Hey there friends! I hope that you're having a nice day, and that you're all ready for that much-anticipated weekend. According to the title, I intend to write about a few things that have been going on lately. Most of the time I write my weblog entries for public-consumption. I also use this as kind of a daybook that I will be able to look back on in the future. To the latter end I give you: Odds and Ends. (Written in a semi-Larry King style...) -Man is it ever cold here in Minnesota...
Hello there. I hope that all of you are psyched-out for the three-day weekend. I always appreciate them when they come around! As my headline suggests, I am enjoying my evening with a margarita in hand. I don't think that I have had one of those in over a year! I gave my wife a sip, and she echoed my sentiment when she said, "Nadskashii!" (Which in Japanese means: "reminiscent of times past.") Ususally I fancy drinking beer. Today, the mood struck me to get some tequila and margarita ...
Hey there friends. I hope that you've had a happy weekend. As usual, it seems to have passed by so quickly. Our lazy Sunday is winding-down. After sleeping in, I had a happy day spending time with my wife and the baby. I was also able to watch Day 1 of the Grand Sumo Tournament in Osaka. Last night, some friends came over to our house for dinner. We had steaks, played Dance Dance Revolution, and we sang karaoke. We also were able to see how our babies interacted with each other. The...
Hi there friends! It is finally Friday. I am looking forward to a weekend surrounded by family and friends. Last night my wife and I took the baby along for dinner at Bonanza in Saint Cloud. Success! We had a good meal, and the service was good (as usual.) We both had steak and all-you-can-eat shrimp. The last time we went there (in December,) our meals didn't turn out so-well. I was a bit apprehensive before going back, but fortunately we were able to put the past behind us and wer...
About six weeks ago, the Michael Jackson trial was pretty big news. I think that he was worth at least one segment every half-hour on most of the national news providers. Then Janet Jackson shows her boob on national television, Martha Stewart has her trial, Howard Stern gets censored, Mel Gibson releases the Jesus flick, and the Academy Awards came and went. With all of those other "distractions" it seems that Michael Jackson has fallen off of the radar. I wonder how long it will be f...
Hello there friends. I hope that all of you are enjoying your Friday! My day is going by pretty quickly. As an ESL (English as a Second Language) teacher, I see various small groups of children in three different schools throughout my day. On most normal days, I run through my ESL curriculum, as well as help kids with their homework. Those days seem to go pretty well. I am teaching, the kids are learning, everything is swell. Today has been an diversion from that pattern. I hav...
Happy Early Valentines Day to all of you out there. Since the holiday lands on a Saturday, we here at schools across America will have to observe the holiday on Friday. Working at an elementary school, one can almost cut through the electricity with a knife. The kids are all hopped-up on chocolate, and the good-will that only a Valentine can bring. I really like the way that kids are allowed to enjoy the holidays when they're this age. Since I work as a specialist, pulling kids out of c...
Hi there friends. Have you been having a nice evening? I have been having fun. After watching "American Idol," my wife and I spent some time playing Dance Dance Revolution. That was fun. By the way, what did you think about tonight's American Idol? I was pretty sure that Diana and Fantasia were going to win. I am surprised that Matthew got third place. (I voted for Diana.) Anyway as I said in my headline, I have some experience of playing Scrabble with kids. You see, I work as an...
Hello there friends. TGIF to all of you out there. This morning I was at a gas station. I put gas in my car, I bought some coffee, and a doughnut. After paying, I put the receipt into my wallet. As I did this, I noticed some writing on one of my dollar bills. The writing told me to visit www.wheresgeorge.com. At this site, you can enter the serial number on the dollar bill to find out where it has been. It is pretty interesting. I found out that my dollar bill had previously been ...
Hey all! I hope that your weekend has been going well. Kazuko and I are enjoying the weekend with my parents. Tonight we'll have sushi for dinner. That should be good, I always enjoy eating sushi! Another piece of big news in our house is that I bought a second dance mat for "Dance Dance Revolution." Last night my wife and I had a happy time dancing together to our favorite songs. It is good exercize for the both of us. Finally, I direct your attention to the picture at the bottom ...
Hi there friends! Have you ever heard of Culver's? Culver's is a chain of hamburger restaurants that originated in Wisconsin. Their specialties are things called "Butterburgers," and their milkshakes. Currently, Culver's is only located in the Midwest (they've only recently come into Minnesota.) The food at Culver's is awfully good. I recommend it for any of you who live up here, or are traveling through. Over the past month or two, I have had frequent craving...
214 Hello there everybody! The weekend is almost over. I hope that everyone enjoyed it, wherever they were. This weekend was a fun one for me. My parents drove here from Duluth, Minnesota to enjoy Mothers' Day Weekend. On Saturday we went to a few garage sales, followed by a nice dinner at a Korean restaurant (my wife's favorite.) Today, we met grandma for lunch at Cattle Company (steak restaurant.) On the way home from lunch, my family stopped by Wal-Mart ...
203 The other day as I was changing our baby's diapers, I had a thought. Our five month-old baby's diapers are decorated with images of Sesame Street characters, Barney, Mickey Mouse, and like that. I wonder whose benefit those pictures are for, the babies or the parents? Of course, the pictures are for the parents' benefit. My brilliant marketing idea would be to put jokes, classified ads, household hints, racing forums, stock tips, rock stars, whatever on the diapers...
Well, just got the news that the President is doing a news conference tonight. That stinks. I was looking forward to watching my favorite television program tonight. Of course the broadcast networks are going wall-to-wall with it. I wonder whether the President on television draws better ratings than regular programming. With cable and public television, the general public could have access to whatever the President will try to do to untarnish his image in order to get himself re-elect...
Hey there. I hope that you're all having a nice day! I have been enjoying myself today. The thermometer on my garage reads 70-degrees (~21C.) It was a nice day for a walk. My wife, the baby, and I strolled down to K-mart (department store) and Cub Foods (grocery store) to do a bit of shopping. I was a bad boy today. I didn't get any yardwork done today. That'll wait until tomorrow. My biggest accomplishment of the day was renewing my driver's license at the county office while m...