Once again I have been asked to provide a Christmas List. You would have thought that people learned after reading last year’s, but you would be wrong. To you readers who did not specifically ask for or hint at what to buy me for Christmas, don’t buy me anything: this is strictly for your amusement. You […]
MadMania
Faith, Books, and Stuff
In 1 Chronicles 5:2 (KJV) I have found what might be the earliest emoticon; I think the placement is kind of humorous (I have included a bit of 5:1 for context): …and the genealogy is not to be reckoned after the birthright. For Judah prevailed above his brethren, and of him came the chief ruler; but the birthright was […]
Some of my happiest memories are from Thanksgivings past. Family gathered together preparing and then eating a ton of food. Stories told over the dinner table about this cousin or that uncle. Playing various card or board games way into the night. This Thanksgiving will be bittersweet for me though; as some of you know […]
Once, Heather and the girls went out of town for Thanksgiving; I was stuck at home because I had to work. But before Heather left, she made a chocolate cake. So I had cake for breakfast that first day. When I came home for lunch, I didn’t feel like cooking, so I had chocolate cake […]
n., a victory won at too great a cost too great to make it worthwhile. A long time ago my wife-to-be and I were heading back to our apartment from her parents’ house on a gravel road. I was driving, and Heather was nagging. She had quickly tired of my driving, and I had quickly […]
My favorite 4th of July memory happened the summer after I turned 12. We were over at the house of one of my Dad’s friends, a loud German guy named Bob. Bob lived in Kansas, and despite the state’s reputation for flatness, Bob lived on an amazingly steep hill. Both his front and back yards sloped […]
My little 1991 Mazda Protégé/323 hit 1/3 of a million miles last week. I bought the car when it had 188,912 miles on it, and I’ve put the remaining miles on over the last 5 ½ years. It’s my second Mazda (my first was a 1983 GLC–also awesome). This is the most miles I have ever […]
1993 saw the out-of-nowhere comeback of Meat Loaf with his hit I Would Do Anything For Love (But I Won’t Do That). According to Mr. Loaf, ‘What is “that?” is one of the questions he is most frequently asked, and Jim Steinman, the songwriter, says that there are several clues as to what ‘that‘ is […]
The oven went out in our Frigidaire gas range (this was after the clock went out a couple years ago–it’s been the worst appliance I’ve ever owned), so we finally broke down and went shopping for a new range. We were looking for a prosumer gas convection range, as Heather does a lot of baking. […]
When I was 14 my dad came home with a fresh pineapple (or as fresh as you can get in Missouri). It was the first time I ever had fresh pineapple, and it was amazing. Between me, Dad, and my three brothers, it was too-soon devoured. But there was still plenty of pineapple core left, […]