Ten Years Later...

Next week's forcast...a few sprinkles of despair with a chance of DOOM!

Eat egg?

So, I was thinking about food today (my favorite subject for daydreams), and wondered what we are going to eat on out camping trip. I googled "camping food ideas" and came up with some interesting choices.

Pocket Stew. This looks like a roast you wrap in foil and put on the fire. Looks pretty easy, doesn't require a lot of ingredients, and doesn't require any clean-up. Plus people could put whatever they want in there. Awesome!

Tacos in a Bag. Basically, you put browned hamburger meat in individual bags of smashed up Doritos, and then add whatever taco toppings you want (cheese, lettuce, etc...). Eat right out of the bag. I don't usually like individually wrapped chip bags (too much packaging material), but in this case you don't even need paper plates. I just want to see people eating out of Dorito bags.

Plus, there's always ideas like hot dogs, beanie weenie, sandwiches (peanut butter jelly, ham, etc...), and hamburgers. For breakfast, I vote that we should just give our favorite Aunt some money (or bring her eggs, velveeta, and bacon) and beg for dirty eggs. Oh, the yumminess!

No more library, no more books, no more children's dirty looks!

I am officially done at the library now! I'm actually a bit sad about it, but I am excited about a few things:

1. I will never have to look up a Pokemon book or movie again.
2. I don't have to act really excited about kids turning in their Summer Reading Program forms.
3. I have nights and weekends off now! Hoorah! (First time in seven years!).
4. I have a couple of weeks "off" before I start my grown-up job.
5. I don't have to read as many children's books now. (but I probably still will because I like a lot of them)

I'm not excited about these things though:

1. Paying library fines again.
2. No longer working part time.
3, Having to wait in line to check out books (I used to just check them out myself!).
4. Not being able to talk to other people's children without them thinking I'm a weirdo.
5. No longer get to work with cool people. Are teachers cool? Maybe. I need to figure this out.

For my last day, they threw me a little fiesta (with no bake cookies - yum!). They also gave me a children's picture book in Spanish and had people sign it. That was pretty cool! It reminded me a little bit of a yearbook.

I almost had to call in because they put me on some antibiotics for an infection I have, and they are making me feel dizzy and nauseous. Especially right after I take it - So I take it before I go to sleep. Yesterday I felt steadily less awful as the day went on, and by the time I felt normal again, it was time to take the stupid medicine. Luckily, I have training in the "What to do if you are dizzy and nauseous" department (from being a passer-outer). You just have to lay down and elevate your feet. Or, if you can't make it to the floor, you can put your head between your knees. I hate taking medicine. In this case, I would almost rather have the infection.

Dad gave me some cool new music for my barfday. And one of my neighbors loaned me a bunch of cool CDs that she liked. So here is some cool music to try if you like Shins and Jack Johnson.

1. Maria Taylor - Dad and I heard her song playing at Bambino's on father's day and we both liked it, but the waitress didn't know who it was. Then, Dad heard it at a music store, and found out the name. Dad's a librarian-investigator!

2. KT Tunstall - I loved her other CD with Black Horse and a Cherry Tree, and her new one's pretty good too. She's got kind of a unique style.

3. Ingrid Michaelson - Very cool stuff! I love her music. Sometimes, however, I find my feminist self cringe at some of the lyrics. Just sometimes though - and then I question whether I should tone down my feminist thoughts. Hmmm... She reminds me of Regina Spektor (who is also pretty cool).

4. Someone still loves you Boris Yelton - different from all the others on this list. It's a local band, that's more up-beat and less jazzy-ish (that is a musical technical term, right Briley?). I like it! Don't really know how else to explain - you just have to hear it. Dad knows a lot of background stuff on them, so ask him you ninnies!

5. Sheryl Crow - new CD is very political, but "good-political." Fabulous, as always!

6. Howie Day - kinda-sorta-but-not-really similar to Jack Johnson. You might know one of his songs - Collide - which was pretty popular. It's good relaxing music, but has a little more of a punch to it than Jack Johnson.

I went to my classroom the other day to check things out. It took me awhile to get there because most parts of the school were closed for construction. I have no idea how they will have things ready before school starts. I ended up cleaning out the closet (which was stuffed so full that stuff started falling out when I opened it). For some reason, I really enjoy cleaning out closets, which is a good thing because that place was a wreck. When I finally found the floor, there was a bunch of ripped up tissue paper and mouse droppings. There was a lot of useless junk in there, which I took out and put on one end of the room. Hopefully, I can get rid of it all, but I just have to check first. I also cleaned out the desk and filing cabinets (no files in there, just a bunch of weird stuff). I found what I think was a smashed up part of a candy bar in one corner of the desk. That teacher must have left in a hurry. After closer inspection of the room, I don't think we'll be as cramped as I originally thought, which is good. We'll see!

The First Winters Snow

THis will be my last post before I see you all on Monday. The boat is all done, the motor, lights, and radio all work, and the paint job came out very nice. Its pretty much the same colors as before, that beige color on the bottom, and brown on the top. The only difference is that the top is saddle brown, and it has metalics in it so it sparkles a bit in the sun light. The old paint was turning into a powder and would come off when you got it wet. When I first took the cover off I washed it and when I dried it off my ornge towel turned beige. I kept it the same color for two reasons. One, I really liked the way the colors looked, and two we had those seats in it that matched the paint job really well, and I didn't feel like spending $200 on four new seats. In the end my cheapness won out, its the little bit of Pe-Pa in me. Another difference is that Paul Herbert is not painted in it. Dad said he never quiet liked the way that looked so instead he wrote the name out using decals. It looks really cool, it all conects on one line that runs through the middle with paul on the top half of the line and herbert in on the bottom half of the line. Kind of gives it a 21 century look. Also I took off the Dodge Caravan windshield and put on one from a 1970's star craft. It looks more like the origanal so it gives it a more authintic look. The trailer got new wheel wells. Dad painted them the same color as the top of the boat(saddle brown). It gives it a nice affect. The only problem is that all the other accessories on the trailer are black. I asked him if he could paint them that saddle brown be he said he didn't have the time, but that he could do it after vacation. The trailer also got new tires. No real change on Mercury. The only thing new on him is the fuel pump gasket, and you can't even see that.

Tomarrow after work I have to drop my cats off at Corey's house, he'll be looking after them while where gone. I hate driving out there, they live about 45 minutes east of Columbus, its a boring drive. You know I saw the weather forcast for next week. Here its supose to be in the low 80's with low humidity and a cool breeze. In your part of the world it will be in the 90's with very high humidity. Remind me agian why I'm leaving this heaven called Ohio for that hell called Missouri.

What else. Ohh yea, right now there is a fight going on in the paper between Ohio State fans and Blue Jackets fans. You see Jackets fans are considered second class citizens here. Its all buckeye all the time, and Jackets fans have accepted that for many years. However, when free agincey started and the Jackets made all the moves that I told you about in my first blog, Ohio State fans could not find a single story about the buckeyes our hear about them on the radio. SO this one guy whose name I don't recall, but has some inportance here in Ohio wrote the Dispatch(the local paper in Columbus) that all the Blue Jackets stuff had to stop and that the paper shouldn't even write about the Jackets, it should be all buckeyes all the time, and that started this huge debate in the paper, with Jackets fans arguing that there was nothing to write about in the world of buckeye, and that we don't know to know what every player ate last night, our what there favorite color is. Then the Ohio State fans argured back that the Jackets are no talent, half assing misfits, and that just got me really mad. I was never a big buckeye fan to begin with, but now I despise them, I hope they finish last in the big ten. I mean no talent and half assing I'll give you, but misfits, No Blue Jacket has ever been arrested our gotten in any trouble with the law in there entire existence, and every year atleast 3 our 4 buckeyes are arrested. Thats kind of like the pot calling the kettle black. So from hear on out I say "GO BLUE".

See you all on Monday

P.S. That "GO BLUE" was not a reference to the Jackets, you'll have to ask Dee Dee about that.

The bright leaves of fall

well, you'll all be happy to know that at 9:27 pm Eastern time(the best time) Mercury started on only the second crank. I let him run for about 10 minutes, the back yard was full of smoke. Had that classic Paul Herbert smell(gas). Nothing hurts the enviroment more then Paul Herbert and Mercury.

LFG - lvl 9000 Code Knight - Ozark Hill Monsters

That's wizardnet speak for OMW - er, on my way! I'm flying in to KC tomorrow (Wednesday), and then Sam is coming up for a night or two. Then he'll be driving me back on Sunday. So, expect me then, but after I get home I have to unpack and repack for camping.

In the mean time, look at my final raytracing pictures!





The first is supposed to look like moon phases, the second just demonstrates the special thing I did, which was adding and subtracting shapes from each other.

The Joker Steals the Show

As everyone should know, The Dark Knight, has at last graced the silver screen with its presence. Since the final moments of ,Batman Begins, when Commissioner Gordon hands Batman the Joker's Calling card, my mind has been turning about the possibilities for the next movie.

I must say, I certainly have not been not disappointed. Unlike with Spider-man 3, this movie does deliver. I was sitting on the edge of my seat the whole second half of this movie praying," please, please, don't be over yet!"

Perhaps the thing that really makes this movie is Heath Ledger's performance as the Joker. There were of course a lot of calls for a posthumous Oscar for the Aussie, but many wrote that off as simply trying to feed interest in the film. After watching that performance though...I have to say I wouldn't be surprised to see him get it. He really was amazing- the Joker really makes sense now. Before he was simply a man with clown makeup on his face-- how does that really make him a menace? Wouldn't someone just kick his ass at some point? Now though, he truly is an agent of chaos, a perfect wild card. Batman has to do some crazy $&!^ to fight him.

I won't give any clues as to the plot of this movie. I will note though that everything that happens to the people in this movie is a real outcome of what happened in the first movie. Like Commissioner Gordon says in the first film, " What about escalation? We buy body armor, they buy armor piercing rounds. And, you are wearing a mask," He then hands The Batman the Joker's Card. There wouldn't be a Joker without a Batman!

If you haven't seen this movie ( Alli?) You really really need to.
As a life long Batman fan, I am truly glad to see that the series has at last become what it was meant to be. A Dark, twisted morality play with enough depth to be believable.

Here is a video review if you are interested- Enjoy!!

THe cool winters snow

Here is some stuff of Denis I was telling you about.

I really don't have anything else to say, but its taking a while for the video to download. Looks like I've got about five minutes left, oh wait, better make that four minutes. Cann't really think of anything else to say, ummmm. dum dee dumm dummm. Ohh wait, the Blue Jackets schedule came out the other day. I had to go to my second job and request all the home games off. Thats forty one days, I can't wait for October. The home opener is October 17 against Nashville. We don't do all that well against Nashville (two minutes left) We've only won one out of the last 17 games we've played against them. They use to be our rivels, but we turned into there bitches. We do a lot better against the Red Wings. We beat them 3 times last year. I was there for two of them. Ahh, all done. I'll leave you guys alone for now.

See you next week

Joe

And the Geek Parade Never Sleep

Well, it finally happened, a full rainless week in Springfield. Something I had been waiting for all year, in order to open the doors to Pe-Pa's shed full of electrostuff and release it's content to the public unawares. Even though a week wasn't nearly long enough, I had managed to pull enough out for a nice 30 x 40 foot spread of Digital Multimeters, Oscilloscopes, and so many other devices and parts I did not recognise. Intuition was telling me none of this will sell without a clever newspaper add to draw in the eccentric type of people who may be interested in this strange paraphanalia. So this was done, and I went to bed full of anxiety, fearing the multitudes of people looking for baby clothes and pottery that may show up tomorrow and walk away in shear disgust of my unusual layout.

6:15, it was barely light outside, as I exit the back door to go place my signage in preplanned stratigic locations, I notice shadows moving though the isles of the electrostuff. ZOMG! They're already here! The Sun has yet to cross the horizon, no breakfast, no signs up, the front yard is empty, how did these strangers know where the treasure was hidden? This is bad...

"Got no baby clothes?" a female voice yelps from the misty light. Tension subsides, a false alarm. "Not here maam" I say as I roll out my 5 foot circular SALE sign towards the front yard. Seemingly upset, they walk away to their 76 Oldsmobile to continue on their unworhty quest. Just enough time to eat a couple of peanut butter and crackers, I here another female voice from the electro-garden "Anybody here?" Oh great, another one, maybe pottery? I think to myself as I swallow my last cracker almost whole and run to the back door. To my amazement I see what appears to be Agent Scully standing in the Oscilloscope section. She's talking on her cell phone, describing what she see's in great detail to some unknown agent in a distant location. Fox Moulder, perhaps? "You need to get here ASAP" she says as she closes up and holsters her phone. She sees me and quickly states "I'm going to start a pile, O.K."

The light had increased somewhat, Agent Skully seemed too busy for chit-chat, and the first man appeares at the entrance. He gets a good glance of the layout and his face is awashed in pure ecstacy. He says "Hi" and quickly starts his own pile, then another. Agent Skully quikens, and catches up with the man, starting on her third pile. The race was on! I felt bewildered as I watched this "pile" phenomona unfold. For it had been totally unknown to me until now. A few more men walk in, one of which approches a pile belonging to Skully and he picks up an old Bakelite radio off the top, big mistake! She races toward the man with no yard sale ediquit, quickly grabs the radio from his hands and says in a rather fierce voice "That's MY pile, stay away from it, PLEASE." More people were arriving by the minute, and piles were starting everywhere. I needed a "Pile solution" and fast! Critical mass was eminant! Eject the warp core! No! Delay that order! I have an idea, just carry the 2.

As I was placing SOLD signs made from old cardbaord on all the piles, I mentioned to Skully and the first man that this was only half of it, the rest is still in that shed back there. I think they must have their own transporter technology, because they just appeared in the shed in the blink of an eye. They began opening boxes and moving things around while I guarded their piles and gave explainations to some curious patrons as to how all this electrostuff came to be. After an hour Agent Skully seemed to loose steam. She came up to me and wanted to settle-up. As we were doing so a man with long blonde hair, big black geek glasses, torn jeans, and a Jim Morrison tye-dye t-shirt appeared at the entrance. Following right behind him was a man with reddish brown hair and mustache, well dressed in decades old clothes. I was just waiting for the short, round, bald one to soon follow, but no such luck. He must have called in sick. I tapped Skully on the shoulder and pointed them out to her. Without words, she knew, and in disbelief, she whispered "OMG, it's the Lone Gunmen from the X-Files" . . . This must be geek heaven!

After scanning the area, the blonde Gunman approched me, he seemed to be in a manic state of mind, then he told me "I'm having a yard sale down the street, someone called me and said I needed to see this sale because it was like nothing he had ever seen before. This is awesome!" He walked away, his head moving around like a paranoid bird on caffine. I saw the first man close up the shed and lock it with his own lock, he then offered me a good sum of moneys for all the electronics in the shed, then we settled up on his other six piles. . . Yes, this is awesome!

Some three pickup loads later the first man said he was done with the shed. The mega geeks can now have access to it's mysterious contents. Four of them were to stay all day long, going through the leftovers with a fine toothed heatsink. One had found an old PS2. He then explained how he could put two something? something? blah~ blah~ blah~ networking cards in it and make an instant hacking device. Another was telling us about his $80,000 comic book collection that got burned in his hometown of Germany. There were so many amazing stories to be heard it was hard to absorb it all in just one day. So the next day . . . it is free day! The same four geeks were rumaging through the same boxes they had gone through the day before. And yes! More fantastic stories were being told!

All of a sudden, out of the blue, a very strange and angry creature started yelling at one of the geeks, using nasty language and waving it's tenticles in the air. Then it managed to drag him away from his precious treasures, and into the driveway, maybe, never to be seen or heard from again! This hiddious creature, as I found out, is known as "Wife" So I beg of you all! Beware of this mad thing, it can be very, very dangerous!!! Especially to geeks! About an hour later that same geek walks into the sale area, he had escaped from his dreadful fate, seemingly unharmed, but deeply humiliated, and his head hung low. It was an awfull sight to behold.

Three of the clock, almost everything is gone, and everyone. Just a small frail old man searching for bits and pieces of semiprecious metals. He had been hiding amongst the geeks all day like an invisible ninja, gathering semiprecious scraps which fell from the geeks bounty. As I help the old man carry the last of Pe-Pa's legacy to the back of his van, I notice all sorts of gadgets inside. A fan with an ice cube tray sitting in front of it caught my attention. I was curious, so I asked him the purpose of this unusual device. He said "I put ice in the tray and the fan blows on the ice and it keeps my dog cool while I'm away from the van to go shopping or something." Ingenious and practicle at the same time, I thought to myself. And it suddenly occured to me that "Ingenious and practicle at the same time" was the true legacy of Pe-Pa. He just didn't get the chance to use all the stuff I just got rid of. This old man was proof that it can happen, if given the time. I just hoped this old man didn't have rooms and outbuildings full of plans, plans and more plans.

And Now Your Even Older

News from E3

So, this week was the E3 convention, which is usually when video game companies announce all the big stuff they're working on. Nintendo was kind of casual this year, but there were a couple big things. The biggest one is called MotionPlus, which is a new add-on for the Wiimote that makes motion 1:1 by reading your arm movements precisely. I guess this is the completed vision for the thing.

It looks like you can still plug in the nunchuk. Of course, Nintendo is packaging a game with it, and who woulda thunk, it's a Wii Sports sequel called Wii Sport Resort. There's a fencing game where the MotionPlus thingy should shine.

Other announcements include online voicechat, a new Animal Crossing that is a lot like the old ones, and some new Wii Music stuff. Pretty much just casual gaming this year, none of the big franchises. Though, Miyamoto hinted that the Pikmin, Zelda, Mario Galaxy, and Mario DS teams are together. I for one am expecting a completely fresh take on Zelda in a couple years, though who knows what it'll be.

As far as the Playstation and XBox, not much that I cared about. The Playstation hasn't made any decisions to save themselves. Actually, Final Fantasy's are probably going to start selling on XBoxes too, because they won't make enough money on the PS3. The XBox interface is going to go through a redesign that a lot of people are concerned about, including avatars very similar to Miis. It was only a matter of time before people copied Nintendo.

In other news, I'm coming home next week! School is almost done, I just have to finish a couple projects including a physics-based cloth simulation and some additional ray-tracing stuff. Also, the Avatar series finale is this week. Tonight and tomorrow feature the two last episodes before the 2 hour long movie on Saturday. Watch it Bwiley!

Post # 70 Call 911

The Winters Frost

Hey every body, how are you d oing. This is kind of strange, me being online two times in one week. I don't have internet at my apartment in Canal Winchester, so I have to go over to Grandma and Grandpa's if I wanna use the internet. I've been visiting them alot the last couple of weeks because I've been getting the boat ready. You don't have to worry Alley I'm not going to name the boat Blue Jacket, our Rick Nash, our paint it the Blue Jackets colors, even though I would like to. Not because of the hockey team, but I really want to name the boat the Gen. Meade, you know, the victor of Gettysburg. I could paint the bottom a lite blue like the paints the union soldiers had, and the top the dark union blue like the blue jackets that they wore(the smarter of you will have just figured out what the Blue Jackets where named after). It would be more true to the color scheam it was when Mr. Brazil first bought it back in 59. I guess if I where to do that I would have to paint over the name Mercury and put Lincoln there, since he was the driving force behind the union cause. But if I where to do that everybody would be mad at me, even though I do own the boat and have invested over $3000 into it. Seems kind of strange that those who haven't put a dime into the boat or an ounce of sweat get the naming rights. Ohh well, You'll like what we've done with it, here is a picture of the boat after we painted it

Here is the boat after we painted it. I think that the floresent Purple goes real well with the day glow ornge. Dad also painted in a picture of a dragon eating a peasent girl on the side,and her blood spells out Paul Herbert, it looks really good as you can see. Also as you can see I've painted the motor a bright Yellow like the Sun, and wrote Mercury in a bright lime green.

I like the pics of your cat Tailgate, I'll include a few pic of my cats Pork Chop and T-bone.

Abbey is holding Pork Chop, I don't really like him, he just wants to be left alone and hisses at me when I go near him, and yells at me when I pick hime up. T-bone is at here feet.

Here is a better pic of T-bone, he is my buddy. He is aways waiting for me at the door, follows me around, sits next to me when I watch TV, and when I go to sleep he is usually sleeping next to me when I wake up. The little girl is Abbey, Janice and Corey's Daughter. I don't have a pic of Denis, I'll try and get one this weekend.

Well, apart from cats, boats, and Blue Jackets, I am also getting ready to take the test to become a Licenced Battlefield Tour Guide at Gettysburg. The test is December 6, and they only offer it once every two years. They said that they expect 125 people will take the test, and the are only going to take the top 20, so I had better study. I've been reading up on gettysburg for the last month now. I re-read "A Caspion Sea of Ink: The Meade - Sickles Controversy" and am currently reading Harry Phanz's "Gettysburg the First Day". After that I'll Read "Gettysburg the Second day", also by Phanz and so on and so on and so on. I got less then 5 months to study.

Well, So you all in less then two weeks

Joe

Hello, from Ohio, the Buckie State, the heart of it all, the unoffical home for the 2008 olympics

Kelly sucks

How old am I again?

Apparently I am turning 23 on Friday! Lately I've had trouble remembering how old I am - luckily, Mykl keeps track of that kind of thing for me. He also keeps track of such things as: Have I seen this movie before? Have we been to that restaurant? Have I read this book? Etc... No, these aren't the early stages of Alzheimer's. It's just an Alli thing I guess. That's why I am so horrible at trivia games.

Speaking of trivia, I am going to be on the library trivia team ("The Dewey Decimal Disciples") this Tuesday for the Ozarks Literacy Council. Luckily I am on a team of Smarty Joneses, so hopefully they won't actually need me for anything but Harry Potter and Spanish-ey type trivia. I think we get to dress up as "Storybook characters" (that's the theme this year) - I think I may be Ginny Weasley again, but maybe I'll just be Harry Potter - all I need are the glasses I think.

Mykl and I went floating down at Hootontown (near Nixa) today with his family. I like floating because I get to eat a bunch of junk food. Plus it's just nice to connect with Mother Nature (even if it's the super-polluted James River). Mykl's family doesn't know the Jacobs' version of "Row Row Row Your Boat" but Mykl didn't think they would be ready for it quite yet. They also don't know that I pee in rivers when I go floating. They all go out in the woods, but you know - it's all going to end up in the river eventually anyways. All you have to do is make sure no one is down-river from you. Am I right?

Well, mom wanted me to make a list of things that I want for my birthday. I don't really know what I want. But here are some ideas for mom and anyone else who wants them:

1. Staples "Boton Facil" ('That was easy button' in Spanish). They sell it on their website!

2. Yoga mat

3. DVD: Pan's Laberinth

4. Gift certificate to office stores (Staples, Office Depot, IPA, etc...) - to buy teacher-ish stuff

5. Mosaic stuff - cool tiles I can smash (I have been looking for bright colors - reds, oranges, yellows, greens, blues, etc...), cement dye, etc...

6. CD: Juanes - Un dia normal

7. Camping gear - inflatable mattress (Dad says he has a kind that inflates itself without a pump! How cool is that!), flashlights, and other useful things we might need (we already have a tent, a lantern, sleeping bags, and a cooler)

Note: I don't really care if you get me used stuff (unless it's a used gift certificate!) - it's recycling anyways, right?

Home for the Holiday

My favorite place to be in the summer? Michigan! The state gets a bad rap for being cold, but in June, July and August, all the right pieces come together for my opinion of perfect weather. It’s even perfect for ice fishing. Go figure!

We boarded an Amtrak train in St. Louis early on July 2, which meant leaving Springfield at 1:30 a.m. It was rough! Once we were on the train, though, we slept like rocks. Something about the smooth, rocking motion of the train puts you right to sleep. Our seats were incredibly roomy and comfortable. Near the end of the trip, we ran into severe weather around Kalamazoo, MI, and the train was forced to stop frequently and travel at about 20 miles an hour while it was moving. Signals at the railroad crossings were out, and the tracks weren’t switching on their own. We were delayed about 4 hours. But we made it!

On July 3, we headed to Lake Michigan/Silver Lake with my family. We took a 7-mile ride through the sand dunes – giant sand mountains that look completely out of place in Michigan! Some dunes are immobile, because they have grass that roots them in place. Other dunes are always moving, thanks to high winds and the shifting nature of sand. They are the reason Silver Lake was created, when the dunes moved in and sectioned off water from Lake Michigan. Now, the dunes are eating up Silver Lake at a rate of 12 feet per year. Our tour guide said it could be gone in 50 years. After the tour, we had a picnic lunch on the beach, where the wind was so strong that it was freezing. Not warm enough to swim, unfortunately. We played Frisbee in the sand and slept on the beach. Later we toured Little Sable Point Lighthouse, the tallest lighthouse on Lake Michigan.

We spent the holiday at home, relaxing with my family and watching movies (and, of course, the Fourth of July Twilight Zone marathon). On July 5, Pat and I drove to Auburn Hills to visit my good friend Tonya from high school. She just had a baby about a month ago – little A.J. Later, my family cooked shish-kabob in our backyard, then went to Bay City, which is known to have the best fireworks show in the state. We weren’t disappointed! They shot fireworks from both sides of Saginaw River for a spectacular show on the water.

It was another early start on departure day. We slept through the first half of the train ride, stopped in Chicago for lunch and a quick tour of the few blocks around Union Station, and then boarded the next train – this time, a double-decker – to St. Louis. We thought we were home free. Not so fast! We filled up with some apparently bad gas (curse you, Shell station!) and couldn’t make it back to Springfield. We spent the night in St. Louis at a Holiday Inn, which was fitting since it was the night before our 1-year anniversary, and we had our wedding reception at a Holiday Inn! The hotel clerk heard our story and upgraded us to a fancy-schmancy suite for free, and even kept the swimming pool open late just for us. We got the car fixed the next day and finally made it home.

Click here for a look through our photos from the trip! If it asks you to log in and you don't have a Snapfish account, just use my login info: username: deedee.jacobs@gmail.com and password: 015520.

FOR TREK FANS ONLY

I haz founded this, but I eated it
http://granades.com/2007/05/02/loltrek/

The Story Continues

as Dumb Catz friend, Heartless, joins in the search for the magical land of Ozwell.

Oh No, Call the Lolipop Guild! Dumb Catz Has Escaped

I stealz your baloonz and go to OZwell. I findz the Great Alien of Oz. He give me brainz, soz I can thinkz without allz the z's.

O.K. Kidz, Last Clue

Look What I Did!

From my Raytracing class, where we code "rays" to bounce around and act like light. This is used for stuff like Pixar, but it's currently too slow for video games (for now!). Video games tend to do lots of shortcuts so things look about right without simulating how things actually work. Kind of like how veggie burgers mimic hamburgers without having any meat. Only, not as crazy.


Also, check out the latest episode of the newest Internets sensation, Italian Spiderman.

O.K. Kidz, Here's Your Third Clue

Harry Potter 8: Cruise Control

http://www.mugglenet.com/app/news/full_story/1684

Above is a link to a new Harry Potter short story. Most of you probably already hear dof it: she wrote it to give funds to some charity I think. Anyways, it's been released to normies. It's pretty short, but very cool if you ever got connected to the characters. Emjoy!

PS Dee and I will be in Michigan this week. So don't try calling us cause we'll just laugh in your face. Bye!