iPad

Whoever said, "money can't buy happiness," well, that probably made a lot more sense before the iPad.

I won an iPad at a conference for work and a company was doing a random drawing for the precious. Hands down the greatest contest I have ever won.

Here is where the phrase "hands down" comes from:

"The term dates back to the mid-19th century and the genteel world of British horse racing. Back then, a jockey who found himself way ahead as he approached the finish line would relax his grip on the reins and drop his hands. Not as confrontational as a spiked football, but still a bit of gestural in-your-face-ness. By the late 19th century, the idiom had been extended to non-racing contexts, and it remains in frequent use today."

Old School TV: Dumbo's Circus

Came across this gem today...

Anyone else remember watching that one???

Mulberries

Today I picked some mulberries (from the Morus tree) with some friends and we made jam out of it.

In related news, I did not win an iPad.

iPad

Today I learned I won an iPad.

Style

Neon is cool again.

Style has a way of coming back and becoming popular again. Short shorts in the NBA and well, these, might never see popularity again. I'll hold on to them for the owner though... in my attic's "costume box."

Dopp Kit

Why is that bag with all your toiletries called a Dopp kit?

The name derives from early 20th century leather craftsman Charles Doppelt, a German immigrant to the United States, who invented his toiletry case in 1919.

I need to invent something and have my name on it.

Ernest

Today I learned that there are 3 Ernest movies I don't have...

Toy Story 3

The Ernest, of "Ernest goes to Camp" fame, Jim Varney died in 2000. I don't remember having a memorial, but I should have. (The Ernest series has 10 movies in all. Brothers, I am thinking a marathon is in order.)

And what about Toy Story 3? He was the voice of "Slinky Dog." WAS, now it is Blake Clark.

I love you Ernest P. Worrell.

"How about a bumper sandwich boogerlips." Which movie?

Chicago

Chicago is called "The Windy City" for a couple of reasons, perhaps you were thinking because the wind, but it really caught on because of its notorious long winded politicians.

BOOM! DOUBLE BONUS!!

Chicago's wind is called The Hawk.

A surprise in the garden...

I was removing a bush from our garden area like this one....



...and I had cut off all the branches when I came across this...



...and on closer inspection found this surprise...so cute after the initial shock....




....and have carefully covered them back up again for the present with this makeshift "shrub"...



...so what I've learned is that if you see a clump of fur lying about in the yard somewhere...you may find bunnies
underneath it!
(Some of you may remember that this happened to me just once before in our backyard in Lawton, OK)

Wrestling

Turns out, wrestling is real.

Most recent Alpha class--cook out June 8

This week we had a reunion of the Alpha class that just finished. Thought of you all as we took this in the same spot as the family pics...



And of course we had to have 'funny' version -- you know how we do....

Jamais vu

Jamais vu is the opposite of déjà vu.

Take a minute to let that sink into your head and your brain will explode.

Taking apart stuff

I took apart my iPod touch, to try to fix the headphone jack.

maybe tomorrow I'll learn how to put it back together...

Cedar Bucket

I learned the World's Largest Cedar Bucket is 10 minutes from Oxford, MS.

Q-tips

Q-tips were originally called Baby Gays.

What does the Q in Q-tip stand for?

Here is the history. Spoiler alert, it stands for Quality.

Mary Anning

While telling a geology major about finger fumblers I explained they are like tongue twisters, you know she sells seashells down by the sea shore...

He says, you know the 'she' in that was written about Mary Anning, a palaeonoloigst who gathered one of the most amazing collection of fossils ever.

Here is her wiki page.

Conveyance

One thing I learned on my recent trip to Italy...
Our guide told us we'd be riding the choo-choo (with McDonald's written all over it no less. That seemed a funny thing for a grown man to tell a group of adults. After I got on, I saw the sign...Who knew??

Juggling Combat

it's just a matter of time until I find other people who want to do this...

Making the team

http://pettube.com/view_video.php?viewkey=b2db54d55bc8bba2fad1

This is my first test of contributing to the "conversation". I love this idea and thank Preston for setting it up.
Hope that all will 'speak up'!
What I learned is what I don't think Saffron could learn in a million years of training as seen on this video....couldn't get it to link up, so maybe you can figure it out anyway, or help me learn to set up the link properly.

Candy Land

On a recent board of Candy Land, Queen Frostine was no where to be found. Candy Land has striped her of title and given her a makeover...

Synthetic Oil

I have a 2005 Saab 9-3 and was told when it was purchased that it ran on synthetic oil that needs to be changed every 15,000 miles. But, my mechanic said that it actually is more like 7,500 miles driving in a city. Synthetic oil changes cost like $50. So you really don't save any money, but maybe a little time.

Here is what The Honest Mechanic says.

Finger Fumblers

In sign language there are phrases that are difficult to sign, like tongue twisters are to say, called finger fumblers.