Subway District Manager

      I had a half day at work due to the office closing early for the holiday. I ate lunch near the office, at a Subway. In the booth next to me was an older woman who was eating ice cream. A man came in and said to her he was a district manager and said she needed to order Subway food. With situations like this, I figure it is best to just observe and not get involved. She ended up ordering a salad and a drink. When she got back to the booth she dropped things down hard. I know I've seen people ejected from comedy clubs for heckling and being drunk, but I don't know how often I've seen somebody ejected for loitering. In both cases I am sure they don't enjoy it but will do so if need be. I was nearly finished with my food and drink by then. 
   I found a comedy show to attend tonight, same venue where I was at for New Year's Eve as last year. There was champagne for the countdown to midnight. One fellow comic did a camera phone picture of the two of us, looking forward to seeing it on Facebook. He does the 'Tony the Tiger on downers' joke about how cold it is in winter. Another comic looked like the lead character from the movie 'Anchorman 2' though he said he wasn't going for this look. But he did have the suit and mustache. The one good thing about showing up early was having more time to talk to the comics. With the anchorman look-alike, he said he attended 15 different schools. What I mainly recalled before was how he sometimes liked to wear a Black Flag hat, a music group. Another thing to do was check the TV monitors on the upper level, the Chick-Fil-A (f/k/a Peach) bowl was on, Duke vs. Texas A and M. According to my car radio Texas A and M came from behind to win it.
    I did say what I meant, how there was no other place I'd rather be than with my comedian friends. It did make me think of what I have done previously on New Year's Eve. At work the one I mentioned was attending a Barenaked Ladies concert when I lived in suburban Chicago. It purposely started late so the band would be onstage at midnight. Others would be my final one in Illinois a few years later. Much like four years after it, I had no idea what the year had in store for me. With one it was moving to the Twin Cities, with the other it was starting comedy. I am hopeful that it will be more of the same. I said I may have ended a relationship in August, but I think I will get to move onto bigger and better things soon. The responses I am getting on E-harmony sure suggest this. There may not have been any kisses for me at midnight, but I liked getting handshakes and hugs from a few people. This still works for me.

Brooklyn Football Jersey

      I called the History Book Club and was told I could send back the books just by writing 'Refused' and 'Return to sender' on the box as I hadn't opened it yet. So I did so at the post office near my office. When I was in line I was next to somebody who had a leather NHL organizer. At first I expected the jersey with him to be hockey as well, but found out it was football. He said it was for the Brooklyn Dodgers of the now-defunct AAFC. This league merged with the NFL in the 1950s and some of their teams survived the merger, like the San Francisco 49ers. I briefly got a look at the jersey before I was called and I think the uniform number was 48, it was white with blue letters. He said it had to say 'Brooklyn Football' as the baseball team in Los Angeles didn't allow the 'Dodgers' name to be used on it. This did remind me of how I am familiar with some of the intellectual property laws, or lack thereof. I am familiar with how some songs are basically the same, likely since those intellectual property laws didn't exist then. This includes how 'Green sleeves' and 'What child is this' are the same song, or even 'God save the Queen' and 'My country tis of thee' are also the same song.
    At the comedy club tonight, two comics ran the light, and I didn't have any heartburn about it as I didn't think either of them was funny. The first one was wearing a weird red helmet. I liked how one comic did the IED/IUD joke. The 'Extra murder' comic did the one about the teacher being unable to say 'Washington' correctly. I did say to the neck tattoo comic how I'd like to do the 'Ring of honor' photo soon. He was onstage tonight, but really didn't have the time tonight.

Right Hand Glove

   I went to a friend's comedy show tonight and decided to take the light rail into Minneapolis for it. After the show I lucked out how the train was stopped waiting for another operator. I saw two empty juice bottles to throw out at my stop. I also saw a right- hand glove on the floor, but I didn't pick it up. All I thought was somebody probably misses it, especially on a subzero night like this. It was a good show, I got a seat in 'The front row', said it just like the old Miller Lite commercials with Bob Uecker. It was The Turkeys, plenty of new material, though the 'Leon' skit was not new, where my 'Bestie' was shot at the end, like the movie 'Old Yeller'.
  I tried watching pro football today but fell asleep near the end of the Vikings-Lions game, the final one in the Metrodome. This also happened with the later game, Bears-Packers, Bears lost 33-28. I got my laundry done in the morning before the games started.
   Another notable thing was plenty of activity with the Internet dating. I am trying to get some more dates set up soon. I guess since the holidays are winding down people are less busy. One of these was truly addition by subtraction. I got a profuse apology from one match, hearing 'I'm sorry' twice- through the Internet dating website, not my phone- for not returning my call. I was told it was fine to call when working, but I really don't want to call someone at work as I wouldn't want them to call me while I am working. I got voicemail a third time and said I'm no longer interested as I could tell how I'm not high enough on this match's priority list. I know there will be others, so I don't shed any tears for those who fall victim to 'Lack of effort'. I prefer waiting to decide until I meet matches in person, but this isn't the first time where I got tired of hearing excuses before an in-person meeting.  

Olympic Hockey Warmup

    This afternoon I went to the Xcel Energy Center in downtown St. Paul and saw a hockey game, it was a warm-up for the Olympic Games. It was my first-ever women's hockey game, the US team was playing the Canada team. The US team won, but it went to a shootout, with the US getting the only goal in the shootout.  The US team had a goal midway through the first, and at the end of the second. The Canada team tied it 2-2 with goals about a minute apart midway through the third. It was shortly after a coincidental minor penalty happened, and then the tying goal was on a power play. I bought a program during the first intermission, after asking another fan where they found one. The team picture had all of the players in uniform, but the individual pictures had them in street clothes. Just under half of them were wearing dresses or skirts. I guess this kind proves that sex sells, even in hockey.
    There was some errand running to do before and after the game. I went to the Best Buy in Roseville to pay on my account, since they billed me for Anti-Virus protection on my laptop, It is
the only thing now billed on the card annually. While there I looked at DVDs and got two, along with a Bart Simpson magnet. One of the DVDs was also Simpsons- Christmas episodes, first edition, five episodes. I recently got the second edition, four episodes, from Blockbuster. While there I saw the grouchy woman from the bus, but didn't talk to her. She had her fold-up grocery cart with her. Also near me was some people saying they wanted R. Kelly music.
   Before I left to handle this errand I saw a box waiting for me. It was from the History Book Club, and I said I didn't order any books. I did send a message online to them later on, asking them to cancel my account. Usually I respond to their email saying not to send their selections, but for some reason I was taken off their email list. It proves it was too hard to keep up with them, especially when I hadn't ordered any books in a while. I hadn't even included it as one of my memberships when recently taking inventory in my record book. I thought of it as an inactive one, since there was no fee to be paid. I will have to figure out what to do with the books, if I need to pay postage to send them back. But I haven't opened the box just yet.
    After the game I went to the Blockbuster Video liquidation sale. I bought two new videos, it was 'Shrek 2' and the Johnny Cash biopic 'Walk The Line'. I also got two Butterfinger candy bars. When I got back I checked my phone and there was a message waiting, we spoke for a while as it was an online match. We are planning on having dinner next weekend.       

Old McDonald Had A Farm

      When I was riding the bus home from work there was some kids sitting near me. At first one of the girls said 'Merry Christmas' but after a while she kept saying 'Old McDonald had a farm'. The adults spoke in a foreign language. They were possibly from India, so I'm not sure about how they felt about the kid saying something about Christmas as it probably wasn't their religion. 
   At the comedy club tonight there was a no-show early on. The 'Extra murder' comic said he had been performing across town tonight in front of a much bigger crowd than this one. One comic just ranted about birthdays, and said his golden birthday will be on New Year's Eve. It does remind me of how I haven't picked a New Year's Eve show to attend just yet. There are six Facebook invites, plenty to choose from.
   Two E-bay orders arrived, both were postcards from the Chicago World's Fair, so now I have 37. I added an interior view of Fort Dearborn, to go with an exterior view. The other was from the Sanford Ink exhibit. In my searches I found a Montgomery Ward postcard from a World's Fair, Omaha 1898 if I'm not mistaken, but it was expensive. It did lead to me finding a first day cover from 1972, honoring a century of mail-order businesses, which Wards was the first. I have just one Wards postcard and I am pleased there is a first day cover stamp available as well. It of course means more to me when I started working for a Wards business, and we were bought out less than a year later.

Team by Lorde

     I was driving over to the comedy club tonight after printing some event tickets at the library. I heard one song on my car radio and wondered if it was by Lorde, since the voice sounded familiar. I wrote down the lyrics 'I'm kind of over' and 'So there'- found out it was Lorde, the song is called 'Team'. I liked finding the video on Youtube, as she raises her hands and arms up to her shoulders at one point. This seemed familiar to me, in some ways I see it as a mind exercise, keeping focused while busy. Her big hit 'Royals' was catchy, I like knowing she has some other good songs out there. It was a good comedy show as usual, though not typical. It was at a bar that had two stages- and the other was for karaoke. I haven't done karaoke, they alternated it with the comedy performers. I was one of the comedy performers, and one of the jokes I did was about how I spent my Christmas.
   I watched two episodes of 'Big Bang Theory' tonight. The syndicated rerun was when Raj got an honor from People magazine, and he takes Penny as his guest since he gets arrogant and alienates his colleagues at the university. The prime time episode was when the gang plays Dungeons and Dragons, after Amy is put on the no-fly list. Originally the girls planned on going to Las Vegas. Raj bowed out of the game after getting a date with Lucy. This is one storyline that I am annoyed by: because Lucy keeps bailing on Raj. It's too much like Lucy pulling the football away in the 'Charlie Brown' specials.
   I made the most of my day off, reading some back issues of the paper from the month of May. I also made it over to one place to see about a Charlie Brown and Snoopy statue lead. It did lead to finding one, though not at the same place, still in the West Metro. Somehow I stumbled onto one, after the directions I was given, it may have been the same one. Hard to say if I will find more, as I already was low on ideas. It meant something to get one if at all possible this month, but entering the new year I am wondering if it's worthwhile to continue when I've already found more than expected. I've found over 170, and expected to run out of ideas before reaching 100.
   An E-bay order arrived, another Chicago World's Fair postcard, this one was Thompson Restaurant. So now I have 35 from this fair. There was two other postcards thrown in, I know the listing said to expect it. One was of the Ford Bronco from the 1970s and the other was a hotel in Milwaukee. I know at times there are other items added to what was ordered, sometimes these extras are fun to have, especially the postcards.

Charlie Brown Flash Mob

      This evening I still watched some of 'The Fly Show' as one of the teasers was about a Charlie Brown flash mob in New York City, acting out the Christmas special. It was a nice touch, having somebody play piano as well as string bass, then somebody showed up in a Snoopy costume. After the first half I switched over to 'Yule Log' on Channel 45. I like hearing all of the music on it, though I just shut it off as I was about to hear 'Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer' again. I could tell some of the songs were repeated, and I didn't even watch much of it at a time. I did like hearing some Johnny Cash songs of course.
  It was kind of nice to stay in today and have very little to do. I watched two DVDs, first was 'Christmas Vacation'. With any movie one can notice things about it the more they watch it. I recall seeing it at the theater. When I was going through my list of movies to see if there were any other holiday movies I hadn't seen lately I ran across one I hadn't recalled seeing since buying it. This was 'My Sassy Girl', based on a Korean movie. It didn't take long where I was getting annoyed with it, which isn't good. The girl kept driving the guy crazy, and he still stays with her for a while. Then at the end she states why she did all of this. Since I didn't enjoy this movie much, I destroyed the disc and found another disc to put into the case. Thankfully this is rare where I didn't like a movie I had bought. This is why I prefer to rent them or get them on loan from the library, in case I didn't like them. It tends to be cheaper than owning and then I don't need to find storage space either.
   After this I watched two editions of 'Jeopardy' back to back. I like to watch it when I have a day off. In fact I didn't go outside until evening, as I wanted to take a walk around the neighborhood and I
needed the exercise. I wanted to check to see what businesses were open, not many as expected. A few restaurants, a bar, a convenience store/gas station, and an animal hospital. I also saw two cop cars- parking enforcement- as the snow ordinance will be going into effect tonight. This means there was enough snow last night to declare a 'Snow Emergency'. It worked well on getting to the grocery store yesterday so I didn't have to go to a convenience store for meals. I had a Michelina's chicken and pasta meal at midday, then a small frozen pizza in the evening.  

Lipton Pureleaf Ice Tea

      I'm looking at a cap that says 'Lipton Pure-leaf'. It's a nice reminder of how I like to take on a challenge. I passed by a file cabinet at work when submitting a report today and saw it. But I needed a ruler to fish it out. For those who know me best they know I do things like this- pick up other people's trash.
   I did a half-day at work, there wasn't much to do today due to the holiday. My primary duty, special requests, was nonexistent. I had to cover for a colleague who was out so I was still busy for a while, with a share of a payoff report. There were some returned documents that had piled up as well, so I got them entered in the system and re-filed well before when I left at midday. I ate in the skyway before getting on the bus for home. I stopped at The Nectary, first time in a while. They now have a loyalty program with a smart-phone app. I am pleased that it is accepted at various other places, like Candyland which is also downtown. The program is called 'Belly'. An E-bay order arrived, the World's Fair postcard of the General Motors building, Chicago 1933. So now there are 34 cards from this fair, and a total of 72 from all fairs.
    I stayed in tonight for a while as there was no comedy show to attend. Eventually I did get on the road for a church service. I don't know why I was afraid to drive there after seeing the snowfall, unless it was because I didn't want to brush the snow off my car that bad. I got around just fine. I kept laughing when they played 'Silent Night' as I thought of a joke that my 'Bestie' does about the song. I sent a message on Facebook about it. Now I am watching 'Yule Log' on Channel 45, as this is sort of my Christmastime tradition now. They did play a song from Charlie Brown Christmas.  

Amazing Grace, Bittersweet Symphony

     I went to the Artists Quarter tonight for their final open-mic, as we know it, and I did do some stage time. Much like some other entertainment venues in the area, it is closing due to an ownership issue. This happened with First Avenue and The Myth as well. Both stayed closed for a while until the ownership issue was settled. It seemed appropriate, in terms of some of the songs played tonight by the techie in the back, such as 'Bittersweet Symphony' by the Verve. But also the songs done by the performers themselves, this included 'Amazing Grace'. When I hear it I think of seeing the movie 'Last Days of Disco', as it was in the movie. I saw it shortly after moving to suburban Chicago in 1998. I wrote down some lyrics for another one that was catchy, I heard it as 'If I would become a stranger'. I think it is a song called 'Caledonia', I found multiple versions on Youtube. I liked being able to get a souvenir, the ticket I was given to choose my spot in the lineup. I took a picture of it next to my drink as well.
    Two E-bay orders arrived, one was Chicago World's Fair postcards- two more, up to 33 for this fair. The other was Expo 67 in Montreal- 12 more, up to 18 for this fair.

We're The Millers Movie

     I went to a Redbox inside a McDonald's at midday and got the movie 'We're the Millers'. It had been promoted at the comedy club, and I have a poster from it. This movie was all right, but cheesy in some places. I did like the jokes about 'Real-life Flanders'- as a 'Simpsons' fan- and someone else looking like Eminem. There were outtakes in the credits and these were funny as well. It was about a drug dealer, stripper, virgin, and runaway posing as a family while doing a drug run in Mexico. Hard to say what made the movie, it may have been when they met another family with an RV. Having some star power in it helped of course, as Jennifer Aniston played the stripper. I had the movie in my possession for just under eight hours, long enough to watch it and get it back to McDonald's. I was out of breath trying to get over there by the time I expected the store to close, 9pm. I didn't want to wait until the next day to return it even though there would have been no extra charge.
   I called my dad tonight while watching the Bears-Eagles football game, it was in the fourth quarter and the Bears were already way behind by then. I placed two more E-bay orders for World's Fair postcards, specifically Chicago 1933. It was an interior view of Fort Dearborn, and a cartoonish one of young women at the beach. When searching for more ideas online I found out there were plenty of sites that have these World's Fair postcards, even if they are not for sale there. One of these was Flickr, the photo sharing site, and I hadn't seen this site in a while. It is a good idea to try various sites as selection can vary, but I am pleased already by what I have found on E-bay. I know Amazon is another good one to try, but I have placed just one order there so far. The Wikipedia article about the World's Fair did say there is a 'Seemingly endless supply of souvenirs still available'.  I wrote down the names of nearly twenty different sites that mentioned having these postcards when I did a Yahoo search. It did yield a few that I hadn't seen yet, like an interior view of the Ford Building and one of the Walgreen Building. Now it means going more in-depth to find out where these are for sale. I prefer to minimize the number of accounts I open, especially if I may just place one order there. So it is best to try accounts that are already open first, like Delcampe and Amazon.

Come To Me, Goo Goo Dolls

    While doing shopping and errand running today I heard a catchy song on my car radio. As usual, what helped was some key lyrics so I could find it online. It was 'Come to me' by the Goo Goo Dolls. The hooks for me was 'You're my girl, I'm your groom' and 'My sweetest friend'. After finding it on Youtube some other lyrics resonated with me. 'History is like gravity' and 'We've all got sins'. With the former it has to be since I majored in history. With the latter it has to be since at times I've had a hard time forgiving myself for mistakes made. I also liked mention of a fortune teller in it. I had seen a fortune teller at the Renaissance Festival before. This was somebody who advocated that I write more, and this was before I started blogging.
   I accomplished plenty today, much like last week. I got to five of the six items on my list. I made it to the library and typed up a response letter to a Christmas card from a family I knew in suburban Chicago that now lives near Milwaukee. After this I thought about going to use a JC Penney gift card but there was too much traffic at Rosedale Mall in Roseville so I went on to the next place, antiques. I got two postcards and a Winter Carnival button, the button was from 1964 so now it is the oldest one I have. One of the postcards was of the Chicago World's Fair, Admiral Byrd's polar ship. I looked through another area of the shop to find another postcard, when sifting through I wasn't sure if I expected to find a good one but I did. It says 'Don't take life seriously, it'll laugh at you anyway'. I got it for less than a dollar! I said it really works for me since I do comedy, but even if I didn't I think it would resonate. After this was Walgreen, where I needed toilet paper but got a few other items as well. This included a Snoopy felt door hanger with a Christmas theme. Then it was time to get home and unload things, and I went to get groceries before watching the news and having dinner at Subway. A woman said she had groceries parked outside while ordering sandwiches. This seemed odd, but sure enough a cart full of groceries was near the door when I left. I wouldn't be this trusting.
    My final stop was Blockbuster Video for the liquidation sale. I got two more DVDs, the baseball movie 'Sugar' and the other was 'Lost in translation' starring Bill Murray. I got two more bags of microwave popcorn and two Girl Scout candy bars. There isn't much left on some of the snack foods. The clerk had a nametag saying he was the manager and said the end was near, about two weeks. When I got home I did watch part of one video I had bought at Blockbuster earlier- two episodes of 'Newhart'. I chose the first episode, from the fall of 1982, and the one from late January 1983, close to when my family moved to Newton. It was a reminder of cast changes as the Minuteman Café owner was Kirk in this first season. He seemed to be a weak character due to being a compulsive liar. Larry and the Darryls as I recall later operated the café, next to the Stratford Inn.
   An E-bay order arrived, four of the World's Fair postcards, including two from oil companies- Havoline and Gulf. So I added five today to the photo album, bringing my total to 31 for this fair. After the late news was 'Life to the Max', and one of the features was about the Metrodome since it will be closing soon but I thought the segment was lackluster.

Curt Teich, or Curteich

    I tried another way of researching World's Fair postcards online-besides E-bay- in order to get more ideas on what to order. It led to a discovery of one of the card companies. It was Curt Teich, or Curteich, founded by a German immigrant who died in the 1970s. The archives were donated to a suburban Chicago library, in Wauconda which is in Lake County. According to some online articles, one collection contains 3,000 postcards! So what I have, under a hundred, pales in comparison. I liked how the Wikipedia article helped with clues on understanding the numbering system on the cards, including the year made. I did order another card today, had to bid on it since it. There are a few more ideas but some will have to wait. I have a list of 12 that I've cut to 6 and will likely have to be cut some more, as I still have to think of my budget.
    I went to the comedy club tonight and one comic really ripped up a heckler. This was the comic that does the killing a spider/killing a bee joke. I got a few more shout-outs and I still like to get these. At work I covered for a colleague who was out of the office by doing the special requests in the afternoon.

Reality Bites

    This morning, I watched another one of the DVD's I bought recently: 'Reality Bites'. I don't think I had seen it much since seeing it at the theater. It was part of the 'Triple feature' I got at Walgreen, all of them starring Ben Stiller. The other two were 'Mystery Men' and 'Along Came Polly'. I've seen the former but not the latter. Since I claim Janeane Garofalo as a comedy influence I liked seeing her in 'Reality Bites'. I liked seeing this movie as it was a 'Coming of age' story. Though of course the story is mainly about the Winona Ryder character, especially the love triangle. When seeing it at the theater I recall well that they were watching an episode of 'One day at a time'. I liked seeing a Social Distortion song in it, 'Story of my life' when doing the video clips with the same name as the movie title.
   In the early afternoon I had a dental appointment, cavity fillings. I did eat lunch before getting there, stopping at a Cub Foods. It was a simple lunch, a Spam Single, a small bag of Lay's BBQ, and at the vending machine a can of Hawaiian Punch. Considering the dental work being done it was a good idea I ate in advance. I went to the bathroom right before and right after the procedure. I liked getting a coupon applied to the total, as I had to admit the cost was one reason why I delayed it for months. But finding the time was another, as I prefer to avoid taking time off from work. Well I already had the day off so that made it easier for me.
   In the evening I did watch two 'Big Bang Theory' episodes. The syndicated rerun was one I had seen before, where Howard is at the ER for a peanut allergy, a ruse for a surprise birthday party for Leonard. As usual I liked a line from Penny: making a deal with Howard, and it meant setting up one of her friends with him. The primetime episode was also a rerun, from early in the season where Leonard returned early from being at sea. After that I took a walk around the neighborhood, despite it being winter it was still bearable for me. I didn't see much trash to pick up, though one item was an empty bag of 'Professional Ice Melter'- a 50-pound bag.
    An E-bay order arrived, The Covered Wagon restaurant postcard. I made two more orders as well, one of them was Expo 67 postcards. At $8.50 I liked getting more than ten for less than a dollar apiece. The other order was when I was willing to check the 'Bid on' items- and found another one from the Chicago 1933 fair I liked. It was the General Motors building, and got it for $1.50. I just  happened to discover it about 30 minutes before the end of the auction. I gleaned a few more ideas from looking at the auction items, like another railroad.  

Rhythm Of Love By Plain White T's

     This evening I recognized a song used in a TV commercial, it was 'Rhythm of love' by the Plain White T's. At first I thought it was a jewelry commercial, wasn't paying attention close enough. My online search results said it was for cosmetics, Estee Lauder, which directed people to find it at Macy's. I liked the lyric 'My heart beats like a drum' as I have often had an appreciation for the drummers in music. So to me this was the hook in the song. For this band, I also liked another one of their songs- 'Delilah'.
   When I was on Youtube checking this song out again I also listened to 'We can't stop' by Miley Cyrus. This is a song I had written about before. A previous visit to the comedy club was remembered, where somebody said Miley sang about drugs in it with the lyric 'Dancing with molly'. Well I don't know all slang, but articles I found said MDMA- or 'Ecstasy'- is sometimes known as 'Molly'. Originally I said I didn't understand what 'Twerking' was, but who am I to judge? After watching 'Jeopardy' and seeing it as a clue on that show, I do know. But I still say the same about this song. I know that musicians have long sang about sex and drugs- so it is in no way shocking to me. I once had a coworker say the title to an oasis song- 'What's the story, morning glory?' was a British slang term for sex and drugs. In one article, on the Huff Post, Miley said one thing I agreed with- how there are more important things in the world than her song. It has been edited in some places due to controversy.
   At the comedy club tonight, I did go onstage , and it meant trying out plenty of new jokes. One was about taking the 'Stuffie' to work and putting it in the Toys for Tots donation box as I had no use for it. I also spoke about another edition of 'Wii Dancing'- which is done for 30 minutes in the afternoon. One of the songs we danced to for exercise was 'Venus' by Banana-rama. I can understand the lyrics better when they are on the screen. Another one was 'Are you going to go my way' by Lenny Kravitz, one we had danced to recently. It's a really active one so a good one to choose again. The show runner said this blog is often about music, an excellent observation. The show closer did the science joke about Newton's Laws of Motion, which ends with her 'Having a cigarette'.   

Yoga At Church

    At the comedy club tonight, one of the performers was the wife of a cop. I really like her joke about doing yoga at church. Other jokes done were about being married to a cop. Another performer has been MC at another club, I like his joke about being cast for the movie 'Rush Hour 4'. I understood it as being cast for the role normally played by Chris Tucker. The show closer was the 'Bathtub comic'. I liked his joke about cats and couches, as it included mention of laser pointers. I said I could visualize it well since I've seen how a laser pointer keeps a cat occupied for a while. This happens when I see my college roommate's cat. Also notable was a comic saying he was a divorce attorney in his 50s.
    It was nice to have a day off for errand running and resting. I did call about a lead on a Charlie Brown and Snoopy statue. I mentioned being a writer and comic and stated where the blog can be found. It seemed relevant as searching for these statues has led to me writing about it and even telling stories while doing comedy about it. There have been some funny stories about finding them, since I have found over a hundred. I hope to be contacted soon so I can get a picture of it as I don't ave one yet for this month.
   Another E-bay order arrived, a Chicago World's Fair postcard, so now I have 26. It was Kitchen Klenzer, on one side it says 'Snow scenes in summer attract interest'. It is in the Horticulture Building at the fair, and the snow is made from components of Kitchen Klenzer. I did place two more orders today, as I liked finding some more train postcards.

Shirtless Man With Fast Food

     Tonight at the comedy club I saw a shirtless man do a routine about fast food that was meant to be sexual. He used a McDonald's burger. I said to another comic how I was a little stunned. It was definitely out of the ordinary. Also notable tonight was seeing a sultry woman do a song from the movie 'Roger Rabbit'. It was 'Get me some money too', the song performed by Jessica. When I was walking back to my car I passed by a bus stop and a woman said 'Hey' to me and I didn't quite understand what she said after it, I just kept walking, didn't stop at all.
   Four E-bay orders arrived today, bringing me eight more postcards from the 1933 Chicago World's Fair so now I have 25. It included three different train postcards, from the Burlington Route, Chicago and Northwestern, along with the Baltimore and Ohio. The Burlington card included a locomotive from 'Royal Scot', I understand it as being from Scotland. The B and O card was of a 'President Cleveland' locomotive, one of 21 'President type' engines. There were two others that happened to be throw-ins and not from a World's Fair. One was an Illinois Central station in Rockford, IL, and the other was 'The General' at Union Depot in Chattanooga, TN. It says it was made famous by Andrews' Raiders, an event in the Civil War.
     Also among the World's Fair postcards was one of Soldier Field and the Field Museum. The sender said they were among the 120,000 at the Notre Dame-Navy game, and hoarse from yelling. 'Chicago World's Fair' is underlined at the bottom and it says 'Come on down for this'. The postmark suggests the card was made before the fair, apparently October 1928 or 1929. But it looks like they did make it as I have another one, of Hotel Wacker. That one does have a 1933 postmark on it, and speaks of getting to the fair at midnight. The Soldier Field postcard is nice to have as it shows an obelisk from the south end. I hadn't seen it with an obelisk before, and don't know for sure if it ever had one. Since I don't know when the photo was taken, and other listings seem to suggest it may have been an artist rendering.

Plastic Grocery Bags

     I still had some chores and errand running to do today, and got started on it fairly early. This included going into the closet and cleaning out the plastic grocery store bags. I ended up sending 3 bags full back to the store. I think they had piled up over the past year. As I recall I last donated them over Thanksgiving weekend that year. I recognized some of them that I kept, as it included ones from South Dakota- the Mitchell Corn Palace and Mount Rushmore. I also kept one from Blockbuster Video, since they are doing liquidation sales and this serves as a good souvenir. I also took out the trash and recycling.
    In the afternoon I did try to watch some of the Vikings-Eagles football game on TV but I fell asleep in the second half, the Vikings were up 27-22 at the time and when I woke up they were ahead 41-30. They went on to win 48-30. One of the things I got around to at this time was preparing three Christmas cards for those who just sent them to me. After the game ended, eventually I made it over to the fitness center. It was my first visit there in a while. I did the pedaling machines, I like those as I can sit down and it is easier on my back. When I showered after I was done I thought about how it was the only time I showered over the weekend, as sometimes I don't get around to it much on days when I don't work.
     In the evening I watched 'The Simpsons', a Christmas episode where guests came to Springfield to see snow. I also watched some of the Bengals-Steelers football game but fell asleep after a while. I placed an E-bay order for a postcard of The Covered Wagon restaurant in Chicago, thinking of course of Emerson Hough, who wrote the novel 'Covered Wagon'. There are also postcards of a location in St. Paul, so it is on my list to order at some point.   

Cracked Campbell's Soup On The Go

     This was a day of shopping and errand running for me. In the middle of it I get home and notice in the food cupboard how there was a leak from the soup. It was a crack in the Campbell's 'Soup on the go'- chicken noodle. So I opened up the other end and dumped it in the sink. I am less likely to try it now that this has happened as I hate to waste food. There usually isn't any problem with cans, and of course 'Soup on the go' is plastic.
    I had an ambitious list of things to do on an index card, nine in all. It felt good that I got to all but one- going to the fitness center. But I have Sunday for this of course. First was to the bank to have change counted and deposited in my savings account. Also stopped at the ATM while there. On to the library where I checked email and typed out letters that will be going into Christmas cards. It was mid-afternoon by then and I was hungry as I didn't have lunch yet, so I went to get a Little Caesar's pizza. It was time as I have been getting a large pepperoni once a month, which is three meals for me. Then it was back home, where I discovered the soup problem.
   I stopped at two different antique shops, looking for Winter Carnival buttons. At the first I was told the man in charge of that section of the store hadn't been in for a while, he had a stroke. So I found another shop closer to the Xcel Center, I had been there in the summer as well. I got two buttons there- one was from St. Paul's 1968 Winter Carnival- now the oldest one in my collection. The other button was from the Minneapolis Aquatennial in 1974, an event I finally attended this summer. The third item was a World's Fair postcard- the Chrysler building from the Chicago 1933 fair. So now there are 17 cards that I own from this fair. I made another stop at the ATM before my next destinations, first it was Barnes and Noble. I had a 25 percent off coupon and used it for a Charlie Brown Christmas snow globe. Much like other mini-kits there was a little book inside. On to Dairy Queen, where I used a 2 for 1 coupon for Blizzard treats. As usual I ate one there and took the other one home for another day. This left two more things to do.
    I made it home shortly after the 6pm news started, and I didn't feel like changing the channel or shutting off the TV so I ended up watching 2 more hours before I went out again. First was a Time-Life infomercial about Johnny Carson hosting The Tonight Show. I liked how there was a brief clip of Bob Newhart speaking about it. Next was prime time, and there was two Christmas specials that I watched. First was Rudolph the red-nosed reindeer, for one hour. Then it was Frosty the snowman for a half hour, the original one. A later version was on after it but I don't enjoy it as much, so I finally went out and had dinner at Taco Bell- the Loco Taco box. After this it was a drive over to the Blockbuster Video liquidation sale. I got two videos- the one I watched part of tonight was South Park Christmas episodes. There are seven in all, I watched two- one of them was 'Christmas in Canada', which I recognized as a takeoff of 'Wizard of Oz'. The second was 'A crappy Christmas' and did have mention of the Charlie Brown Christmas special in it. It replaces the VHS tape I got in San Francisco when on vacation there in 2004, 'Best of South Park'. It was from Amoeba Music, a used music and movies shop.
   The other video was 'Glory', a Civil War movie I had seen at the theater with my dad. I also got two more bags of microwave popcorn, along with a Butterfinger candy bar. Looks like some items are already sold out, like the 6-packs of little candy bars I had been steadily buying so far. I arrived there later than I wanted to, as a clerk did notify me how it was just 15 minutes until closing and I hadn't looked at everything just yet.
   After watching the 10pm news- in progress when I got back- I went to the grocery store, my final errand. 'Life to the Max' with Mike Max had a feature about former NFL QB Cory Sauter, now a small-college football coach. I also got in the mood for some music on Youtube and eventually found some Eminem songs I liked. I'm not sure if I had heard them before. One was 'Cleaning out my closet', the other 'Whatever you say I am'. I like how his songs are so honest and personal, working through things with his music.   

Must Be The Money

    I've seen a TV commercial for Honey Nut Cheerios cereal. It has Nelly, the rapper, in it along with his song 'Ride with me'. But the hook in the commercial is 'Must be the honey' instead of 'Money'. I found the video to the original song on Youtube and I recognize it as a spoof of the movie 'Smokey and the Bandit' with Nelly driving a Pontiac Firebird Trans Am. After finding the commercial there, I also found his St. Louis song.
   I had stage time at the comedy club tonight. The jokes I tried out earlier in the week are doing well.
At work I took a calendar into the office and left it in the main break room with a 'Free' stickie on it, and it was picked up right away. I was sent three calendars by non-profits that want my money, and I just need two- one for home and one for the office. So I figured somebody at work would want it. I stayed a few extra minutes to finish an email to my student in the mentoring program, so it meant taking a later bus home. One item was waiting for me when I arrived, a fleece sweatshirt. I don't like them just leaving things when I am out of the office but I don't know what other options they were given. The sign on my computer did say I would be returning the next day, so if they read it this may have told them it was fine to leave it there.
   On the way to the comedy club I liked hearing a documentary on Public Radio about American music. One segment was about the Grand Old Opry in Nashville, and apparently 'Opry' is in reference to 'Opera' music that was on New York radio stations for a while. There was also something about 'Border' music, radio stations who broadcast in Mexico where they were not subject to American law on what music was played. For an anniversary show at the Grand Old Opry, there was an appearance by President Nixon.  

Weird Condom Comedian

    I went to the comedy club tonight, and notable was one comic who said that people might remember him as the 'Weird condom guy'. He did jokes about the items he bought when also buying condoms to make the condom purchase less noticeable. This included Star Wars action figures and candy bars. There were giveaways at the end of the show, same as Monday's show, and it meant answering questions about the show- to see who was paying attention. I didn't win anything, and two of the items happened to be LP records, and I don't have a record player.
     I watched two episodes of 'Big Bang Theory' tonight. The syndicated rerun was when Sheldon got ill and Penny took care of him. Leonard shows up to try to get a spare pair of glasses and gets busted. The prime time episode was a takeoff of the Christmas movie 'It's a Wonderful Life'. In this case the gang spoke about what life would be like if they hadn't met Sheldon, who went to Texas to be there for his sister giving birth.
    I had the day off from work and I made it over to Macy's at Rosedale Mall in Roseville to use a gift card. I got a nice blue shirt and some socks, with the gift card of $25 it brought the total down to $1. I printed some items at the nearby library as well. Looks like all is not lost despite not using last week's Barnes and Noble coupon, as I was sent another one. Before I went there I watched one of my recently purchased DVD's- 'Overnight Delivery'. I had it on VHS and I like being able to junk another VHS tape by finding the same movie on DVD. This is one I bought at Walgreen, they do have some music and movies in a bin there. This movie was filmed in Minnesota and I did recognize many of the places in it. There was the Minneapolis Convention Center, the Stillwater lift bridge, and the OK Corral restaurant in Jordan, near Shakopee. I haven't eaten at this restaurant yet but it's still on my list to get there. As the name suggests it has a western theme, and I do see a covered wagon there when driving past. I also placed some more E-bay orders, as I noticed the billing cycle just started over. All of the orders I made include cards from the Chicago World's Fair in 1933, and two others (both trains) included are not from a World's Fair as far as I can tell from the photos. One of the listings was of trains at the World's Fair, three different railroads- the CNW, Burlington, and B and O.

Grumpy's Death Comedy Jam, 10 Years

     I am thankful I was part of the Grumpy's death comedy jam tonight, as it was the ten-year anniversary show. One comic, who does the 'I'm finally happy meal' joke, said he had been onstage 7 times. There was comedy scheduled for the entire day the bar was open, from 11am-2am. I had a Lone Star beer there, thinking of how it was unavailable at a venue I was at earlier this week. It looked like nearly every comedian in town was there. I arrived after a show at a another club. It was a notable day as I had stage time at 2 different places tonight. I followed the 'Extra murder' comic at the first show and my 'Bestie' at the second. At the first it sounded like there was just enough paying customers to have a show. At the second it was crowded when I arrived. Memorable will be two things in particular. One was keeping track of the comics by writing it down on a roll of adding machine tape. The other was the artwork. In the bar section it was plenty of beer ads of course, especially of some of the historically Minnesota beers: Schmidt and Grain Belt. In the comedy section it was the artwork, apparently of cosmonauts from the former USSR.
   At work we had the holiday party, as part of the advisory board I was asked to be a greeter. It seemed more like a pep rally at times, as there were plenty of high-fives on arrival.  

Laying Garland

    I had a half-day at work, and I was still able to help out with the decorations for the holiday party. The main thing I did was lay garland. It was hard to keep it in place next to the glass but I did my best to bend it so it would. At one point I said I thought of the movie 'Christmas Vacation' where Clark said to check every bulb.
     At the comedy club tonight I got two shout-outs, always thrilled to get those. One of them was from the MC, the Southern girl who is expecting. The other was from the comic who does the IED/IUD joke. I liked the former TSA agent doing one about winter, where his car sounds like Tony the Tiger on downers- 'Grr'. And how he needs help to swear in the winter, the car is the second part. He even did an acronym of what TSA means, it was funny.
     An E-bay order arrived, it was the World's Fair postcards. It was a nice variety, from four different fairs. Two from Chicago 1933, now there is 16. Two from New York 1939, now there is 7. First one from Seattle 1909. Three from Montreal 1967, now there is 6. It is a grand total of 42 postcards. I plan on ordering some more when the new billing cycle begins, which is in the next few days. Though I don't think there are many listings like the one I just found. Many of them appear to be from just one fair.  

History Of Burlesque

     I went to the comedy club tonight, but it was a slightly different show. This one started with a performer telling us about the history of burlesque. It was nice to hear how it originally was just jokes. Eventually it included stripteases. No surprise, I thought of the episode of 'The Simpsons' that had burlesque in it. And yes it had more than scantily clad women, as Bart took a turn onstage as a ventriloquist. Eventually we did get a demonstration, it was 'The tassels' spinning on her breasts. The banjo performer was there with a new song, it was one with innuendo. I would have liked hearing the Joe Biden song but it wasn't played tonight.
    At work I liked helping out as part of the advisory board after lunch. We gave out cookies and invite cards to the company's holiday party, slated for later this week. I got to know better where many of the people in the office are. I liked seeing some of them had St. Paul Saints softee baseballs from the season-opening block party, an event I like to attend. I gave out the cards, the AA did the cookies. Other people covered other parts of the office, so it took less than 30 minutes.

Wi-fi At Laundromat?

     This was an eventful day, starting off with getting laundry done. About midway through it I was asked what book I was reading. It was 'Nickel and Dimed' by Barbara Ehrenreich. I got to know this young man fairly well during this time at the Laundromat. He spoke of playing sports for much of his life, and is now interested in selling insurance. I said I had worked in life insurance, but not sales as it was customer service and billing. When he asked for contact information I gave a business card. I did have to say that I was likely a little rusty on some things about insurance as I haven't worked in that field for a while. But I may be of some help if he plans on taking exams related to it. I was asked if I knew the Wi-Fi password at this business, I did not. He brought his laptop and showed me the website where he is taking online courses.
  In the afternoon I went to see a play, 'The sexual life of savages', at the Minneapolis Theater Garage. This was the same venue where I saw Torch Theater do three episodes of 'Mary Tyler Moore'. I think it was my first visit to this theater since then. The photo on the front of the program was misleading, as there was no snake used in this play but it would be hard to have a snake during live theater. I understand it was a modernized version of a story from the 1920s. There was just five actors in it, and I did like the play as it was relatable. It was about relationships. There was a warning about nudity in it, actually it was partial nudity and very brief. The characters were believable as they seemed to be like some of the people I've known throughout my life.
   It was tough going through the winter weather after the play, as I drove over to the East Metro for a dinner date at a Chili's Restaurant. I got to the Roseville library and knew I wouldn't be on time so I stopped there and called. I liked how they have card machines at the table and don't need to give your card to a server to run it. After the date I went over to a Kohl's to use a gift card for some clothing. There is three dollars left on it, eventually I will figure out what to get to finish the card.  

Nebraska Movie, Bruce Dern

    This afternoon I went to see the movie 'Nebraska' starring Bruce Dern. I had seen a preview for it on TV and it intrigued me. It is in limited release so it meant seeing it at the Uptown Theater in Minneapolis. I liked it as it was a road movie. In addition I think of myself as a regionalist and liked how it had a Midwestern setting. I cheered when they stopped at Mount Rushmore on the way. I knew they likely would after the road sign for it was mentioned. It was called a dramatic comedy, which was definitely accurate. Much of the movie was a family reunion of sorts. The men didn't say much to each other, they spoke a lot about cars, or watched football together. It worked just fine being filmed in black and white, I know a few movies still are filmed this way. I would like to think it will get some Oscar nominations, a movie like this tends to. A karaoke scene reminded me of a favorite movie, 'Up In The Air'. This is a movie I would want to own on video, as I liked it that much. When I left the theater I picked up a poster. It isn't hung on the wall yet like some others are but it likely will be soon.
   Before and after seeing the movie my day was about chores and errand running. I did dishes, then it was on to the library to print some coupons. This included ones for a Dairy Queen Blizzard, it was a 2 for 1 deal. Others were a discounted egg nog at the grocery store, and a discount at Barnes and Noble. Then I drove over to the Uptown neighborhood and ate at Arby's. I don't think I've been to this location much before, as I often would like to eat at Popeye's chicken nearby. But now that Popeye's has expanded in this area I don't have to go all the way over there for it. After the movie I drove home and got groceries. Then it was on to the Blockbuster Video liquidation sale. I got two more videos, along with two more bags of microwave popcorn and a 6-pack of 100 Grand candy bars. The first video was four 'Simpsons' Christmas episodes. I brought my list with me and checked- I did have five Simpsons videos already but not of Christmas episodes. The other was 'The Jackal', starring Bruce Willis and Richard Gere. I had it on VHS- again, bringing the list helped- so I liked being able to junk another VHS tape. Much like before, I looked at all that was available, so I still have more ideas for what I will get during my next visit.
   I watched both of these videos tonight after getting back from Blockbuster- and from eating dinner at the Kentucky Fried Chicken across the street. With the subzero weather I didn't want to go to too much trouble with finding a place to eat. I had seen all of the four Simpsons episodes but it had been a while. I do recall seeing 'The Jackal' at the theater, back in 1997. It was during my year and a half of living in West Des Moines. When I went to junk the VHS copy of this movie I noticed the Hollywood Video sticker on it, a reminder of how I hadn't seen their stores in a while. So I looked up their Wikipedia article and it said they liquidated back in 2010. There was a website I found saying 'The new Hollywood Video' but it appears they may just be an online-only company now. I did take the Blockbuster stickers off of both of these videos already, these were previously viewed videos.  

Shuffles The Stuffie

     I was in the studio audience for the local TV show- 'Twin Cities Live'. As usual, there was plenty of free items for audience members. One of these was a stuffed animal. I was given Shuffles the Stuffie, a turtle. I said I will now have to find out who to give this to. It may be accepted at my company's Toys for Tots drive. There is a good chance I will use the laundry soap though, but it appears to be granular and normally I use liquid. It was tough going on the roads, due to the winter weather, so I am thankful I left early for the show. Since it was rush hour by the time I left the studio it took a long time to get home.  
   I went to the comedy club tonight, unfortunately the lasting impression was the comedians I didn't think were funny. One had some flashy leather pants on, and a red flower in his hair. Then he doesn't say anything for much of his time onstage, and then just screams. After a while even the techie guy in the back said he wouldn't be allowed to just stand onstage. I said I wondered if it was like one of the therapist sessions in my favorite movie, 'Good Will Hunting', which was a stare down. Then it ended when Will tells a joke about a flight attendant. Another comic seemed to be ripping off Larry the Cable Guy- not just the outfit, but also the jokes.

'The Monster' By Eminem And Rihanna

      I was watching 'The Fly Show' tonight and it said 'The Monster' by Eminem and Rihanna is currently the number one song in the Twin Cities. Well I have heard it on the radio and I do like it, as it is relatable. 'I'm friends with the monster under my bed'. How a bad influence, fears, demons, can still be too comfortable and familiar. I did check Youtube and it did list other songs that these two musicians have performed together. Of course there is 'Love the way you lie'. The other I am not near as familiar with- it is called 'Numb'. At first look it was weird, for lack of a better term.
  Recently there were some other Eminem songs I liked listening to, and I just found them again. There was 'no love' with Lil Wayne. I recognized how they sampled from a song now famous in a Saturday Night Live skit that eventually became the movie 'Night At The Roxbury'. The one about the two men who go clubbing and like to slam-dance or mosh. This song is about a bullied kid, and I know Pink did a song about this subject as well. The other one was 'Space Bound', about a relationship with a woman. Since it did depict a little domestic violence it reminded me of 'Love the way you lie'. I still like how Eminem is really clever in his word-smithing, as he does say 'Evil spelled backwards' at one point. Of course the word is 'Live'.
      I am still going through listings of World's Fair postcards on E-bay. I hadn't done this in a while, especially with the two fairs held in New York in 1939 and 1964. It is helpful to see which one has a 'Lone listing' as I should order these first. It can lead to more findings as the listings can ebb and flow.
   At work I did get to see more of the letter ordering on the paid in full and settled in full offers. It does make more sense once you're actually doing it yourself.

Socrates And Air

      I liked the show closer at the comedy club tonight. He started off with intelligent humor, about Socrates teaching a lesson to a kid. He wanted air, after nearly drowning. I listened to the comic after the show and he said he had played college basketball at the U. of Washington. The show runner did a joke I really liked about being accepted to a college, Globe University. So was her dad, who she said is no longer alive. It was also a joke as she already has an MBA. I know this as one of those 'for-profit' colleges and they have been in the news before due to allegations of fraud.
   At work I was shown a new process, sending out settlement letters, in the afternoon. But I still need I.T. access to this system. It will be nice to pick up another skill though. I didn't like having this training session done entirely at another cube, but my boss really wants this to happen so he isn't letting the lack of I.T. access prevent the training from happening. It of course will mean more when I am able to read through what I was given. Then I am more likely to understand it on my own terms and ask any questions if need be.
 

The Other Winter Coat

     When I was about to leave for the comedy club tonight I couldn't find my gloves. Then I looked at my coat and realized they were in the other winter coat, so I switched to the one that had them. Actually I have three, but the third hasn't been used for a while. It was a Navy coat given by a college roommate, and I can't bear to part with it even though the lining is torn and it sounded expensive to repair. At the comedy club the couple that calls themselves 'Salsa and ranch' performed back to back near the end of the show. I like his joke about an office version of 'Scared straight', since I work in an office and what he references isn't lost on me. The show runner made mention after the show about the sales of the latest Lady Gaga album being subpar, since he knows I am a Lady Gaga fan. I said I knew she has been promoting it by appearing on 'Saturday Night Live' and of course the Muppet holiday special. The next thing of course would be a concert tour, but I currently just saw mention of shows in New York City. I am familiar with 'Applause' from this album but little else.
    I did place an E-bay order this evening, after doing some research and found some World's Fair postcards, from four different fairs. One is from Seattle 1909, and I don't have one from this fair yet. The others were from Chicago 1933, New York 1939, and Montreal 1967. I already had 34 World's Fair postcards, but it didn't occur to me earlier how easily I could build up my collection by narrowing the search to postcard lots. I had mostly been getting single cards, and the postcard lots are even more bang for my buck. Though even with postcard lots, some deals are better than others. It also means paying attention to what is in each listing. I prefer those where all of them are new to me. Unsure what I would do with a duplicate card. Naturally sometimes I need to try alternate searches, to master the possibilities. Sometimes the more rare cards are in these lots. Same as with any other orders, I still have a spending limit.

More Offbeat Bookmarks

      I found a few more of the offbeat bookmarks from the recent taking of inventory. First is a flyer advertising internet banking with US Bank. I still really don't do this much, aside from EFT for my car insurance. The other is direct deposit of my payroll check. I don't write many checks now, most of them are mailed when I write them. Another bookmark is a half-page I ripped out of a catalog. I am sent these all the time in the mail, but I don't order from them. It's just easier to me to go into a store than wait for them in the mail. Many of them on this page are self-help books. I wrote 'Keep your brain alive' at the top of the page, it must have been another book title. First book I noticed on this page is 'Reading people: how to understand people and predict their behavior- by JE Dimitrius and M Mazzarella. Then there's Body Language 101: the ultimate guide to knowing when people are lying, by David Lambert. Third is 'How to talk to anyone: 92 little tricks for big success in relationships, by Leil Lowndes. Fourth and final one is 'Stick it to the man: how to skirt the law, by Ronald Lewis. I think I already have a similar one to the body language book.
    At the comedy club tonight I was tired and knew I experienced 'Micro sleep' more than once during one comic's time onstage. The show was more than half over by then. I did leave early due to this. There  was some snowfall I saw when taking the bus home from work, and I made it to the club before eating dinner as I wanted to get signed up in time. I found a convenience store nearby after signing up with a sandwich I could heat up in the microwave oven. The first comic was a Catholic priest, said he was 76 years old, he ran the light. The 'Fancy comic' was onstage tonight, he is fun to see in person as usual.  

My Final Metrodome Visit

     It was an eventful day for me, starting with waking up at 10am. I was out the door fairly quickly though, with oatmeal for breakfast and a shower, so I could get to the Metrodome for the Bears-Vikings football game. I took light rail to get there and the bus to get back. I understood this was likely my final visit to the Dome, as there aren't many events left. The Vikings have two more games, and there are plenty of ads on TV lately for a monster truck rally, and I think that is about it. This was probably why I walked around the concourse after the game, also since I wanted the foot traffic to clear and find a bathroom with a short line. The Bears lost 23-20 in overtime, after leading 20-10 at one point. Vikings led 7-6 at halftime. I left my seat at the two minute warning to get food, and I practically needed all of halftime to order it, eat it, and get back to my seat since it was so crowded. I kept seeing people come back to their seats with pizza and I even said to them it looks good so I had pizza. It did answer the question of if they have a two minute warning in overtime: if the game lasts that long, and it did. The winning field goal was just a few plays after it.
      When I got back I watched some of the Broncos-Chiefs game, Broncos won 35-28. I tried to watch 'The Simpsons' but fell asleep. I woke up and 'Bob's Burgers' was on, it was about the parents attending a class reunion and the mom was in a band that performed there. I got up at the end of the show and had a Filet-o-Fish at McDonald's. When I got back I said I needed to do what I set out to do with the four days off: make a list of the rest of the books I own. There was two more bookcases, and I finished it largely since I kept the TV shut off. I pulled up a chair in front of the cases and it took me about two hours, but there were hundreds of books. Not too surprised on what I found, as I know myself pretty well. Plenty of baseball, history, Charlie Brown, and biographies. If I was surprised about anything at all, it was how I used just about anything as a bookmark. Some were actual bookmarks, paper or metal. But others were common items like bookstore receipts, five in all and four are from Borders, now out of business. The fifth was Common Good Books, owned by Garrison Keillor. There was also part of a gum pack, a nametag from an alumni event, and a sheet of American flag stickers from the DAV. Then there was a ticket from a comedy club, saying valid through April 27, 2010. Along with a form stating membership renewal with the Academy of American Poets from 2008, and I have since let this one lapse. Finally there is 'One on ones: The art of building public relationships'. So now I feel better about accomplishing something substantial over the long weekend.

Jane Byrne

     Tonight I saw 'Storm Stories' on WCCO after the 10pm news. This one was of greater interest to me than most of the editions they've shown before. It was about the problems with snow removal in Chicago in early 1979 that led to Jane Byrne getting elected mayor. Since I used to live in the northwest suburbs I was familiar with some of those mentioned in the show. This included WGN weatherman Tom Skilling, who apparently was a rookie at that time. It was nice seeing familiar things like the Jewel grocery store in the background at one point. One thing I saw didn't surprise me much, since I think it is still happening there. I saw a chair on the street, this is a way of 'Marking territory' so no one else will park there after snow removal. I knew nothing about then-mayor Michael Bilandic, likely since he wasn't in office for long. It's known as 'The city that works', and since then- according to this feature- there have been no problems with snow removal. One of the things they use now is GPS on the snowplows, so as expected one of the helpful things is the advancements in technology.
     This was a day of errand running. First stop was groceries. Then on to Blockbuster Video, where I found a DVD I had passed on earlier- 'West of Memphis'. There are a few others that interest me, but I'm pacing myself. I know the liquidation sale runs until January. I also got more microwave popcorn and a pack of Nestle Crunch bars. Third stop was to a stamp collecting event at a Best Western near downtown St. Paul. I really felt like it was home, as I heard somebody speak well of a World's Fair while there. I was looking at postcards nearby when this happened. I got one postcard, from the 1904 St. Louis World's Fair. It was the Palace of Electricity. I also got four first day covers, which were cheaper. This included the Minnesota Centennial in 1958, Frederic Remington in 1961, President Kennedy in 1964, and Davy Crockett in 1967. Even though I really enjoyed being there, I had a limit for what I would purchase. When I was out of the cash money I brought, I left. On to the library, where I printed the schedule for an upcoming entertainment festival. It will last 12 days, and I wanted to study the available shows and then decide which ones I am attending. Wanting to see comedy, of course, narrows it down some, as just under half of the shows have it. Another thing that does is the days when I am already booked, like a play I already have a ticket for. Fifth and final place was Cheapo Records, where I got the '8-Mile' movie soundtrack. It was a replacement for the one I had which had been scratched. I waited until the claim on E-bay was closed, where the one I ordered through there was not going to arrive. It's doubtful that I will try to order a CD there again. This proves that I am more than likely able to find what I want, music-wise, in a local store. Some items are fine to keep ordering on E-bay, like the first day covers and postcards.
    In the evening I made it home in time to see the ending of the Alabama-Auburn football game. The ending was stunning to say the least, as Auburn ran back a missed field goal to win 34-28. I didn't feel like switching channels so it stayed in CBS, where a Christmas program was being shown. I fell asleep and eventually I said I should watch a video I recently acquired. I chose 'Sleepwalk With Me', the movie about a comedian.

Fundraiser At Eagles Club

      I am looking at a flyer from 2008, advertising a fundraiser for a colleague who was dying of cancer. It was the event that eventually led to me doing comedy since I got the gift certificate at the silent auction. This is a flyer that will be put in plastic and then placed in a binder. In some ways it is appropriate that I found it again shortly after returning from the comedy club tonight. I told myself I needed to get to a show tonight since I didn't make it to one on Wednesday. It did pay off, as I heard about a show next month really in need of performers as it is an anniversary event. Notable was me telling one new comic to tell some jokes as he wanted to talk with the MC first. He was late going onstage and at first it looked like he would be passed by. He wanted to know if he still could do jokes. Before the show some comics kept laughing when I spoke of the search for Charlie Brown and Snoopy statues. I was asked if I had spoken of it onstage and I said I had, last year.
   I did stay in for much of the day. There was plenty I wanted to get done. This meant cleanup of course. I found some old notes and consolidated them by recopying. This included my comedy notes, so now I have another full page in the binder. I really filled it up with various things I wanted to save, like mention of the funding approval for a new Saint Paul Saints baseball stadium. I went out at midday to eat at Taco Bell, and in the evening to eat at Subway. I watched Iowa's football game at Nebraska starting before midday, Iowa won something like 38-17. They led 14-3 at the half. In the evening before heading out for the show I saw 'The Grinch' and then 'Shrek The Halls' on ABC.

Lady Gaga Muppet Special

      This evening I watched the Lady Gaga Muppet special on ABC. I normally don't watch this network much but they had programs on tonight I liked. This started with the first hour, Charlie Brown specials. First was the Thanksgiving special from 1973 where they eat popcorn and toast. Then there was the Pilgrims on the Mayflower episode from the 'This Is America' series from 1988. Then an episode of 'Modern Family', finally Lady Gaga's special, which lasted 90 minutes. It was promoted as a love triangle between Miss Piggy and Lady Gaga for Kermit the Frog. I think much of Lady Gaga's music was from the latest album, 'Artpop'. I of course recognized 'Applause', it was actually played twice but the second time was during the closing credits.
   Since Thanksgiving is a day off from work, I did think of it as a day to get caught up on some things. This included writing some Ticketmaster reviews, three in all. The first, the Bob Newhart comedy show from last week, was done early in the day. The other two were done in the evening, after I had been to a Thanksgiving dinner in the early afternoon. The other two were events I hadn't attended recently, but told myself I should do reviews on anyway. One was the Eminem show I saw at MSG in 2005. Of the 6 musicians I claim as favorites, he was the only one not yet reviewed. The other was about the 'Don't Hug Me Christmas Carol' play I saw nearly four years ago. Since then I saw another one in the series, 'Don't Hug Me County Fair'. Since I like to write I take it seriously when somebody wants a review for an event. I am a little surprised about how it didn't take much to make the upper echelon. I have 35 reviews currently, and this puts me in the top 50. First one was 'Phantom of The Opera' from 2009.
    I liked the Thanksgiving dinner, it was hosted by a comedian friend who lives in Eden Prairie. She does some jokes about being married to a cop, and one of their dogs being put down with a house call. Her sister was another guest. Her husband did arrive in time for dinner, he was working today. I think we all got to know each other on a higher level due to this dinner. When we're at the comedy clubs for a few hours a night, and talking is frowned upon during the shows, it is hard to have lengthy conversations. They had another dinner to attend so I went home after three hours.
   When I got home I did try to watch some of the second football game, Raiders-Cowboys, but I was tired and fell asleep in my easy chair. I woke up in time to see the halftime entertainment, Selena Gomez was performing. She did sing 'Come and Get It', the song I know. I switched over to the Charlie Brown special before the game was over.   

Mark Twain Prize

     A colleague was interested in how Carol Burnett just received the Mark Twain prize. I know it as one of the awards given at the Kennedy Center for the arts in the nation's capital. So I checked the Wikipedia article, and I had heard of all of the honorees, going back to inception in 1998. Richard Pryor was the first recipient, and Tina Fey was the youngest. I knew about it as Bob Newhart won it in 2002. This was mentioned in the promo for Bob's comedy show I attended last week. What stood out was two recipients. One was Neil Simon, the playwright. And the other was Lorne Michaels, the executive producer of 'Saturday Night Live'. Most of the others were performers, these two were not.
   This award is separate from the Kennedy Center honors, though both are held at the same venue. The Kennedy Center honors are for actors and musicians, the Mark Twain award is just for comedy. I knew how Mark Twain was sometimes described as a humorist, what they called comedians in his time, so it fits to have his name on a comedy award.
     I spoke to my 'Work spouse' at the end of the day about how I haven't yet done the annual viewing of a thanksgiving movie, 'Planes Trains and Automobiles'. Well I had the time tonight as I stayed home from the comedy club. After I took back four grocery carts to the store, and did a shortened walk around the neighborhood, I watched my copy of the movie. I recall once having it on VHS but found it on DVD so I junked the VHS copy a long time ago. In some respects it means more to see it after becoming a big fan of 'Up In The Air'. Part of 'P,T and A' is filmed at the St. Louis airport, much like 'Air'. Of course 'PT and A' looks a little dated now, having been released in 1987, especially seeing some TWA planes in the background. I liked this movie as it is a road movie, and I like to travel. I spoke of other road movies I've enjoyed, and yes I did miss a few while at work. I thought about the others when watching this movie tonight. But I have made a list so I can look at what I own at a glance. Seeing the movie reminded me of doing a double take when living in suburban Chicago, seeing the El Rancho Motel. I once stopped in and said to the desk clerk how it looked familiar, and a picture near the front desk confirmed it. The clerk said nothing, probably had dealt with this many times before. This of course was the motel near the end of the movie, after the car caught fire.

'Angel' by Shaggy

   When I arrived at the comedy club tonight I heard the song 'Angel' by Shaggy playing. It is essentially a cover of 'Angel of the morning'. Whenever I hear it I think of being at a baseball game in Milwaukee in 2001, about a week after September 11. It was playing before the game, along with 'Just a Girl' by No Doubt. Though I didn't know the performer until attending a class reunion less than a year later, as it was played there and I asked the DJ.
   I was the second performer tonight after the MC, and I did plenty of new jokes. Before the show I picked up a Harvey Pekar book I ordered last week. It was a graphic novel version of 'Working' by Studs Terkel. When I opened the book I randomly flipped to a page where the occupation being profiled was a grave digger.
     At work I stayed busy with special projects. I finished one of them by completing the spreadsheet.  This meant finding the three home improvement accounts I had passed over earlier. I printed contracts for two of them, unable to find anything for the third. Since there were hundreds to find it was tedious, explaining why I missed them on the first try as I needed to have really good notes, showing them as 'Not found'.  

Deer Hunting Is Like Craigslist

    At the comedy club tonight the show closer was the Worthington native, back from California. He did a joke about his family liking to hunt, including using deer urine to attract deer. This led to the punchline of 'Deer hunting is like Craigslist' as there is deception involved. And I liked how he did the carrier pigeon joke. I also liked how the 'Extra murder' comic brought back the 'Labyrinth' joke.
   At work I helped my 'Work spouse' out with the Gap payoff report. I got the lion's share done today, four pages out of nearly six, and this was nearly 80 titles found and logged out. I was available to help as there weren't many special requests to find.
   When I was driving to the comedy club tonight, I said the voice sounded familiar on a sports talk radio show. Sure enough, it was the Worthington native. He was a guest on the show, which of course this time of year mostly meant discussing the Vikings game. Usually I don't listen to sports talk radio shows but when it's somebody I know then I will.
   Another E-bay order arrived, this one was the Canada Centennial first day cover from 1967. I shredded the rest of the mail I received, so this was really the only wanted item today. It was the typical items, like non-profits wanting my money, and a postcard advertising a local playhouse theater.

Eminem Interview In Rolling Stone

    I found a copy of Rolling Stone magazine and liked seeing Eminem on the cover. It said 'Eminem reborn: looking forward, looking back'. The interview said it was covering the real Marshall Mathers. One quote was: 'Hip hop is the only thing I've ever been decent at. they have a word for that: idiot savant?' Plenty of pictures, one was with Jay-Z at a Detroit Tigers baseball game. Another was him on Saturday Night Live, guess I missed that one. Must have been recent as it said 'Berzerk'- which is a recent song. One question was about 'Stan' entering the lexicon. Found out it was an Eminem song about getting fan letters. It was a sad song, ending with the suicide of the fan. But it wasn't shocking at all, as Eminem has been willing to cover issues like these in his songs. After finding 'Stan' on Youtube, I went back to what is probably my favorite- 'Need a doctor'. This one had plenty of passion in it as well, as it was about his mentor, Dr. Dre. 'You risked your career for me'. Then I found an interview with his ex-wife, Kim, on ABC, and then his interview with Anderson Cooper from '60 Minutes' on CBS. I like seeing people get interviewed, as plenty can be learned from it.
    When he mentions in the Rolling Stone interview how he doesn't do many concert tours now, I am thankful I saw his concert at Madison Square Garden in 2005. It was the proverbial 'Two birds, one stone'- wanted to see his show, and an event a the world-famous MSG. So I did it on my week-long vacation that year. I have the postcard from New York where I mention it- how 'Lose Yourself'- from the movie '8-Mile' was the final song of the night.
     I called my college roommate before the pro football games began at midday. I did wish him a happy Thanksgiving and it was a good idea to call when I did. He likes his pro football and once the games started I noticed it was hard to compete, having multiple TV monitors on to different games. He would like to move back to suburban Chicago, closer to family and poker-playing buddies, but he hasn't found a job in his field and with his company there just yet. He did share on Facebook about a month ago about a trial run and being hopeful, but it fell through. He said he had been to a 9 Inch Nails concert in Newark, NJ- since he lives in eastern PA and works at a cyclotron in NJ.
   I watched the bonus features on the Anti-Walmart movie and returned the video to the library. There were commercial spoofs, and I recognized a production assistant in one of them as a comedian friend. He did acknowledge this when I mentioned it in a Facebook posting.
   I watched some of the pro football games today, but the day was also about mundane things like getting caught up on mail and paperwork. There was plenty of activity on E-harmony, as it is a free communication weekend. Now I have 5 matches up to email stage. But with the Thanksgiving holiday coming soon I know I need to be patient about setting up dates. On '60 Minutes' I liked seeing an interview at the end about author Malcolm Gladwell, he sounds like somebody who has many traits like me. Often being an outsider, and a recluse as well. But I know writers tend to be a recluse anyway. It was done as a 'David and Goliath' story as underdogs find their own paths to success. Another thing that resonated with me was how his critics will say he sometimes 'States the obvious'- well I know I can do this too.

Wal-Mart: High Cost, Low Price

      This evening after calling a college roommate I watched a video: Wal-Mart: the high cost of low price. After a while it did make me think of a 'Simpsons' episode- when one clip revealed illegal aliens were hired to clean the store overnight and were locked in until morning. In that episode it was Homer who was a part of it and the store name was changed to 'Sprawl-Mart'. A thing that surprised me was claiming the management was fine with recommending employees go onto the state government's welfare insurance. Or having a task force in place to stop unions from forming. It ended with mention of places that were successful in keeping the store from coming to town. It did sound familiar when they spoke of many former storefronts being vacant- I know this happened in my hometown. Somebody told me it was due to Wal-Mart not wanting to have a competitor buy the building after they had moved to a larger building.
    There were some errands I wanted to run today before seeing a football game at a sports bar. I made it to two of these places. The first was Walgreen. I had hoped to find a certain DVD there, which I was available earlier in the week, but it must have already been sold. I did decide to get another one, it was 'Batman' from 1989 starring Michael Keaton and Jack Nicholson. Next was to Cheapo Records. I got three CDs there. This included the Simpsons 'Yellow' album, naturally it was a Beatles parody. Others were an import CD- Pearl Jam's 'Dissident'- and Green Day's 'Nimrod'. I can take a while in this store, even got two postcards as well, so by then the game had started so I headed over to the sports bar.
   The game I saw was Iowa against Michigan. Iowa had just tied it at 7-7 when I arrived, late in the first quarter. It appears Michigan's score was on a 'Pick 6', based on the highlights I kept seeing. Iowa fell behind 21-7 by halftime, so it didn't look good. Michigan's second score was set up by an interception. I was getting annoyed with the people I was sitting behind, as they kept yelling. So I moved near the end of the first half, before the score was 21-7. I was closer to the bar and near a much smaller monitor but I didn't mind. Eventually the server found me and I did order a Reuben sandwich to go with the beer I had already ordered shortly after arriving. I was much happier after the move. The momentum changed in the second half, as Iowa outgained Michigan by plenty and went on to beat Michigan 24-21. Iowa got the ball back with just over two minutes left, but still had to run some plays as Michigan had all three timeouts left. Iowa picked up two first downs, and were finally able to do the 'Victory formation'- the kneel-downs. They have another game, next week at Nebraska, so the bowl game they are headed to is still 'To be determined'. But seven wins looks better than six.
  After the game I did make it to the library where I printed a few things, along with return the Yellowstone video. Then in the evening I made another visit to the Blockbuster Video liquidation sale. I made a nice find there- the first season of 'Newhart' on DVD. Also got another pack of little Butterfinger bars, as well as two bags of microwave popcorn. It does look like some other liquidation sales I have been to- where they truly mean 'Everything must go'. A few things not normally available are there- like 3-ring binders and Blockbuster 'Ticket' logo signs.

Bob Newhart In Minneapolis

     This evening I went to the Bob Newhart comedy show at the State Theater in Minneapolis. One thing I did in preparation for this event was go into a sandwich bag full of event tickets and find the stub from the previous Newhart show I had attended. It was at the Coronado Theater in Rockford, IL, in October 2002. It was between stubs from two events at Allstate Arena in Rosemont: the No Doubt concert, and the Barnum and Bailey circus. Notable was that this was the first time I had attended the circus. My parents wouldn't take me when I was young.
   It is relevant to mention the earlier show I attended, as some of the jokes sounded familiar. But I didn't mind hearing them again. This included ones about Vietnamese gangs, a one-eyed bullfighter, and Delta pilots are paid well. Same is true for the Catholic priest swearing during confession as he was watching Notre Dame football, and clips from his two sitcoms.
  I liked how he railed against political correctness in it, saying people are funny. This reminded me of another early joke in the show: it's all about people. Why not just pay each other $10 or so and ask them to do what jokes you really like? It was brilliant when he made fun of TV evangelists, saying when one wrote about meeting Christ it would have been mentioned in the first and not the third book. It was helpful to finish his memoir book just days ago, as some of the bits were covered there. Like how the woman driver bit is funnier than if it was changed to a Chinese driver.
   I am thankful I attended this show. He is still a really good comedian at age 84. Intelligent humor and excellent timing. It was fine when he tooted his own horn a little before doing the woman driver bit, saying one of his comedy albums is a preserved recording by the government. This is elite company, with the likes of Martin Luther King's 'Dream' speech and President Kennedy's 'Ask what you can do for your country' speech.
   After the show I did spot somebody I knew from comedy, sort of. I recognized his jacket from Stand-up Records. We do know some of the same people. There was an opening act, Patty Peterson and her Big Band, pretty good music, as I don't hear big band music too often. I recognized the final song as being in a movie that Newhart was in, 'On a clear day you can see forever', from the 1960s. There was no intermission, as the curtain came down and the crowd no longer saw the band, and Newhart arrived. He did do an 'Encore' bit, about being in Dubuque, Iowa. I cheered this one as it is my native state, and I did visit there with a companion last year. It was a throw-in with seeing the Field of Dreams. I didn't get dinner before the show, but I did get some trail mix and a juice at the venue. After the show I went to Bobby and Steve's and got a little Godfather's pizza and apple juice. When I was in line to get the trail mix there was a confused man asking us where to find someone in particular. Me and another patron directed him to the nearby ticket office.
   Notable at work was having to call the help desk twice. I had password issues and was completely locked out of the system at midday, right before I wanted to go to lunch. So lunchtime was entered manually onto my timecard. Not sure why it happened, may have been a user error as some computers lock up after too many failed attempts. But I don't like how our systems are auto-fill, so when I have to enter passwords less often I have a hard time remembering them when they expire and I have to enter another one. So the comedy show arrived at a good time, as I like being able to laugh off things about my life that annoy me. The syndicated rerun of Big Bang Theory was on before I headed to the show. It was the one about the girls going to Disneyland, and the guys speak to students. It was one that I had seen before, but I really liked it.  

Yellowstone DVD by BBC

     I finished the Yellowstone DVD by the BBC this evening, on loan from the library. The final episode of three to watch was autumn. Notable was seeing beaver dams built, and some trees falling after the animals gnawed on them. I watched the special features as well, three in all. There was a snow removal man, geyser gazers, and a fish man who swam in the river with the cutthroat trout. I liked the snow man, seeing him on a rooftop and cutting the snow into blocks and some of it fell off in an avalanche. I stayed in as it was snowing when I got off work, under ideal conditions I think
I likely would still have done the walk around the neighborhood. I did make it over to Taco Bell for the big box meal, and brought it home and ate it there so I wouldn't miss a favorite show.
   I watched two episodes of 'Big Bang Theory' tonight. The syndicated rerun was the one where the gang went to see penny act in 'Streetcar Named Desire'. And Amy lost her gig on a tobacco study with monkeys. The prime time episode was the gang having Thanksgiving with Howard's mom. Bernadette's dad connected with Sheldon over football and beer. A big part of the story was Penny having to annul a marriage to Zac after revealing it to Leonard.
   I liked finding a comedy video of mine on Youtube tonight, and I told a friend about it on Linkedin who is now a journalist in Florida.

Spinning The Office Chair

     We have had plenty of meetings to attend lately at the office. Not sure why, but I think some of it is due to having a new boss. This afternoon it was one about updating a procedure manual. Some things needed to be added, but not many. At one point I was so bored, and tired, that I decided to spin around my office chair while I was sitting in it. Don't know if anyone noticed. May be close to where the inspiration of 'Spinning the wheels' comes from, usually meaning 'Getting nowhere'. There was mention of the supply drive for the troops being extended another week, through this Friday. When I found out one thing on the list was dental floss, I decided to donate some as I get it all the time when I have dental appointments.
    At the comedy club tonight there was one comic near the end of the show where I said 'WTF'? It was the oddest comic I had seen in a while. He went way over his time, was lighted numerous times, finally the MC just went back onstage to say his time was up. He was laughing at his own jokes, and said he hadn't done comedy in a while. One joke was about President Kennedy, which wasn't funny to me since we are seeing plenty of news lately about the 50th anniversary of the Kennedy assassination.
   At the same show, I liked speaking with the show runner after the show. I said I often find inspiration for writing after attending comedy shows. This was in reference to hearing how she does some blogging as well. I liked her joke about being diagnosed with lupus by an aunt who flunked out of nursing school. Another one about dinner reservations for Thanksgiving was good as well, since it is relatable to my own family. And one about offbeat seating arrangements at the office was brilliant.   I saw the neck tattoo and GED comic before the show and said he should be in the ring of honor. Hopefully that will happen soon, but it has to be when schedules match up and when I bring my camera of course.

Harry Nilsson

     At the comedy club tonight, I liked discussing music with the show runner as I learn plenty since he knows music well. He was lending a CD to my 'Bestie' and it happened to be a Harry Nilsson special. I said I mainly knew his song 'Everybody's talking' which was in the movie 'Midnight cowboy'. The song was also in 'Forrest Gump' as a scene from 'Cowboy' was copied in 'Gump'. He told me he has done plenty of other songs, even if just writing songs that others perform. Youtube confirmed it.
      My 'Bestie' did a new joke about a lost dog, which was brilliant. It was about losing someone else's dog. A touring comic, who will be headlining another club in the area this week, did a joke about eating raw cookie dough and not wanting to donate Coinstar change to charity.
    At midday I would have predicted a different title for this entry. I was walking through the skyway and I heard a song being played in one of the businesses I was passing by. It was the Eddie Vedder  cover of 'You've got to hide your love away' by the Beatles. I stopped to pause and say I liked hearing it, and the man inside liked my comment. I do recall hearing the Beatles version on the 8-tracks my parents had. I think I liked the 'Hey!' in it a lot. I've said it before how I like hearing a pause in songs, where they aren't necessarily singing like hearing a grunt. But I also liked the story that Pearl Jam frontman Eddie Vedder told before playing it when I saw the show at Alpine Valley in 2003. It was a memory of a family member who had passed.
   More of the E-bay orders arrived, three in all. The Lewis and Clark nickels, a first day cover from the New Orleans World's Fair in 1984, and a postcard of the Ford Motor Company pavilion at the 1933 Chicago World's Fair. I made a nice find on Emerson Hough items, a flyer from Great Britain advertising the movie 'North of 36', based on his novel, at a theater in 1926. It was annoying how some of the listings on E-bay spelled his name wrong. Two reprints of his books listed him as 'Houghton' and not 'Hough', likely confused with the name of a publisher, Houghton Mifflin.
   At work there was a office-wide meeting in the lower level near the street in the late afternoon. I liked the food made available there, the little chunks of cheese, pineapple chunks, and little potatoes as well.