Major progress

So I got the second coat of orange on the kitchen annex and the second coat on the trim and I got the curtains up on the side windows but alas, I bought a cafe rod instead of a spring rod for the big window across the back so although I have the curtains for it, I don't have them up. Tomorrow night I will get the right rod. Had to scrape the windows where I overpainted.

Also I put the striped rug I used to have in the living room into the kitchen annex. It's very cozy. I looked at moving the table and chairs from the front room into the kitchen annex but it seemed crowded. This took the better part of 9 hours. Plus I cooked salmon and broccoli but didn't get to some of that other stuff. Cleaned out the fridge. Posted the school closings to 13abc.com as some districts were already canceling classes tonight for Monday.

Listened to Prairie Home Companion, This American Life, I Enjoy Being a Girl and the World Music Show. And I have a radio show this weekend. On a big day, which includes the GNO at Creative Elements. The night before is cards at Deb and Ron's and/or John Jorgenson at Grounds for Thought.

Monday night, Body Sculpt at 6:30. Haircut Tuesday. And no work on Monday, the 18th.

Watching the Grammys. Saw Tina do Proud Mary and now Aretha is on, belting out a big tune. Saw Brad Paisley sing I wanna check you for ticks. Lovely sentiment. And now they have Keely Smith out there. She won a Grammy in 1958 for That Ol' Black Magic. Crowd shot: Bonnie Raitt and John Hammond. Daughtry, John Fogerty, Foo Fighters, Bruce Springsteen, Wilco up for best rock album and the winner is Foo Fighters. Well, I won't be seeing the end of this show.

Ready for bed but alas I have all my jammies in the laundry.

OK, a 5-day week coming up. I hate those. I've only had to do 2 since the first of the year.

Also, the humane society took in 105 dogs and other animals from a home in Stony Ridge. They need help. Visit their website to see how you can help.

Great ad on the Grammys left over from the Super Bowl. Watch it here.

February-itis

That kitchen is the never-ending project. Today I painted the trim Cornerstone, a very slightly green cream. Now the orange in the outer kitchen annex thingy needs a second coat and then the trim needs a second coat. But maybe then I'll be done. Maybe I'll work my ass off on it tomorrow. But tomorrow is cooking school so we'll see. On tap, salmon, pear cobbler, pasta sauce, quiche, broccoli.

Tonight Sherry and Amy and Connie and I are going out to eat and then over to Amy's for drinking and chat and possibly games. I went to Turbo Kick today and Pilates on Thursday night. Or what passed for Pilates, as the whole thing about it is the breathing and moving combo and this chick did the movements so fast you couldn't do the breathing.

I've been buying floral bouquets at Kroger to pretend it's spring. I had irises last week and some red somethings this week. I though they were freesia but when I googled a picture of them, they were not what I have. Also I bought ice cream at Meijer. Two kinds. It was on sale.

When I was in New York, we had 2 hours between our meetings and dinner on Tuesday, so I walked from 63rd and Broadway to 91st and Broadway, stopping in various stores along the way. Didn't buy anything. Saw some underwear that was $82. A pair. What's up with that? It wasn't even real fancy. Tried on some pants in Ann Taylor. Some shoes in another store. Stopped in at Filene's Basement but nothing caught my eye.

Back in the small town

New York was uneventful. I didn't take my camera so no pictures. I got there Monday, had dinner with Anne at Rosas Mexicano. Two days of meetings. Flight was delayed coming home so I got home at 11:20 instead of at 9:20. The drive home from the airport was dicey but apparently not as dicey as if I'd gotten home on time so it all worked out OK.

I hear GNO was non-existent. Fred and Sherry went to 149 North as it was Fred's birthday and nobody else showed up.

Nothing happening this weekend. Maybe I'll paint, as I bought trim paint and already painted the kitchen annex Southwest Amber like the kitchen.

Glad it's Friday tomorrow.

Sopranos

I finished watching The Sopranos last night, Season 6, Part 2, Disc 4. Earlier having read critiques focusing on the death of Tony and all the foreshadowing and analysis, I choose to take the hopeful road. It's just the mother of all cliffhangers but with (spoiler alert) Phil Leotardo dead and his henchmen not all that keen about offing all the Soprano crew anyway, I don't see why things just can't go on, la tee dah. Sure Sil's in a coma and Bobby's dead. But even Janice said, and I think only half-jokingly, that she had to watch her figure so she could snag another husband. Plus Uncle Junior is totally wacked out and he was one of the few people left that could put a wrench in Tony's works.

The whole nuclear family is together at the end and Tony, after looking toward the Last Supper scene at the back of the restaurant, chooses instead to just take a booth, play some tunes, order some onion rings. Onion rings, the circle of life. And that whole Meadow unable to parallel park thing, I think it showed how amidst all the angst and horribleness of the world, we are still caught up for too long with some minutiae like inability to park. To fit in. And the tune, Don't Stop Believing by Journey. Life's a journey. Yada yada. Well it was a swell ride while it lasted.

So leaving for New York tomorrow, back Wednesday night. Cold still lingers on so I'm less than enthusiastic about going. Now I'm stalling from painting the room beyond the kitchen. Just pour the paint in the roller pan and you'll have to do it. I even have my painting t-shirt on.

The common cold

So, what gives people colds? It is most certainly not from sitting on the ground or getting your feet wet, which is what my mom always said. (The woman who also cautioned me about raising my arms over my head while Tom was in utero because I would have a hairy baby. Sorry, Tommy. Shoulda listened to that one.)

The cold I have now is unattributable, having been impinged by too many factors:

--Airplane trip: commonly held to be vats of festering sickness spores

--Work: many are hacking

--Hard living: very smoky in that S. Carolina bar

--Lack of exercise: slacked off these last couple weeks

I feel this is the case with many illnesses, too many contributing factors to pinpoint any one as THE CAUSE.

Regardless, I have been battling this downward spiral with mouth spray zinc and Mucinex. Did I not get enough sprays in in a timely manner at the outset? Would it be any better or worse if I'd been more diligent??

Today, I am taking the bed rest and liquids approach. Some nice Sleepytime tea. Which I hope will put me into a nap. Not as if I've been out of bed since last night around 10.

Moving on, I know most of you did not even see the wine cabinet I bought in haste at Creative Elements in Grand Rabbits on Monday and returned on Saturday. They were very nice about it but it was just too much money for frankly a large dark stained box that matched nothing else I have and didn't afford me the extra serving area I had in mind. This one at Target.com might be just the ticket:


and it's half the price. User comments, however, vacillate between it being fairly easy to assemble vs. it being a "knuckle buster." It is about the perfect size: 40.38Hx26.5Wx15.75D". The other one was only 14 inches wide. Remain calm, the correct item will appear. Or some Zen-like saying.

Lots of music coming up. Although conflicting cards have been scheduled for the Feb. 15 GFT show.

Riverside blues fest in St. Mary's Labor Day weekend: one result on Google, Sonny Boy Terry.

The Trip to South Carolina

(Click on the pictures to see bigger versions.)

As you all know by now, Fred and I were supposed to leave Thursday night at 9:30 but our flight was cancelled. So we rebooked onto the 9 a.m. Friday flight that had a stopover in Cincinnati. Fred's credit card won't let him check in at the kiosk so we have to stand in the long lines and he gets boarding passes for both Detroit and Cincinnati but the kiosk says I have to get my Cincinnati boarding pass in Cincinnati. We see on the board as we are in the security line that our flight is delayed a half hour and of course, we are cutting it close to make the scheduled 9:15 time so we don't hurry through the airport but when we get to the gate, they're boarding.

We get to Cincinnati and stop in the smoking lounge where the Ozilite is handily installed for our lighting needs



and then just barely make the shuttle over to the other terminal where our plane is going out of. I don't have a boarding pass and when I try to get one, they say the flight is overbooked and I'll have to wait and see if somebody cancels. Which fortunately some guy sitting across from us did but he ended up getting on the flight anyway. Fred and I have a beer at a pub and then I see our flight is boarding and Fred says he's going to the bathroom so we are the last ones to board. But at last we are in Columbia and renting a car and zooming off to Buford's house with directions we have from MapQuest.

We get to this house on N. Royal Tower Dr. and Fred rings the doorbell and nobody's home so he calls Buford and says we are at his house and Buford says, No you're not because I'm at my house and alas, we have directions to Buford's OLD house where he has not lived for 2 years but that's the address Gus had given Fred. So we get directions to the new house and drive over there and almost immediately Tony and Joe and Melissa and Buford and Bomeli and Fred and I leave for the S&S bar for a couple beers.



Bomeli had driven down, leaving at 5 a.m. so he got there right about when we did. I have a 2:30 conference call for work so I'm on that while we're driving and when we get there I sit on a bench outside to be on the call, and Melissa brings me out a beer. Here is the bathroom in the bar which has biker handlebars in the can.




Then we go out to the lake house on Lake Murray where Gus and Stubbs and Rod are







and we party on down. View from the deck.




The beautiful steps.

The shack a couple houses down.





and soon, it's time to leave for dinner at 5:30 at the fried place which is actually called the Buffalo Creek Grill. I ride in the back of the Suburban.






I had fried catfish and fried oysters and fried okra and red rice and hushpuppies. Fred had some great crab cakes and something called Thunder Cake for dessert, which he raved about all the way home. Don and Sandy who own Bootleggers where the guys were playing ate with us as did John, the barbecue guy who cooked for us Saturday night.

Fred and I were lucky enough to get to stay at the lake house instead of with Buford, where Tony and Joe were staying. And then it was time to go to the bar to play. We all crowded into the Suburban except Bomeli drove himself. There is drinking and music and frivolity and we closed the bar at 2 a.m.

Saturday, the weather was crappy, 38 degrees and raining, so we hung out at the lake house. I made breakfast for all 6 of us



and then we reclined on the massive furniture and watched TV: tennis and the last half of Psycho and the last half of Death Wish and some golf. Played some poker. Fred and Bomeli had gone out for some lunch in the afternoon and brought us back some dry rub wings for a snack.

Then time to go to the bar again where the John guy had prepared and brought in pulled pork in mustard barbecue sauce and deep fried pork chops and potato salad and cornbread and jalapeno cornbread and yeast bread and pinto beans with tomatoes and banana pudding. Everybody at the bar ate, about 50 people, probably. So there's more drinking and smoking which you can do in the bar there and then some guy called Captain Telegram came in and there were two birthdays celebrated with balloons and a stuffed monkey and singing and two cakes.




That second night, the guys sounded even better. Rod was smokin' on the axe. The crowd was an interesting mix of young people and middle-aged folks, lots of couples. Plenty of shag dancing which is not the lascivious bump and grind the guys had talked about but some sort of modified Texas two-step thing.





The host and hostess. Or Mike and Lulu as they are called down there.



These people used to live in BG and Fred knew them and so did some other people in the band. The woman got up and sang harmony on Mustang Sally and she was fabulous.




So we close the bar again and get to bed about 3. Sunday we tidied up the house and went to the bar to pack the equipment so Fred and I got going about noon for the drive to the airport and the 4:15 flight. I had left my gloves in the restaurant Friday night so we went to buy some new ones and all the stores were not opening until 1:30 so we see a Wal-Mart that's obviously open and go in and I choose some gloves and go to the check-out where they cannot sell me the gloves until 1:30 (it's about 1:10) because of some rule about selling clothing before 1:30 on Sunday. What's up with that?? Finally we get the gloves and drive to the airport and have a beer and watch the football game on some tiny TV, the only one in the airport. So they board the plane and Fred has to go to the can and we are the last ones on. Although it was only 4:05, everybody with a ticket was on the plane so the pilot said we would get off early but alas, after the taxiing around, we get off the ground at 4:34. The pilot says it's an hour and a half flight, but alas, although we landed around 6:10, we took forever to get to the gate and then pull up to the gate and disembark, so it's 6:50 by the time we get off the plane. But the car started right up and we were home by 8:10.

Deja voodoo

I rented the first two episodes of the second half of the last season of The Sopranos and they looked eerily familiar. How could this be? They haven't been out that long. I guess all that killing and family sturm und drang is just ongoing. But I will persevere to the final episode. Soon.

Last night was the radio meeting before which Connie and I ate burgers at Beckett's.

Going to New York Feb. 4-6 for some training. Having dinner with Anne Monday night then training Tuesday, out to dinner with the company people, half a day training Wednesday and on the plane at 6 p.m. Staying at the Empire which overlooks Central Park on the west side toward the bottom. W. 63rd St. to be exact. Only 3 blocks from the meetings at ABC Central on 66th. Roomful of Blues is at Joe's Pub Tuesday night for 2 shows, 7:30 and 9:30. Might swing by that. It's way down in the south of Manhattan but just a block off the Broadway subway line.

Here are some kitchen pictures. Still haven't painted that window or got a curtain thingy. Click on the pictures to see bigger versions.







I'm thinking that woodwork needs to be a different color. Suggestions?

Saturday, Amy and I and other interested parties are going to the a couple of antique/collectible stores in downtown Toledo for amusement. The place I got the monkey and the CD cabinet.

Listening to Todd Snider's Viva Satellite on which he sounds a lot like Tom Petty on the first couple of songs. It's with the Nervous Wrecks which includes Will Kimbrough. On my list of to-do's is to learn Horseshoe Lake but it remains unaccomplished.

Johnny Winter is at both the Wheeling fest and the Ribberfest. It's not announced yet on the Ribberfest website but it's on pollstar.

Work is tiresome. There are a ton of unanswered webmaster emails about how people don't like the new site and I should just blast through them with a stock reply but like I have time. It's always something. Equipment failure, unresolved login problems, emergency road closings, new logos for ad campaigns, conference calls. But I gotta do this year and pay off the stuff, Karen's car, the kitchen, Anne's plane fare.

I had a dream the other night about how I went to buy a pickup truck and I was about to drive away with it when the salesman says he has this deluxe SUV for me, white, I don't know what make, and so I take it and am delighted. Cars in dreams are always your life. I think this means I'm wanting to trade up in life but I should not set my sights on a pickup truck life when I could have some tricked-out SUV. I'm sure it was a hybrid. Oh yeah.

Next week, South Carolina. Where it's 70 degrees most days.

A relaxing weekend

Man, it has been MONTHS since I've been able to say that. Yesterday, I spent $9 at the Goodwill and got three tops and picked up pants that have been at the drycleaner for 2 months and went to the heinous Kroger, all before going to Turbo Kick at the gym. Where my instructor is going to Mexico, to Isla Mujeres for a vacation. Aaaahhh.

Then I went and got Amy and we ate at Rev. Chico's. Can not recommend. The burrito was pretty much like the one you get at Qdoba on Main St. I had a Cuervo marg and it had a funny, smoky taste, but was not all mixer sweet like some I had in Mexico. But for the price, I say nix. You have to specify all ingredients of your order on a slip of paper. Amy had a pork panini that was passable. Came with fried plantains which were over-breaded with corn meal. The atmosphere was nice though, felt comfy even amongst all the exposed brick on the walls. The same guy did that interior that did my kitchen.

Then we went to Home Depot and Big Lots, where I got a grill cover so I can put my grill on the patio and GET MY CAR IN THE GARAGE. I never thought it would work but Amy came over and traffic-controlled me in.

Friday night, I poached a piece of salmon and made linguini with olive oil and fresh basil and roasted grape tomatoes and sauteed portabellas and green onion and garlic, of course. Tonight, I made some salmon spread to have on this delicious rosemary bread I got at Churchill's with some nice soup. I see I have whacked my thumb lightly with one of those new knives my boy got me for Christmas. That includes this cool sushi knife.

Also I got my bird feeder hung up and raked the back yard and put hardware cloth (as they are calling chicken wire these days) around those 2 bushes in the far back because already they are showing signs of having been munched on.

And I did a radio show today for the Melkotes. Yesterday, I watched Citizen Kane which I had never seen and Living in Oblivion, a movie with Steve Buscemi that was goofy but amusing. Also have Mean Streets which I have not seen in years, if at all. Another one of those situations where you know all the pop culture about it, as my daughter says, but never really saw it.

Am WAY behind on New Yorkers, have like 6 by the bed. I won't have this problem THIS Christmas as I will be saving them to take to the beach.

Listening to I Enjoy Being a Girl on WBGU. FM. 88 1. Bowling Green Ohio.

Tuesday I have a haircut and a radio meeting. Wednesday is GNO. May have to pass. Have to start going to the 6 p.m. Turbo Kick on Wednesdays this week.

What is the frequency, Kenneth?

Sherry has chastised me about frequency of blog posts so I'll make a better attempt this year. Oh yeah, kinda like a resolution.

Listening to T-Bone Burnett "Power of Love."

On New Year's Day I stayed in the house all day, waiting for the 3-5 inches of blowing snow. Which didn't come.

I love that Churchill's off Dussel Dr. I went there Wednesday after work and got a Greek salad, enough for 2 servings, and a container of sweet potato bisque, 2 servings and a hunk of salmon and a half a sliced loaf of rosemary olive oil bread. Mmm, mmm, mmm. Can't get that in BG.

Called Annie tonight for an hour. Just shot the breeze. She's still kinda freaked out that she's moved halfway across the country. But overall, sounds interesting.

Oh yeah, New Year's Eve at Amy's. At midnight, we all did jazz hands instead of kissing. Lots of card playing. Quite the spread of chow. Meatballs, cheesy potatoes, BBQ beef sandwiches, shrimp, cashew city. I get home and think I've left my phone at Amy's so I DRIVE OVER THERE like an idiot at 1 a.m., primetime to get picked up, but alas the phone was on the mantel at my house the whole time. Duh.

I gotta reprogram that thermostat. It goes down to 62 at 10 p.m. which is a little chilly plus it shoots up to 70 at 6 p.m. On my list.

Last night, I watched Bad Education, a Pedro Almodovar film which was about drag queens and tonight, I went to the gym for the last Thursday Turbo Kick class which has been replaced by Pilates starting next week. So I'll have to leave work early on Wednesdays to get to the 6 p.m. Turbo Kick. So I'll have that and Body Sculpt on Monday and Turbo Kick on Saturday at 10:30. It's good to have a plan.

No radio shows this month EXCEPT this Sunday I am doing the 2-4 p.m. slot for the India music show. But I will not be playing Indian music. I expect hardly any shows from now til May.

The St. Mary's Blues Fest has announced they will hold another one this year. No date posted but I assume it will be the Saturday of Labor Day weekend which is Aug. 30. So for August we have Wheeling, Ribberfest, my birthday weekend and the St. Mary's fest followed by the Swamp.

I am thinking about trying out for the Black Swamp Players "Witness for the Prosecution." Auditions are in March and the play is the first two weekends of May.

year-end wrap-up

The monkey says, "Happy New Year. Take this ridiculous outsuit off me."



Here's my handsome boy. Sorry, no picture of the girlfriend.


So to recount....

Went to Mexico Jan. 23-30. Got back to find out I was going to NYC for work on Feb. 10 and when I flew back, it was into the Winter Blast so I had to stay at the Detroit Airport Westin and drive back on Valentine's Day on treacherous roads.

Then I was in a play that was on stage in May. "You Can't Take it with You" I can hardly remember it now. Probably will have very clear, fond memories in about 25 years.

Plus my mom broke her leg in March so I was down there every Sunday until the end of June. And although I had made a whole new future for my mom, my sister comes along and changes everything. Which is a good thing, as otherwise I would have spent A LOT of time taking care of my mom (like Amy does with hers). Plus, it made me hoard my vacation so that I was able to take off long periods later in the year.

And Frank's dad died in March so my kids were home the week my play opened while I'm still going to see my mom in the nursing home.

Then I was in Chicago in April for some work training.

May was a lot of shows and the Memorial Day party. Plus I leased a new car. There were parties every weekend in June and July so it seems like I made deviled eggs every Saturday morning for weeks.

August, I went to Los Angeles for training and so I worked one day and then was off the week of Labor Day --> Swamp.

And then I started in on that kitchen remodel. First appointment at Home Depot, and this is after a lot of agonizing about what exactly I would do (ask Amy about the agonizing), was Sept. 24. And tomorrow I have to paint the window frame and it should be done. Four months, not bad. But it looks lovely.

After the Swamp, I worked a week and then went to NYC for a week for the lavish annual meetings of ABC execs. Was on the Live with Regis and Kelly show.

September brought the Blues Competition. And suddenly it was October. Which as you know, has a party every weekend.

I meant to go see Tom but I was out of energy and nearly out of cash. Nearly. Sort of.

And then it was Thanksgiving and then Christmas. Oh, except first, we went to Mexico again in December because it was our last chance to go for a while, now that Miss Jenks is in the land of the ice and snow. And wind. But blue skies.

Here's my New Year's resolution: To spend next Christmas on a beach somewhere, after having visited my kids during the extended holiday season. Sure there was the kitchen remodel and the relaunch of the "new and improved" 13abc.com to add extra hecticness but hey. Maybe I'll take the kids to Disney World.

holiday madness

Well, we did launch the new 13abc.com on Dec. 2 after weeks of agonizing. And then there was the no show of Eddie Shaw at GFT and the Xmas GNO and then there was Mexico.

Got back from Mexico, got messages from the countertop people and they're coming tomorrow as Amy sits patiently waiting for them.

Sunday, I got my mom here. Tom and his girlfriend Jessica got here about 12:45 a.m. Monday. Anne was supposed to be on a 6 a.m. flight out of LaGuardia but missed it due to getting to the airport late so she ends up on the 6 p.m flight which meant she didn't have the Christmas eve dinner. She gets here around 9:15, we tear through presents, the kids leave for their dad's. Annie and I drank until 11 and she went home to leave Christmas morning for ND. She kept quite the stiff upper lip. I got teary on Saturday when she told me I was her favorite traveling companion.

Took my mom home yesterday and worked today. Working tomorrow and Friday but get off Monday around 2.

Did a Christmas radio show Saturday; have the end of the year concert roundup one this weekend.

Haven't painted the frame of the new window over the sink. Thank God, Fred called tonight reminding me that we had to take the sink out. Called Wayne who says he'll come reinstall the sink.

Anne leaves tomorrow night before I get home from work so if she doesn't stop by here pretty darn soon, I will have missed her except for that hour on Christmas Eve. I'll be in New York the first week of February so maybe I'll see her then.

Ola chicos

Well it is not blizzarding here in Playa. It did rain on Friday but fortunately, the bar at the hotel on the beach has a large palapa. Yesterday, we went up for the siesta after sunning and beveraging and alas, we woke up at 11:30 pm and had had no dinner. We feel slimmer today because of it. today it is fabulously sunny and warm and we are internetting at 8:30 am so we can get right on that beach laying.

Not much else to report. Had breakfast on the beach at our hotel this morning. Omelets, toast, frutas, cafe. $7 each. Can`t find any Mexican Christmas decorations.

Please do not shovel my driveway. My car will pull right up into it when we arrive home Tuesday evening around 8.

Hasta luego, muchachos.

who knows

Two weeks since my last post. Mostly I have been agonizing about the new 13abc.com which should launch this Saturday, barring a variety of things that could go wrong between now and then.

The kitchen remodel is slogging along. The cabinets are in, the painting is done, the microwave is installed over the stove, which is back in place. The guy comes tomorrow to measure for the countertop which I have no hope of getting before Christmas but c'est la vie (say the old folks, it goes to show you never can tell).

Haven't had a radio show since Nov. 10 and don't have one until Dec. 8.

Mexico two weeks from today. Tanning, dries my skin out. Annie and I went to see Spamalot Tuesday at the Stranahan. It was hilarious. Great costumes, choreography. The old Monty Python jokes we love like catapulting the cow and the Black Knight ("It's only a flesh wound").

Went to see my mom Sunday. She says my sister hates Ohio blah blah. What did she think? She'd come back and suddenly the weather and scenery would be much nicer?

Had the turkey dinner at Annie's on Thanksgiving and played cards at the Butterfly Blues Ranch the next night. Next week, it's a radio meeting Monday, a haircut Tuesday, GNO and Eddie Shaw Wednesday.

I need to figure out how the shelves go into my pantry cabinet so I can put some of this stuff away that's sitting around in boxes and bags and I can clean and feel like I actually live here.

All in good time, my little pretty, all in good time. But now, I think I'll hit the sack after working a 12-hour day.

home remodeling

Today, Wayne Welling came and tore out my kitchen cabinets. Tomorrow, the new ones arrive. He still has some work to do, he says, with drywall mud etc. But I think he can start in ASAP. I need to buy a microwave. Timing will be tight to get that countertop in by Xmas.

All my kitchen stuff is stacked up in the green room with some less used items in the basement from which they may never emerge.

Kim called to say she is having cards at the Butterfly Blues Ranch or Farm on Nov. 23. Miss Jenks has invited me for turkey day or as it is at her house, capon day.

This weekend is the downtown holiday parade followed immediately by the Buckeyes game with Meeeesh-igan. Unfortunately, I signed up to answer the phones at the WBGU fund drive noon to 2. Duh. May have to skate early, although for me, it's all about the potluck, and the game, not so much.

Going to the gym religiously, Body Sculpt on Mondays, Turbo Kick on one week night and one weekend day. Starting to tone up but am still a ways from supermodel.

The web redesign launches Dec. 1 and so we're scurrying around at work, practicing with the new tools and objects. I will be SO ready for Mexico on Dec. 13 but alas no Xmas presents will have been obtained. May have to shop in Playa.

Sarah Borges and the Broken Singles were really good at GFT last Friday. Bought their CD Diamonds in the Dark. Cards was a success, if smally attended and full of cheese. Went to Fred and Sherry's for the Browns game on Sunday because I had intended to do yard work but it was too damp. Now all the leaves are down (all the leaves are down, and the sky is gray) so maybe this Sunday I can finish the raking. Well, the magnolia or whatever is still leafy but I'm sure the rain between now and Sunday will finish it off.

Called my mom yesterday who sounds like she is doing OK although Karen has the usual story: she's been there more than 3 months and still no health insurance, no paid holidays, no sick time so when she called in sick 3 days last week, her pay was reduced accordingly. Whatever.

Now, besides Eddie Shaw at GFT on Dec. 5, they are having Melvin Taylor on Dec. 27.

Also, I bought Tom this slamming set of cookware for his 26th birthday. Now I just have to ship it but it was a great deal. And something he actually expressed an interest in. I could have bought it online but I wouldn't have been able to see how lovely it is. Plus I got some bonus covered pot thing that I'm keeping for myself. Because that's the kind of mom I am.

A grueling week

Monday, I did Body Sculpt at the gym and then drank a bottle of wine with Amy (Yellow Tail Shiraz-Cab) and went to the radio meeting where after the role was called, Don Smith asked if Dave Horger was not in attendance. Then he asked when we were going to see the financial benefit of Dave being on the morning show or when he was going to start mentoring students with his "years of experinence." We were told that we'd be getting a report on the financial part in January and that the working with students was not what had been expected.

Tuesday, home, high finance, Boston Legal. Wednesday, Turbo Kick at the gym before GNO at 149 North where the wine is $3 for the first glass and $1 each glass thereafter and ladies get buy one get one free appetizers. I think we may have found our new GNO location. Plus going out back to smoke is not as heinous as it is at Howard's. Although, you gotta watch that Woodbridge cab. Four glasses is about max or next day it's fog city.

On to the weekend. GFT Friday night and cards at my house on Saturday. Yard work with mild temps.

misinformation

Friday night, Amy and Connie and I went out to eat at Trotter's before we went to see Rod's Collision at Nate and Wally's but ALAS the band was not playing, upon calling Sherry we discover. We were misinformed. Gus had no further light to shine on this when I talked to him Saturday. Kim and Jim were on their way up from the hinterlands so they came on and we played 5-handed euchre at Amy's, a game I had never played and that I believe I may not play again. Too complicated, disagreement on rules, etc. Jim won and I came in second, so I don't know what I'm bitching about.

Then, I thought I had a radio show now til Christmas but ALAS, I was misinformed so I'm on next week and then not for the next 2. Although I will probably do a show on Friday of Thanksgiving weekend because the utes will be gone. I'll keep you posted.

Saturday, I took all the windows out of my living room and the green room and washed them inside out, after going to TurboKick at the gym. Man, the windows are stunning. Then I raked the front yard and cleaned my house, including bathtub tile grout and did 4 loads of laundry, which I hardly ever have that much, and had a couple whiskey drinks at Annie's on the porch where it was nice out of the little wind, and then slept like a rock in my clean flannel sheets. Mmmmmmmmmm.

Sunday, I mowed the front and put away a bunch of stuff for winter and picked up 100 lbs. of pinecones and emptied all my pots and planters and hauled all that stuff to the yard waste. Then cooking school commenced. I put a half a roast in the crockpot with carrots and onions and made chicken enchiladas and tuna salad and that pear dessert in the oven with crystallized ginger and biscuit top. Listened to the "I Love Being a Girl" show on WBGU and the world music show. Let me tell you this about cooking school: do not try to thaw a bag of frozen grated cheese by running hot water on it. It just starts to be grilled cheese in a bag.

This Friday, it's Sarah Borges at GFT. Kelly called my radio show the other day, which is good because it means he was listening when I played Terri Hendrix, to tell me the upcoming music schedule there: Dec. 5, Eddie Shaw; January something (TBD), Melvin Taylor; March, Jim Jorgensen who was Elton John's guitar player; and April, Terri Hendrix and Lloyd Maines.

I emailed Kelly today with info on booking the Doghouse Daddies and Twistin' Tarantulas and Rev. Peyton's Big Damn Band. Just need to get him the CDs.

The cabinets are theoretically coming the Monday of Thanksgiving week so I should call Wayne and get him lined up. Those cabinets in the picture have the spice glaze which I not getting. I'm having natural which I can't find a link for. I'm excited.

road rage

Today, I get on I-475 at 25 and some guy in a Malibu is going 69 in the passing or "fast" lane in front of me. I stay behind him until it's clear he's not going to move into the slow lane so I whip into the slow lane and punch it to about 76 at which point HE punches it in the fast lane to about 83, just in time for us to come upon the statie that sits there right before the bridge over the Maumee. Not much traffic, so the statie has plenty o time to pull out and nail Mr. "I Can Go Faster Than You." I shouldn't gloat; it's bad karma. But hey, run with the big dogs, etc.

Had 98 trick or treaters. Took some pictures but didn't get them up yet although I had told two teen girls they would be on 13abc.com today in my Halloween slideshow. There were too many people pushing mere infants in strollers and then holding out the bag for treats these babies were frankly not going to be eating.

almost Halloween

Friday, Miss Jenks and I damaged a bottle of Jack Daniel's. Saturday, radio show and then to the Sockman party where I could not bring myself to wear the Batgirl costume and JUST AS WELL because nobody else was costumed. I wore the devil horns and tail with my regular clothes and guys were saying "Hey, I always wanted a piece of that tail." Ha ha.

Sunday I worked in the yard to exhaustion and cooked: chicken for chicken salad and enchiladas and a roast. And I put in most of the storm windows but I have still not put the heat on at night. Hmmm, winterishness.

So me and Annie are going to Mexico Dec. 13-18. Staying at the Colibri. We both had vacation left and it seemed like a good idea, without even a lot of alcohol.

Making sweet potato corn chowder now and drinking Yellow Tail. Tomorrow night, we are going to the Revolver in Findlay.

Rod's Collision at Nate and Wally's this Friday. Charlotte gets picked up Wednesday so maybe I can resume going to the gym.

watching charlotte

I am sitting Gus and Annette's dog while they are in Mexico for the Kern-Doster nuptials. Actually I heard the nuptials were already performed in the US for legal reasons and then there's this wedding thing in Mejico and then there's a party on Nov. 10.

Gus brought her and her luggage over Tuesday evening and there was some whimpering and general cat fear but we all got to sleep somewhere. Charlotte came in about 3 a.m. just to see if I was still there, I guess, and I gave her a pat on the head and told her to go back to bed and she did.


Wednesday, everything went smoothly in the morning and I fed Miss Jenks's cat. Wednesday evening, I walked Charlotte over to feed the Jenks cat. She was very good walking on the leash. Then there was some business with the squeaky dog toy she has when we got back. She just pokes its belly with her nose so it will squeak. No pulling, no biting.

Then I went over to Amy's for some health beverage. When I got back, everybody went out and when they came in, the cats decided they would sleep on the bed and everybody was cool. The Big slept on my head like I hope he will after I've been drinking wine.

Today, Thursday, everybody is passing each other warily in the upstairs rooms but overall, it's a giant success. She is the best pet guest one could hope for.

Here's a cartoon Connie Z sent in email:


I emailed Tom about whether he had experienced any flooding in the rains Tuesday but of course, we only get the exaggerated picture here and he had no pictures to send me.

Tomorrow night, Annie and I are going to drink whiskey after I go to the Home Depot and get my final estimate on the cabinets which I think I will have Wayne Welling install. Although I am not signing up for anything tomorrow night. Just getting the prices. Because I should get another price from Lowe's or someplace. This is the countertop I like.

Listening to the new Mark Knopfler CD, Kill to Get Crimson which is great. Radio show Saturday and I have some new stuff.

Friday, Joe Bob Duda at Cucina but I may have to pass. Saturday, three Halloween parties. We'll see which one(s) I get to. Kind of crappy weather coming but at least the wind will switch back around to the southwest.

here's what I think

Beer not only makes you fat, it makes you crabby. I haven't been drinking much beer and this weekend I did and today I am fat and crabby. Or it could be this weather thing moving in.

It was a big weekend. Friday night, was the Joe Bob Duda at GFT which was heavily attended. Then we went to Beckett's for a bev. Saturday I went to the gym and did a radio show and to the Halloween party from which I have no pictures. Please send me some to debweiser@email.com. I wore my Batgirl costume. Amy was a witch. Sherry was Charlie Chaplin, complete with cane and derby.

Then we went to the Welders in our costumes. Fred, who was dressed as a pirate (a very popular motif this year), said we should go to Howard's every Saturday night in costumes.

Sunday was beautiful, if a little windier than I thought it would be. I was going to wash house windows but the first one I started on needed to be caulked so that's all I got done but I had been meaning to do that for a long time.

Plus I cleaned out the garage. I just need to get that grapevine out of the driveway to see if my car will fit in there.

Tomorrow, Gus is bringing Charlotte over to stay with me for a week while they're in Mexico.

So, Friday, Joe Bob Duda at Cucina de Betta or whatever. Saturday, three Halloween parties. And my first of a long string of regular radio shows.

Annie and I want to go to this restaurant in Findlay, Revolver. It has great reviews. Scroll down on that page to see the comments.

Also I have been looking for a cross stitch that says God loveth a cheerful giver. But most of them are this Precious Moments crap.

ramblings

So it's 10:20 and I realize Boston Legal is on. Man, I am not the viewer advertisers are looking for.

I was telling Sherry or somebody that I don't blog as often because I get all angsted up that I have so much to recount and pictures to post and upcoming events to notify people of that I don't blog.

About this weekend, specifically Saturday, I'm going to the Halloween party about 9 so I can maintain for the Welders which might not start til 11. Plus in case you don't know, Saturday is Miss Jenks's birthday.

exciting updates!

The Chris Shutters Band won the BSBS Battle of the Bands and is going to Memphis. Rod's played their hearts out. The winning band plays at Mulvaney's Bunker on Dorr St. right down the road from my work. They're from Sylvania. The shindig at the Maumee Indoor was well attended including the BG contingent: Kim and Jim, Michelle and Don, Kay and Rick, Dylan, Doug and the usual band groopies.

Today, I went to the Pharm because they had these signs out: CHEAP! FINAL SALE! LIQUIDATION! So there's hardly anything left in there but vitamins and makeup. I bought some stuff that would have totaled about $35 for $12. These white trash people were at the register with a big wad of cash they were making change out of and just assigning prices as they saw fit. Somebody asked when they were closing their doors and some guy said "As soon as we can get all these people out of here." Someone else asked what was going in there and the register guy said Hooters.

Listening to No Song, No Supper.

This weekend, I tore that grapevine off the fence between my yard and Mrs. Eilert's. When I told her about this, several times, she was vague even though she had told me numerous times that the guy who mows her lawn told her that should be cut down. Sheesh. Then I weeded copiously, planted a bunch of perennials I got from the departing Miss Jenks, measured my yard for future bed planning. And took stuff to the yard waste and stuff to Goodwill and returned stuff I had had for two months from Elder Beerman where they had these nightgown robe sets on sale that my mom likes so I guess I've started Christmas shopping. I think now my immediate plans are a privacy fence along the back, new kitchen stuff and this partial landscape remodel.

Plus it's back to cooking school. Today, I made beef stew in the crockpot which I have not sampled yet and I have a quiche in the oven (broccoli, ham, onion, cheese).

Plus I've started keeping lists of stuff to do. And I do it! I think this going to the gym is fab for my energy. I went yesterday and did Turbo Kick which is kickboxing with these 90-second intervals of unbelievable hopping around toward the end.

Gotta watch last week's Desperate Housewives on the internet before tonight's show comes on at 9. Reading Blaze by Richard Bachman (who is really Stephen King). So so.

Better go try and figure out a Halloween costume.

how could I be so far behind???

Plus I have just been worthless for the pictures. Maybe now that it's cooler weather and I have pockets, I'll carry that camera around more.

Here are the few pictures from the Harvest Party. Chip caught this mouse at his house and felt compelled to carry it around in the back of his truck


Some shoes being tossed.

The fire which, although totally unnecessary, was nice.


It was a swell party. It was unbelievably warm. We had on tank tops.

So since my last post, Donna had a birthday party at Missy's. That is one beautiful porch. It was kind of an odd guest list: Norm Heineman and woman, Vic and woman, Nick Subic and woman, Gus, Chip later, Myles cooking his "famous" chicken, Sherry, Fred, Amy, Jenks and man, Jo Sears, Ontha and cleavage.

And then there was the second round of the BSBS blues finals at Mickey Finn's on Sept. 30 Wherein four bands advanced. The finals are tomorrow night at the Maumee Indoor. Rod's needs to zip it up, which was discussed with the band members later. Go boys.

Went to see my mom on Sept. 30 as well. Things are going OK down there. Marginally. But I cannot insert myself into this except to send them some money to buy Halloween candy as they apparently can expect hordes of trick or treaters.

I went to Home Depot and had them come measure my kitchen for new cabinets and have a price from them of around $4,500. I'm getting a couple more quotes before I jump into anything. Who knows who can put a privacy fence up along the back of my yard?

So really that's about it except of course continuous partying around.

After I got back from New York on Sept. 21, my daughter came to town Sept. 26-29 just to get out of the city, as she says. Coincidentally, my old boyfriend Barker was in town Sept. 22-30 and on Sat. night we were all in Nate and Wally's at the same time. "Uncle Steve," Anne said in her facetious way. Bad picture, cell phone, in the bar, but they look lovely. I also went out with Barker on Weds. night to 149 North where we took advantage of the dangerous Wine Night specials. First glass, $3, subsequent glasses $1. Too many subsequent glasses. I had to call in sick at work the next day, which I have done about 3 times in 7 years.



And here is a camel, which was in the parking lot of the small mall the other night when I came out of the gym. Oh right, I joined the gym at the mall.


So coming up we have the Doug and Connie party on Oct. 20 followed by the Welders that night at Howard's, the same day Miss Jenks turns 54, the last time she'll turn anything in Ohio as she is moving to North Dakota in January. Prior to that, there is Bucktown Kickback at Nate and Wally's on the 18th and JoeBobDuda at GFT on the 19th. And Kim Sockman has invited me (and other spirited partyers, she says) to her house on Oct. 27, the night of Kay and Jacqui's party.

And here is video on YouTube of Millie, the island deer up at Put-in-Bay.

time flies

I guess I'll go in reverse order since I may never get to that stuff that happened clear back around Sept. 12, the day after my last post, as I can't remember things. I should take more notes.

So I was off the week of Sept. 10 but I didn't do anything recognizable. It was just nice to be off, not to go in every day. I looked at cabinets at Home Depot. Made an appointment to have them come measure, which I blew off. Then I left for NYC on Sunday, the 16th. Had dinner with Anne that night and hung out. Monday, we went to see Regis and Kelly and then went shopping. Just went to regular stores we could have gone to here, except majorly larger versions of them-- Payless, H&M, Old Navy, Macy's. Also went to Filene's Basement on Broadway where I bought a pant suit to wear the first day of my meetings. Bought a bikini for Mexico at H&M, some underwear.

The meetings were good, they feed us continuously. Went to the Red Eye Grill Tuesday night and Del Frisco's Wednesday. The bill at Del Frisco's for 25 people was $4,000. Of course, Disney picked up the tab. Went out drinking after both nights although I was pretty pooped Wednesday. Rooftop terrace bars at fancy hotels, the Hudson and the Peninsula. One round of drinks at the Hudson was $250. Of course, Disney paid. Did a lot of walking but not enough to offset the massive food intake. Got home late Friday night.

Did a radio show Saturday. Mowed. Spent an hour Sunday ripping recipes out of Bon Appetit magazines. Went to see Fred Eaglesmith at the Ark Sunday night. Last night. Sheesh, it's tiring. In bed last night around 11:30 and my old boyfriend Barker calls to say he's in town and I thought we would have some cocktails tonight but alas I am blown off so now it's maybe Wednesday.

Click here for a picture of my daughter and her boyfriend.

I was going to go see Tom in New Orleans the weekend of Oct. 13 but he called me while I was shopping at Macy's in New York and said his good bicycle had been stolen after his beater bike was destroyed when he got hit by a car. No details on that hit by a car thing. Plus his girlfriend's Vespa was stolen. They're going to Austin the weekend of the Harvest party. But all reports are that the crime is so bad down there and I would have so little time to hang out with him, I think I will not go.

Now I'm not going to Put-in-Bay this weekend, opting to do my only radio show from now til Oct. 27 and go see my mom on Sunday. Also Sunday is Rod's Collision at Mickey Finn's in the second half of the first round of the Blues Battle for Memphis.

Listening to Shake Hands with Shorty by the North Mississippi Allstars.

OK on to the photos. They are in no particular order because it takes me a long time to put them in the photo software and sort through them and put them in Photoshop to resize them and post them and then to sort them by name, well, that ain't happening because I'm drinking Scotch. Bear with me. Remember, click on a photo to see a larger version.

At St. Mary's, they had this big stage and off to the side this ginormous Jumbotron on which they were showing the OSU game. I had never seen so much Buckeye paraphernalia in my life, shirts, chairs, etc. And when Michigan lost to Appalachian State on the TV in the vendor tent, the screaming was unbelievable. Doug and I were over looking at the canal at the time, and thought maybe something bad had happened.


OK, skip ahead. Here's Regis and Kelly.


Here's Anne and Kelly. She asked me not to put this photo on the internet because she has a goofy look on her face, but I did anyway.


Another picture of Kelly to show you how close we were. Like 4 feet away.


Here's Miss Annie warbling with Joe at the Huntington Courtyard at the Swamp.


Now, she has retired to the audience.


Here's what Anne and I ate at Cafe Matin in NYC. Crab remoulade and croque monsieur, which is basically an open face ham and grilled cheese. Had a bottle of Loire wine, white, crisp, delicious.


At the Swamp I got this shot of Esther.


Again, the Elderly Brothers with Miss Annie.


How's it goin'? Dave Scott, caught in a rare public appearance.


This is a funny picture, because when we were in L.A., we all put out our Disney corporate cards so the server would have to split up the bill 12 ways. Even though, in the end, they were all being paid out of the same budget and not ours. Hope you can't read the expiration dates on those.

Doug searches fruitlessly for his wife in the crowd at the Swamp.


Are these guys happy or what???


Blondes. Sheesh.


Two thirds of the Barker children. The other one is visiting BG this week and maybe we'll have some cocktails sometime. We were supposed to tonight but he called, jammed up, the usual. Oh, I remember now. Maybe Wednesday. Anne comes that day to stay until Saturday.


Thursday, Rod's practices at Fred's garage so maybe some women will have to have some beverages elsewhere.

Here a couple of pictures from music. This one is Fred at the Ark last night. Short show. Started at 7:30 and at 8:58, they're saying Good night but Fred comes back out for 15 minutes.


And here's a shot of Todd and Will in Tennessee. Cell phone.


And when does this craziness stop? No time soon. Because the holiday season is just around the corner.

well, damn

The Swamp was fabulous. Listening now to the Deadstring Brothers who played Friday before Bernard Allison, who was also fabulous. Millish was good. Alejandro Escovedo was pretty good. The Infamous Stringdusters were real good. The Silverbacks were outstanding. The Elderly Brothers with Miss Annie were fantabulous.

Bought almost nothing at the Swamp. One picture and some mittens. Some CDs. Saw many people. The weather could have been better as the audience cleared out right before Bernard because of impending bad stormishness which didn't occur. And Saturday night it rained all during the Sierra Leone's Allstar Refugees but many folks braved the elephants to see them. All in all, a delightful time that just capped my week off. I did a lot of brain relaxation.

Last night, went to see The Subdudes at the Ark. Man, those guys can play. They came into the audience and did Morning Glory about one inch from us a capella. They rocked out. Their harmonies and playing are so tight. When we left, the guitar player in the background was out back having a smoke and we said You were great and he said Come see us again.

GNO tomorrow. There's a fall food fest at the Farmer's Market on Pearl St. Saturday. Cooking Demonstrations: Sushi (Bg style!), sauerkraut balls, squash dishes. 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. I'll be there.

Then off to NYC. Could go see Robben Ford and Parliament Funkadelic. M. Ward, Eartha Kitt, Eric Bibb. We'll see. It costs $85 to see Eartha Kitt. I'll be in the audience of Regis and Kelly Live on Monday and I'll wave. As Sal would ask, What will I wear??

what i did on my summer vacation

The last day I actually worked was Aug. 24. I went to see my mom on Sunday the 26h. Don't want to get into that at this time.

Went to LA the next day and was sequestered in a conference room all day Tues., Weds., Thurs. morning. Went out all 3 nights, although the first one was just for dinner at Marie Callender's where we sat on the patio under the full moon and palm trees. Breakfast was outside in the hotel's courtyard Monday morning (but not the subsequent days), omelette station, women with pitchers of juice and carafes of coffee. Then we'd go into a room where there were snacks, yogurt, muffins, juice, granola bars. Like we'd not just eaten. And then there was lunch, also outside on the first day, some Chinese stuff, pretty good. After lunch, there were afternoon snacks. And on to dinner. I had some really good ahi tuna. Couple glasses of Seven Deadly Zins. Then we went back to the Elephant Bar next door to the hotel and drank and talked about the new web redesign.

Tuesday night was more of the same but we just started right out at the Elephant Bar. Dinner, drinks, cigarettes on the patio, even for people who said they didn't smoke. Much later, we are still drinking on the patio, the restaurant has closed, and a guy comes out to tell us that the hotel next door was complaining about us. I told him we were all guests of the hotel. He laughed. So we meander over to the hotel courtyard where a beefy security guy tells us we must all go IMMEDIATELY TO OUR INDIVIDUAL ROOMS. Four of us go into my room to finish our opened cans of Budweiser and the big guy lingers in the hallway until the other people leave. Plus I have to mention this so-called bar closed at 11:30! What were we to do?

The next morning, some of my colleagues looked a little rough. Not me, but then, they were up against a professional. So we do Day Three of Search Engine Optimization training and people get their individual rides to airports and I get home at 2 a.m. Friday morning. So I went into work around noon, intending to work til 8 but I had to do the football scores, so I was up til 2 a.m. AGAIN making football highlight video and posting scores. Also this day, Dewalt's put new gutters on my house. You know how long I've been angsting about those gutters.

Saturday (the next day) Amy and I leave for St. Marys about 10 a.m. for the Riverside Blues Festival. The Evening Leader has a big story about it. Scotty Bratcher, Doghouse Daddies, Cleveland Fats, Lonnie Brooks and Joe Bonamassa. Who Fred thought was a little "too heavy metal." I bought the Doghouse Daddies CD and one that's a compilation of 2004 Ohio blues entrants in the Memphis blues competition.

It was damn hot. We sat out in the sun in a crowd overflowing with Buckeyes chairs and shirts and tote bags. There was a jumbotron showing the OSU game. Under a tent, there was a TV showing the Michigan game where they got beat by Appalachian State. The crowd went wild. Doug, Kim, Jim, Amy, Fred, Sherry and me. It was Sherry's birthday. All the bands were very good in their own ways. I hope it was successful enough they can have it next year because it's only an hour away.

(Aside: Fat Fish Blue is opening in Levis Commons in March.)

Amy and I drove to her brother Denny's apartment in New Bremen afterward where he served us burgers and Natural Light in a can. I fell asleep on the sofa bed around 2 a.m. AGAIN, watching a Stevie Ray Vaughan concert tape. Earlier that night, Fred had told me a story about a woman he knew who dated SRV and had the photos to prove it, but she died and the photos are history. And then Denny tells us a story about snorting coke off a bar in Chicago with SRV. Pretty kosmik.

Denny's promise to make us scrambled eggs Sunday morning notwithstanding, Amy and I leave before he gets up and have breakfast at a truck stop in Beaverdam. We get home about 12:30 and it's time to get ready for party Monday. I mow, trim, edge, rake, tote, trim, water and drink some beers at Annie's. During the night, I flip over in bed and the BIG DIZZINESS comes over me which I am still feeling today although not so bad as I have been doing the Epley maneuvers. I called Dr. Wojo to see if he could do the professional version on me but the nurse said he would probably try to prescribe meds. But this is a mechanical problem, I tell her to no avail. So I call the Wood Co. ER to see if the Dr. Taylor is on duty who did it to me last time but he's not and they can't tell me his schedule. So tomorrow I have a physical scheduled with Dr. Wojo's son Dr. Ed but I doubt he will do it either. I shoulda had him look this up on the internet in advance.

Monday, Labor day party, to which I apparently forgot to invite a lot of people who fortunately heard about it through other people so there was a good turnout including Dr. Sue, and Jimmy Kiernan, and Mark Trout and Ginger and Bob. Way too much food, plenty o beverages, although I am dizzy and just flit about with a vague grin until the last person leaves around 10:30. Dr. Sue commandeered the grill, much to my delight. Donna sent a lovely plate of barbecued shrimp stuffed with hot peppers and wrapped in bacon. She couldn't make it. Thanks, Donna. Remember, GNO is at your house Sept. 12.

(Aside: Listening to Pressure Chief by Cake. The 6-8 DJ on Saturdays gave it to me.)

So Tuesday, I tidy up from the party and be dizzy and lounge around and watch Good Night and Good Luck. People stopped by to retrieve their stuff. I still have two insect repellants and a round blue nylon cooler thingy. Then Annie came over and we drank a couple beers and then I had a radio meeting after which I made an arrangement to make some promos Thursday at 4 p.m.

Today, I went to Meijer at 8 a.m. because I have had no food for about 3 or 4 weeks. At one point, I had eaten breakfast at the Corner Grill three days in a row. Then I took some leftover cookout food to Annie's and Russell was there so he gave me half a papaya which we ate on the porch. I came home and made an omelette and went back over and biked on the trail with him for 6 miles. Then I went to Ace Hardware to get some lawn treatment and some Miracle Gro and my storm window which they were supposed to be repairing but they can't find it. Then I went to the yard waste and to Home Depot to look at cabinets and countertops in a very preliminary way. I made a strawberry banana smoothie which took about one minute. I should make these more often.

I have pictures of various stuff above. Coming soon.

Tomorrow, I have a doctor's appointment and am making promos for my show, which I wrote today and picked out the music for. Friday, Brad Doyle is coming at noon to move my thermostat and take out the gas heater in the front room and fix my leaking kitchen sink. And I have an appointment with someone at Home Depot about cabinet pricing. Just in a very preliminary way. And then I will be down at the Swamp about 3 until who knows. Saturday, I will show up at the radio station when the BGSU game is over so we can do live remotes. Plus I have been invited to a Silverbacks after-party at the Peslikis's. And Rod's plays at Nate and Wally's Saturday night. And Annie sings with The Elderly Brothers on Saturday at 1 in the Huntington Bank courtyard.

Sunday, we have to switch to our new content management software for 13abc.com so I will have to pay close attention on Sunday afternoon after being all swamped out.

Then it's the Subdudes in Ann Arbor, GNO and I leave for NYC on Sept. 16. I don't have a radio show until Oct. 27. The only one I COULD have is Sept. 29 and I'm thinking about going to Put-in-Bay that day.

There is a blues concert benefit for the Findlay flooding people Sept. 22. More about that soon.

Doug and Connie's Halloween party is now scheduled for Oct. 20. NOTE DATE CHANGE. October looks a little calmer.

Eddie Shaw Dec. 5 at Grounds is what I hear.

outta here

Off to LA tomorrow until the buttcrack of dawn Friday morning. Last week was my birthday week. Had several fine meals with various wimmens. Received lovely presents and cards. Thank you.

Monday, Sept. 3, I am having a cookout. Come as early as 3 but the eating is 5 or thereabouts. Invite everybody you know.