An Honest Man

Dad's proof that he's an honest man:

I got gas while I was at the Giant. The attendant sits behind bulletproof (and knifeproof) glass, and you have to slide your money in to him. As I was trying to put my $50 under the rock they provide, the wind ripped the sucker (the bill, not the rock) from my hand and started blowing it around the parking lot. I finally corralled it and got it to the attendant. He checked to see if it was real. Yeah, right. Like I'm gonna chase a counterfeit bill around the lot.

Pop Culture Quiz

I took the Gilmore Girls Pop Culture Quiz. I did pretty well, but I could use a little improvement. I didn't know who was named People's Sexiest Man Twice or the member of the rat pack in From Here To Eternity (that's before my time).

Lordy, Lordy

Look who's finally 29

Will _______ (proper name) be ________ (adjective) if ________ (pronoun) does not create a ______ (adjective) ___________ (noun) in honor of ________ (pronoun matching earlier proper name) _________ (holiday)? I don't want to know...

HeeHaw.java

During my undergraduate days, Andy had a good-natured "rivalry" with one of the CS professors, Rod Tosten. Rod referred to Andy as "Tech-Geeker" because of, well, I guess that's obvious. Andy didn't call Rod names, but he did have this little Jeff-Foxworthy-ish quote, "If your program is named HeeHaw.java, you might be a redneck." Since Rod was an undergraduate at Gettysburg and is now a faculty member, the library has a special page about him. The page cracks me up. Rod is now VP of Information Technology at Gettysburg.

Dad's children's sermon: Don't stand when you can sit

I'm going to sit down for the children's sermon today. I might get tired of standing and forget some of the things I wanted to tell you.

When I was reading the scripture this week, I started to think about baseball. Does that ever happen to you - you're supposed to think about one thing, but you begin to think about something else? It happens to me a lot. I thought about Satchel Paige, who was a great baseball pitcher [show picture].

When Satchel Paige was in his prime, professional baseball was segregated. That meant that only white people could play in the major leagues, and Satchel Paige was black. This reminds me of what Martin Luther King said (you probably heard about Martin Luther King last week, when we celebrated his birthday). He said that he had a dream of all people living and working and playing together. It's too bad that Satchel Paige could not play in the majors until he was old in baseball years. It's too bad not just for him, but for all baseball fans that few people got to see him when he was at his best.

Satchel Paige wasn't just a pitcher. He was also a philosopher. One thing he said was "Don't stand when you can sit. Don't sit when you can lie down." Satchel believed in being comfortable.

Which brings me back to this week's scripture. Jesus went to the Temple in Nazareth where he grew up. He read from a scroll. And then he sat down. And the people gave him one of these [a wide-eyed, open-mouth stare]. I think it's the only time in the Bible that the term "slack-jawed" is used.

Imagine this. We are having our church service, and it's time for the sermon. And someone like me - well, let's say me - someone you've known all your life and you know is not a preacher - goes up to the pulpit. And instead of standing, I sit down so I can talk for a long time. Everybody would think, "There goes lunch".

Do you know what Jesus had to say that was so important? He told them, "You have been waiting hundreds of years for the Messiah - since the time of Isaiah and before. Well, the wait is over. The Messiah is here. I am the Messiah. Today, you have seen the Messiah." And that was the beginning of Jesus' ministry.

That's What She Said

Frank found a new blog, Things My Boyfriend Says that he thinks is funny and reminds him of us. I'm not sure what exactly reminds him of us--e (the boyfriend) or the girlfriend. For everyone's benefit, I censor what he says before I put it on here. That's why you don't hear much from him.

Here's a snippet of tonight's conversation that he thought was hilarious.

F: Did you see the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles trailor?
S: I don't think so.
F: I thought I made you watch it.
S: Oh... ... I didn't remember. Was that the one with the turtles?
F <laughs>

I was making a joke...

A Deal?

Frank spent $200 on a quarter. I think he overpaid.

"Days' Digest" by Dad

I read that the guy who plays Shawn on Days has a background in improv. The writers don't always write out his part. They just write things like "Shawn does something illogical" or "Shawn is enraged by nothing" or "Shawn does something utterly irrational and incredibly stupid." They count on the actor to pull it off.

True item: This was in Entertainment Weekly. Someone broke into the house of the guy who plays John on Days. He was going to perform an exorcism. I don't know how he avoided that. The exorcist is in jail.

Evolving Relationship

You'd think after being together for 2.5 years, Sydney's and my relationship would get stale. You don't know Sydney. She keeps changing and does different things to keep our relationship fresh. One of her recent new things is spending time with me in the bathroom. She loves to sit on the bathroom counter while I brush my teeth. Sometimes, her tail flops into the sink, into the toothpaste spit, which would leave her fur a little white and crusty. I saw her cleaning it up later, and she seemed a little disgusted by the minty taste. But, her breath smelled a little better.

And, since she is a cat, Sydney has started to bawl outside the bathroom while I'm in the shower. I don't know if she bawls the whole time or just after the shower ends. Mostly, I think she doesn't like being on the other side of the door. She sometimes has that problem with the front and back doors. She wants to be on the other side. But, after she gets there and the door is closed, she wants to return.

We're a little staticky today, now that it's colder and drier. She is flopping her tail and shocking me when it taps me.

Acme Cashews

I am keeping a can of cashews in the car as a snack after my workouts, when I am very hungry. Frank looked at the can suspiciously and asked what they were. "Cashews." Duh. He said, "Cashews? Right... It says 'Acme' on them." Assuming that the can contained stuff that would pop out (what's that called?), he held it close to me as he opened it. "Ooh, Cashews!"

Football Playoffs: Brought to You by Kickers

I picked the winning teams in this round exactly: Saints, Colts, Patriots, and Bears. The Saints pick upset Frank--even more so when I got it right. I have been predicting since last season that the Saints would win the Superbowl. Yeah, there was no chance last season, but this season, it looks possible.

What amazed me most, though, was how big of a role the kickers played. Baltimore and Indianapolis scored no touchdowns. Kickers won three of the four games.

In some sports, I don't cheer for teams--I cheer for positions. In football, I cheer for kickers. Most of football is a team sport--until you get to the field goals and extra points. Then, the kicker becomes the hero or is blamed. I felt bad for San Diego's kicker, who missed a 54-yard field goal, which would have sent the game into overtime.

I cheer for the goalies in sports like hockey, lacrosse, and soccer. I root for a 1-0 game so that the losing goalie can't kick himself too much because he only gave up one goal.

Back in Stride

Many people were shocked by Ohio State's loss to Florida on Monday. Not me. I had some inside scoop: Andy was rooting for Ohio State and Andy has the worst sports luck I have ever seen. When he roots for a team, they lose. If he switches the team that he's rooting for (e.g., rooting for the current leader), the tables turn.

You may say, "But, the Steelers won the Super Bowl last year." Yes, that is difficult to explain, especially because Andy won one million dollars on that bet with his sister. There are two theories:

(1) Jerome Bettis' good luck is more powerful than Andy's bad luck.

(2) Winning one million dollars and knowing that you'll never get it: isn't that worse than actually winning the money?

So, all you Buckeye and Florida fans: blame/thank Andy.

Real Life Bambi and Thumper

Warning: this is too cute.



A link to more pictures of Bambi and Thumper.

Stupidity vs. Love

Frank and I were talking about the facial expressions of cats and dogs. I gave a point to cats because they have more expressions than dogs. Dogs mostly just look stupid. Frank said that I'm mistaking unconditional love for stupidity.

I started thinking more about that and how true that may be. But, this is the Sprenkliest, not the sappiest, so I'll leave it at that.

A little from Jessie's wedding

I didn't take too many pictures at Jessie's wedding. There were two other cameras. I was in charge of moooovies.

The wedding was in the minister's parsonage. It was really pretty.



Of course, the star of the ceremony was Joe, the minister's cat, who showed Jessie and Christian where they should stand.