try to hide it
like most members of the media. He is honest with himself, and his readers (most of
whom are not Boston fans). Our goal is to maintain that same level of authenticity.

Truth is Kyle and Natalie (my brother and sister) have always been more
imaginative and creative than me. I can’t remember the first time we discussed the idea
of creating a blog, but I do remember how excited both of them became. I was more
hesitant. I was concerned about being able to contribute in any significant way, and I
was worried that we would be doing it for the wrong reason i.e. everyone else has a
blog. If we were going to begin a blog I wanted to create a clear vision of what we
desired to accomplish.

When Kyle originally pitched the idea of a blog, he stated that one of his goals
was to eventually generate income through advertisements. I respectfully disagreed.
Blogging is a saturated market, with thousands of people doing it as a primary source of
income. After some discussion, we decided our primary goals in writing this blog are
three fold:

1. To bring us closer as siblings by sharing our experiences and ideas.
2. Serve as a kind of modern day journal for our posterity.
3. Help our friends, family, and any person that reads our blog to come away feeling
good (I know kind of vague but due to the wide range of topics we will be dealing with I
feel like the word "good" is a sum all)
 Hopefully we are able to stay true to our goals and in the process learn and grow.
Thank-you in advance to everyone and anyone who ends up reading our posts.

-Jared Lee

Allow Us to Introduce Ourselves...

Jared Lee is the oldest and wisest of our trio.  He is also most likely the favorite of our parents since he is the only one that currently resides in our hometown of Idaho Falls with his foxy wife and kids. His kid brother, Kyle, hooked him up on a date with Jessica and it has been love ever since. He likes a lot of things about Jess, but most of all he likes that she laughs at his jokes. They are parents to the darling Hallie and will welcome baby Jude in May. 

Growing up we dreaded the day that ESPN Magazine would come in the mail because it meant that Jared would retreat into his room for endless hours pouring over every player, statistic, and roster. 

Jared is a three-time marathon runner, city league basketball enthusiast, and received the MVP trophy for a regional flag football tournament. He can hit a baseball and catch a football better than almost anyone we know. He has an unusual ability to know about books and movies he hasn’t even read or watched and his ears haven’t grown since he was 4 weeks old. 

Jared loves Colombians. He also loves Venezuelans after spending time among them as a missionary. Is it any wonder he went on to become a drug dealer? Jared currently works as a Pharmacist at Shopko in Idaho Falls and remains actively involved in his church. He is the brains of our operation. 

Kyle Von is the middle and the creative genius of the group.  Some might describe Kyle’s need for order and cleanliness bordering on obsessive compulsive, but he would correctly point out “cleanliness is next to godliness”.  

Playing varsity football as a sophomore, before hitting any kind of significant growth spurt, he received the nickname of “the midget” from opposing teams.  His top-level speed, football IQ, and work ethic led to breaking several school records and local celebrity status.   
Kyle loved spending two years as a missionary in Lisbon, Portugal. He has learned Spanish now to help him in work, but he will never let go of the Portuguese language or his distaste for Spain (no offense to any of our Spaniard readers).

Despite majoring in communication, Kyle pursued a path in the medical field and is currently a medical student in Richland, WA. He loves to pose hypothetical questions, mow the lawn, enjoys sports, and loves spending time with church activities and reading religious texts. Kyle may also be one of the only people we know that enjoys planning a trip as much as actually going on it.  In addition to academic and athletic skills, Kyle has been gifted with the skill to remember birthdays and has the ability to keep a secret. 

Given Kyle’s considerate nature is it any wonder that he would marry a girl from the most polite nation in the world (that’s Canada for any of you unenlightened hosers).  Karlee is definitely the yin to Kyle’s yang. They love spending time with their little boy Austin.  Kyle’s imagination and creativity are the driving force behind this operation.  

Natalie Dawn is the baby and most witty of the Moore children. She was born with a headful of blonde curly hair and blue eyes. Her brothers didn’t get their wish of naming her April O’Neil from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, but they loved her just the same. Getting teased about being adopted from Russia and a broken nose from football in the living room are the foundations for her toughness and determination today.

In high school, Nat was perhaps the only cheerleader in the state with a skill set that involved the ability to do 15 back handsprings in a row, tell you what was happening in the game, all while flashing a smile the boys flocked for. 

After receiving a scholarship to Weber State University, Natalie moved south to Utah where she got a degree in respiratory therapy. She met Michael Crandall at a dance and the two quickly fell in love and she has lived in Utah ever since. On the personality color scale Natalie is a golden yellow and married a guy with a school bus yellow personality. They are now parents to the incredibly mellow Victoria and will soon welcome baby Grace.
We aren’t sure if Nat is so stylish because she worked at PacSun while in high school or because she moved to Utah. She is also a big reader and enjoys serving other people in her neighborhood, church, and her family.

Nat is the only one of the Moore children ever to go to detention (don’t get her started about that dreadful day when she deliberately slid on the playground ice). Despite this brush with school discipline at an early age, she went on to graduate from college in just 3 years
Natalie Dawn works as a respiratory therapist and I would pick her in a fist fight against any CEO of any tobacco company in the country. She is the wit of our operation.