Just yesterday my family and I were on an airplane. We had a nice flight, the baby was very well-behaved, and the food was about as good as any airplane food that I have ever had. The thing that struck me about the travel however were the stewardesses. Being a stewardess -although probably not the easiest or most rewarding job in the world- doesn't seem like all that bad of a job. The work is regular, the ...
Have you ever wanted to know how over half of the New York Yankees' starting lineup would do against the National League All-Stars? Yeah, me neither... Major League Baseball's All-Star Game is next week. The starting lineup is voted on by fans in stadiums and on the internet. Because of this voting system a lot of Yankees players are chosen. I think that Yankees players get a lot of their votes because their team gets a lot of media coverage, and most people h...
Today as my wife and I were out shopping, we got really hungry. Since I had been hungry for Arby's for a few days, we headed over there. Next to Arby's we found an authentic Mexican restaurant. (It is new in town.) We decided to scrap Arby's and have some good food instead. We had fajitas, tacos, and tamales. They were yummy. We didn't have any baby food with us. Ken got to taste a little bit of guacamole and refried beans. It t...
When I was a senior in college, I would spend a lot of time playing a text-adventure MUD (multi user dungeon) game. I can't remember how many nights were lost spent typing those goofy commands into the computer in a simulated adventure game. That was ten years ago. Tonight I decided to give MUDding another shot. (There wasn't much else going on out there, and I wasn't ready for bed yet.) I found a game, made a character, and started playing. It seems that not m...
In 1994, I bought a nice pair of Converse basketball shoes. They held up really well. I wore them regularily until 2001. After 8 years, my worn-out basketball shoes were put to rest. After giving up on those shoes, I purchased a series of disposable shoes from discount department and shoe stores. Each pair of $20 shoes lasted me around three months each. A couple of days ago, the time came to buy a new pair of recreational shoes. I decided to end the series of...
For those of you who regularily read what I write, you probably know that I am an avid follower of Japanese sumo. I videotape and watch each day's matches during each Grand Sumo Tournament. (I'd watch them live, but they're broadcast from 2:30-4:30 AM here in Minnesota.) **At the end of next week, I will have the opportunity to see some matches live in my "hometown" in Japan. Yay! To make it even more interesting, I have begun to play an online sumo game. E...
Last school year I worked at three different schools as an ESL specialist. At each school, there was at least one kid who would play around with me by calling me "Mr. Crab." Each time I heard it I was a bit confused. Why are kids who go to different schools and don't know each other coming up with the same nickname for me? Well, I figured it out today. There is a character on "SpongeBob Squarepants" that is named Mr. Krabs. He is the owner of the restaura...
Hello there friends! I am enjoying a Friday evening here at the computer. My wife, son, and I have just come home from a nice dinner at a restaurant in Saint Paul. My friend Andy and his wife Chialing hosted a post-wedding party for family and friends living in Minnesota. (They were married a year-and-a-half ago in Taiwan, but they had a sort of "wedding reception" for visiting inlaws from Taiwan, as well as American friends.) I guess that my point about that is ...
Hello there friends! I hope that you're having a happy week. This afternoon after I came back from work, I went to play on the computer. As I was playing, I heard my wife say from the other room: "Hey... Kenny is crawling." That was quite a surprise. Until this afternoon he seemed like he was about to crawl, but it may be a while before he is able to. Then in an instant he put it all together and was able to crawl around the room. I grabbed the video camera to ta...
Hello there! I have been teaching a class this summer for my newcomer students who have fairly low English skills. The term is almost over, and I feel that we have made a lot of progress. I have been working through a textbook (and accompanying videos) named "Side By Side" (and Side By Side TV.) For as long as I have been teaching ESL, the books in that series have been my favorite to use! They have clear, repetitive, and humorous exercizes focusing on basic English gra...
On April 30th I wrote an article about seeing a bunny in the yard . It was a big one! Since then, I have seen that bunny (and another one) hanging around in various places in my yard. Today as I was mowing the lawn, another little guy ran out of the bushes as I was walking past. I followed him around the house, and caught up with the little one next to my garage. (For some reason, rabbits like to hang out along the north side of my garage.) I was able to get a couple ...
Hey there friends! I hope that all of you are have had a happy weekend. It is Sunday night, and I will have to go to work tomorrow. Monday is the first day of the last four days of work this school year. My half-day summer school class ends on Thursday. Yay! I am looking forward to having a happy and restful summer. ***** As my regular readers know, I have been working on a garden this year. Yesterday I harvested the first "fruits" of my labor. ...
Hey there friends. It is a nice, lazy Saturday afternoon. My wife and baby are asleep in the bed, and I am just playing around on the computer. Our afternoon plans have been canceled, so I will have to figure out what we can do after the two of them wake up. Every-so-often when I am killing time on the computer, I enjoy visiting a website called My Raaga.com . There is a huge collection of free Hindi, Tamil, and Telugu songs from India. I enjoy listening to the non...
Until a few months ago, BBCAmerica had been broadcasting a clever chat show called "So Graham Norton." For long stretches over the past few years, I would watch "So Graham Norton" nightly on BBCAmerica before heading off to bed. I really enjoyed the show, Graham's sense of humor, and his high-B/low-A-list guests. When Graham Norton agreed to do a new show on Comedy Central, BBCA pulled his show. We went through a few months here without Grahasm and his show. I missed...
Background information for our friends who don't live in the USA: Earlier this week, former President Bill Clinton released a book about his life and his presidency. It is nearly 1000 pages that (supposedly -I haven't read it yet) gives many intimate details about his life and times. Since President Clinton has a new book, he has been spending a lot of time on various interview shows promoting (talking about something so people will buy) his new book. President Clinton's ...