August 2006 Archives

I thought Martin Luther said this, " "Beer is proof that God loves us, and wants us to be happy", but that was Benjamin Franklin.

Bret was right, I was wrong.

On an elephant, originally uploaded by timbu.

The kids and I atop an elephant at the Rennaisance Festival. (I know you can't exactly see me in the picture, but I'm there really.)

Salad of the Week, originally uploaded by timbu.

This is a picture my favorite summer time salad, Insalata Caprese.

The tomatoes were courtesy of Erin & Guido and had far more flavor than what you get in the grocery store.

Thanks.

There were two bright spots in an otherwise dismal day. One, early yesterday morning someone surprised me with a pineapple scone. Secondly, I went and saw the movie, "Little Miss Sunshine".

It was by far the best movie I've seen this year. A movie hasn't made me this happy since I saw "Garden State", "Lost in Translation" and "Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind" - my personal movie trifecta of the last few years.

It's a fantastic cast -- every actor seems to have a scene or two where their character totally steals the show and makes the movie.

If one was a total snob about indie movies, you could complain about how perfect and commercial the cinematography was or whether the characters are too indie-cliche or whether the VW bus bit was too cutesy, but quickly you'll lapsed into the kind of rhapsodic ranting that the comic book guy from the Simpson's excels at and all your friends will be rolling theirs eyes and waiting for you to be done talking about the movie that did it better, the one no one saw and no one cares about. Yes, I am talking about you, get over yourself.

I want to wear this quote.

Irony is a dish best served up on hanes screen printed t-shirt.

Today marks my first visit to the Minnesota Renaissance Festival for a wedding. I can't wait to see how this turns out. Hopefully there will be something to blog about tonight.

Not knowing much about this event, I checked out their web site. Their weapons policy amused me. "Axes, Claymores & Maces – Are strongly discouraged but if you insist Axes must be sheathed and peace-tied." Really they should make every business establishment in Minnesota post their axe, claymore & mace policy in addition to their concealed handgun policy.

Dear Elise,

Almost five years ago we brought you home.

You have captured my heart in the way that I'm sure only daughters can. There is nothing better than the way you hug me and say "I'll never let you go ..."

You are one of the toughest little girls I know. You fall down more than anyone I know and you pick yourself up and keep going like you meant to do that. It is not that you are without grace but you live a little on the edge between walking, skipping and dancing all at the same time. Falling is just the price you pay for having that much bounce and spirit inside.

Your kindness towards others is humbling at times. If you have something good, like candy, you always seem to give some away, even to your brother. Speaking of your brother I can tell how much you love him and want to be doing things just like him. Is it really that much fun to aggravate him?

You willingness to go down the big slides always makes me feel so proud of you. Don't ever stop.

The BBC reports that "There are now more overweight people across the world than hungry ones".

Does this mean there be heart wrenching appeals for help, featuring Sally Struthers walking around the midwest showing the obese people waddling around at the county fairs. "For just $10 a day you'l be able to deny them the hamburger they had been stuffing their face with." (This is actually how I lost the weight. A small village in a developing country pooled their money and decided to sponsor a chubby midwesterner.)

So I am posting this via Windows Live Writer. This beta  blog posting software is pretty amazing.

Liked

• spell check
• preview
• lists work like they should
• posting photos from the web works
• pure html view works
• the discovery of my blog software was perfect
• super easy to include a map (unfortunately it is a map that doesn't work right for me)

Didn't Like

• it always bugs me when a Microsoft product looks good and works
• the drafts aren't saved on the server, although you can publish a draft to the server
• ugly smashed together html

Compared to other Blog posting software I've used I have to say this one is one of the best. There is an integration with IE like you might expect. If there was a Firefox plugin I might never use anything else to blog with.

Here is an example map.

Him: "Have you ever been in a crack house?"
Her: "No and why would you have ever been in one?"
Him: "Rehab"

There seems to be a rash of restaurant names that use numeric designations instead of honest names.

The 112 Eatery, Five, 20.21 & the 128 Cafe all come to mind.

I predict that he next great leap forward in restaurant naming will be to start using an IP address for the restaurant.

"Where are you going to eat tonight?"
"We're going out for a night on the town at 192.28.43.101 followed by dessert at 127.0.0.1."

P.S. I've had good meals at all the numbered restaurants listed above, so maybe I shouldn't kvetch about the naming convention so much.

I'm shocked there was no comment on the mormon honeymoon link. Don't make me leave a comment, you'll regret it.

Where else but the internet could one eavesdrop in on mormon brides sharing honeymoon advice, "Speaking Girl to Girl: Mormon Honeymoon Advice"?

For those of you who aren't familiar with the underwear in question, you may wish to consult the wikipedia article on the topic.

Now go back to thinking about whatever you were thinking about before the topic of "mormon virgin brides on honeymoon" popped into your head.

P.S. I am not making fun of anyone, just linking to information.

My Yard, originally uploaded by timbu.

Guess who's here in MN ...

It's been a good week for finishing books.

The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane by loca author Kate Dicamillo, Bagram Ibatoulline(illus)

It's preachy, sweet and sentimental bordering on maudlin -- it won't surprise you that I really liked it. My signed copy was purchased at the Red Balloon Bookshop in St. Paul, which is the best place to buy kids books. I liked the moral of the story and the illustrations were perfect. I know too many people like Edward the china rabbit, who are either too wrapped up in their own ego or too afraid of loss to really engage in passionate and unrestrained love. I'm glad I have kids so I can read sentimental children's book and not have people think I'm totally off my rocker.

Tampa Burn by Randy Wayne White

This is a one of a couple of books set in Florida that I picked up for my Mickey Mouse vacation last February. It's a classic guy thriller story. White's "Doc Ford" reminds me of the Dirk Pitt series by Clive Cussler but a little more salacious. If you are looking for challenging intellectual stimulation, this isn't it. If you are looking for mindless entertainment with plenty of testosterone, you're in the right place.

Dinner at the Homesick Restaurant by Anne Tyler

OK, this one is kind of girly - it's not a romance novel or anything -- the book is just more about relationships than guns. I read a review last year of a recent novel by Anne Tyler and thought the author sounded interesting. Despite the fact that there were almost no likeable characters in this book and nothing much happened in the book, I still enjoyed reading it. Tales of family dysfunction are the kind of horror story I like. If you are looking for an upbeat, feel good story consider reading something else. I liked the way the author manages to tell the same stories from multiple vantage points.

Invisible Man by Ralph Elison

O.K., I'm still not done with this one. I'll let you know.

Sunset, originally uploaded by timbu.

I love sharing a sunset with you.

I like Garrison Keillor and I like "A Prairie Home Companion". This movie left me feeling ...

Spoiler alert, stop reading now if you don't want me to spoil the movie for you.

I told her I wish I could have a dog. She asked why and I realized that I like the idea of coming home to a "fat, dumb & happy to see me dog" -- cats seem to have a lot less of that characteristic. She answered that she preferred cats because they didn't love you automatically, were moody & had to be seduced a little. Hmmph, my own children make me run around the living room chasing them down for a hug. Why would I want a moody cat stalking around my house with an aloof coy grin on it's face?