A man walks into a café . . .

and another man approaches that man and asks, “Are you Jonathan Sadler?” “Why yes,” says the first man. Then man number two says, “I love your photographs. They’re great – they’re funny.” First man says, “Thanks. That’s a great shirt.”
Soon thereafter, five nerds walk into the café. Man Number one is still in the café smiling inwardly at the recent compliment, but mostly at the surreality of being recognized in public. Man number one is trying not to let his celebrity go to his head . . . but too late. The damage is done. Meanwhile the nerds… they might be music majors at the nearby University. The lead nerd came in first. (You ever notice nerd leaders tend to lead noisily in front of a group whereas cool leaders lead quietly in the rear or in the middle. Cool leaders also lead by changing the groups “mind” by silently not entering the establishment with the rest of the group. Cool Leader goes next door to the place none of them have ever entered. The group follows.) Nerd leader enters the café and loudly moves chairs to the table nearest Man number one and loudly proclaims her love of raspberry chai. Then she loudly asks the group if they noticed her chai was waiting for her on the counter. She didn’t even have to order it. Also, the barista puts extra chai in her chai because she likes it extra spicy. Then nerd leader leads the group in a rousing game of crazy 8s. One of the girls takes off her hat and one of the guys says, “Your hair looks like Hermione’s.” The girl says, “I like Hermione.” I say, “Who doesn’t.”
At the beginning of the crazy 8s game, one of the nerds said, “I’d rather play the guitar.” He is playing Hotel California right now. He just stopped mid-song. Perhaps the coolest thing he’s ever done.

My Toaster

My Intolerance

This year I will not tolerate the following:
Sucka MC’s
Beat Biters
Those are the main two things I cannot and will not stand in the ’06 (pronounced oh six).

In The Cabin

Here's that window again. If you could read the thermometer you'd see that is says 40ish degrees. That's with the fire. Without, it was in the twenties.

This is the view out my window. My Cabin window.

Kittens

On about a twenty mile stretch of Interstate 80, I saw six dead baby skunks. One looked like it was doing summersaults. Well, it was doing summersaults but it was from the wind created by the passing cars. It would have been cute if the skunk weren’t dead on the freeway, but alive doing summersaults on a grassy knoll. I have noticed a lot of dead skunks over the last few weeks. One smelled so badly that my eyes burned before my nose noticed the intense stink. Also, the pine trees in the Sierra have a lot of cones. Do you suppose there is a connection between the high cone count and the high skunk count? Me neither.
Are baby skunks called kittens? They should be. I just looked it up. Baby skunks are called kittens.

Frozen Lake

I guess my top 4 list had some positive effect. Our book is back in the top ten at Photo Eye. I wonder if Smoot Valley High has sold any CDs or if the Giant Squid has any more admirers.

Hunting

A law in California, my hometown, came into effect yesterday. It is no longer legal to hunt with guns controlled over the Internet. I suppose it is a good sign that the first time I hear about Internet hunting is when it is outlawed.

This Years Top Ten

It's that time of year again - for the first time; the time of year that I make a list of the top ten events, things, news stories, movies, music, etc., of 2005.

Here it is in no particular order (except numerical):

1. Big Ten Co-eds, Preppy Girls, and the Lost Cheerleaders – a book.
2. Smoot Valley High – A band
3. Giant Squid, Architeuthis dux – The world’s largest invertebrate
4. Ivory-billed Woodpecker – A bird
5. I guess it’s a top 4 list.

More Gossip

I was saddened to read that Jennifer spent a lonely holiday without Vince, her latest boyfriend.

Robert

Today was the day that our sweet Robert went into a home. “Home” being a euphemism for “not home.” I suppose the right thing to do would be to call Joy and ask her how it went, but I am weak of heart and not sure that I am ready to hear the details. I just heard from Robert’s son that after visiting a home (maybe the very home in question) he asked Joy, “If I am good, can I stay here and play with my friend?” That is, he wanted to stay at his real home with his friend (assistant/caregiver) Justin.

A hard thing about your dog getting old is learning to separate the ticks from the moles.

A few Christmas Observations

Noah, my great nephew or grandnephew – I am not sure which – open’s every present with a gasp and says, “Oh, my very own clothes,” or “Oh, my very own Robot.” When he gets something and doesn’t know what it is he gasps and says, “Oh, my very own ‘this’.”

My niece and nephew were bathing yesterday afternoon and the nephew said, laughing, “I have my finger in my butt.” My mother told them that they should not talk that way. The niece said, “We are in the bathroom. It’s okay to talk like this in the bathroom.” I suppose she was thinking of potty talk.

Make that two Christmas observations.

Is the music for “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus” so good that it warrants an instrumental version? Because I thought the song was dependent on the titular line “I Saw Mommy Kissing Santa Claus.” It’s kind of like a comedian humming the tune of a joke. I guess it could work if its an old joke.

Did you ever have one of those mornings where you woke up in Kewaskum but you were sure you went to bed in Wauwatosa?

Breakfast

Luke says presentation is one of the more important considerations when serving a meal. He says a little color can make all the difference in the world. I do not know why these words are underlined.

Pen Yan

I do not remember what this boat smelled like, but it reminds me of Dave who worked in a boat shop across the lake from Pen Yan, New York. Pen Yan is the boat’s brand. The green Johnson would suit this boat well.

Sea Horse

When I was your age I loved the smell of the gas/oil burning when a motor like this was running. They say smell is a strong memory trigger and this time I think they are right. Once, when I was about 6 years old, I fell asleep in class and woke up to what I thought was an outboard motor running. I lifted my head from my desk and realized I was in school and that the motor I had heard was from a passing car. I hated school and loved summer. I still love summer.

Ivy Leaguer

I’ve got this friend whom I’ve known for years and one day he was talking to me about how great the school I went to was: great tradition of education, old, famous, ivy covered walls. I finally asked him what school I went to. He said Harvard. I had to break it to him that I did not go to Harvard. Then I told him that it is a good thing I didn’t go to Yale either or I’d be offended. Then a couple of years later, I heard him talking to his girlfriend about me and the fact that I attended Harvard. I guess he forgot. This time I figured, “no harm no foul,” and let it stand. It could be just me but I feel I get more respect from the two of them than I would if I hadn’t gone to Harvard.