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create your own personalized map of the USA

Washington state and Oregon. Very pretty out there...

Dude!

OK, I keep saying I want to learn to surf, but would have to do so on Lake Superior. Many of you have made comments to the effect of "freezing to death." But check these guys out:



Gotta find these dudes!

Rock Star

OK, first watch this video, so you know the song I am talking about:



Miri and I went to Wal-Mart last night, so I could get a perscription filled. While we were waiting, I followed her around, looking at toys and little kid clothes. We wandered into the gaming section, where she found a Guitar Hero game guitar hanging out as a demonstrator.



"Oooo Daddy! I play guitar!" She grabbed it, wrestled with it for a moment, then, in front of all the stunned teenagers, belted out the "Campfire Song Song." Including the last line, as loud as she could.

There was cheering in the Wal Mart electronics section that night...

You know you worked at a zoo when...

...you refer to your pet gerbil's cage as an "enclosure."

One year on...

As of 2:30 pm today, I have been a resident of Hibbing, MN for one year. The wind chill aside, I like it and think I'll stay.

Lil' Porgy's BBQ, how do I love thee? Let me count the ways!

1. I worked there and will still eat there.
2. I joined the Lil' Porgy's group on Facebook.
3. I have begged, pleaded, paid and blackmailed people into sending me sauce whenever I lived far away.
4. I have deliberately scheduled time away from family and friends to eat there.
5. I own a store t-shirt.
6. As pictured here, I have been seen cuddling a bottle of sauce as if it were a crying child ("There, there, daddy's spicy little fellow. You know you are delicious.").

And since BBQ is one of the signs of an advanced and civilized society, why do we still eat bolagna?

If you are what you eat, then I am ham.

During the visit to my folk's, I ate plenty of ham. I like ham, but really!

12/23: Arrived in CU, where Dad was slicing the Xmas ham. Miri and I had ham sandwiches for dinner.
12/24: Dad put ham in the breakfast omelets.
12/25: The ham was officially served for dinner.
12/26: Visited my buddy Carl, who served us leftover ham from dinner with his folks.
12/27: Stopped by to see my old friends, David and Sharon, who gave us Virginia ham sandwiches for lunch.
12/28: Somewhere between Rice Lake and Superior, WI, Miri and I consumed the ham sammies that Mom packed for us.

Tonight, I shall eat Chinese buffet, where there is NO HAM!

You know you are in northern Minnesota when...

...it is 25 degrees warmer than it was six hours ago, and it is still below zero!

I'll Be Home for Christmas

For the first time since 2003, I'll be home in Chamapign on Christmas. I'm very excited to see my family, especially since so many of them will be meeting Miriam for the first time. So please wish us luck on the long trip and a Merry Christmas to you all.

Here is the King to sum it all up for me!

My new second most favorite song

You gotta seach my blog to find my favorite...

Two captions

Since I created both of these captions for this really funny photo, I submit both:

"Attempting to get sympathy from the judge, OJ breaks into his rendition of 'The Robot.'"
or
"To remind the judge of his status as a football hero, OJ strikes a pose like the Heisman Trophy."

Either way, it is great to see him in prison garb!

Fleas on the dog

I count the "official" beginning of the Christmas season when I hear the first Christmas-related song on the radio on Thanksgiving Day. Regardless of the fact that the holiday stuff starts to show up at Wal Mart around Halloween.

Anyway, the season started for me at 8:30am on Thursday, November 27 (Thanksgiving Day). I was in my car, on my way to deliver a special "Black Friday" version of the local free shopper, when the oldies station played "Feliz Navidad" by José Feliciano. Not the best holiday song, but so much better than "Rockin' Around the Christmas Tree."

So, Merry Christmas. Yeah, that's right, I said it.

Don't shoot me, I'm just the piano player

Miriam channels a young Elton John...

Winter sets in

When I first moved to Minnesota, it was already winter. My body was set for a Kansas winter, so it only registered the cold. Now my aged body is realizing that it now lives in northern Minnesota, where it gets cold earlier, the temperatures are considerably lower and stay longer, AND it is always cloudy. So, like all reasonable mammals, I want to hibernate. I sleep 10 hours a night, am sleepy all day and eat anything that can't or won't fight back.

My tiki room is a cave-like room in the basement with a big, comfy chair. I may get in there and not come out till April.

The up side is that Frippen wants to get his walk over with FAST!

Linus would have voted for Obama

Then why did we vote? Is it really this simple?

Why "time outs" were invented

"Never raise your hand to your children - it leaves your midsection unprotected."
- Robert Orben

I'm Ready!

Ready to eat, even when asleep. That's my girl!
(Thanks to Aubrey for this most excellent shot!)

I remember!

It is going to be a long 4 years...