Halloween!
Happy Early Halloween!
I did this in my free time at work today.
Click on the images to embiggen.
« September 2007 | Main | November 2007 »
October 29, 2007
October 23, 2007
Sad News
After a voicemail from my sister, and a quick check of the LSJ obituaries, I’m sad to say that my high-school friend Kenny Ploch passed away two days ago.
For a span of maybe five or six years, Kenny was one of my best friends. We rode bikes, played Super Nintendo, built forts, had bonfires and generally just bummed around. As we grew up our lives headed in different directions and we drifted apart shortly after I graduated high school. I haven’t seen or heard anything about him in years.
I honestly can’t say I’m surprised by the news. I think it’s safe to say Kenny was a troubled kid. He was constantly having problems at school and had more than his share of brushes with the law. One of the last few times I heard any news of how he was doing, Casey had seen him drinking while driving and swearing he was never going to go back to jail.
I got to see a different side of him though. One that I like to think maybe offered him some peace. I didn’t drink or smoke or do anything even remotely “bad” in high school. Consequently, when Kenny and I hung out, neither did he. He didn’t hide the other side of his life from me, he just respected that I didn’t want to be a part of it. That’s the Kenny I will remember.
October 22, 2007
Fun Fact:
Tarantulas are native to Arkansas.
Kathryn and I discovered this little gem of information while camping this weekend. We were coming back to camp after a walk through creek and found a massive, hairy spider crossing our path. After taking dozens of pictures and asking a park ranger, it turns out, sure enough tarantulas do live in Arkansas. Whenever I come across a new poisonous species down here (yes, I know tarantulas won’t kill me but I hear their bites hurt like the dickens) I have to point out that back in Michigan, there are no creepy venomous things because the cold winters kill them all off.
We also had a skunk wander through our camp. Fortunately, unlike those pesky raccoons we usually deal with, it didn’t seem interested in our bratwursts or corn on the cob. Apparently we were just in between point A and point B, and it didn’t feel like taking a detour. Between the giant spiders, stinky animals and strangely out of place, obviously inner-city camping neighbors, it was a nice weekend in the woods. Ain’t nature grand?
October 15, 2007
Culture shocked
I’ve been hit with culture shock on more than one occasion since I moved down here. Mostly they’ve been centered around debates on what constitutes cold weather or misunderstandings due to southern accents (like what good could it possible do to have children collect penises for the poor). But this weekend, after playing a rousing game of The Floor is Lava with Kathryn’s cat, I asked Kathryn if she was ever in a snowball fight where you lost the ability to use whatever part of your body was hit. Many a winter night of my youth was spent locked in snow battles where I had to hop on one foot or throw with my left hand because I had “lost” a limb to a well-aimed snowball. Before she could even answer I realized the stupidity of my question. Having grown up in the south, she could only remember playing in the snow twice as a kid.
Logically I know it doesn’t really snow down here; therefore people don’t have snowball fights, sled or ski like they do up back home. But until that second, the reality of a childhood without snowball fights hadn’t quite hit me. I love snow. It’s at the top of my list of things that make me miss Michigan. I can’t imagine not growing up with real winter weather. At this point in my life I can still count the amount of Christmases I remember having with absolutely no snow on one hand. But I fear that second hand is not far off, as I already have my plane tickets reserved for Christmas in Texas this year. I’m looking forward to it. It’s going to be fun. But there will be a small twinge of homesickness when I look out the window Christmas morning and see not snow, but sand and grass… and the bay.
In a completely unrelated note, if you haven’t done so already, head over to the seedy underbelly of this page and check out the Mantoge video.
October 04, 2007
Thanksgiving
Even though it’s still a ways away, I thought I’d mention that Kathryn and I are going to come to Michigan for Thanksgiving. Right now I’m planning on going out that Friday night after Thanksgiving. Maybe Rum Runners, maybe the Riv, maybe Harpers, maybe just Joe’s. There’s plenty of time to decide, I just wanted to give everyone a heads up.