Seen Around Town VII

Celebrity Sighting

I'm pretty sure this is Lady Gaga. I was out shopping, and I turned around and there she was! Fortunately she stayed still long enough for me to take this picture...

Thought for the Day

I saw this sign in a market in Pittsburgh, and it made me think; "what a wonderful world it would be if we could all just NOT rip the fish". There's definitely a lesson there for all of us...

Artistic Statement of the Day VIII

I call it "Spoons" (ironically, of course)...

What Will They Think of Next?

Cheese, made from MILK? Only in America! What's next; bread made with flour??

I Finally Did It!

It took my whole life, but I finally won the Stanley Cup for the Blackhawks. Since they obviously wouldn't have won without my help, I'll be here waiting for a phone call from Rocky Wirtz and a nice wad of cash...

A Celebrity in the Family

I was recently at my sister-in-law's house, and it turns out my nephew is the World's Best Soccer Player! I had no idea that such an honor had been bestowed upon him. Not sure why there wasn't a parade or anything like that, but still, I guess congratulations are in order.

Artistic Statement of the Day VII

I call it "May-not-fly"...

Now They've Gone Too Far...

First there was the Rose Bowl, the Sugar Bowl, the Orange Bowl, the Cotton Bowl and the Sun Bowl. Then along came the Fiesta Bowl, the Liberty Bowl and the God-Knows-What-Else Bowl, but when I saw this I knew they'd gone too far...

Mexican Sauce?

Mexican sauce? I do NOT want to know how they make this stuff!

Greetings from Columbus, Indiana!

Being fans of architecture, we took a quick trip down to Columbus, Indiana, which, surprisingly, is home to some amazing buildings by world-reknowned architects such as Eero Saarinen, I.M. Pei and Eliel Saarinen, who designed the First Christian Church building (below) in 1942. Not much else going in in this town, but worth the visit if you dig architecture.

Important Archaeological Discovery

I made this important archaeological discovery right in my very own kitchen. Apparently, this came off of a packedon (\ˈpa-ki-\ˈdän\) which I'm assuming must be some kind of a prehistoric animal. Just goes to show you, you can be minding your own business, eating some toast, when all of a sudden you make history! Now if I can just figure out those cryptic numbers...

Big News!!

My virtual parrotfish had a baby! This is a screenshot from my iQuarium app on my iPod Touch showing the camera-shy little guy. They say that good things come in threes (or is that celebrity deaths?), so now I'm waiting for the other two...

Seen Around Town, Part VI

This is a sign hanging in our local post office (which tells you what kind of a town we live in). Now, I don't know too many kids who would mistake the post office for a playground, though some of the people that work there could easily pass for homeless people one might find living under the slides...

Seen Around Town, Part V

Well, not MY town... We're in Salina, Kansas visiting relatives and I saw this; quite possibly the creepiest store mannequin I've ever seen in my life. I could say something witty about it, but it really wouldn't do it justice. I mean just look at this thing...

Logo Wrecks, Vol. I

This was hanging from my door this afternoon. While I appreciate the extremely literal rendition of a griffin landscaping, I have to say that this firm is in sore need of a logo makeover.

Artistic Statement of the Day VI

I call it "Ginger Rogers with Weird Chicken Fingers and Clown Hat"...

Actually, this is a picture I took of my television while watching The Story of Vernon and Irene Castle (1939)...

eXXXotic Mushrooms?

I got this mushroom log for Christmas that's supposed to spawn dozens of delicious shiitake mushrooms. So far, I've only been able to harvest three, so I was very excited to see another one growing this morning. From the looks of it, the mushroom log was excited as well...

Just a Poem

Couldn't think of anything else to blog about, so here's a little something I wrote many years ago:

Best Churros in Chicago

Although (my apologies to Rick Bayless) our homemade ones are better, the best churros in Chicago are at Xoco. This one was devoured seconds after this picture was taken...

Broken Promises

Who can I talk to about this? I plunked down 2 perfectly good dollars on this Mega Millions ticket, and the nice little Indian man behind the counter told me I was going to win. The next morning, as a mere formality, I check my numbers, fully expecting the numbers to match so I could collect my millions. I was even going to give the nice little Indian man behind the counter a couple thousand to show my appreciation.

But what happened was quite the opposite. My numbers did NOT in fact, match, and I am NOT a millionaire. I have spoken to the little Indian man behind the counter, but he claims no responsibility, so now I need to take this higher. I demand justice.

Just Another Topless Christian Wedding

We found these at an estate sale, and all I can say is, what the heck kind of wedding was this, anyway? Kind of makes me wonder what the bridesmaids wore...

Artistic Statement of the Day V

"Willis Tower in the Fog" — I'm still trying to get used to calling it the Willis Tower; It'll always be the Sears Tower in my heart, by I guess a rose by any other name...

Ugliest Christmas Decoration. Ever.

I don't think I need to say anything about this. An ugly picture is worth a thousand ugly words...

So... This Bag Is Not a Toy?

So, we were putting away the Christmas decorations the other day and were using an old  Target® bag from 2007 to help protect a fragile snowman when I noticed the list of alternate uses for the bag on the side. Apparently, according to them, it can be anything from a water balloon to a kitty litter liner (though I'd pay to see anyone actually make a water balloon out of a Target® bag, I mean come ON).

Then today we were packing up some produce as a care package for our older son and used a Target® bag from 2008. Interestingly, the list of alternate uses had shrunk from 10 to 5. Among those that didn't make the cut were, not surprisingly, the aforementioned water balloon. That got me to thinking, knowing lawyers, was there a Target® bag water balloon incident I missed in the news sometime between 2007 and 2008? Or were they just nipping a potential lawsuit in the bud. I mean, on another part of the bag in clearly states that the bag is NOT a toy, so how could it be a water balloon?

Anyway, I obviously spend way too much time looking at, and then thinking about, Target® bags (or am I just "detail-oriented"?)