Life in the Mind of a Modest Genius

The Birthday Smörgåsbord

Another benefit about Facebook is its ability to keep you on task with birthdays.  As long as folks have entered in the month and day of their birthday, Facebook will display reminders on the

sidebar to let you know what friends' birthdays are approaching.  It's a good thing too because without that, there would be a few of them that I would have clearly overlooked.  Or I also would not have realized that October 1st was such a popular birthdate as three good friends share that same date.

We'll go with ladies first and give a shout out to the one and only cbean.  To this day, I still don't know how she came up with that nickname, but it was all I knew her as for quite a while.  I was fortunate enough to make her online acquaintance thanks to a mutual blog we both frequented.  Over time, she began checking mine out and now she's a regular there.  I would have returned the favor if she had a blog of her own, but she's content with enjoying everyone else's rather than tackling the tedious task we online journalists undertake.

I couldn't tell you how old she is today.  I know better than to ask a woman that.  Although I'm pretty certain she once told me and I've already forgotten.  I have a pretty good idea what it is and I'm sure I'll get abruptly reminded once this is read.  Whatever the case may be and however young it is, it's been a blessing to have her as a friend as she is further proof that the internet isn't all full with crazies.

The next notable personality sharing this birthday is none other than the COLDEST solo to ever come out of that NOTORIOUS Omicron Pi:  Leon Pickett.  I hope he doesn't take offense to the fact that I didn't even realize today was his birthday until I saw it on Facebook.  It's just a good thing he eventually joined the FB crew or another year would have went by where the two of us were out of touch.

Leon ended up being the only line that I ever deaned (yep...just made up that word) while I was in

undergrad at Iowa State.  It's no fluke that that was probably why he was one of the tightest brothas that O Pi ever produced.  My pledge son spent a minute at Iowa State, but it ended up being well worth the time as he is now Dr. Leon Pickett.  There are thousands of men that wear the same letters that are all frat yet only certain ones earn the distinction of being my brotha.  Leon is definitely one of those.

Last but certainly not the least is the man who we used to consider the Godfather.  Mainly because he was so much older than the rest of us. 

The thing of it was Marc wasn't even THAT much older.  It just so happened that he turned 21 while most of us were still in our teens.  I still remember us giving him a hard time when he hit 22 and we commented on how old that was.  That "old" age is looking pretty dang good right about now.

Marc was my pledge father when I was on line.  He was also our assistant dean.  I swore for the longest time that he didn't like me and I never knew why.  It turned out that we ended up becoming close friends for the rest of our time at Iowa State and even beyond.  So much so that the two of us are taking it upon ourselves (and the bros currently at ISU) to make the 3oth anniversary of Omicron Pi be an event.  Marc is another perfect example of a brotha whose bond transcends the letters.

These are three of the best folks you will ever meet.  That just stands the reason because it's not like I do a special birthday post for just anybody.  I wish them all the very best on this day and may they be blessed to see many more birthdays to come.

Look for the Pirate Flag!

The invite came in the mail a few weeks ago and I had put it on my mental calendar to attend.  Unfortunately, you all know how unreliable my mental calendar can be at times with my shoddy memory. It will sometimes need something to jog it and that's just what I got with the latest issues of the Juice.  That was what reminded me of the 22nd Annual Pork BarbeQlossal at the State Fairgrounds this past weekend.

G and I had just gotten back from seeing "Land of the Lost" so the timing could not have been better.  It was dinnertime.  I was hungry.  It was before 7pm.  Oh yeah...I started this new thing where from now on I can't eat anything after 7pm.  Apparently it's supposed to be better for the whole weight loss thing that I'm toying around with.  Anyway, that's when I remembered I had gotten an invite from my old high school buddy Wahl about this event and to come out for some free food Friday.  You didn't have to tell me more than once.

I had talked to Wahl about his competition bbq venture on several occasions.  However, I had never gotten a chance to sample any of his food or even see him in action.  One opportunity did present itself was when Spanky and the Meat Mafia (his competition name) competed in Kansas City and I was slated to be in town for the mini-reunion, but things didn't pan out.  One way or another, I told him I would get to one of his events.  This time around was when it came to be.

The State Fairgrounds look completely different when the renown Iowa State Fair isn't going on.  For one reason, I just assumed that the rides on the midway stayed there.  At least the large ones.  Not so much.  All of the core buildings were there, but the midway was pretty much a huge, empty parking lot.  You could tell they were getting everything ready for the fair's impending presence though because many of the vendor tents were already lined up along the Fairgrounds main drag.  Or maybe they're always like that and I wouldn't know because I've never been to the Fairgrounds when it wasn't State Fair time?

At any rate, I had no idea where I was going.  The Juice did give the location, but I didn't know the building's names and locations from Adam.  I texted Wahl for directions.  He told me to just keep going south.  And to look for the pirate flag.  Not too helpful.  Until I happened to look up into the distance and saw said pirate flag waving proud from his RV.

I have to say that I was impressed with how serious Wahl was about the whole thing.  I have never fancied myself to be a bbq king.  I can't even bbq at all.  I just do a little grilling here and there.  But even with as little as I do know about it, I never knew how much dedication and knowledge it actually took to do it right until talking to Wahl about how he does it.  Things such as having a heat thermometer for the meat that smokes all night and keeping it at bedside in the RV to make sure the food comes out pretty close to flawless.  Just the tip of the iceberg for how he does it.

The part I had been looking to the most though was trying out his food.  Unfortunately, he didn't have any more of the award-winning wings by the time I got there.  What he did have was some short-end ribs, pulled pork, sausage with jalapenos in the center and other delicacies.  As hungry as I was, I couldn't do everything so I stuck to the ribs, pulled pork and sausage. 

All of the food was absolutely incredible.  Especially the ribs.  The meat was done just right so with every bit, it nearly fell off what little bone there was.  Both those and the pulled pork were complemented perfectly by Wahl's sauce.  I was a bit leery to try the sauce because I've been completely spoiled by my Gates.  However, Wahl's had a different flavor to it.  It wasn't as spicy and had a sweeter taste.  Very nicely done.

The actual competition was going to be the next day so Wahl wasn't the only competitor there getting an early start.  There was one cat set up just yards away from Wahl, trying to intimidate with his trophies all out and his huge sign hanging above.  I don't even remember the name.  I just recall seeing his Cockatoo bird (at least that's what I think it was) in the cage going to town on a rib.  I tried to catch a pic of it handling its business, but everytime I tried to snap the pic, the stupid thing turned away from me until it finally dropped the rib altogether.

Wahl runs his own blog dedicated to the Spanky escapades and you can check it out under my Blogging Against the Machine category to the right.  You can also see the mini-photo album I created from the event named 22nd Annual Pork BarbeQlossal.  I highly recommend that if any of you happen to come across Spanky and the Meat Mafia in a bbq competition nearby one of your locales that you check him out. If you ever have problem locating him among all of the other contenders...just look for the pirate flag!

Hurricane Ike in Mexico

It has always been difficult for me to have a vested interest in any hurricanes that strike the southern United States.  I would venture to say that I'm not the only person up in these parts that is like that.  When severe weather happens so far away from us with no chance at all for us to be physically impacted, it makes it hard to foster any interest in any news relating to them storms.

Don't get me wrong, there is definitely some sympathy there.  Back when I used to handle claims, I was fortunate enough to go to Orlando to help out on storm duty the year that three hurricanes hit back-to-back-to-back in that area.  It was pretty amazing to see that damage firsthand and how it had affected people's lives.  But even then, I was still a little detached because I was there to do a job so I was seeing dollar values and not emotional factors.

Well things get a little different when you personally know people that are affected by the storms.  These past couple of years were a good case in point.  Up until then, I had never paid attention to the fact if and/or when any of those hurricanes ever hit any parts of Texas.  I never knew anyone in those parts of Texas so I had no reason to take notice.  Not anymore.

My man E and his family have been living in Houston (aka, Mexico) for the past two years.  They are now going on their second hurricane season.  From what I understand, the one last year ended up being nothing more than a little heavy rain here and there.  No real damage, no substantial power outages (if any at all), no major obstructions in their area at all.  They weren't so lucky this year.

Ike swept thru Houston and left quite a few mementos for E and the fam.  They were without power for extended periods of time with some folks going on weeks with no power.  E had a few trees toppled and/or leaning, a piece of debris jammed their front door lock and  their basketball hoop backboard was broken in half.  BROKEN IN HALF!  That's some wind for your behind when in breaks a basketball hoop backboard in half!

The good thing about the whole situation and most important is he and the fam are all okay.  I was even astounded by the fact that even as they were without power, E still found a way to blog and keep us all updated on their status.  That's some dedication for you right there!

E thought I had forgotten about them because I hadn't blogged about Ike yet.  I, on the other hand, think I jumped the gun a bit.  You all know I like to put pics with my postings but I had yet to get some good pics from E from his damage.  I guess he's been too busy dealing with other hurricane issues so I suppose I'll let it slide.  Instead, I did get the one you see here which E did provide.  It was taken by the crew of the International Space Station flying 220 miles above the Earth.  Is that incredible or what?!  It sure makes me more appreciative of this Iowa weather.

Rollercoaster Fun

You can call me sadistic if you want, but I can't help it in this case.  This is the FUNNIEST video I have seen in a LONG time!  Just what I needed today.  Thanks E!

Remington Russell

I hate hospitals.  I don't know if I've ever told you all that before but it's true.  I wouldn't call it a phobia about them, I just have some type of thing with them.  One should have an optimistic outlook about them and the fact that they save lives there.  For some reason, I always associate them with the fact that's where sick people are and where people die.  So that's why I'm not a fan of them.  I know.  It's some pretty awkward reasoning.

Because of that, I try to avoid them at all costs.  Whenever someone I know ends up in one, I would usually find excuses not to visit because of the aforementioned reason.  As with anything else, there are times to make exceptions and when a new life comes into the world, that will usually be a good reason for me.

  Sammy was one of one of the select few individuals from the old job that I genuinely liked.  She also happened to be one of the better (attitude and performance-wise) agents on my team.  There she was pregnant and often not feeling well because of it yet she managed to have better attendance than many of the other agents in the area.

I thought she would have the baby while I was still working there with as much as she was showing yet it never happened.  We had a baby pool going and I missed out on the prize of a free muffin since it diddn't happen on 8/27.  Instead, she popped him out on none other than 9/11.  I told her even if I was no longer working there, I would still visit so I had to keep my word.

It's funny how in real-life hospitals, the staff there is NOTHING like television.  Sure, the majority of them can be just as rude as their fictional counterparts; however, they are not full of the beautiful people that we're used to seeing on the small screen.  At least that's how it is as Mercy Hospital here in Des Moines.

I was surprised at how very little security there was when I got there.  The newborn mother unit (or whatever the official name for it is) was behind a door that was supposed to be locked that you had to get buzzed into.  I asked the nurse where Sammy's room was and she opened the door right up, providing me directions on how to get there.  Didn't ask who I was, call the room to ask if it was okay or nothing.  When I got to the room, I found out why security was a little lax.  The shortie had on his own little low-jack.  They put them on all the newborns so if they get anywhere close to a door, an alarm goes off.  So a bad person could cause some harm if they wanted to, but they weren't making off with any babies.

It turns out Sammy had to have a C-section for this big fella.  Her husband was killing me with his description of the event.  Walking in and seeing his wife split open didn't appear to gross him out at all as he equated it to a deer being gutted; on the other hand, he considered biting the shorties fingernails very gross.

As you can tell from the title, they went with the name Remington.  She may have once told me how they came up with the name and I just forgot.  All I keep thinking of when I think of that is the 80s show "Remington Steele" featuring Pierce Brosnan.  Either that or if they call him Remy for short then it's the same as the X-Men's Gambit.  No matter which it is, by the time he's old enough to realize his name, he'll still have no clue what either of the references are.

More importantly than any of that, both mother and baby are fine and completely healthy.  Congratulations to Sammy and her family!

Return of the E

Felix & Oscar's was looking just like the deserted pub that I remember.  You would think that lunchtime would be one of their busiest hours where they would be bristling with activity.  Especially for a place that has the best taco pizza in town.  Instead,  it was a near ghost town as D and I strolled in for lunch. 

We were there for only a few minutes before E and the family rolled in.  We had agreed on noon and I even reminded E of that.  He actually got there fashionably late at around 12:15pm.  Better late than never.  They were probably still fighting off the car lag from the long trip from Mexico.  Even though they had been in town for nearly 4 days up to that point.  I have to give them a little slack though since they did have all 18 children in tow.

Thanks to the wonderful worldwide web, we're always keeping in touch and seeing photos of each other's fam so it's not like appearances came as a big surprise.  Yes, all the shorties have grown since we've seen them in person; however, we've been seeing it in e-mails and blogs for the past several months now so it's almost as if they're still growing up in person in front of us.

The one big difference was Muppet.  He looks just like a Mini-Me version of Avery.  What was killing me though was the fact that he was walking!  He can actually walk on his own power without someone carrying him everywhere!  And once he warmed up, he was ready to talk somebody's ear off.  Even if nobody was listening at times.  It kills me how shorties can entertain themselves like that for so long.  You ever notice when it's a kid talking to themselves, it's considered cute but when you get older and do it you're considered crazy?

Judging by the crowd that was in the restaurant, I know F&O's had to definitely appreciate our business.  I'm surprised they didn't ask for our mailing addresses so they could send us mailers inviting us back next year.  It does seem like anymore, I only go there if it's special occasion. 

Lunch came and went way too fast.  Big props and thank you to the Sheldons for springing for lunch for D and I.  It's just too bad we couldn't get together for some good old-fashioned Taboo gaming.  Best "board" game ever.  Maybe when they move back here to Iowa, we can hook that up again.  Or when we move down to Mexico.  We'll just have to see where the Lord will lead us.

It's (Also) a Boy!

So if I'm doing my math correctly, the August/September timeframe is a pretty popular time to get busy.  I swear there are more birthdays in May of folks I know than any other month combined.  Now there's another one added to the elite group...

My friend Sue and her family welcomed their latest addition.  Tyler John T. was born May 6th.  He was 6 pounds, 7 ounces and a whopping 19 1/2 inches long.

Sue had posted an entry earlier in her pregnancy about name suggestions so I put in my two bits.  I told her that since D shot down my suggestion of Peerless for G, she could have that one.  Sue didn't like it either.  It must be a woman thing.  A guy would love to grow up with a name that meant "having no equal" and/or having a son with that name.

The little guy also ended up being 5 weeks and 2 days early.  A premie was something else Sue was concerned about.  I told her the story about Mariah being 3 months 3 days early (weighing a whopping 1 pound 11 ounes) to put her at ease.  Mariah will be 16-years-old in July and with the exception of asthma, you'd never tell from looking her that she was that early.  Plus, that was 16 years ago so with the advancements in medicine even since then, Sue and family will be doing just fine.

It's a Boy!

Normally, I wouldn't be one to gush over new babies.  I never have been into that.  If it's family that's one thing, but anyone else...not so much that big of a deal.  I think that's pretty much a girl thing.  I can't recall any guy I've ever known to fawn over a baby unless it's his.

Having said that, I will give shouts out and that's where E comes in.  He and B had their   fourth child and third little boy yesterday at 11:32 am.  It took him forever to finally get me some pics so I could scoop everyone and be the first to break the news on the net.  Once again, E's trying to emulate my lifestyle by having three boys and a girl.  Even if his are in the wrong order by age. 

Now I'm supposed to divulge the name, right?  Well there's a story behind that.  You may have noticed that I'm big on nicknames and his fam wasn't spared either.  For instance, their littlest boy (prior to the newborn) will always be Muppet to me.  It's because for the longest time, I didn't even know if he could walk or crawl.  They carried him everywhere and held him all the time no matter how big he got.  Just like a Muppet.

Anyway, I thought for sure E would stick with a basketball player theme or at least a biblical theme.  He did neither.  I told him since he didn't, I would base my nickname for this baby on both.  Therefore, from this point on, their newborn is known as Moses.  So everyone please join with me in welcoming Moses Sheldon to the world!

Stats :  8 pounds, 10 ounces, 21 inches.  Looks like their on their way to sprouting up another 7-footer.  He's almost nearly as big as G and G's got six year on him! 

p.s.... both mother and baby are doing fine.

Happy Birthday, Mike!

It's amazing that with my memory I'm able to even remember his birthday.  As a matter of fact, even in high school it was the only birthday out of our clique that I could remember.  I think it was because it was the only one that happened during the summer and with so much always going on during the school year, that one always stuck out.

At any rate, I've known Mike since about the fourth grade.  He likes the story of the strange way we met even though I don't remember it.  Apparently, I was picking on one of his friends and he was new in town and wasn't having it.  He took a stick and stabbed me with it in the back and got in trouble.  No clue how I don't have any recollection of that.  Maybe it was too traumatizing.  Still, ever since then, I've established myself as the Alpha male of our clique so I think I made up for it in spades.

We were pretty stark opposites in high school which is probably why we got along so well.  He was known as "Peaceman" and appreciated everything non-violent while I was all about aggressiveness.  In fact, I remember he's the first person I ever heard the term "conscientious objector" from before it became more widely known.   

I could go on and on about the stories that made our friendship a great one.  Our string of lip sync contest wins, our featured roles in the high school musicals and madrigal dinner, the band trips to competitions out of state...I wouldn't even know where to start or where to end.  Suffice to say, a lot of my fondest high school memories had him in there somewhere.

After high school, we lost touch for a bit when he moved to Cali.  There would be moments here and there when we would reconnect when he was back in town.  I'm terrible with staying in touch and had a tendency to be a bit nomadic; however, being the resourceful guy he is, he always managed to find a way to catch up with me.

We probably converse now more than ever thanks to the wonderful world of the internet.  Now there's a reasonable expectation that we'll hang out whenever he comes back to Iowa and likewise when I'm in Cali.  Of course, my traveling options are a lot more limited than his so that may be a while.

So he finally joins as old folks in rounding the corner to get closer to40 at turningg to 36.  That would mean I've known him for about 25 years now?!  Wow.  Well I look forward to having him as a friend for another 25 more to come.

It Was Just a Dream, Wasn't It?

I have a tendency to sometimes have some pretty vivid, memorable dreams worth sharing.  I told myself that if  I ever came across one, I would take the time to share it on this forum.  I just woke up from one that was fresh on my mind [ed. note: this post was originally written a couple of days ago] and was fairly interesting so I thought I'd share it.  This may be unbearably long, almost like a short story, so bear with me.  Personally, I think it's worth it to stick it out.

E and I are pretty avid video gamers.  Well at least I used to be until this thing started taking up most of my time. Anyway, some of the games we play are role-playing games where you create characters and build those characters up thru time to get strength and powers to fight evil elements.  You could almost consider it a Dungeons and Dragons for video games.  In this dream, for some reason, he and I had been playing on the Iowa State campus when something went wrong.

I was walking down a hallway of one of the dorms when E came running past me yelling that he had somehow released some actual demons.  Naturally, I followed him and went flying up a flight of stairs.  He outran me and I lost him.  As I neared the top, I thought it would be better to fake out the demons and jump down the stairwell to the bottom and past them as they were going up the stairs.  It actually worked.

I jetted back outside where I knew it was a crowded campus and I could blend in with everyone.  Unfortunately, the demons did the same thing as they transformed to take on the bodies of humans.  I didn't see them do this so I didn't know who to look out for.  That's when I stumbled upon the first one.  He was a short, stout older guy who was balding and had a Costanza-type hairstyle.  He was wearing an all black leather outfit...almost looked like Run-DMC's gear from back in the day.

Something dawned on me that if the demons had become real, maybe  I had manifested real powers from the game too.  Sure enough, I had.  I started doing battle with Baldie and was holding my own for a while until the second demon showed up.  This cat was a tall, Black guy.  I can't remember what he had on, but he looked like Alonzo Bodden, the cat that won last season's "Last Comic Standing".  I knew I couldn't take on two of them so I took off running again.

This time, I'm headed towards the middle of campus, almost down by Hamilton Hall, the building that is the home of the journalism department.  As I'm running, I notice ahead, there's a huge blue glowing dome with the word "God" just above it.  Common sense told me that would be my salvation from the demons if I could get there.  It turned out to be a small cement slab on the ground and the small dome was over it.

It was a haven and while there, not only did their powers work, but mine didn't either.  The Black demon yelled to a third that she had to seduce me.  Apparently, there was some bylaw that if someone had sex on the cement slab, it would be so blasphemous that it would unleash all their brother and sister demons from hell to earth to join them.  That's when I saw the third demon and she was looking like every bit of J-Lo, scantily-clad and everything.

She tried to work her mojo; however, just as she started, a huge hail storm came about.  It was affecting only those outside my protective dome.  I pushed her out so she could feel the wrath also.  At this time, three lightning bolts struck down all three of the demons.  As quick as the storm arrived, it dissipated.  Along with it went the dome.

As I started to make my way back to campus, I ran into this gal that I work with in real life.  Apparently, she had noticed the glowing dome before it left, but didn't believe what she saw.  She asked what it was and I told her she wouldn't believe me if I told her.

I got back to the dorm where I guess I was living in the dream.  D was there getting ready to have a Tupperware sale at some exhibit in the commons and asked where I was.  That's when I commenced to relay the entire story of what just happened.  She was laughing so hard that I never got to get all the way thru the story.

That's when I woke up and jumped right on here to share this epiphany with all of you. If you stuck with it thru to the end, then thanks for your patience.  I know if D reads this, she'll give me the "I told you so", saying that's what I get for playing "demonic" games and watching "demonic" movies.  However, I'm thinking it was just that flamethrower burger from DQ the previous night that was talking.  Well, that and God's way of telling me that no matter how deep I may get, He'll always be there for me.