Regular Life

What’s your most memorable Thanksgiving?

While all of ours have included massive quantities of family and food, and the mostly good things that come along with both, the one that stands out came when I was only a few years older than our five-year-old son.

In my hometown in Arkansas, we saw snow several times each winter. Often it fell hard but never piled up, and if it did “stick” it only occasionally covered the grass and rarely stayed longer than a few days. Snowfall in autumn and spring was unusual, and it almost never left evidence.

Then came that fateful Thanksgiving.

continue reading…

(Note: Those following “The Keys Are In It” may finish today by reading the conclusion.)

(click to enlarge)

In the movie Punchline, Tom Hanks’ character passes down several nuggets of wisdom to the struggling mom-turned-comedian played by Sally Field. She relates the story of a mother who was excited about the new babysitter she had hired — little Davie Berkowitz. She doesn’t get a laugh.

Upon Hanks’ character’s advice, she changes the name to “Son of Sam,” Berokowitz’s more well-known moniker, and triggers uproarious laughter. She succeeds because she uses terminology familiar to a broad audience.

Despite such knowledge, however, some people are hilarious to their family and friends, but not so much to an audience of strangers. It’s much easier to make a funny wisecrack about a friend or relative that the “audience” has known for decades than it is to write a funny bit about widely-known people or topics. Called an “inside joke,” it can be the funniest kind.

Not that I would ever crack wise about my friends or relatives, mind you.

continue reading…

Click to enlarge.

Anybody want to guess what we’re looking at here?

She was arrested for Driving While Intoxicated, more commonly known as DWI. Not seeking probation, she was in it all-or-nothing, her fate up to six of her peers, hand-picked by her attorney and the prosecutor.

It was another first for me. There I sat, looking her in the eye, trying to figure out whether I was willing to 1) find her guilty or not, and 2) sentence her to at least the minimum penalty for the offense if the verdict was guilty.

continue reading…

This may come as a surprise to those of you not living in Las Vegas, but there are more Catholic churches than casinos.

continue reading…

(Note: Those reading “They Keys Are In It” may now read Part Fifteen. Those who are not, you might as well start now.)

It’s amazing how you find things of interest accidentally on the Internet. When I went to the library to study in college, merely seeing the title on a random book spine was enough to distract me from my purpose. That’s one reason I stopped studying in the library. The other is that nobody would shut up long enough for me to study.

While searching for a term I used in the latest chapter of my latest serial fiction, just to find out whether it was obscure*, I stumbled on a site called BootsnAll Travel Network. Being interested in hiking, I stayed put and looked around.

That’s when I found the latest link I just had to share. It lists several places used in the filming of Star Wars (first trilogy only) — including sites in the United States — and features photos.

For one, you can tour the Tatooine home of Luke Skywalker, which are actual living quarters carved from the actual desert in the very real country of Tunisia. Visitors can take the full tour. My in-laws’ trip to Tunisia several years ago somehow skipped this. And here I thought my father-in-law was a geek. Oh well.

There’s more to see, including the Rebel base on Yavin 4 (didn’t know the location name until I read this article), and some of it is in the United States.

Enjoy.

Note: the term I used was “Americana Non Grata,” and that exact quote resulted in 248 Google hits)

Okay, so I’ve been going over the various ways to make my blog less public. Specifically, I want to separate public content from private. Despite the maturity of WordPress (the blogging software I use), it is very difficult to do this retroactively.

One of my concerns is sickos reaching this site after entering a perverted search term. Through a combination of keywords, they often end up here when looking for something totally different. I don’t want those folks seeing private information, especially when said search targets children.

(this is few than 500 words, I promise… stay with me)

continue reading…

The free coffee giveaway at Starbucks was a clever ploy to find out how people voted for President. In the process of getting my free cup, I learned that and a little something more.

On Tuesday I went in to get my free coffee because I voted. Yes, I had voted early, but the day was not stipulated in their promotion.

A young man and woman in front of me, presumably a couple because they stood side-by-side, shoulders touching, approached the counter.

The barista said, “Two free coffees?” I’m sure that was a safe assumption at 9:30 a.m. that day.

continue reading…

(click to enlarge)

My wife is a singer. It does her soul good to be in a group making beautiful music.

Finally, after a long hiatus, she’s back in the fold (can you find her in the picture?).

Shannon auditioned for and was chosen to join a nearby civic chorus. After months of Monday-night rehearsals (and a last-minute barrage including Halloween night), on Saturday they put on their first performance of the Fall 2008 season.

Clips? Did someone say “clips?” You kidding me? Of course I have clips.

continue reading…