I Thought Why Did Someone Photograph This Poor Guy Rather Than Moving The Ladder?

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The following is the text below the photo on Failblog. Wouldn't this image be fun on a Christmas card?

Good news is that I truly out did myself this year with my Christmas decorations. The bad news is that I had to take him down after two days. I had more people come screaming up to my house than ever. Great stories. But two things made me take it down.

First, the cops advised me that it would cause traffic accidents as they almost wrecked when they drove by.

Second, a 55 year old lady grabbed the 75 pound ladder almost killed herself putting it against my house and didn’t realize that it was fake until she climbed to the top (she was not happy). By the way, she was one of the many people who attempted to do that. My yard couldn’t take it either. I have more than a few tire tracks where people literally drove up my yard.

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Another 4.0 Freak-Out Averted

Another semester has ended and I still have a 4.0. I'm taking college more seriously than I did the first time; I actually show up for class.

This coming semester I'm taking 5 classes again (4 is considered full time) so the work load should be pretty significant but the courses look interesting.

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Sunrise Christmas Cookies

My family of night people has been cursed with a morning person. I not only wake up before dawn, I wake up productive and cheerful.

These cookies are a serious production. The dough is chilled the night before since the cookies are rolled until the dough becomes translucent (approximately 1/16" thick).

I used to make many different shapes using antique cookie cutters but I'm over that thanks to my family chugging cookies faster than I can make them.

It takes about 1.5 hours for me to make a batch, 3 hours with help. I now have a convection oven and can make them at lightening speed if I have someone to rotate the multitude of baking sheets. Nissa was conscripted and she appeared looking a bit like Bill the Cat before he had his daily phamaceutical enhancement and she cursed being the only person who answered my call.

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The Banana Bunker

I heard about this banana holder this morning on the radio and had to see it. I got the photo from the MOMA store web site.

I must admit I don't usually bring bananas as a snack since they become smashed in my bag but...

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Six to eight black men - part 1 of 3

This is probably my favorite Christmas story.

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Six to eight black men - part 2 of 3

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Six to eight black men - part 3 of 3

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Jesus Shaves (David Sedaris)

I have fond memories of college French so this strikes a very funny chord for me. My French is not very good but the teacher did teach me to swear in French like a native.

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Surprised Kitty

A friend sent me this today and I had to share.

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The Muppets: Bohemian Rhapsody

I know that this has been viewed by a lot of people but it's still very cute. I particularly enjoyed the last few seconds.

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Pink Glove Dance

This is similar the wedding dance from a Minnesota couple that went viral. I love the concept and their joy; what a great project!

It doesn't load quickly like a regular video so you might want to let it load, grab a cup of coffee and come back.

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Weird Science

Indian corn pops like popcorn when you stick it on a burner and it tastes like regular popcorn. I wouldn't eat a bowl of it but it was fun to watch it pop.

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The Crawling Hand

I was terrified of this movie when I was a child. It made me afraid of hands crawling up to grab me so I was quite surprised to see it listed on Fancast movies. What a hoot! My favorite part was when the ambulance drivers go to pick up a body and decide to go to the kitchen for a beer since old ladies always have beer. On the way they spot her boarder on the floor and the one driver says "Let's get out of here" and wants to run away. They discover he's still alive so they stick him in the back of a station wagon with the dead lady and take off for the morgue and hospital.

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Gorgeous Sunrise Today

Some days it's really nice to be an early riser

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We Have Company In The Backyard

Bryce went out to rake the leaves and spotted this fox in the backyard, she was sleeping in a tiny ball. She wasn't afraid of us so we got with about 20 feet of her and started taking pictures. She seems to like the space behind the garden shed so she may be checking it out for a winter home.

I'm a little concerned since she's quite large and my dogs are under 10 pounds but for now it's fun to have her.

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Barbie On A Stick

I was driving along and saw these poor Barbies. I wonder if someone had a mischievous brother or is a future sociopath?

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It's Snowing!

I want to go outside and play but I have so much to do; of course I could just stay up really late and be a zombie tomorrow.

I think I'll go play and then get a malted Mocha from Muddy Waters; being a responsible grown up is overrated. If we get enough snow I want to fill the front yard with tiny snowmen minions.

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An Upgrade

Craig and I used to speak daily when I was an insurance agent with American Family Insurance and we've been drifting apart.

I was going to email him tonight but I thought I'd send him a fishing tournament upgrade instead.

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Wildlife

Bryce had a wild time at the cabin.


The garden snakes were by the front door

He found bats behind the shutters on one window.


No, make that two windows. This one flew at Bryce since he was very unhappy about being disturbed



This wasp nest was in the garage.











Now for the good things, deer and wild turkeys.

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Night Rider

It was so nice we went for an evening motorcycle ride last night. Riding a motorcycle at night is like flying.

I have a Yamaha V Star Classic with raspberry colored paint, my DH's is black.

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Life Lesson #47

Don't let a hair stylist with purple hair choose your highlight colors.

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Making Time

Someone recently asked me how do you find time to do all the blog entries and drawings. I thought about it. You make time for the things you enjoy, some days more successfully than others.

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Acting Like An Idiot

Why is it when some people get tired and stressed they are smart enough to become subdued; I get loud and goofy. Argh!

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Taylors Falls

It's been a long time since I'd been here and we found out they no longer allow swimming. The park service may have banned it with all the people jumping off the bluffs or it might just be because the current is a lot stronger than it used to be.


















Taylors Fall State Park view of the Saint Croix River














The paddle boat is waiting for a wedding party.














The pot holes. I have no idea how someone managed to put graffiti down there.

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A Spontaneous Picnic After Shopping At Target

We went to the Roger's Target to get a copy of Moonlight and bought food for a picnic.














Target has excellent fried chicken and Archer Farms makes wonderful macaroons.































We were joined by a sandhill crane.

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Computers Need Feng Shui To

I have only listened to about 10% of the things on my ipod. Today I clutter cleared iTunes and got rid of a ton of books and songs. My Mac is so much lighter now, I took a photo of it levitating.

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A Satellite View of My Dogs

I went to Google Maps and did what probably most people do, put in my own address.

This is the closest it gets since we are rather dull by government standards but the black and white dots above the left building (garage) are Zelda and Marilyn.

They like to chase anything that wanders past so they are on leads that cover a good sized chunk of the yard.

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Minneapolis Skyline at 55 Mies Per Hour

I think this shot turned out well since we driving at freeway speeds and the windshield was cleanish.

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Day 1 of Fall Quarter Book Pick-Up

I drove Nissa to get her books for fall quarter. This Barbie was in a window off the parking lot. The sign says "save me".


















$145 for a used math book?


















All the trash cans have this handy take-out window for squirrels.

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Comedy In The Park?

We went to a comedy show in the park. It was structured similar to the TV show Who's Line Is It Anyway. The TV show was funny, the park show was not. We left early and looked up to see a departing plane; it seemed to be fleeing the show as well, which was funny.








We stopped at Cafe Ena, which serves Latin fusion cuisine. The service was excellent and we sat at a sidewalk table.














We shared an appetiser and entree. The appetiser was thin sliced plantains served with salsa (we had eaten several before I thought to take a picture). The entree included a pork loin, potatoes, asparagus, and caramelized onions with fennel.

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We've Had A Bit Of Rain Lately

I think we got a summer's worth of rain in the last 2 days. We have a nice crop of mushrooms in the yard; it's a pity they are not morels or even edible.

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Local Sweet Corn

Sweet corn is becoming available and this batch is particularly nice.

My father once bought a pickup truck full of corn and had my sister and shell it while he and my mother froze it. We were so sticky that I thought I'd never get clean.

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Goofy Acorns

I took a picture of the acorns that dropped yesterday in the driveway. I can only imagine how many more there are right now.

It's 4:30 in the morning and the dogs are on high alert since the acorns keep hitting the gutters and roof.

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Crayfish Party

I saw this sign today at Ikea.

How do you invite Crayfish to a party; do you mail out invitations?

How do crayfish feel about a party where they will also be on the menu? I saw shrimp on a piece of toast, Ikea isn't throwing them a party.

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Good Morning Dave

Nissa has been redoing her room and she needed a small laptop table. She checked online and decided to get Dave.















We are off in pursuit of Dave. No traffic tangle is too difficult to deter us.










Eureka, Ikea! Our goal is almost within sight.


















Nissa is impressed by my chronicles of our quest.


















Like all good adventures, proper provisions are a must. We wisely got extras in case of emergencies and discovered Ikea has takeout boxes near the microwaves. I had no idea they had microwaves. Today is educational!















Dave in his natural environment.


















Writing a map to Dave's location.


















Who can say no to a reading lamp for $7 called Not.


















We split Dave from the rest of the herd.
















Dave's care and feeding instructions are daunting but now he is fully assembled and in front of a leather wing back chair that bears a strong resemblance to one that recently went missing from my studio/office.

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