Long-time readers may remember my Three Winter Questions about When It Will Snow: by Halloween? by Thanksgiving? by Christmas? Each year the answers vary. Most years, though, the first answer is no.
Not this year. Bad news for trick-n-treatin’ kids.
Category Archives: Life
Mummified ‘Member Berries
I was going through old files I’ve kept around for too long and found a collection of images a friend sent me years ago. We met in college and have been friends since. She ended up working in advertising, plus her husband had a graphic design business, so she was pretty attuned to and interested in the world of visual arts and advertising.
And she had a great sense of humor. The images in the post are all (as far as we know) actual ads from a bygone era. An era that had its features, but which I think most are pretty glad is bygone.
Caveat lector: In my case, these led to tears of laughter, but for some they could lead to gnashing of the teeth. Try to see it as a sign of how much we’ve grown.
Gabriel Lights Up the Room
Most of the remnants of “the gang” went to see Peter Gabriel at the Xcel Energy Center in St. Paul last night. As they say, a (very) good time was had by all. It was the sort of enjoyable (and energetic) night that keeps you smiling to yourself for days. I do so love live music.
And, wow, does Gabriel (at 73!) put on a show worth seeing and hearing. Some rockers haven’t aged well, but Gabriel continues to find new visual and musical expression. Last night was as memorable as any of his previous shows.
I don’t have a lot to say — still basking in the afterglow — but I do have pictures.
The Dozen Year Charts
Last month when I published the Blog Anniversary post I lamented how yet another WordPress “update” had made it harder for me to copy the monthly post hit stats to my SelectedPosts database so I could make charts. The new table widget doesn’t allow selecting and copying [big frown].
Turns out my browser can be cajoled into making a screen grab that successfully interprets the image as a table with text, so it’s possible to capture the data, but looks to be a royal PITA, so it may be that the monthly hit stat ship has sailed.
But then I realized I had yearly hit stat data readily available.
The Blogging Dozen
It’s that time again, my blog anniversary. It’s been twelve years, more than 1300 posts (plus a few dozen pages), and almost two million words (1.7 and change). That’s a fair amount of water over the dam. That said, the river flows a bit slower these days.
This 12-year anniversary comes on the heels of the 10-year anniversary of being retired. While the perceived importance of tens is a very human conceit (you’d expect the Simpsons and Mickey Mouse to attach that same importance to eights), twelves have a nice mathematical importance — there are more ways to evenly divide it: 2, 3, 4, and 6 (compared to the 2 and 5 of tens or the 2 and 4 of eights).
(That nice divisibility is handy with our 12-hour clocks and 12-month years.)
A Decade of Retirement
Today marks the ten-year anniversary of walking out of work for the last time. When I did, I thought I’d return for the occasional visit to see how old friends were doing. The reality is that I haven’t been anywhere near the place since. I’m glad to have at long last shed my corporate cloak, glad to have finally escaped.
I’ve very much enjoyed being retired. Finding something to do has never been a problem for me. Quite to the contrary, I’m delighted to have all the time to pursue my hobbies and interests.
And it’s done wonders for my overall mood and outlook on life. I’m a much happier person being out of the “rat race”.
Under the Northern Lights
I posted a while back about the summer fishing/camping trip to the “secret” middle-of-the-wilderness lake my buddy “Scott” (we’ll call him) and I took each year — along with anyone we could talk into joining us. It was our annual pilgrimage for almost two decades.
Three times during that era we vacationed somewhere else: a cabin on Lake Kabetogama (where I caught zero fish); a houseboat on Lake Vermilion (loved sleeping on the water); and that time on the Churchill River in northern Saskatchewan.
We were so far north we were under the Northern Lights.
Epiphanies
There are four fledgling posts that have nested in my Drafts folder for many years. The first three are based on hand-written notes that go back even further. They’re very personal, so I’ve debated with myself whether to publish them at all.
But a key point of this blog is documenting my life — of leaving my scrawl on the internet wall. Kilroy was here! So was Wyrd Smythe! And it has not escaped my attention, based on page hits and comments, that readers generally enjoy the more personal posts.
These are all “light bulb moments” — epiphanies that gave me key insights to myself (part of the eternal search for who I really am).
Walking the Dog
Moar Treats? Moar Walks??
I had the unmitigated pleasure of spending last Thursday through last Sunday with my opinionated little canine “niece” Bentley. Fortunately, her opinions all involve walks and treats rather than politics (which she thinks is what happens when your parrot swallows a watch).
On the other hand, her opinions on walks and treats tend to be rather definite (and rather on the greedy side). She knows what she wants (all) and when she wants it (now). My giving in to her opinions on walks led to some unexpected yet interesting results Saturday morning.
Sadly, I didn’t have my camera with me to document those results but did take it along on two other walks to document the beauty of some local parks.
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