Yes, I've already broken my vow of not posting anymore, but this... this is a special occassion...
Kara over at Cape Buffalo is throwing a virtual birthday party for everyone's blogmigo Mr. Big Dubya.
For a virtual birthday gift I present to him: a couple of cubans...
Damn Blogger... I mean these types of Cubans:
Sorry about the cryptic post earlier this week, but I was in a rush and didn’t want to be talked out of something.
I know I’ve flirted with this in the past but now it’s time.
It’s time to end this blog.
In the last few weeks, readership, comments and visitors have dropped dramatically and, as a result, I have not been in much mood to write.
I plan to continue with TBWA, The Blogfathers (if they still want me) and DDS (which I hope makes me elligible for the Blogpound next Fantasy Football season - hint, hint Tony...) it's just that I feel it’s time to bring this blog to an end as I have been in a severe case of writer's block for a few weeks now. I have the second and third part of my Vegas story ready, but it's... for lack of a better word... off. It doesn't make sense, it's unfunny and, in all honesty, it's cruel to a certain demographic.
I will be keeping the URL active on the off chance I am ever hit upside the head with a sledgehammer with a thought and need to express it.
Having said that, however, this will cease to be an "active" blog.
I seem to have lost my "blog muse" if you will and I don't know where it is.
For all of you that have been loyal readers, and I know there are a few, I want to give you a sincere "Thank you… and goodbye."
Epilogue: The original plan was to go to bed relatively early after arriving late Wednesday night, but one thing led to another and we stayed up until 3:00 in the morning, went back to our room and
…
The following takes place between 7:00 AM and 2:30 AM…
Thanks to casinos pumping enough Oxygen into the joint to awaken Keith Richards , we went to bed about 2 or 3 in the morning and woke up and were raring to go at 7 AM.
We got cleaned up, dressed, hit the brunch buffet and, after being briefly sidelined by my ogling/playing of a Star Wars slot machine at Bills Casino (formerly Barbary Coast) we hit The Strip.
Today’s target; walk North South North to pick up our tickets at the Sahara for Trent Carlini’s show.
As we stepped outside, we immediately noticed something… there was no sun, and the wind was blowing harder than Paris Hilton at a new club opening…
{Rimshot!}
Because of which, we saw a LOT of people diving into shops to buy sweatshirts or jackets.
We’re Chicagoans, we did no such diving…
Besides the “chill” in the air, the wind was kicking up enough sand that one thought that Mac the Atlas man was around…
I’ll wait a moment for that reference to click…
We walked… we shopped… we visited each casino and played at least one game and, if the time was right, had one drink before we would walk to the next one.
That wasn’t so bad, I won a nice Calvin Hill gift set from The Riviera… and HoMu won a Leather bag set.
We finally arrived at the Sahara, got our tickets, made reservations for dinner at House of Lords (where The Beatles loved to go when they were in Vegas) and decided to walk back to our hotel via the other side of the street with the first stop to be Circus Circus.
Big. Honking. Mistake.
Apparently, about 98% of the vacationers that come to Las Vegas with kids stay at Circus Circus. We left our kids at home, so being surrounded by screaming children and obviously bored & longing parents ignoring said children was, to be polite; a bit taxing.
Mental note made at that time; never, ever, ever go back to Circus Circus…
We left C-C (we both vowed to never speak of the experience again…) and, seeing as how we both had sand in every single orifice of our body’s thanks to the wind and wanted to clean up before we went to dinner and the show, we decided to cab it back to The Flamingo. We did our thing and took the monorail (monorail… monorail… monorail…) back to the Sahara.
Dinner was excellent; we had time to gamble (I won about $50 on Blackjack) and went to our show.
Trent Carlini is Elvis. If you like Elvis and you go to Vegas, ignore every other Elvis impersonator and go see Carlini… you will NOT be disappointed.
After the show, we decided to take the monorail (monorail… monorail… monorail…) back to our hotel. When we arrive we head across the street to O’Shea’s. The War table is full, as are all the Blackjack tables, so we each find a ‘one-armed bandit’, I light my cigar and we gamble… badly… very, very badly… so when all else fails… drink.
And then go to “bed.”
Coming Next: “Day Two” or “Deliverance: Las Vegas Style”
A few random thoughts about our trip to Las Vegas.
Everyone said we had to go here because it's a lot of fun; so we went:
I thought they said S and M World... imagine my disappointment...When we woke up Wednesday morning, there was snow on the ground.
Snow… in Mid-April… wtf?
Later in the morning, the snow became this combination of quickly-changing and ever-changing snow/sleet/rain.
Usually it takes about an hour to get to Midway from our house, but because of the weather… and knowing that people can’t drive if they see a flake of snow fall from the sky, we decided to leave for the airport a little earlier.
We dropped The Peanut Butter and The Jelly off at HoMu’s parents house and hit the road.
Lo and behold, the traffic was fine and we arrived at the airport about three and a half hours before our flight was scheduled to depart.
Son of a…
We checked our bags and then checked the monitor to see the status of our flight:
“On Time.”
Excellent.
We then had two and a half hours to kill but that was not a problem as it gave us a chance to eat dinner at Harry Carry’s Seventh Inning Stretch and have a calming alcohol-based drink before boarding.
After that, we went to our gate and checked the status of our flight…
“Delayed.”
Son of a...
Did I mention it started snowing again… harder? And that the wind picked up… and that the temperature started to drop?
We were supposed to leave at 4:35, but at 4:45, they put a sign on the board that still said delayed… but listed no time.
Hmmmmm…
Being the inquisitive one that she is, HoMu went up and asked them approximately what time our flight would be leaving… the conversation went something like this:
“We don’t know, we can’t find the plan.”That’s right, you heard me (sorry Sarah); they couldn’t find the plane.
“I’m sorry, what? Are you being funny?”
“No unfortunately I’m not…”
“Oh. Shit.”
“When will the bags from Chicago be unloaded?”So HoMu and I got our bags and, since Southwest wasn’t doing a damn thing, we walked over to the luggage carousel where everyone on our flight was waiting and told them where to go and whom to yell at.
“They already have been. They’re right here. We have our own luggage carousel.”
“We weren’t told that, the sign said carousel 14. I mean, didn’t you think it was odd that no one was claiming their luggage.”
“Actually I did. I thought about making an announcement, but didn’t.”
“You’re an idiot, do you know that?”
Honey Mustard and I leave for Las Vegas tomorrow without the The Peanut Butter & The Jelly.
That’s right, just the two of us… and we’re positively giddy about the idea.
Now don’t get us wrong, we absolutely, unequivocally, unconditionally love our children, but… come on… anyone with kids knows exactly what I’m talking about.
However, there is one problem…
In The PB and The J’s 4 ¾ on this planet (and NOT counting the nights they were in the NICU since we were next door at the Ronald McDonald House) we’ve been apart from them, overnight, for a grand total of two times…
You read that right… two times.
Once, a year and two months after they were born when my Uncle Nishan (who I am named for and who was always like a grandfather to me) passed away.
The second time was two years ago when we decided to have some salvation for an evening and stayed the night at Hotel 71 in Chicago, had dinner at Miller’s Pub, drank too much with friends of ours at the Congress Hotel Bar (which is THE BEST dive bar in Chicago btw), and had Sunday Brunch at The Signature Room atop the John Hancock building…
And that’s it.
So here we are… on the cusp of multiple nights away from our little demoñios angels… and HoMu and I are more than a little nervous.
The girls?They’re excited… no, scratch that… they’re thrilled... after all, they get to spend two nights with HoMu’s parents, then two nights with my parents.
Four nights of spoiling… four nights of being given money from Abuelo (my Dad)… four nights of being the center of attention from their Gama (HoMu’s Mom, whom they usually have to share with six other grandchildren)…
It’s enough to make them push us out the door two days early.
...
… but it’s also enough to make HoMu and I a little worried.
But, we’ll muddle through somehow.
Lisa over at My Thoughts, Ideas and Ramblings has nominated The BushWhacked Administration for the Blogger's Choice Awards - Best Political Blog.
So if you agree with her (and really, who wouldn't?), head over and give Scott and I a vote:
http://www.bloggerschoiceawards.com/blogs/show/698
It's a moral imperative...
We met in college…
I noticed her daily, because she sat in front of a girl I dated for about 3 months… and that’s how we initially met. Because “Ginger” was almost always tardy (the reason was one of the reasons we broke up – but that’s a story for another day), while we talked often, we didn’t really “meet,”
We got along, but nothing more as we were both in “relationships” (for lack of a better word) with others at the time…
But there was always something in the back of mind about her, even after the semester was over.
A year later, we actually “met”, this time through mutual friends. Along the way discovered that we lived about 1 block from each other and had a lot of mutual interests. That first night, we talked for four hours while our friends partied…
Here’s the wedding meme revisited should you want to know more… and really, who doesn’t?
1. Where/How did you meet? See above…
2. How long have you known each other? All told – about 13 years. We’ve been together as a couple for about 12 years…
3. How long after you met did you start dating? About 2 months after the second time we met, or the “official” time we met as opposed to the moment, as HoMu so eloquently puts it, ‘we met while you (meaning I) were dating that tramp’ … in HoMu’s defense, the other woman was a tramp, but that’s another story for another day
4. How long did you date before you were engaged? 6 months
5. How long was your engagement? An additional year and a half as we decided to wait for me to graduate college (HoMu graduated a year before I did) and for her to finish her post-graduate program she started upon her graduation.
6. How long have you been married? 10 years today! Next week, we’re going to Vegas baby… sans kids…
7. What is your anniversary? See above. But still plenty of time to purchase something online for the special day.
8. How many people came to your wedding reception? 390 people, give or take a few…
9. What kind of cake did you serve? Classic wedding cake with tiers…
10. Where was your wedding? In
11. What did you serve for your meal? Steak or chicken, twice-baked potatoes, salad, green beans, bread, and wine…
12. How many people were in your bridal party? Seven, plus two ushers and a flower girl and a ring bearer… one big-ass wedding party.
13. Are you still friends with them all? Yes…
14. Did your spouse cry during the ceremony? Yes… as did I…
16. Any funny moments? At the rehearsal, one of the altar boys asked my female cousin, who was standing-up as one of my “groomsmen,” if they were the night’s entertainment… my cousin almost slugged the kid. Another one happened at the reception, when the priest asked me if the ‘girl with the huge tits’ had found her purse…
17. Any big disasters? A couple. First, I almost did not have a vest as the tuxedo place screwed up my tux about eight times, which almost resulted in my Dad reaching over the counter and strangling, Homer-Bart style, the manager who had said to “Make do” with my messed up tux and the ringbearer’s messed-up tux. They eventually fixed it and I got my vest about 3 minutes before we started. The second? We had a gift opening/leftover eating party the next day as we were leaving for our honeymoon Monday morning. So my brother drove us to the O’Hare Holiday Inn Sunday night, where I had ordered a “Honeymoon Special” of bath beads, champagne, chocolates and a free dinner at their stylish restaurant. Besides the fact it was snowing (in April) when my brother dropped us off, the hotel had no heat… and no hot water. Plus, they did not have the Gift Basket waiting in the room for us. So we spent our second night of married life freezing our asses off waiting for a gift basket that never came. On the plus side, upon our return, we sent a letter to Holiday Inn corp and they sent us back a free 2-night stay at the same location with all the perks.
18. Where did you go on your honeymoon? The Sandals resort at Ocho Rios in
19. How long were you gone? A week and a half.
20. If you were to do your wedding over, what would you change? I would have held firm that my female cousin wear a tux while standing up on my side rather than one of the bridesmaids dresses, it looked odd…
22. What size is your bed? Queen.
23. Greatest strength as a couple? She laughs at my jokes, no matter how bad they are. Also, a shared respect for one another and our sometimes differing opinions.
24. Greatest challenges as a couple? I give two because they tie-in so well with each other. We are both highly opinionated, while at the same time we are both bosses at our jobs, and we sometimes tend to forget to leave that particular trait where it belongs…
25. Who literally pays the bills? She does. While I can manage a multi-million dollar budget at work, I have trouble doing so at home; go figure.
26. What is your song? “Love Will Keep Us Alive” by The Eagles. Though we walked into our reception to “Miserlou” from the Pulp Fiction soundtrack… without the Pumpkin and Honey Bunny dialog btw…
28. Describe your wedding dress tux? Black, with white vest and black satin band with diamond stud – no cummerbund or ‘tux’ tie…
29. What kind of flowers did you have at your wedding? Uh.. there were flowers?? Kidding, they were lilies…
30. Are your wedding bands engraved? Hold on, let me check.. no…
We put an offer on a larger house Saturday... one that has 2.5 bathrooms, 4 bedrooms and sits on 1/4 of an acre...
Now comes the joy of trying to sell our current house so we can buy and move into the new one...
Why, oh why?
Honey Mustard: I'm gonna put these books in the bookcase...
Me: Novel idea...
-- BEAT --
HoMu: hahahahahaha...
Can someone please explain this ComcastNews headline to me:
Sean Lennon Unfazed by Public Attention
This is someone's own remix of 'Duel of the Fates' that encompasses all six movies... it's pretty damn cool and good filler, close to 5 minutes in length... enjoy
Have some Random Thoughts:
“Beware of false knowledge; it is more dangerous than ignorance.” - George Bernard Shaw
The Jelly has been running a fever all weekend (of course she has, it was in the 70's all weekend, so naturally she gets a temp and has to stay inside) so Honey Mustard took her to the Doctor this morning.
The diagnosis? '034.0'
That's Strep Throat for you non-healthcare folk out there.
So The Jelly has strep... meaning no school today or tomorrow... and, coincidentally, they don't have school Wednesday and Thursday for Parent-Teacher conferences and Teacher's Institute... so The J has a nice 6-day break...
Wish I could get strep...
Any wagers about how long it takes for The Peanut Butter to get it?
It’s around here somewhere… somewhere in the blog-o-sphere is my talent.
If you find it, please contact me… until then, have a meme that I found while traipsing around ‘The Internets’ last night.
1)Go to Wikipedia: Ok, simple enough, I’m there...
2) In the search box, type your birth month and day but not the year. Okay... J-u-o, wait, let me try that again... J-y-l... damn it... Sorry, I can’t type when people are looking over my shoulder... J-u-l-y- 8, there...
3) List five events that happened on your birthday:
First: in 1776 The Liberty Bell was rung to summon citizens of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania to the reading of the Declaration of Independence by the Continental Congress. (Kewl…)
Second: in 1889 the first issue of the Wall Street Journal was published.
Third: in 1947 there were reports broadcast that a UFO has crash landed in Roswell, New Mexico. (Wait a minute… there’s a New Mexico?)
Four: in 1896 William Jennings Bryan delivered his Cross of Gold speech at the 1896 Democratic National Convention in Chicago that advocated bimetalism. (One of the landmark speeches by one of the best orators EVAH)
Five: in 1982 there was an assassination attempt against Iraqi president Saddam Hussein in Dujail, Iraq. (He’ll eventually get his comeuppance … oh, wait.)
Hmmmmm, is it too soon for a Hussein joke?
4) List five important birthdays and one death.
1836 - Joseph Chamberlain (Papa of Neville)
1838 - Ferdinand Graf von Zeppelin ('Oh, the humanity…')
1933 - Marty Feldman ('There wolf, there castle.')
1948 - Raffi (eeeeewwwww)
1958 - Kevin Bacon (Wow, I’m six degrees from Kevin Bacon…)
Death –Soapy Smith in 1898. He was an American con artist. See number five below for more…
5) One holiday or observance (if any)
The Annual Soapy Smith wake, held each year in Skagway, Alaska in the Gold Rush Cemetery and in Hollywood, California at the Magic Castle…
6) Tag 5 other bloggers to complete.
No use since no one listens to me tags. If you want to do it, do it. If you don’t want to do it, don’t…
…are made by those who show up.
And a trio of bloggers is asking for your help to show up, or more appropriately, post up.
Croutonboy tipped me off to this, and I thing it’s an extraordinary idea.
Brian, Rick & Carol, along with Brave Humans, are trying to organize 30,000 bloggers to
“...act as a single voice for one moment in time.”
The purpose is not to make any particular political statements, but to, simply, make some noise.
Why? Because it’s there… because we can… because voices need to be heard. Or, in simpler reasoning; why not?
It’s an opportunity to stand-up and be counted… an opportunity to have your voice heard… an opportunity to “teach the world to sing” and to “shout from the rooftops”... okay, those are a little cheesy, but you get the idea.
Think about it, it worked for The Who’s in Horton Hears a Who… and it can work for the blog-o-sphere.
There’s no agenda attached… it’s not a Liberal thing… it’s not a conservative thing… it’s a change thing… it’s something aimed at bringing about change... and that’s all.
Sure, the catalyst was something said by a bat-shit crazy biatch conservative pundit, but it’s not who it is that prompted the day… it’s the chance to do... something.
I have been… asked… to join The Blogfathers… and you all know what one does to a request from The Blogfathers… you comply with a request from The Blogfathers…
Seriously though, I was one of seven to be offered the chance to be a Capo over there, and I have accepted, so I am excited about this new opportunity to expound on being a father of twins.
If you came to Kemp’s Blog via Blogfathers, please take a look around… you can click on my 100 Things About Me post, or check out my Top Ten posts over on the right, or just click around and explore…
I’ll be posting my Introductory post at The Blogfathers later this evening, so be sure to check that out as well…
Thanks… and enjoy…
Proof our country is drowning in a sea of pop culture schlock...
You probably all know that the cavemen from the Geico TV ads are getting their own TV show… that’s scary enough, but now word is coming out that the “Burger King” from the Burger King commercials will be making a theatrical feature (read: a movie) to give background for the commercials...
...
Stop the world, I want to get off...
It’s time for a confession… one I’ve held back and kept secret for years… one that gnaws at my soul and wakes me up in the middle of the night in a cold sweat… a confession that could shake the very foundation of my life… so here goes…
demons things from the original Willy Wonka movie…
I've made some aesthetic changes and I want to hear YOUR opinion...
Like it.
Hate it.
Have mass indifference to it.
Inquiring minds... okay fine, inquiring mind wants to know...
I can’t think of anything to write today…
I thought about simply writing “I have nothing to say today. That is all"… but Croutonboy beat me to it.
Then I thought I would take a picture of my ass, but QofS beat me to it…
So… I’m sitting here… with nothing to say… with no spark… with no prospects…
Not even a random thought bouncing around in my head.
It’s gone someplace… somewhere in this world is my talent…
If you find it, if you would be so kind as to let me know, I would greatly appreciate it.
And yes, I see the irony of having said in the previous post that I found my creative spark only to lose it the next day...
Time to reach into the official “Kemp’s Blog Mailbag” and answer some e-mail/comment questions…
I enjoyed the questions. If you have any more , leave ‘em in comments or send me an email – kempsblog at gmail dot com
Thanks… and enjoy…
Honey Mustard had class the other night and wasn’t home yet.
The Peanut Butter and The Jelly were playing with their dolls so I quickly went down to the laundry room and got some laundry to fold... yes, I fold laundry...
I brought the laundry up, put it down near the couch and then had to put the dog outside as she was dancing a jig and I know if I didn’t put her out now, she’s piddle all over the floor.
So I put the dog out, brought her in and gave her some water. All told, about 7 minutes I was away from the laundry basket.
I go into the front room to fold it, and to my surprise, my daughters... my 4 ½ year old daughters... had folded it all.
You read that right... they folded the laundry... all of it... nicely... and had it in perfect stacks...
I remember them not being able to hold their heads up like it was yesterday... and now here they are folding laundry (and nicer than the job I can do quite frankly)...
I don’t want to sound like a schmo here... but I was amazed. I know, I know, I know... they’re getting older, there are a lot of things they can do... but it still surprised me and brought home one, simple fact that, I think, some parents tend to forget...
Time.
Flies.
Enjoy it while you can...
I leave after work this afternoon for my sojourn into sausage making (there are two things you never want people to see you make; laws and sausages)
The following takes place between 9:00 am and 9:08 am…
“A witty saying proves nothing.” - Voltaire
This Saturday is the Day of the Chorizo.
A family tradition that I, along with my dad, my brother, a few of my cousins partake in annually. It’s the day we make the family-chorizo for the coming year. We use a recipe that my Abuela brought over with her when she immigrated (or is that emigrated) from Spain at the age of 19.
We butcher the hog, we add the spices, we mix it, we put it in a grinder, we encase it and we let it smoke for a few days.
Last year I was too sick to participate... but this year I am feeling fine and ready to go.
Because The Peanut Butter and The Jelly have dance class (and a recital in May that they’re practicing for), and Honey Mustard has midterms next week (that she has to study for) they are not going...I am going sans family.
Last night at dinner, The PB asked if we could go see a movie this weekend, and HoMu said ‘Daddy will be out of town this weekend.”
(Note: We are not telling the girls where I am actually going... if they knew I was going to my parents, their Abuelo and Abuela, they would want to go and would throw a fit that could very well go down as the most impressive fit by a child EVER)
The J started crying... actually crying... saying “But I love Daddy. I want him to stay home. Don’t go Daddy, don’t go.”
My heart... was breaking...
Then The PB decided to join in... and my heart was doubly breaking...
(Let me explain something about my daughters… being twins, they know how to play off each other… whether it be for fun or dramatic effect or for getting what they want – and they’re only four, so get ready Sarah, Becky, Matthew – so I knew that I was in trouble)
This went on for about 20 minutes until The J said, “I’ll miss you Daddy but you can go” followed by The PB saying, “Go Daddy.”
Great... they feel better, but my heart is still breaking...
If they’re acting like this now, what are they going to do when both HoMu and I go to Las Vegas in April for our 10 Year wedding anniversary??
What do you guys do when you have to be away from the kids?
...
And incidentally, my family’s version of chorizo does NOT use the “varietal parts of the animal, such as cheeks, salivary glands or lymph nodes” that Wikipedia mentions...
I wrote a post last year explaining Fat Tuesday, you can read it HERE. Or you can read the new and improved version with over 30% new material below… it’s guaranteed* to impress…
*not a real guarantee
Background
In England, today is known as Shrove Tuesday, derived from the word “Shrive”, which is an old English word for having your sins forgiven. People would get ready for Lent by going to Confession and by asking forgiveness of one another. Then they would keep the disciplines of Lent (prayer, fasting and almsgiving) as their penance.
That’s the serious side of Shrovetide, but another task during Carnival was the “eating-up” of Lent’s forbidden foods, and for over a thousand years, most Christians kept Lent by not eating animal products, a practice that probably began out of necessity.
At Carnival all meat, butter, cheese and eggs got used up in one final feast before the Lenten fast. Making pancakes and doughnuts uses up a lot of these ingredients. Russians call the days before Lent “Butter Week.” In some countries, the last day before Lent is called Doughnut Day or Pancake Day. The Irish call it “Ash Eve.” The French call it “Mardi Gras” which means “Fat Tuesday.”
In Venice, at midnight on Ash Wednesday Eve, a straw figure named “Carnivale,” whose body has been stuffed with fireworks, is burned in a fire in St. Mark’s Square. In some places last year’s Palm Sunday branches are burned with an effigy of old man winter, and so Lent’s ashes get made at the same time that winter “burns up.”
Mardi Gras came to New Orleans through its French heritage in 1699. Early explorers celebrated this French holiday on the banks of the Mississippi River. Throughout the years, Orleanians have added to the celebration by establishing krewes (organizations) which host parades and balls. Carnival quickly became an exciting holiday for both children and adults.
Parades are put on by carnival krewes (or organizations). Every year, each krewe picks a king and a queen who reign for that parade. The floats are decorated to depict different themes. The floats are pulled by tractors. Most parades have at least 15 floats. People who belong to the krewe ride on the floats. They throw beads, doubloons, cups, and trinkets to the crowd. Following the parade, the krewe usually has a ball presenting their king and queen, and their royal court. The royal court includes maids, dukes, pages, captains, and jesters.
Since the Mardi Gras season begins with the celebration of Epiphany, the visit of the “Three Kings” to the Baby Jesus, it is a tradition of the celebrations to bake an oval cake in honor of the three kings - the King Cake. The shape of a King Cake symbolizes the unity of faiths. Each cake is decorated in the traditional Mardi Gras colors: purple represents justice, green represents faith and gold represents power. A small baby, symbolizing the baby Jesus, is baked into each cake. In New Orleans, King Cake parties are held throughout the Mardi Gras season. In offices, classrooms, and homes throughout the city, King Cakes are sliced and enjoyed by all. Like the biblical story, the "search for the baby" adds excitement, as each person waits to see in whose slice of cake the baby will be discovered. While custom holds that the person who finds the baby in their slice will be rewarded with good luck, that person is also traditionally responsible for bringing the King Cake to the next party or gathering.
Paczki (punch-key) Day is the feast of plenty before the Lenten fast begins. It is the last day of gaiety in Karnawal time, the period between Christmas and Lent. This is the time for sleigh parties called Kulig. To mark the last moments of excess before the austerity of Lenten sacrifice, Polish Roman Catholics celebrate Paczki Day.
On this day the traditional deep fried pastries (something like jelly doughnuts) are enjoyed throughout the world's Polonias (Polish immigrant communities). This joyous activity precedes the Gorzkie Zale (lamentation services) of Lent in Polonian churches. In Poland, Paczki Day takes place the Thursday before Ash Wednesday, called Tlusty Czwartek (Fat Thursday). Long lines form in front of the bakeries in Polonia, and millions of Paczki are sold.
MARDI GRAS IN NOLA
Secret societies, known as krewes, arrange and finance all the Mardi Gras activities in New Orleans, with the oldest krewe being Comus, which made its first appearance in 1857. A different krewe holds a parade on each night during the two weeks leading up to Lent. The krewes also hold masked balls at which the king and queen of the krewe are presented to the society.Eventually the French in New Orleans celebrated Mardi Gras with masked balls and parties… at least until the Spanish government took over in the mid-1700s and banned the celebrations (sorry, our bad).This ban continued even after the U.S. government acquired the land but started-up again in 1827.While Mardi Gras (or Fat Tuesday) has grown in popularity in recent years as a hedonistic and alcohol-swilling event, its roots lie in the Christian calendar.The whole season kicks off with the Epiphany (also known as Twelfth Night, Three Kings' Day and in some Eastern churches Theophany), which falls on January 6 – 12 days after Christmas. That day celebrates the visit of the Wise Men bearing gifts for the infant Jesus.What’s the purpose of King's Cake? Well, legend has it that the cakes were made in a circle to represent the circular routes that the Wise Men took to find Jesus, in order to confuse King Herod and foil his plans of killing the Christ Child. In the early days, a coin or bean was hidden inside the cake, and whoever found the item was said to have good luck in the coming year. In Louisiana, bakers now put a small baby, representing the Christ Child, in the cake; the recipient is then expected to host the next King Cake party. (How would you like to miss that and explain to the ER doctor: ‘Well, doc, I was eating a piece of cake when a baby got lodged in my throat.’)
Kemp’s Top Ten Movies Fat Tuesday/Mardi Gras Movies
...that have Mardi Gras as a central theme… or even a passing theme… or a naked women theme… or really, have nothing to do with Mardi Gras other than being set in New Orleans because there are not, quite frankly, enough movies about Mardi Gras to do an actual Top Ten Mardi Gras movies list.
10. Zombie vs Mardi Gras 9. Mardi Gras Massacre 8. Piano Players Rarely Play Together 7. Mardi Gras 6. Night Trap (aka Mardi Gras for the Devil) 5. Playboy: Girls of Mardi Gras 4. Mardi Gras: Made in China 3. Girls Gone Wild: Mardi Gras 2. Easy Rider 1. Hard Target
Along with my good friend Scott.
Why?
Well, who would have thunk it... but Scott and I are "famous"... and I'm using that term loosely.
The internet/blog reporter for McClatchy-Tribune News Service, Wendy Zang, has picked our The BushWhacked Administration as their 'Blog of the Week'.
See links HERE and HERE.
Here's a snapshot from the National Federation of Independent Business' site...
She also mentions this blog right here; Kemp's Blog.
So... allow me to bask in the glow of being mentioned by an honest to God news outlet.
I (somewhat) take back everything I've ever said about the Fourth Estate... though I'm not sure how long this feeling will last.
“There are two tragedies in life. One is not to get your heart's desire. The other is to get it.” George Bernard Shaw, from Man and Superman
This morning, as I’m leaving for work, The Peanut Butter and The Jelly are eating breakfast. After I kiss and hug them and HoMu goodbye, I walk out the door. As I’m walking down the sidewalk to the garage, I hear the door open and The PB says to me, “Happy Valentine’s Day Daddy”… I go back to the door and tell her Valentine’s Day was yesterday, and she responded, “I know, I just wanted you to come back inside so I could tell you I love you again…”
I love being a daddy…
I wrote a trivia-laden Valentine’s Day post last year which you can view HERE. This year I am going a different direction.
I agree with Croutonboy (a phrase I guarantee you won’t see me repeat often).
I don’t like Valentine’s Day… never have… probably never will. With that in mind, I give my message in the preferred short and sweet method:
I love my wife more and more each day.
Each day I am grateful that she is with me always and forever.
Each day I am grateful that she has given us our beautiful daughters.
Each day I am grateful that she laughs at my jokes and compliments my cooking.
Each day I am grateful that she makes me a better man, husband, and father, and for that I can never thank her enough.
Now, rather than fill the remainder of this post with more saccharine, which we are probably all full of by now anyway, I present to you… mine and Honey Mustard’s song, the one we remember from college and the one we had our first dance to as husband and wife, Love Will Keep Us Alive, by The Eagles.
I was standing
All alone against the world outside
You were searching
For a place to hide
Lost and lonely
Now you’ve given me the will to survive
When we’re hungry...love will keep us alive
Don’t you worry
Sometimes you’ve just gotta let it ride
The world is changing
Right before your eyes
Now I’ve found you
There’s no more emptiness inside
When we’re hungry...love will keep us alive
I would die for you
Climb the highest mountain
Baby, there’s nothing I wouldn’t do
I was standing
All alone against the world outside
You were searching
For a place to hide
Lost and lonely
Now you’ve given me the will to survive
When we’re hungry...love will keep us alive
When we’re hungry...love will keep us alive
When we’re hungry...love will keep us alive
Sigh… The Peanut Butter, The Jelly & Honey Mustard all have a snow day today…
But not me…no sireeee, I’m at work… toiling away, listening to the wind howl and watching the snow pile up and swirl outside my office window (yes, I have an actual office with an actual window – one positive about this job…)
Has anyone ever seen the episode of The Simpsons (Episode 7F03 – ‘Bart Gets an F’) where Bart prays for snow because of a test? He gets his prayer answered and while the entire town of Springfield has fun in the snow (a day Mayor Quimby proclaims as “…Snow Day, the funnest day in the history of Springfield!”), he’s stuck inside…
Welcome to my world...
Sure, my employees are here (most of them) the doctors are nowhere to be found… and we’re under a Blizzard Warning until midnight.
Sigh...
Why did I get into HR/Operations? Why didn’t I follow my brother (a professor) and my wife (an administrator) into education?
Because I’m an idiot, that’s why.
But you all knew that......
The Peanut Butter and the Jelly are musical people with music in their heart. They both love to sing and they both love to dance.
They love watching anything on TV with music… one of their new favorite movies is “Mary Poppins”… if it has music, they like it.
Henceforth lies the problem…
How many of you saw the musical episode of “Scrubs” a few weeks back with the stirring musical numbers “Everything Comes Down to Poo”, “Guy Love” and “Dominican Tango”?
Not a bad episode, and the musical numbers were catchy…
The problem is that is has become The PB & The J’s favorite show.
More so than Mickey’s Clubhouse or Handy Manny… they now want to watch the “singing doctor show.”
Every. Single. Minute.
Why is this a problem? Because now I have all of those songs stuck in my head.
From the top of your head, to the sole of your shoeWe can figure out what's wrong with yo—
Stop it...
Every. Single. One.
Sometimes you're better off not knowingI said stop it...
But this isn't one of those times
Your world's become a musical
And your doctors speak in—
Let's face the facts about me and you
A love unspecified
Though I'm proud to call you Chocolate Bear
The crowd will always talk and stare
The thing is guys remember facts
Like what Derek Jeter hit last year, which was 3-oh-3!
And that is why our brains are maxed
And there's no room for things like birthdays or ethnicities
Son of a bit—
Help me. Please help me.
It’s Wednesday, we all know what than means. It’s time for some strong alcohol random thoughts… enjoy:
”Common sense is not so common. - Voltaire
Wow... it's like I'm in my own version of the Bill Murray movie 'Groundhog Day'... I could have sworn I've seen this holiday before... and I know I've seen this post before... but I can't quite place where...
Oh, that's right. Last Groundhog Day. Rather than try to find new trivia and useless information about the holiday, I present to you a flashback (hence the flashback tag I've created) of my Groundhogs Day post from last year... in it's entirety... with .02% new footage... Enjoy.
Originally published February 2, 2006:
Punxsutawney Phil saw his shadow today (Actually today; February 2, 2007 he didn't see his shadow, so that means Spring is on the way. Hmmm I wonder what Al Gore has to say about this??) so that means six more weeks of winter. My question is: When did winter start?
To help you get through that horrible news, I’ve put together some random Groundhog Day trivia/Q&A/useless knowledge tidbits. Enjoy...
- The groundhog is also known as a woodchuck (Marmota monax) and is a member of the squirrel family eating such things as dandelions, clovers and various grasses.
- Did you know? That the first Groundhog Day was observed in Punxsutawney, PA in 1887.
Top 10 Groundhog Day Movies
10 - Groundhog Day
09 - Groundhog Day
08 - Groundhog Day
07 - Groundhog Day
06 - Groundhog Day
05 - Groundhog Day
04 - Groundhog Day
03 - Groundhog Day
02 - Groundhog Day
01 - Groundhog Day
Nice list huh? What do you expect with what I have to work with?
Top 10 Reasons to Celebrate Groundhog Day
I’m sorry… I’m truly, truly sorry…
My parent’s 40th Anniversary party went off without a hitch Saturday. Almost everyone who was invited came, including my mom’s Aunt (91 years young) and cousin who we have not seen in about five years, as well as friends of theirs from Peoria who they had not seen in about six years.
There was plenty of good food and good wine (we went through about 9 or 10 bottles of wine – my family are not a bunch of lushes, mind you, we just enjoy a good bottle of wine – that came from my Dad’s wine cellar).
Sidebar: my parents are really into wine and altered a walk-in closet in their basement into an ideal wine cellar. Life as retirees has its perks…
A wonderful time was had by all 55 people that attended.
Thier anniversary party serves as a nice segue into another story. A story that helps explains why I am the way I am when it comes to the little things.
Since they got married, my Dad has gotten my Mom roses on their anniversary – one for each year. This was their 40th anniversary, so when the doorbell rang Saturday morning and it was a delivery of flowers, no one was surprised.
The card read: "40 roses for 40 wonderful years"
Out of curiosity, I decided to count the roses… hmmm, only 28.
My mom counted and also found 28… hmmmmmmmm.
About 20 minutes go by and I tell my Dad that there are only 28 roses. He says to look again… I do… and now there’s a little red box in the flowers.
Aha...
I tell my Mom to count the flowers again, and she finds the box. In it, a heart-shaped pendant with 12 rubies (40th Anniversary stone) in the shape of… you guessed it… roses.
Forty years – and my Dad’s still got it.
