Immensely Satisfying...

...was my Christmas Day 2008. There were 17 people for dinner at my parents' house. Dinner was very delicious. I got to catch up with some of my Matlock relatives, most happily my uncle and aunt from Florida who don't get up this way too often. They are dog people and had a blast meeting and greeting Chili. It was a joy to have niece Lydia in the house for her very first Christmas. She was very busy, toddling around and jabbering at whoever would listen.

The haul was decent this year. I got a pair of jeans from Banana Republic and an iTunes gift card from my parents. Chili-dog got a gift card to Petco from my parents, as well. My bro and sis-in-law gave me a gift card to Banana Republic. I gave Chili a new collar from Earthdog and a new chew toy, plus a few slices of Braunschweiger with her kibble this morning.

I took lots of pictures...will sort through them tomorrow and post the highlights.

Of course, the reason for all this celebrating was the celebration of the birth of our hope. our Wonderful Counselor, our Prince Of Peace, our King of Kings, our Lord of Lords. The one who was sent with a redemptive purpose, that being to satisfy the need of a desperate humanity: the need for a Savior.

Christmas Day 2008...

"Hymn For Christmas Day"
The Innocence Mission

She's Ready For Christmas...

If You Missed The Highlight...

This is how you defend the pass in the NFL:



(from Jeff Gordon's "Tipsheet" blog on Stltoday.com)

This is how the Rams' season has gone, pretty much.

Must Be Monday...

...walked into my building today without my usual backpack slung over my shoulder. Realized about halfway through my commute that I left it sitting at home in the kitchen with a fully-packed lunchbox inside. I will have to trash a perfectly good turkey sandwich tonight.

Must Be Monday.

oh well, this will allow me to check out the new food service company that's servicing our cafeteria as of today.

Re-tooning The Nativity

This video was shown in church today. Some of our beloved Christmas carols don't exactly jive with what's actually in the Bible! : )

Sunday Night...

- Felt the Canadian love this morning...all 12 or so degrees of it. Deliciously ironic is bright sunshine and blue skies coupled wtih HARRRRSH cold. Was part of the Frozen Chosen at church today!

- I am excited that Christmas week is finally upon us. My last two Christmas packages will be arriving tomorrow and I will head over to the mall to have a charitable organization's gift wrapper wrap everything up nicely.

- good deed of the Christmas season: my singles group at church adopted this family for Christmas. Their finances are better directed elsewhere this Christmas so we chipped in and bought their kids' Christmas presents. We all delivered the gifts and ate lunch with the family today after church. It really warmed this blogger's heart.

- sorry, but Chili, I just couldn't walk you today, it was just too cold. I feared you'd turn into a Chili-sicle and that just wouldn't be cool.

- What was Joe Biden's price to be Obama's veep? A seat at the table, according to JB. gotta love an honest man.

- had a nice time babysitting niece Lydia on Friday night. I was shocked to discover that she's gone bi-ped on us! She's toddling around with (mostly) the greatest of ease. Bedtime was a bit stressful for the both of us...she didn't go to sleep as easily as I was promised she would. Eventually she got tired out and went down. I did get to brush her few teeth with a little slip-on finger brush...

- Chili and I jogged down to Festus last night for a first look at the parents' new kitchen. It looks fantastic and will be ready for Christmas Day dinner, I am happy to report. All appliances are installed and in good working order. A few loose ends will be tied up in the next few days. I munched on chocolate chip cookies while I was there and was sent home with some pot roast and vegetables. I'd say it was a fruitful trip.

- Got a preview of my church's Christmas Eve services today in our worship service. We're not going to just be about candlelight and carols....it's all about being real about reaching people...skeptical? inquiring? already convinced? wherever you are, you're welcome and safe at my church.

Why I'm Glad It's Friday...

in no particular order:

- Christmas is only 6 days away!
- All my Christmas shopping was finished last night!
- Holiday potluck at the office today! (I prepared a pork tenderloin as my contribution)
- I get to sit for niece Lydia tonight for a couple of hours
- A balmy sun filtered through the clouds this morning after days of clouds and cold.
- Did I mention it's Friday?

The Christmas Card Picture...

Merry Christmas 2008!!!

Sunday Night...

- was too tired and too late last Sunday night to post anything so this is two weeks' worth...might be something, might be nothing but here goes...

- Ol' Mizzou goes to the Alamo Bowl, as I predicted. The way they played against KU and OU, the punch bowl would be a struggle for 'em. At least they can claim they played against a Heisman Trophy wnner in the Oklahoma game. Sam Bradford looks barely old enough to shave, much less steer his team to a national championship game. He's just a sophomore, folks. Big 12 teams get to face him for at least another year! YAY!

- speaking of Big 12 football, how the heck does Gene Chizik get hired on at Auburn? Sure, he was once an assistant coach there, but he was 5-19 as a head coach at Iowa State...talent level wasn't great there but still...makes me wonder if they did it just to see Kirk Herbstreit's head explode.

- have participated in numerous white elephant gift exchanges in my life but never have I seen an actual white elephant in any of them.

- "Snowfall" by Manhattan Transfer is a great winter song. love love it.

- have started Christmas shopping, finally. One of Chili's gifts came in yesterday's mail. I ordered something for Lydia Joy yesterday. I am really looking forward to this Christmas, more so than any in recent years. This will be Lydia Joy's first Christmas and she'll be with us, and we'll have a dinner cooked in my Mom's brand new kitchen. I'm praying for good health for everyone...a nice snowfall would be nice, as well.

- Mother Nature turned on her wind machine and pointed it squarely at the Midwest this weekend... the wind has blown hard literally ALL weekend. A frigid Arctic blast is said to be descending upon us as I write this.

- as long as I have been in the on-call tech rotation at work (almost 2 years), I'd never gotten paged on a Sunday until today. I was parking my car at church when the pager went off. Fortunately, the user was able to wait until I got done with church.

- Sermon today was from Jonah. His heart was hard and he almost missed what God wanted to do for the Ninevites through him. In the same way, we can miss the true meaning of Christmas if our heart is hard, even a little bit. The answer is at the end of Psalm 139: "search me, O God, and see if there be any wicked way within me..." (slightly paraphrased.)

Ticket Tracker: Ambassadors Of Harmony @ Touhill Performing Arts Center

Last evening I took in the Saturday evening performance of AOH's annual Christmas shows at the TouPAC on the campus of UM-St. Louis. AOH director extraordinaire Jim Henry took a nasty fall after the afternoon show and was out of commission but his two assistant directors filled in more than ably. The show's first half featured several comedic skits interspersed with Christmas carols. Several bits were very funny. To wit: How about a fill-in Santa errantly shimmying down the chimney of a Jewish household and being sent on his way with a GPS unit? (I'll let you, dear readers, sniff out the delicious joke in there.) Oh, and yes, they did include Sarah Palin and Rod Blagojevich jokes in the merriment. They even managed to pull off a parody of the famous "Copper Clappers" skit!

The show's second half was traditional and religious, telling the Christmas story through song. Particularly nice was a Nigerian traditional carol that featured intricate choreography and harmonies. As usual, AOH's singing was up to their usual championship standards and I thoroughly enjoyed the evening.

Say WHAT??...

I recently had need to get a root canal in one of my teeth re-treated (read: re-done) because some bacteria got in there somehow and started causing trouble. I previously blogged about my positive experience about that but one last little detail had to be taken care of. A temporary filling was left in place until I could go back to my regular dentist and get a permanent one to match the previously-existing crown.

So I say all that to say this: I went to get that done today. And my dentist did the filling without the numbing shot! Not that it mattered, since there was no nerve and therefore, I would feel nothing. But when he said I would not be getting the shot, I just about freaked out! Wow...when that drill fired up and I wasn't numb, it was a really weird sensation! But I felt nothing and was out of there in about 10 minutes.

I decided to drop in on the parents since I was already halfway there and had the whole day off. Their remodeling project is going very well and is on schedule. The new wood floor looks great and their kitchen is going to be very nice as well. I helped my dad build wreaths for the outside of their house and helped him hang them.

Just The Three Of Us...

Imagine that...me, Chili-dog, and niece Lydia together in one picture! My dad snapped this on Thanksgiving Day. I guess he caught me off-guard, otherwise I'd have made more of an effort to smile... : )

Happy 3rd Birthday...

to this little blog. Life As I Know It debuted in this space on December 2, 2005. This is how it started:

So here I am....

Everyone's doing it so why can't I? :) My cousin Kevin and his wife finally got their blog on from the great state of Kansas so I've decided to join the revolution. Probably will update this infrequently as I become more comfortable with journaling.

Alas, my Kansas cousin Kevin (YAY alliteration!) didn't keep up with his blog but I keep up with him and his fun family via Facebook. My blog has continually evolved and slowly but surely added many regular readers.

I thank all who read this little blog for, well, reading this little blog!

To commemorate the occasion, I have revised and updated one of my earliest posts, a rundown of my Christmas CD collection. I just published it to my other blog, which is where it would have gone had that blog existed in 2005.

Sunday Night...

- rock chalk jayhawk. there, I said it. See ya in the Alamo Bowl, Mizzou Tigers. This is the price you pay for messing around and letting KU win yesterday. Now lick your wounds and prepare to take another whuppin' in KC next Saturday. If ya cain't beat KU, ya ain't gonna beat OU. (BTW, I'm not rippin' on the Alamo Bowl, which is really where Mizzou should be, given the strength of the Big 12 South, but they had BCS dreams to start the season. I always thought that was unrealistic. They had a shot at the Gator Bowl or Holiday Bowl but this just wasn't their year.)

- 13 more bags o' leaves done yesterday. Total for the season now stands at 33, with ending goal of 40 well in sight. Now if I can just remember to get my weekly limit of 10 bags out to the curb on Tuesday night. That's the hard part, apparently. Yesterday's leaf bagging was not made easier by listening to the aforementioned football game on the radio. double urgh!

- just paid some bills. man, am I laying out some cash between now and January 1. am just now receiving bills for my recently-troubled tooth. first from my regular dentist who examined but didn't do any work, second from the oral surgeon who examined but didn't do any work. personal property tax, mortgage escrow shortage, christmas shopping...makes me glad I am gainfully employed.

- picked up a book at my local Hallmark store yesterday. "On A Personal Note" helps one write notes for any occasion. I had a need to do so and it helped me word it perfectly.

- helped decorate my church for Christmas after services today. got a delicious free meal out of it (thanks, RS!) and lots of yummy cookies. the weather outside was appropriately frightful, with pretty snow falling intermittently but not sticking to much of anything.

- Christmas-music-listening season officially starts tomorrow for me. It's been in the stores for weeks but I count that as ambient noise! : )

- no, I don't know what I want for Christmas, yet. check back later!

The Inevitable Thanksgiving Day Report...

So yeah, today was a good day. traveled to Columbia, MO, enjoyed dinner with 15 people plus Chili-dog, enjoyed one slice each of pumpkin and apple pie for dessert. Weather was delightful. Baby Lydia was in a sunny mood for most of the day. She got lots of lovin' from both sets of grandparents all day long. Christmas card pictures were taken for my brother and his little family and me and my doggie. I had been disappointed that I forgot about having one made for this year so I'm glad we got it done. This year's will top last year's, folks, guaranteed. If you didn't receive one last year and would like one this year, e-mail me your address and I'll put you on the list. I snapped this picture while my Dad was taking family pictures of my brother, sis-in-law, and Lydia.

Chili was a great doggie guest today, by the way. No other dogs came to dinner but she did have a run-in with the family cat, who crept out of the basement shadows for a moment. She and Chili stared each other down for a few seconds and when Chili made her move, the cat swiped her face with a de-clawed front paw. Chili jumped back in surprise and I jumped in to, um, save her. Otherwise, she stayed out of the way and generally behaved herself. Her tail wagged constantly so it may be sore for a few days!

Mad props to my brother for successfully smoking the Thanksgiving turkey this year.

I cranked up my iPod to pass the travel time. Pat Metheny Group's "(Cross The) Heartland" seemed immensely appropriate so that got a listen. Menahan Street Band's "Make The Road By Walking" positively pulsed through my earbuds. The groove grabs hold and just does not let go.)

Heading West...

The dog and I have an early wake-up call tomorrow morning. We're traveling with the parents to Columbia, MO to enjoy Thanksgiving Day with my sis-in-law's family. The parents are in the midst of a kitchen remodel and it's not quite done yet so we were invited to Columbia. My mom will have to whip up her famous dressing after we get there. Consequently, they're picking us up at 7:30 a.m. sharp.

Yes, Chili was invited. These folks are dog lovers and they are OK with visiting dogs. So, I gave Chili a bath/shower tonight so she'll smell nice and clean. I'm praying she does well with all the unfamiliar people and *other dogs* that will be there.

A Thanksgiving Song...

I love these lyrics:

Thankful Boys And Girls

Let us be thankful boys and girls;

For eyes and ears and toes,

And puppies with wet noses.

Let us be thankful boys and girls;

For lessons we have learned,

And love we have not earned;

Follow the beat of amazing grace;

Oh let us be thankful boys and girls.

Let us be thankful boys and girls;

For kisses on the mouth,

Teenage heartbeats pounding.

Let us be thankful boys and girls;

For lightning in the sky,

Laughter in the eye;

Follow the beat of amazing grace;

Oh let us be thankful boys and girls.

For all that brought us here,

And all that will bring us through.

The passages of life that lead to You,

Lead us to You.

Let us be thankful boys and girls;

For a little common sense;

And painted picket fences.

Let us be thankful boys and girls;

For packing all the plans;

in rented motor vans;

Follow the beat of amazing grace;

Oh let us be thankful boys and girls.

Let us be thankful boys and girls;

For Mendelssohn and Brahms

Shadows growing longer.

Let us be thankful boys and girls;

For grandkids we can hold;

Years that slowly go;

Memories to keep; sorrow running deep.

Follow the beat of amazing grace;

Oh let us be thankful boys and girls.

For all that brought us here,

And all that will bring us through.

The passages of life that lead to You,

Lead us to You.

Let us be thankful boys and girls;

When hope is not enough;

That death won’t bury love.

For wine and bread and hymns;

Remembering again;

We follow the beat of amazing grace;

Oh let us be thankful boys and girls;

I want to be a thankful boy;

Oh let us be thankful boys and girls.

"Thankful Boys and Girls" by Billy Crockett and Milton Brasher-Cunningham ©1994 Radar Days Music

It's Thanksgiving Eve...

Today's "Mutts" comic - it reminded me that I am always thankful for my doggie friend Chili.

My Kind Of Humor...

"In The Bleachers" by Steve Moore - 11/25/08

One Way To Feel Good About Yourself...

Break your own NFL record for longest interception return!

To Start Off Your Thanksgiving Week...

What kind of music did the Pilgrims like?

Plymouth Rock!


Why did the Indian chief wear so many feathers?

To keep his wigwam!

No, This Won't Save The Big 3...

Check out what I saw as I was leaving the church parking lot today. It is what it appears to be.

Roomies...

Some friends of mine recently had their pictures taken together - they are roommates and all really great people.

Roomies

From left to right - Katie, Kim, and Gina.

In The Fading Light Of Day...

I remembered I needed to pick up my dry cleaning before the store closed, so I hopped in the car and off I went. This is what I noticed when I stopped at the stoplight. A retreating cloud bank lit by the setting sun. Magnificence.

WowGod!

The Me, Fall '08

dressed to rake leaves today

sepia-style

Good Old Lola...

Because it turned sharply colder and gray-er overnight:

The Fresh Prince Was In The House!...

The actor Will Smith is in St. Louis today to promote and locally premiere his upcoming movie "Seven Pounds." He was just here IN MY BUILDING for an interview and photo shoot in our newsroom's photo studio.

And I just missed seeing him. He had just left by the time I wandered upstairs.

I did see his tour bus parked on a side street outside the building.

small consolation.

Here's a video of him entering the building from the tour bus

Here's a blog about it from P-D movie critic Joe Williams

Ticket Tracker: SLIFF - "One Bad Cat"

Tonight I joined some friends from the P-D at a screening of the documentary "One Bad Cat." It was shown at The Tivoli theatre as part of this year's St. Louis International Film Festival, which started last week and runs through this weekend.

"One Bad Cat" tells the story of 'Reverend' Albert Wagner, a self-taught African-American outsider artist and preacher. Wagner was a self-proclaimed "sinner and womanizer" who found God at the age of 50 and felt a strong call to begin painting. His home in East Cleveland, Ohio became a museum and gallery for his work. The movie paints a fascinating portrait of a complex man. I found it most interesting. My friends did, as well, and we discussed it at length outside the screening room afterwards.

My aforementioned P-D colleague Elie Gardner alerted me to this via Facebook. She took part in a photography workshop in Cleveland a couple of years ago and was assigned to photograph Albert Wagner. She was at his house during the filming of the documentary and got a "Special Thanks" mention in the credits. Very cool!

We ended the evening at Fro-Yo, a nearby frozen custard joint. At Fro-Yo, you choose from a variety of ice cream flavors, dish it yourself, then top it with any number of available toppings. You pay $.40 per ounce and then indulge! For $3.85 I had vanilla soft-serve topped with fresh strawberry and kiwi slices, and a couple of chunks of chocolate-chip cookie dough.

(why? because it was there!)

Traveled Through The Root Canal....

For my St. Louis readers - if you ever have a tooth in need of a root canal or need an old one re-done (as I just did), I can easily recommend Dr. Maher at Southwest Endodontics in Sunset Hills. Excellent, friendly dentist and great staff.

Something New And Different...

In my 34 years of grocery shopping, I have never see this before...but I saw it tonight at my local Dierbergs. Anyone ever heard of this? This has to be some of the plainest packaging I've ever seen.

Sunday Night...

- having trouble gathering my thoughts tonight, folks...hang on tight.

- upon further review, I have decided that the aforementioned electric guitar symphony sounded like what a migraine headache feels like.

- memo to self: from now until Christmas, no shopping on weekends...confine thyself to weeknights if possible. Your sanity is at stake.

- I'm very adamant that Christmas music should not be played until after Thanksgiving, at the earliest. So, it follows that it would bug me that it is playing in ALL THE STORES currently.

- I have made my first, and likely only, Christmas music purchase of the season. In one of my earliest blog posts, I blogged at length about all of my Christmas music. I mentioned Christmas Songs by the Eddie Higgins Trio as being one of my favorites. Well, not long ago I discovered Eddie Higgins made a sequel to that CD, titled Christmas Songs II. Great!, except that it's not available anywhere in the U.S...which is why I had to buy it from a Korean eBay seller. It sits on my entertainment center, unopened, and will remain so until December 1, when I will begin playing Christmas music. I'm just odd like that.

- finally got around to buying an external USB hard drive; 250GB of backup space for my pictures and iTunes music library.

- can you hear me, major Tom?

- had a nice visit with niece Lydia last night. I babysat for her while her mommy and daddy went out for a couple of hours. We visited for a while then daddy fed, bathed, and bottled her before bedding her down for the night. She really is precious and such a blessing.

- had a nice lunch after church today with Ben, Katie, Kim, and other friends today. good times.

- you owe it to yourself to check out questblog.org - it's the new online presence for the contemporary-casual church service that I am a part of within my church.

My Sense Of Humor...

GO!!!...

This "For Better Or For Worse" cartoon ran yesterday and it hit home for me, as I have a dog who puts me through this in the winter, too!

TIcket Tracker: 100 Guitars...

Just returned from an interesting night of music. The Saint Louis Symphony Orchestra made a rare appearance away from Powell Symphony Hall to make their debut at The Pageant. The SLSO had never before played The Pageant, which is one of the area's top concert venues for, um, non-classical music. Works by modern composer Glenn Branca bookended the program. Branca is composing a new symphony and the orchestra performed its first movement. His style is unabashedly post-minimalist avant garde, so the music was often cacophonous and brash. Works by Frank Zappa(!) and Edgard Varèse followed, then the orchestra exited and the stage was reset for the second half of the program.

The rest of the evening was devoted to Branca's "Symphony No. 13 (Hallucination City)" for 100 (!) electric guitars and percussion. It was a sight to see; 100 guitarists on stage, divided into 4 SATB sections all playing loud, cacophonous, atonal sheets of sound. It was challenging listening and not for everyone, to be sure. Good stuff...

(ironic that I would be listening to a straight-ahead jazz CD as I write this. Tadd Dameron with John Coltrane, "Mating Call" from 1956. A classic.)

Katy Trail Pictures...

I finally sat down tonight and edited some pictures from my bike ride on the Katy Trail on November 1. They're posted on my Flickr page here.

Happy 90th, Billy Graham!...

The Man himself, Billy Graham, turned 90 years old last week. In honor of this, I post the lyrics to the Swirling Eddies' tribute to him:

Billy Graham

from the album "Outdoor Elvis"

Words and Music by Camarillo Eddy ©1989 Broken Songs

I don't know about those other guys
There's something in the back of their eyes
But Billy, you're the man who don't use sleight of hand
Ain't wearing no disguise
I love you, Billy

I love the simple things you say
And you never seem to get in the way
No one is quite like you, compassionate and true
'Just as I am,' I say
I love you, Billy

Sunday Night...

quickie tonight....not much time to say what little I have to say.

- full weekend:

- started the annual battle with the million leaves that have started dropping from my trees. 9 bags yesterday, many more to go before the season is over.

- hayride/bonfire last night. not truly a "country" hayride as we were only in suburban north St. Louis county and could see the lights of civilization at all times. did pass by a spooky cemetery, though. the weather was, um, cold but the bonfire was warm. many s'mores were created and consumed. I tried to emulate Bethany's technique and I think I was pretty successful.

- no rest for the weary, though. spent this afternoon and evening at the parents' house. They're having some work done on the ol' homeplace and needed me to pitch in and help get some things done so the work can start. after all the time they've spent at my place helping me out I was happy to help. Chili came along for doggie support.

- Niece Lydia turned 10 months old on election day. Happy Birthday, adorable one!

- My Jefferson County homeboy Jay Nixon, of DeSoto, MO did get the guvernorship. Kenny Hulshof's a nice guy but at his concession speech he looked like a guy who ran a race because someone told him to and gamely gave it his best shot. I don't think he was surprised at his loss. I feel sorry for the guy...he gave up his seat in Congress, only to lose his election.

- am contemplating a rare blog post on political matters re: the recent election. pray that I construct my thoughts carefully and, well, thoughtfully.

Because It's Friday...

One of my very favorite jokes of all time:

A wealthy woman is giving a garden party, and several well-to-do guests attend. While the party ensues, two gardeners are out on the back lawn working. One of the guests was watching the gardeners do their thing, and while one gardener was busy weeding the other jumped up and did graceful swirling dance movements.

Taken by his grace, the guest remarked to the host, 'That man is such a talented dancer, that I'd pay him a thousand dollars to demonstrate his dancing before my aerobics class! 'When the host asked the first gardener about such an arrangement, he yelled, 'Hey Fred! Do you think for a thousand bucks you could step on that rake again?'

Yes, I Did...

I did do my duty today, walked to my polling place in the GORGEOUS sunshiny goodness today. Chili also did her duty, but in my back yard. You won't see that here.

Now I'm off to Krispy Kreme for my free voter's doughnut. What a country!

Sunday Night...

- The "Sunday Night Stream Of Consciousness" is hereby officially retired...to me, it became gimmicky, like a sitcom that you tune in for every week at the same time. Can't have this thing become stale and predictable.

- I biked a good long way on the Katy Trail yesterday. Knocked out 23(!) miles between Greens Bottom Road and Weldon Spring, with a little detour to explore a new side trail that led to, um, a sewage treatment plant. Yeah. That's 23 miles, round-trip. I took loads of pictures because that stretch of trail is especially scenic this time of year. The picture above looks west down the trail. The rest will be posted, eventually.

- Way too many nitrites tonight at The Gathering's bonfire gathering. 3 Oscar Meyer weiners of indeterminate meat sources, 2 S'Mores, 1 piece of apple pie and several fresh strawberries.

- was almost too warm for a bonfire. wish November would return us to our regularly scheduled Fall, already in progress.

- last week's word of the day was 'apicoectomy' and I was scheduled to have it done on Tuesday. However (and there's ALWAYS a however in life), the oral surgeon determined that that was not yet necessary and referred me back to an (new word of the day, folks!) endodontist. This after I got all psyched up and prayed up for oral surgery. wasted an entire day off for 30 minutes of drama. urgh...

- the entirety of my mail yesterday was campaign literature. THE ENTIRETY OF IT. when it comes to mail, I'm like Linus waiting for the Great Pumpkin. can you say LETDOWN? into the recycling cart it went. wish I could do the same for all the annoying robo-calls that I've gotten in the last week.

- bro and sis-in-law celebrated anniversary number 3 on Wednesday. I hear they got away by themselves for an overnighter somewhere. Can't believe it's already been 3 years.

Not To Be Outdone...

...by the trees pictured below, this little guy has poked his way through the fence between my neighbors' yard and mine:

The Trees Of My Neighborhood...

My neighborhood is blessed with an abundance of mature trees that explode into a symphony of color in the fall. This is some of what Chili and I observed on our walk this morning.






See the rest here.

Word Picture...

My friend Elie Gardner wrote a really nice blog post today about a man in her neighborhood. Elie is a one of the talented photojournalists that I work with at the P-D. Her blogs always contain pretty pictures! : )

Flowers For Steve

Why I Love KDHX Community Radio...

FM 88.1 KDHX is a fun little independent, community radio station that's been on the air here in St. Louis for around 20 years. The station is staffed almost totally by volunteer DJs who have their own blocks of time each day to play their chosen format of music. A co-worker here at the P-D does a family-oriented music show every Saturday morning, for instance. I've always been a casual listener but a couple of months ago I started tuning in more frequently. I hear music on their shows that I wouldn't hear anywhere else or that wouldn't get played on corporate commercialized radio.

Case in point: I was listening to Cat Pick's "Emotional Rescue" Monday morning drive-time show this past Monday. She played the song "Transatlantic" by a Polish pop/rock group called Silver Rocket. I had never even heard of them or any of their work. She had only heard of them via their MySpace page. I really loved the song and did some research on the band. Their CD "Tesla" is not in any record store but is only available for digital download. I downloaded the CD from Amazon .com for $5.99.

By the way, "Tesla" is, as you might imagine, a reference to the 19th century inventor/genius Nikolay Tesla. The CD is a concept album based on his life. How cool is that?

Sunday Night Stream Of Consciousness...

- halloween jokes are great. - why do demons hang out with ghouls? read all the way to the end for the answer!

- really strong cold front has been blowing in today. So strong I could almost taste it. Really strong winds have been prevalent as a result. Looked out my patio door at dusk tonight and saw Elvira Gulch pedaling through the sky on her bicycle.

- all campaign literature received in my mailbox goes straight into the recycling cart in the garage, got that?

- waited way too long to take a vacation week. really needed this one. kept a couple of appointments, did some cleaning, visited with an old friend, but what I am happiest about are the afternoons Chili-dog and I spent on long walks. and the playtime I had with Lydia Joy on Wednesday.

- had to up the ol' thermostat a couple of degrees to 72..was a bit too cool for my comfort.

- word of the day is apicoectomy. That's what your tooth needs when the root canal doesn't take and infection rears up again. it's my reality coming up on Tuesday. ugh.

- those poor, poor Colorado Buffaloes. They had to be the team to play Mizzou after they lost 2 in a row. 58-0 means you had a successful homecoming game.

- Phillies vs. Rays. not interested in the least.

- because demons are a ghoul's best friend.

A-Walkin' We Went...

Chili-dog and I took advantage of a perfect Fall afternoon to explore some trails down south. I packed up the car and we headed down to Ste. Genevieve County. We lunched at Hawn State Park, then drove a little further over to Pickle Springs Natural Area, and finished with a short trek at Hickory Canyons Natural Area.

Pickle Springs has a WOW! factor for scenery of 10+, folks. I've been meaning to check it out for a a while but never took the time to drive down. Hickory Canyon's main attractions are its magnificent box canyons which appear almost out of nowhere.

I knew I picked the right place to hike today when, about 3/4 of the way down the trail at Pickle Springs, I happened upon Post-Dispatch travel writer extraordinaire Tom Uhlenbrock and his wife. When it comes to interesting places, Tom has been there, seen that. He highly recommended one of the long trails at Hawn State Park. I'll have to get back there soon.

Pictures are here at my Flickr page.

The Call To Serve...

I sat for an hour today with my old friend David Westmoreland today at a St. Louis BreadCo and caught up with him. It had been a while since we'd visited at any length.

David responded to God's call to serve with Campus Crusade For Christ about 7 years ago. He currently serves with their Great Commission Global Prayer Movement in Orlando, FL. If you'd like to know more, David would love to share with you. E-mail him at david.westmoreland@uscm.org .

So That's Where They Went...

...was cleaning in my office room just now. This little hamper just sits unused in the corner taking up space and I thought I would check to see if anything was in there.
This is what I found:This is what was inside: 2 sweatshirts, 2 pair of swim trunks, 1 long-sleeved t-shirt, 1 henley-style shirt, 1 sweater, and 1 pair of brown socks. I remember looking for those clothes last year and not finding them. Guess they weren't that important to me. I don't remember stuffing them inside that hamper, that's for sure.

The Dog Goes To Day Camp...

I'm going to leave Chili-dog at my local Kennelwood's Doggie Day Camp tomorrow. This will be her first time there, so my fingers are crossed. It costs $20/day but the first time is free so you aren't on the hook if your dog doesn't play well with others. Chili doesn't get much doggie-to-doggie time and I am hopeful this will be a good experience for her.

*****EDIT***** - Thursday evening

The experience wasn't the greatest for her, according to the "counselor" in charge of the dogs. "kind of stressful," "freaked out" were terms used in her little report card. She was moved away from the pack of dogs and did one-on-ones with the "counselor." I expected something like this might happen...she may need to be gradually worked into this.

Don't Write Anything You Wouldn't Want Your Mother To Read...

in talking to my mom tonight, I found out she finally found this little blog. For no reason in particular, I never informed her of the address. I thought she knew since my dad happened upon it some time ago. Guess not. Sorry, Mom!

Bringing The Heat...

Time for my first-ever blog poll! I turned on my heat for the first time this fall yesterday. I'm going to try keeping it set at 70 degrees for a while. Where do you set your thermostat?

Sunday Night Stream Of Conscsiousness...

- so after 4 years of owning a bike, I finally invested in a good cyclometer. I will now know my average speed and total mileage for each trip. why wasn't this important to me before?

- mizzou football = disappointing. The 'Horns schooled them but good last night on national TV. all that national championship and heisman talk was foolish, to begin with. you don't ascend that high, that fast after so many years of bad-ness. Reality=they're the sixth best team in the Big 12. How bad do you want it, guys?

- Who was that team that stomped the Cowboys today? That QB that filled in for Romo couldn't have been any more immobile if he was the Statue of Liberty.

- I think Chili enjoyed her her first-ever trip to Kirkwood Park yesterday morning. She surely was interested in the ducks that inhabit Walker Lake. Sans leash, she would have taken a swim to meet them.

- random freaky fact: the husband and wife who managed the Ponderosa Steakhouse I worked at in high school live down the street and around the corner from me. Discovered that when their dog ran out in the street to meet Chili-dog during our walk tonight. The man was, um, frustrated at his dog and yelled at it and kicked it in the ribs to get it back across the street. He obviously didn't remember me and I didn't feel like making a scene so we just walked on.

- knew that a video of the two St. Louis fire trucks colliding would be YouTube-d at some point...sure enough here it is.

- sure am enjoying the new Ray LaMontagne CD...the voice, the voice.

Come, Thou Fount Of Every Piano Man...

I'm at worship rehearsal at church, at the moment. The piano player and the worship leader just did an extended riff of "Come, Thou Fount Of Every Blessing" set to the tune of Billy Joel's "The Piano Man." It actually works if you situate the words just so...

If You Like Piña Coladas...

...and getting caught in the rain...

Don't like the former but I experienced the latter last night. Was walking Chili during a break in the rain showers. I was optimistic that we'd stay dry but alas, the wind picked up and the rains resumed while we were the farthest away from my house. Both doggie and owner got drenched. Chili didn't seemed to mind; she looked up at me as if to say, "oh, well!" and shook off the water. So glad I had clean towels in the basement.

Note To Self...

no grapes before dinner...unless you just want said dinner to be interrupted to go write a letter to your congressman*...



*expression courtesy of Brooke from Four Of Clubbs

Sleepy Dog...

Sunday Night Stream Of Consciousness...

- another gorgeous Fall weekend has come and gone. a little warm, but as Roy Ayers said, everybody loves the sunshine!

- spent a good portion of yesterday chiseling concrete with a hand-held air hammer. so glad I went to college...that's real man's work, though.

- Happy Birthday wishes go out to my dear dad; he had a very good birthday today. Birthday lunch of steak and potatoes with all the family gathered 'round the table. mom, me and Chili-dog, bro, sis-in-law, and adorable Lydia in her high chair. He got to spend the afternoon with the grand-baby and grand-dog. I think he was pleased. Chili-dog didn't get the chance to get up close with Lydia. They observed each other from a safe distance.

- Too bad for ol' Mizzou - I think Coach P. got out-coached by Coach G. It hurts now but they'll be better off for it in the long run. I wouldn't look forward to playing the 'Horns next week.

- My dad has mad carpentry skills...the cabinets he built to create a basement wet bar are outta sight! the maple wood for the cabinet drawers came from a tree in my yard that I had to have cut down last summer. remember: reclaimreuserecycle.

ALERT: Random Fredbird Sighting!...

Friday morning...I pulled up behind a car in traffic at the intersection of Tucker and Market on my way to work. Into my field of vision came none other than.....FREDBIRD!!

The beloved Cardinals mascot was tooling along in a red golf cart, westbound on Market Street. Same old dopey grin on his face (er...beak?)...he waved to everyone as he passed by.

Hobbes The Romantic...

POOTY PIE!!! ROFL!

I'm Undecided???...

While I was out walking Chili-dog tonight I got a call on my home phone from Angela Hunter. She was calling from an Arkansas area code on behalf of the Barack Obama for President campaign. Her message stated that she had me marked as an undecided voter and would I please consider voting for Barack Obama for President if I haven't made up my mind yet? She left the phone number of the St. Louis Obama office for my convenience.

How did this person determine that I'm an undecided voter? I've never participated in any political polling and have discussed my political preferences with exactly NO ONE.

Her phone number is on my caller ID and I have half a mind to call her back tomorrow to find out.

Gnats!...

swarms of them. Black Gnats. Egyptian Plague Black Gnats. made my bike ride on Grant's Trail yesterday oh-so-not pleasant. Totally ruined the good vibes emitted by the late-afternoon sunshine and pleasantly mild air.

An Idea For The St. Louis Rams...

HARARE, ZIMBABWE (Reuters) - A Zimbabwean soccer player drowned in a crocodile-infested river during a ritual to cleanse his team of bad spirits before a match, a state newspaper said on Tuesday.

(I'm only kidding, folks...when a team is 0-4, desperation kinda sets in!)

Saw This On A Bumper Sticker...

"Don't Wait For Six Strong Men To Take You To Church"

Sunday Night Stream Of Consciousness...

- fantastic fall weekend here in the midwest. sunny days and oh-so-just-right temperatures....lovelovelove it.

- Chili-dog and I had a dog-gone good time at the Purina Incredible Dog Challenge yesterday. She met lots of other dogs and got lots of lovin' from people. Wish I'd remembered to wear sunscreen, or at least a hat! Thank you God for Aloe Vera gel. Pictures are here.

- Happiness is warm peanut butter cookies, a glass of milk, and a winning MU football team on the tube. Thanks, Mom! (Chili-dog and I watched the game in Festus on the folks' big-screen TV.)

- great to see Mizzou blow up Nebraska but it would have been so much sweeter if the 'Huskers were actually a good team, as in years past. Tigers - shore up that pass defense and get ready for the Cowboys next week!

- A Disney animated movie actually won the box office wars this weekend. Yeah.

- No, I haven't watched the debates and don't plan to watch any future ones. I also don't understand all the fuss about the economy, either. That's why I couldn't do a business major in college, couldn't grasp the concepts of economics. Just keep it from crashing, boys, OK? BUT SERIOUSLY, the P-D's Dave Nicklaus wrote a very informative column for today's paper about what the problem is and why it happened. Check it out here.

- Won't say the recent rounds of layoffs at work didn't make people nervous, but it seems everyone's looking over their shoulder lately.

- I recently discovered a band from Seattle called Fleet Foxes. Recently, as in, like, last Thursday. Their debut record sounds like a collaboration between the Beach Boys and Crosby, Stills, Nash, and Young. It's stuck in my car's CD player at the moment.

Jaydogg's First V-Blog...

Home-grown video we used in our church service today to introduce a new sermon series in 1 Corinthians called "Core Strengths." Dunno who the man behind the shades is but rumor has it he's a distant cousin of a certain blogging friend of mine...

A Great Way To Spend A Gorgeous Fall Day With Your Dog...

Purina Farms - Gray Summit, MO

Everyone Loves A Dumb Criminal Story, Right?...

Man Arrested After Fireworks Ignite In Car

CENTRAL FALLS, R.I. (AP) - A Central Falls man faces criminal charges after the cigarette he was smoking inside a car apparently ignited fireworks. Police arrested a 28-year-old man on Sunday after an officer found a black 1997 Infinity smoking in the middle of the street.

Firefighters were called to the scene to extinguish the blaze. No one was injured.

The man told police he was smoking a cigarette inside the Infinity when fireworks near his feet ignited. Witnesses told police they saw a passenger in the Infinity tossing fireworks from the vehicle shortly before police arrived.

The man was charged with the use or possession of fireworks under $500.

---

Information from: The Times, http://www.pawtuckettimes.com

My comment - there are easier ways to have a hot rod!

This Nice Guy Finished Last...

Yeah, I know I said I was done writing about the Rams, but I have to comment on the sad saga of our Male Sheep this season. Nice guy head coach Scott Linehan's employment was mercifully terminated in the wee hours of Monday morning. P-D sports columnist Bernie Miklasz wrote up a compelling account of the intense discussions that ended in Linehan's dismissal. Football writer Bill Coats added some juicy details in his story:

"Linehan, 45, was summoned to a hotel room in downtown St. Louis in the wee hours Monday and was informed of the decision to terminate his contract. "

"[Jim] Haslett, the team’s defensive coordinator since ’05, received a phone call from team owner Chip Rosenbloom at 1:15 a.m., asking him to take over as head coach."

I, for one, am glad it's finally over. Linehan was really never the right coach for the Rams. The team's deceased former owner Georgia Frontiere must have OK'ed his hiring out of the goodness of her soft heart. Many players reportedly tuned him out last year and never tuned him back in. The intense pressure to win was beginning to visibly affect Linehan both physically and mentally. To have it end at the Four Seasons Hotel in the wee hours of the morning is just terrible, so very awful. I can't imagine what it must have been like for him driving downtown knowing what was going to happen. He gave one last speech to his players this morning, then left quickly, a defeated man. He deserved better but will undoubtedly live to fight again another day.

Now I'm done writing about the Rams, I promise.

Sunday Night Stream Of Consciousness...

- Incredible weather we've been having...enjoyed my 10 miles on the Katy Trail yesterday...sure was a heckuva festival goin' on at Frontier Park on the St. Charles riverfront.

- "Casino" is a violent movie. But it's about Vegas and the mob...no surprise there.

- "The Diving Bell and the Butterfly"- very moving French film, very hopeful. You should rent it.