brainsplotch

Hi folks, just checking in while I have a few minutes (or so I think...we shall see). In an earlier post, I mentioned that, on Martin Luther King Day, we'd be going to the North American International Auto Show.  (Nothing honors Dr. King's legacy more than slobbering over new cars, eh?).  As it turns out, that trip was delayed until Saturday the 21st.  Half of the adventure was just getting to Cobo Center in Detroit.  We had trouble with our van's windshield washer that required us to pull over and fix it.  Then, as we were approaching Detroit via the Lodge Freeway, we were diverted off the freeway because of a car accident.  So all told, it probably took us an additional hour-and-a-half to get to Cobo Center. The auto show itself was insane--incredibly crowded.  It was fun to see all of the different cars from practically every auto manufacturer, foreign and domestic, you can imagine; but I dared not take my eyes off either one of my kids for more t...

Random thoughts on a Thursday evening: I had to go the dentist yesterday for my semi-annual cleaning.  I do not enjoy going to the dentist, but not for the reasons you might think.  I can take the poking and prodding of my mouth with steel utensils.  Sure, it's not what one would consider pleasant, but it really doesn't bother me that much.  The main reason I dislike going to the dentist is the inevitable "flossing lecture" I receive from my somewhat high-strung and dentally pious hygienist.  The thing is, I really do floss, just not the three times daily that she demands.  Is there anyone in the world, outside of dentists, who actually flosses three times daily?  If there is, I would really like to meet this person (or persons). Anyway, the semi-annual flossing lectures are annoying, to say the very least.  I feel like saying, "I'm 43 years old, I'm set in my ways, I ain't changing.  If you don't like my teeth, I'll find som...

I made it through work today, and thankfully was not as tired as I feared when I wrote last night's post.  However, it would behoove me to get a bit more sleep tonight. Well, what have I been up to, you may be asking yourself (or not)?  I am finally reading Keith Richards' autobiography, appropriately titled Life .  I don't know why it's taken me so long to get to it, perhaps I just wasn't in the mood when it was published last year, but now seemed like a good time and I'm really enjoying it. It's particularly fun to read it and imagine Keith is actually telling the story in his own nicotine-ravaged croak of a a voice, while smoking a Marlboro and nursing a tumbler of JD.  Keith is, unsurprisingly, quite a raconteur.  I've gotten to the point where he's just written "Satisfaction" and the Stones have recorded it in Hollywood.  The band is just about to break big in the summer of '65.  Lots of good juicy parts to follow, I'm sure....

It's ridiculously late on a Sunday night, and I really should be going to bed because I need to wake up at 5:30 tomorrow morning to go to work, but here I am typing away on my laptop and watching the meaningless third quarter of the inconsequential GoDaddy.com Bowl (yes, that's really its name) featuring powerhouses Northern Illinois and Arkansas State. The holidays are over and now begins the slog threw the the winter months.  The strange thing is we have no snow here, and it really feels more like late March than early January. The immediate aftermath of the Christmas holiday is always difficult for me.  There is so much buildup and anticipation for Christmas, with all the attendant good cheer, bright lights, and general excitement.  Then once the holidays pass, I'm left thinking to myself, "That's it? It's over?  Wow, did that go quick.  Now what?"  I just took down the lights in front of our house and it left me feeling a bit melancholy.  I sti...