One Half Hour

This last Saturday morning on the way home from Indiana we stopped at the Cracker Barrel in Effingham, IL.  Shortly after we were seated an older couple sat down diagonally from us.  We didn’t think anything of it as the girls were chatty and wiggling.  Shortly after that a group of gals was about to be seated next to us and one of them said, “Ma’am, can we please be seated somewhere else in the restaurant?  We’re going to cuss and we don’t want to do it next to the children.”  They were seated elsewhere.

Our food came, we prayed and began to eat.  Suddenly I felt an arm around my shoulder and I looked up to see the man who had been seated with his wife diagonally from us looking down at me and he said, “I’m glad to see you praying in public.  It does my old heart good.”  I thanked him and he departed with a smile.

About 10 minutes later one of the gals who was going to be seated next to us but asked to be moved came by and said, “We didn’t mean any disrespect when we asked to be moved but we have been drinking and smoking marijuana all night long and we were going to be cussing while we ate.”  Huh?!  Why would you tell people this?  Why would you tell a total stranger that you were doing those things?

It is funny to me that in that short stretch of time two polarized events could take place like that.  We got on the road shortly after that hoping to avoid the drinking, smoking gals with their potty mouths.  Unfortunately there was a college game going on between Mizzou and Kansas University later on so we had to put up with crazy college drivers and birds being flipped all over the place as the drivers cursed each other for driving worse than the last crazy driver.

We made it past Kansas City and survived the day with great success arriving home at 11:05 PM.  Safe, sound, and really tired.

Can We Be Done with Bad CGI Commercials Already?

I don’t think that ‘just because it is CGI, its good’ has ever been an absolute statement about commercials… but the latest CGI commercials that I’ve seen (I’m watching the Colts/Chiefs game in Indiana now)  are just stupid.  Stupid.  Stewpid.  Dumb.  Can we dump the CGI ==  good assumption marketing folks?  I love good, creative writing that causes people to pay attention, laugh, and consider the message – it is what makes life’s communication interesting.  These commercials communicate to me that marketing departments at major fortune 500 companies are disconnected with reality or out of ideas.

My Favorite Self Composed Song

I did a series of Birthday Songs over the last couple years for friends, co-workers and pretty much no family.  However, my all time favorite ditty that I wrote was an instrumental song I never got to finish.  The music was so good in my proud opinion that I never could fit words that I felt conveyed quite what the music did.  You can listen to it here.

I’m really thankful for my parents having raised me with music in my life.  From a Grandpa that plays the saw to a wife who supports my crazy musical fantasies (one day I will be a famous musician, just you wait) I’ve been blessed with this talent (though I need to keep honing it for sure).  I loves me some music and I love to play for people – maybe some day I can hang out with you and we’ll play some music together.

Old Man

I am an old man.  Ancient.  I recall Ataris.  I recall Nintendo Entertainment Systems (NES) and I spent way too many hours playing Super Mario Brothers 1-3 in my youth.  Abby just came in with Evie on her tail singing the praises of the Wii because it had this new game with this one guy who went into outer space.  She knew to tell me that it was available at Target (a store she knows I like).  I asked her if she meant Super Mario Galaxy.  Excitedly she let me know that Mario was the guy.

Old.  I’m just old.

Smoke Your Own Meat Already…

…unless you’re a vegetarian.  In which case you should smoke your own veggies.  I’m in the process now of smoking my own salt, too.

See how someone made their smoker… mine is almost identical.

To smoke my salt I am placing it on an aluminum foil sheet with the sides folded up and letting the smoke permeate the salt.  When its done I’m going to make sure the salt is crushed to a finer consistency since the sea salt I’m using is bigger and chunkier (it is hand harvested and not Morton’s table salt).

Mind Games for Driving

I’ll be driving to Indiana this upcoming Thanksgiving week.  The best part of the drive is the mind games I have to play with myself to make the drive endurable.  I like the destination enough, its the road that makes me just a bit batty.

Colorado has a speed limit on the highway of 75, if the roads are dry and iceless then you can do a great jaunt to Kansas.

Kansas is the state that sucks.  The most out of the drive.  It is like driving across an empty piece of paper that is 410 miles long.  There are ruined old shacks sitting in the distant empty fields and porn towns (gas station + adult store with ‘town name’ sign at highway intersection).  To make my way through Kansas a little more exciting I’m going to poke my eyes out and drive with cruise control on.

Illi-noise, which is a special state where relatives live, is the dumbest state of speed limits that are falsely low.  Instead of the speed of geniuses 75 MPH, they have a speed limit of 5 MPH.  I know that doesn’t sound probably, but once you’ve been driving through Kansas at whatever your vehicle will do Illinoys’ 65MPH speed limit seems like a drug induced psychedelic experience of pain.  I think I’d prefer to have a porcupine stuck in my shoes when I’m not looking than drive 65 through Illinaise.  If you live in Illinoose how fast do you drive on the slow-ways?

Indiana has a speed limit of something I don’t recall.  I think its 70.  However, since I’m usually exhausted when I’m driving through it it doesn’t matter.  I play the game with myself that Indianapolis is about half way through the corn state so that once I’m getting into it or out of it I’ve accomplished something.

What things do you recommend to make the drive more sane?

Two’fer: Evie

Last night as soon as we got into our car after having a wonderful evening with my family we smelled a ‘smell.’

“Who tooted?,” I asked.

Without skipping a beat Evie said, “You.”

It wasn’t me I swear.

The other funny thing

Evie is symmetry girl.  If you tickle one foot you must also tickle the other.  If you touch one hand she’ll want you to touch the other.  If you kiss one cheek, then the other must be kissed.  Its actually pretty good because I figure that means we get to participate in double the affection.

A Time With My Grandparents

My Grandparents came into town Friday night on the train.  Remember those?  They’re large metal objects with wheels that roll on tracks and they make a lot of noise.  Yes, they slept on the train, and yes they said it was interesting to do so.  It took two days and they enjoyed it.  Well, my grandparents are here in town until Wednesday morning and I’ve been enjoying some time with them.  I really love them a lot because they influenced me so much growing up.  They have left a heritage that is truly amazing to me.  My grandpa’s work ethic, though over the top, was unlike anything else I’ve ever seen.  My grandmother’s raising five children is miraculous.  And their love for one another for over sixty years is a model for many marriages, some of which my grandfather did the ceremony for.  One of those marriages was my own.

It has been wonderful to see them and it has been neat to have them play with the girls (though Evie has been rather picky and still prefers my dad to either great-grandparent for some reason).  I have had several good talks with both of them and over the last couple of days we have recorded some video footage that I will not be sharing with the internet, but will be shared around our family because its certainly part of our family’s experience of them in our lives.  If you get a chance to see your grandparents regularly count yourself blessed.  We need to see them as often as possible and I pray for ways that we can do that more.

Saturday we had breakfast at my parents’ place and then took the girls home for a nap.  Saturday night we had dinner at Kurt & Becky’s with great food and more fellowship and fun.  Sunday was church & then in the evening we had them over to our place for more time together.  Today was the zoo (pictures) followed by an afternoon of rest and then dinner at my parents with some singing (yes, our family does some of that) after dinner.

Good times for sure, and I hope for still many more.