Alpha Order

I had thought of how recently I had checked what I had for CDs for Lady Gaga, Eminem, and Pink. But some other music acts are also well-represented. Looks like the winner in my collection is Smashing Pumpkins, with 10 CDs including the Mellon Collie double-CD. Some of those I have are singles, but I still like having them. I really like hearing their song 'Tonight, Tonight' at the comedy club tonight before the show. Getting these more into alpha order than they were means I have a better idea of what's there. I have a zipup case, two open cases, and a box that once held copy paper. The four acts mentioned here are the ones now in the zip-up. This might also prompt me to get rid of some I haven't listened to in a while and really don't want, I've done this before. Another one well-represented as I recall is U2, and I did seem them in concert in St. Louis in 2005. Some still have the price tags on them, since I like buying used quite a bit.
   I did search some more about what is on Amazon dot-com earlier today. For Emerson Hough, I was surprised to find more items available. There are coffee mugs, framed art, and jigsaw puzzles depicting some of Emerson Hough's books. It was mostly 'Covered Wagon', 'North of 36', and 'Way To the West'. Though of the 17 items listed, 2 were from 'Story of Cowboy' as well. It made sense how the first two were done as art as 'Wagon' and '36' also were movies. But I don't have an account yet, so I expect to wait a little on ordering anything there.
   I found out a family friend did win re-election to the state legislature in Iowa, this is somebody I had sent campaign contributions to. It was a wider margin of victory than two years ago, but the same opponent.

Comics Unleashed Show

I was watching election coverage after getting back from the comedy club, projections early on were for Obama getting re-elected. Saw Romney's concession speech as well. Then eventually I fell asleep and a show called 'Comics Unleashed' was on. I watched it for a few minutes, one did a Kermit the Frog voice imitation that was dead-on. I recognized one of the comics on this show, as it was David Alan Grier, who was on 'Living Color' with Jim Carrey. Will have to ask if my comedian friends are familiar with this show. Thisd has happened before, where the show I see when I wake up becomes one that I enjoy. This happened with 'Big Bang Theory'. And with 'Twin City Live' as well, though it was a rebroadcast I saw overnight for 'Live'. It still prompted me to be in their studio audience eventually.
   I was onstage at the comedy club tonight, had hoped to see myself on video camera but found out the battery died so I don't know yet how much was filmed. I had just changed the memory card, which was full. I did recall hearing what sounded like the camera shutting off and turning back on, found out that was when the battery was dying. I did a joke about my shirt, which I had bought at Cracker Barrel, a patriotic one. I had received plenty of comments about it at work, including my department's senior leader saying he was saluting the shirt. Like some other performers, I was going out to the bar every so often to check the TV monitors to see how the election returns were going. I saw to it that I went to vote shortly after getting home from work. At first I was a little on edge as I saw plenty of people bunched up at the front door, but some were in line for same-day voter registration. So this did make the actual line much shorter. I had to wait in line for a few minutes, but not too long, after getting my ballot. I still wanted to vote at a booth where there would be some privacy.

Who Said Checkers?

At the comedy club tonight, one comic I know was doing a joke about board games and I shouted out 'checkers' more than once. Then he asked who said checkers, saying he was thinking of more recent board games. Well I will have to admit that the universal symbol for a game room at the airport does happen to be chess and checkers pieces.
  The show closer kept going and going, unfazed by people leaving, saying he was staying onstage until all crowdmembers left. I was asked when I came out to the bar how he was, I said he overstayed his welcome.
   The three postcards from Delcampe arrived, all of my hometown but were sent from the Carolinas. It is of the former junior high school, hospital, and the 'Maytag block'- now the Midtown Building. This brings me up to 10 on what I have for the E.C. Kropp series. The Charlie Brown postcard with Linus arrived as well, apparently was sold at a comic book convention in California advertising an upcoming graphic novel taking place in Japan.
   Recently I did look up when and where the next World's Fair and Pan-Am Games would be, found out the next Pan-Am Games would be in Toronto in 3 years. So it prompted me to look up what was available on E-bay, and I did see multiple listings for postcards from a previous Pan-Am Games, especially Winnipeg 1967. So it looks like another item to be put on the 'wishlist'.
  When I arrived home tonight there were plenty of flyers left on or next to my door about the upcoming election. Nothing unusual there, except I was used to them being inside my mailbox. I prefer them being in the mailbox as otherwise my home looks less 'lived in' and more of a target for thieves. This is why I know it is best to see what's at home after work before going anywhere.

Two More Loyalty Programs

When I got around to errand running in the evening, I got signed up for two more loyalty programs. Sort of, anyway. Since one had just needed to be activated and was technically there since 2009. This was Enterprise Rentacar. I can see my account which says I have some points from one rental at the St. Louis Airport in July, a city I make an annual visit to. The online customer service said I needed to choose a password more than likely, and it was enough.
   The other was with Godfather's Pizza. I wanted to get the card registered quickly since I had just received the card this weekend, eating there Saturday evening since it was too busy at Outback. I didn't want to forget about it. Two different ways to redeem points are for a free lunch buffet and a free large pizza apparently. I had hoped more locations were eligible but in Minnesota there was just two listed. Aside from Burnsville, where I got the card, they listed St. Cloud. But this is not in the Twin Cities metro area, so I'm not up there much.
   I went with my date to Mall of America earlier today to help another couple with looking at laptop computers. They were late, had planned on meeting them at 1pm. So when they arrived we said we wanted to eat first, and there were plenty of choices in the food court. I had Bourbon chicken and rice, and finished a taco that was offered to me. Liked seeing a McDonald's mural there with more than just Ronald on it, also Grimace- and Birdie the early bird. There were also larger than life size drinking cups and sandwiches above the storefront. I got pictures of both. It was nice finding home plate from the old baseball stadium, as well as the Harmon Killebrew home run seat. The banner is still up saying 'Thanks for the memories', as he died last year. So this time I got a picture of it on my digital camera, all I had with me last year was the camera phone.
   One of the places we looked at was the Apple store, but theirs are expensive. So we also looked at Best Buy, and I found a Pink CD I didn't have yet. It is my fifth, as I got 'Funhouse'. I had it on my list for a while to look at what I had for Eminem, I had four. One of these was a single, 'Without Me' and another was the '8-Mile' movie soundtrack, which made me a fan. The third I looked at was Lady Gaga, I had three. This includes 'Fame' and 'Fame Monster', and a 'Just Dance' single. I wanted to see what I already had for Eminem before I got more. I had the 'Used' tags on for many of them, most of them I bought at used shops. It's cheaper that way.
  Before we went to the mall we watched 'Great Pumpkin' on DVD, one of many Charlie Brown specials I have. I like the companion, 'It's Magic', as Charlie finally gets to kick the ball in it.

50 Cent Movie 'Freelancers'

Finished watching a Redbox movie, 'Freelancers', earlier today. Good cast, besides rapper 50 Cent there was Forest Whitaker and Robert De Niro. It was about corrupt cops in New York City. Plenty of rap music in it as expected. But I'm not sure if 50 Cent himself had any songs in it. The memorable one in the closing credits was just one word: decoy.
   In the afternoon I went to North St. Paul High School with my date to see a play: Hello Dolly. I did see that I read what the play was about in advance. In this day and age, it meant going online and printing the Wikipedia page. The song of the same name was played more than once. I noticed how it took a while for the curtain to go up when I first heard some music, my date said it looked like they wanted to finish the song before the play officially began.
   It was funny in many places, it was worth seeing. At the intermission we did get food and drink, I knew it was a high school play but was still surprised about how cheap it was. We got two drinks and a bag of popcorn for just two dollars.
  I liked seeing the venue again, I had seen two plays there before: 'Oklahoma' and 'Fiddler on the Roof'. I recalled seeing framed posters on the wall in the auditorium of their previous productions. This included 'Grease' and 'Byebye Birdie'. The former had catchy images on it, all were icons of the decade being covered in the play, the 1950s. This was Howdy Doody, Mickey Mouse Club, James Dean, and Marlon Brando all saying 'Grease is the word'. It does remind me how I haven't seen 'Wild One' yet, it looked like it was depicting Brando's role from that movie. A library may have it. Of those depicted there, I haven't seen 'Birdie' yet but would like to. I understand it's loosely based on Elvis Presley being drafted into the military.   

Squirrel Eating a Caramel Apple

At lunchtime today, I was out walking and saw a squirrel eat a caramel apple. Not sure how the critter found it, unless it was just left there. I had to study it for a while, seeing a stick in it and part of the caramel that was left as well. This was from a distance of course. Wonder how the squirrel felt about the sweet part on the apple.
   I did laundry tonight, and a notable event was checking it after I was done. I noticed there were some small holes in the back of a Snoopy shirt, so I am taking it out of the rotation and putting it in the back closet. I like it too much to rip it up and throw it in the trash, often what I do with a 'retired' shirt. This was a 50th anniversary shirt, so it's likely rare. All the more reason to keep it around in some form.
   I also went across the street from this laundromat to eat at the Chicago hot dog place. I did inquire about their interest in the Wolves minor-league hockey patch I have for their displays, was told they are in a holding pattern due to remodeling at their three locations. So I will be holding on to it for a little while longer.
  I still have a hard time figuring out their ketchup bottles, as those bottles there have a wide mouth. I usually end up with way more ketchup than I am going to use, as it flows so freely. Waste not, want not, is what I try to live by.
   Even though I am not contributing to their displays just yet, I did remind myself to bring a business card so I could give it to them. It looked like they had received many others, and now of course it is easier to contact me if need be.

Tru-Moo Chocolate Milk

When I was walking at lunchtime earlier today, I saw a gallon jug of Tru-Moo chocolate milk on top of a newspaper box, next to a green pepper of all things. I'm sure there was some really good story behind how both got there. I do like chocolate milk, but not in that size of container. I prefer single serving bottles. Portion control is a good game plan.
   A colleague had a 'Dex' bag, it was the first time I had seen mention of the company in a while. I liked their ads on T.V., where somebody personified a phonebook. One I really liked was a kid saying 'Dex, don't ask' when there was a bike lock (U-lock) stuck on his arm. I would expect that I'm seeing these commercials less often as I'm seeing phonebooks less often. Inside the skyway in downtown St. Paul I see how a set of four phones is down to one, along with just one phonebook hanging next to it. This is the kind where there are partitions for each phone, allowing for some privacy but not as much as a phone booth of course.
   My boss has been out of the office for a few weeks, went home ill at midday one day. A colleague in another department asked at lunchtime when my boss was coming back, I said I didn't know.
   There have been plenty of events this week at the office related to the Health Ahead program this week. This has included some cake, and today it was little bags of baby carrots. I got two bags as I wanted to finish up more of the dip I was given. I used to eat those carrots all the time in my lunch. But I haven't in a while, afraid of my lunch being stolen out of the refrigerator. So I bring soup on most days and heat it up, something I can keep at my cubicle.