Halloweenie Blog

I know that the reason he won is that I was wearing my German CRUSHABLE hat

It is almost 16:00 on Halloween and I am just now blogging. It has been a busy day today. This morning Cha Cha, Underdog (Jeff Helser) and I reverse trick-or-treated to six kids in the cul-de-sac and left them candy and trinkets. In the words of Nacho Libre we threw daisies at them and gave them goodies. I just now thought about it but we should have dressed like Santa and Mrs. Claus.We will not be home to throw them daisies this evening. Also, with the rain, if they don't get to go trick-or-treating, they will already have a bucket-full of things that will keep the area dentists in business. Jeff won the Most "Fly" Superhero costume contest after that and, he could not care less. He had more fun running after/from, playing with and humping the other dogs. Actually, he only tried humping one dog and the owner asked "can whoever that owner's dog is have them stop." So, I yelled and Underdog stopped the humping immediately. Then, a bit later I saw that same dog antagonizing UnderJeff and realized Jeff was just showing his dominance in defending himself. Any good superhero would defend them self and any other innocent canine in trouble in Katz Park Dog Park so I never said another word to Jeff about humping that dog (hump away Underperv!). I will post a video of Underdog thwarting evil when I am done writing this. If and when I can figure-out how to add music. There are some photos of him in his costume on my page and his Jeff Helser Facebook page too.

The renovated dog park is really nice but it rained the entire time we were there. Fortunately, there are several places at Katz Park to go to get out of the rain. Cha Cha and I were both interviewed by a reporter from the local city newspaper and she took photos of us and Jeff too. I know she didn't get my good side because I was facing her

Maybe we can be their next IOU poster family

On the way home we stopped and I ran in to check my Powerball tickets with their scanner dealie, finally. If you'll remember, I turned $6 into $4 then, I found out when checking today, I turned that $4 into $8. So now I have four more chances into turning that $8 (originally $6) into an I.O.U. from the State of Illinois. Most people would probably have kept the $8 and considered that a profit from the original $6 but, like Jeff, I am a let'er ride kinda guy. Now maybe I will finally win the big one and have something to complain about when I cannot collect until who knows when. Maybe I should have taken the eight bucks? I would rather be in the paper for winning the lottery than for our dog winning a costume contest. Hey, I was wearing the CRUSHABLE hat that I bought in Germany when I got the new tickets too - big winnings is a lock!

Okay, I just wanted you to know that I was still alive so I blogged. I hope you have a safe Halloween night; I cannot believe the rain stopped just as the trick-or-treating began. What a bunch of lucky ghouls and boogies they are. Thank you for stopping-by. I will not blog tomorrow and I will not have checked my lottery tickets by the next time I blog on Monday. I will also let you know if we make the paper but I really hope that we do not, TTTM...MITM (out)TA!

Whenever There's a Cry for Blog... Blog, Blog, Blog

How about a super villain? Wait'll they get a load  from of Jeff

I have a lot to do today. I have to head to the Department of Motor Vehicles and get a couple of plate stickers. This is the time of year that I wonder why we care about the environment. We have personalized plates on the FIAT and they cost $40 more each year. I am assuming that the extra $40 goes to some environmental group but I bet the Illinois DMV keeps that money so they can eventually be able to pay the lottery winners. Oh yeah, that reminds me - I still have not checked my Powerball tickets from Wednesday. I am not going to check now because, until I know that I lost, I can always imagine that I am still a MIDDLE-class with a $110,000 IOU waiting for him.

I also have to head over and get Jeff's costume for the dog costume contest tomorrow. I cannot believe we are really gonna do this. There is a 90% chance of rain here tomorrow until about 20:00. The dog Halloween party is from like 12:00 until 14:30 or something like that. I wish Jeff would wear wigs so he could be Don King or something; he hates things on his head. That is why we decided to enter the superhero category. Very few superheroes wear things on their head. Many wear masks but who wears stuff on their head? Batman has a cowl, many have masks but there are not many that have their faces and heads entirely exposed. Now that I can think of it there are a lot of them that have stuff on their heads - Thor, Spiderman (mostly a mask but covers the head), same for Captain America. Hey, maybe we could just get some of that washable hair spray and make him The Hulk? We have an Ironman costume from when Fabio was younger but I don't see Jeff wearing that. I wore it one year to hand out candy but Jeff has more decorum than I do. How about a Ninja Turtle?

I have to get candy for the beggars who will come tomorrow night. I have to make a decision before I go out whether we will be home handing-out candy or if we will just do the bags for the five-or-so kids in our sac (cul-de-sac that is) that we know. Most of the kids are older so... If we do the bag thing (which I am leaning toward) we will probably go see a movie. I am thinking maybe Bridge of Spies or Steve Jobs. There are so few good movies these days. When did that all change? We used to have to decide between four or five great films when we went to see a show. Now, most of the time, it is either not going and where not to go. I am leaning toward Bridge of Spies because I like Tom Hanks and I love espionage. I even love the word espionage. Espionage may be one of my favorite words. I also like: hyperbole, cattywampus, dipthong, gobbledygook, befuddled, lickety-split, cockamamie, redacted, lollygag, fuddy-duddy... those are some that come immediately to mind. Now I will forget important things because I will be walking around all day think of odd words I like.

Last night I did a lot more reading and video research for my book. My subject is kind of a bummer but, most of the time, it is uplifting and about courage and compassion but, sometimes, horror. I like roller-coasters so I think I have chosen wisely with my topic. I take so many notes that I worry that, when it comes time to write, I will be overwhelmed. I think I am doing a good job of categorizing, labeling, compartmentalizing and separating my notes but one never really knows until it is go-time.

Nest week Cha Cha is sleeping over at MADYM's house for a couple of nights because she has early meetings for work. They do need their occasional tickle fights. Maybe I will fly to the Czech Republic for a few days while she's gone. I'll zip-in and zip back out again; it's like going to Wisconsin. Cha Cha never even know I was there. I can't czech-in anywhere I go because the WiFi there is pretty poor, if memory serves, so that will help me with slip-ups.

I really do not have much on my mind this morning (insert your own ironic humor here). I think I will go do some of my running-around (it is now 10:36) and maybe something exciting will happen while I am out that I can write about when I get back. It will seem like only seconds to you. Hold on to your hats while we travel through time...

    Jeff prefers his real identity to his new superhero one  

It is 14:25 and I am back. The decision has been made and Jeff is gonna be Underdog for the Halloween costume contest for the Grand Opening of the Katz Park dog park tomorrow. Yes, it still entertains me to know that the dog park is in Katz Park. I am working on painting the U on his shirt right now. He tried on the shirt and cape and he absolutely hates it. He kind of acts the way that Adam must have felt on the day he and Eve had to start wearing clothes. Maybe when we get there tomorrow Jeff won't feel so foolish when he sees all of the other dogs dressed against their wills too. I bet some dogs actually like being in costumes.

While I was out I also got the ingredients to make ceviche'. I am told that make great ceviche' and Cha Cha asks me to make it often. So, tomorrow or tonight I will make salmon ceviche'.

I have not done anything in regards to my novel research yet today. I will probably do some more reading tonight.

I am kind of regretting donating to a Presidential candidate's campaign. I am getting so many email from all of the candidate's celebrity friends and family members and members of the political party that I wish I hadn't done it. The email I got today was from a very popular female singer who wanted me to come to her home in Beverly Hills (flight and hotel provided) to attend a party with all of her celebrity friends and the candidate. Out of curiosity, I clicked on the "enter to win" button and it asked me if I wanted to donate some money to the campaign for an additional chance to win. I did not, nor will I ever again, donate to a political candidate unless I know them personally. Even then I will think about it a great deal before I donate. I wish I would not have noted to the campaign that I did and just given the money to more needy people that we pass in Chicago. I will continue to be altruistic but I will not give one more penny to billionaires who don't need a hand-up.

I am going to finally call this blog a wrap after writing, off-and-on, for nearly seven hours. Have a great rest of you afternoon and night. Thank you for stopping by. I don't know of I will blog tomorrow because Jeff has a costume contest to attend. He says he will post some photos on the Jeff Helser Facebook page tomorrow afternoon/evening after the dog Halloween part (after 14:30). TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Today's Blog is Brought to You by the Number 10

Probably the most famous 10

I took my winning Powerball ticket in yesterday and was surprised to learn that I turned my $6, not into $2 as I had thought but, into $4. So, with my winnings I was able to buy two Powerball tickets for last night's drawing. I looked at the numbers when I received the new tickets and noticed that they both had the number 10 as the Powerball number. So, if 10 was drawn last night as the Powerball number that means that I will have turned $6 into $4 and then into $8. I also noticed that all of the other numbers on both tickets we different - there were no numbers one ticket that were on the other ticket other than 10. I just let the machine pick my numbers randomly because it is all chance anyway. I then started thinking about all of the Major League Baseball players I can think of who wore that number - Ron Santo (Cubs), Leo Durocher (Reds and he was also on The Munsters). Phil Rizzuto (Yankees), Tony Gwynn when he was a Dodger, Tony La Russa (Athletics), Larry Bowa (Phillies), Dave Kingman (several teams), Chipper Jones (Braves), Ken Oberkfell (1982 world champion Cardinals and a few other teams), Dick Howzer (Yankees), Pepper Martin (Cardinals) , Coco Crisp on a couple of teams, Rusty Staub (for probably five or six teams), Clint Hurdle (Royals), Tony Kubek (Yankees), Rube Walker (both Brooklyn and L.A. Dodgers - I only know that one from the film Mask), Joe Morgan (a couple of teams before he became a Red because then he was number 8 - I had his jersey as a yute), Hank and Ed Sauer (both wore it with the Cardinals - not the same year, obviously)... I am sure there are many, many, many more but these are all that I can think of. Maybe that is why my brain keeps losing things. Perhaps, now that I typed all of that, I can purge my useless list of number 10 baseball player numbers. I bet there are many other greats from other major sports too but I am a baseball-first kinda guy. It is, supposedly, my country's national past-time after all (actually before all). I am not gonna check my Powerball numbers until I finish the blog because, if I do and win, I will probably not finish it today. A man has to have his priorities. Don't tell me if #10 was the Powerball number if you know.

I did a lot more reading and research for my novel last night. Hopefully, I can just publish it myself with my lottery winnings. I played the Mozart station on Pandora while I read. Wolfie was a pretty talented pervert; I sort of feel akin to him in a few ways. I felt kind of like I was listening to the soundtrack of A Clockwork Orange for awhile, though I think that was more of a little more when they played a bit of the Ludwig Van. The music helped and allowed me to finish reading the one book I was reading, decide that another I got at the library was not helpful for my research and read another book. I still have one left to look at but the library let me know that they have four on hold for me that have arrived from four other libraries that I had requested send them to my town library. If I remember correctly, one was actually a film or documentary. I am pretty excited about what I have uncovered so far. The one remaining book from the last batch is due back November 10th.

So, as the time-space continuum would allow it, I am back from the library having taken three books back and picking up two new books and one video (DVD). "But that is only three items and you said you were getting four," you might be thinking. Good work my dear Watson. The fourth item that I had reserved was another video but, as it turns out, has nothing to do with my research so I left that one behind. They were wrapped with my name on them when I arrived so I didn't have the chance to examine them before they checked them out for me. After they were opened I saw that one of them was the movie Trainspotting. I was familiar with the title but, as what's left of my memory serves, I don't remember seeing it. I really like Ewan McGregor and who doesn't love a good heroin addiction film? But I don't want to take my focus off the research I am doing right now because I am in a zone and I want to concentrate on that for the time being.

Tonight I will have about three hours to kill so I will probably watch the documentary then and, sometime today, I will try to finish the book that is due back on the 10th. It is a chilly and blustery out so I think I will keep it in for today. I thought about mowing all of the leaves in the front yard but I changed my mind about that with the weather as it is. I would say that maybe the wind will just blow them away but these are the parkway trees and the developer put them in front of everyone's house so, if our leaves blow away, we will just get somebody else's red leaves.

Jeff rode with me to the library and, after I went in and exchanged my goods, we drove to Katz Park to see how the new dog park is coming. It is still going to open Saturday and the dog park is huge (or UGE as Donald Trump would say). On the opening day there is a dog Halloween costume contest and Jeff says he would like to go and dress-up as Underdog. I didn't know he knew who Underdog was. He must watch that over at Kona's house? Maybe I could dress-up as Simon Bar Sinister to help tip it in. I learned a lot from watching the episode of Happy Days when Ritchie entered the Howdy Doody look-a-like contest to get a picture of Clarabell without his make-up. Costume contests are all about the presentation and not all about the costume itself. That reminds me- I still have my Howdy Doody ventriloquist doll from when I was a kid. Maybe we should take our act on the road?

Alright. If I am gonna get some reading done I had better stop writing. That is kind of ironic since I am reading so I can do more writing. Thank goodness there is no 'rithmetic. I may go and check the Powerball numbers and eat breakfast first. Have a great day and night. If you live near Longmont, Colorado though you are probably guaranteed a pretty nice day. Thank you for stopping by - TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Another Crook from Illinois? Thanks Capone!

This is a pipe bone - sometimes they are much smaller

I think Jeff is a hoarder. Every couple of days or so I will give him a pipe bone. Many times I will also give one to his friend Kona (you may have seen her butt in a photo on Jeff Helser's Facebook page a few days ago). The reason I say that he is a hoarder is because today he took the bone and went out by the log pile near the fire pit and buried it. Right now Jeff is in the backyard looking up in a tree near where he buried the bone and he is barking his head off. Can you guess what is up in that tree? Yes, his arch nemesis - the squirrel. This time it is nowhere near the house or any other tall trees so the squirrel is probably pooping his little pants. The smart money is still on the squirrel. He will just hang-out in the tree as long as it takes or find things to throw at Jeff like he/she has done in the past. Now, it is just a waiting game. Never-mind, the squirrel won. Kona barked next door and Jeff lost interest in the squirrel and went to their yard. Kona was probably barking, "shut the Hell up Jeff."

Last night for Taco Tuesday I made tortilla soup. I had never made it before but I must admit that it is delicious. I say is because I am having another of bowl for breakfast right now as I type this. I got to use some of the leftover chicken from Poultry Monday. Tonight is Italian night (Prince spaghetti) and my top priority is to find spaghetti squash for the pasta. I will be successful one way or another. Even if I have to use a regular squash and slice it in to angel-hair pasta myself.

I guess our kitchen needs a make-over. I am going to be staining our kitchen cupboards next week to lighten-up the kitchen. Our front door also need sprucing up now that I pained all of the outdoor lights black as well as the front door. So, the gold kick-plate and the nobs and handles (that sounds like something British blokes would call the wedding tackle) will be changed to silver. That will be though replacement rather than painting.

Halloween is about three days away (actually it is EXACTLY like three days away - but four nights away based on me writing this in the morning on Wednesday). I am not sure if we will be home that night or not. We have thought about just making bags for the younger kids that we know and taking those to them but I will probably just sit on the porch and watch a movie and hand out treats. Last year we weren't home and we left a big bowl of candy on the porch with a sign that said to "just take one" but, as we suspected, when we got home the bowl and everything was gone. Maybe we should have been more specific in the note. We didn't say they couldn't take just one bowl of candy so, technically and Halloween traditionally, we were in the wrong. Maybe I should dress-up too huh this year? I think I would make a good Oompa Loompa. Nothing scary for sure because A) kids should not take candy from strangers anyway especially scary people (Halloween seems to send mixed messages there) and B) I do not want to turn my neighbor kids into psychopaths because that could come back to haunt me both figuratively and literally. I used to love Halloween as a kid so I think we will be home. Of all the things I remember I have to remember nice memories of being a kid trick-or-treating. RATS! I will actually just sit at the end of the driveway to help the beggars stream-line their quest. TIME IS CANDY!

 I guess the company you keep can define your character. Good thing I have you! 

Who would have guessed that a politician from Illinois would be a liar and swindler? Former Speaker of the House of the United States and Illinois Republican Dennis Hastert (we called him Denny) pleaded guilty to lying to the FBI. Well, if you're guilty of something rule number one is to lie to the authorities. Perjury is not that big of a deal. You don't lie, however, if you can cut a deal to get less time for telling the truth. Aren't we always supposed to tell the truth? I am so naive. So, that is what he did; as long as the FBI didn't lie he is not supposed to get more than six months in Club Fed. Is this bad timing for the Republican party just before a Presidential election year where the party has been parading a bunch of right wingnuts in front of us? I guess it won't help MATTers much. You can read about the story and we will probably hear a lot about it on the news for the next week or so but, basically, he was falsifying bank withdrawals so they could not be seen so he could hide the way the money was being spent. Basically, to me, that sounds like bank robbery. That kind of makes me sad because he was a big deal to me as a kid. Primarily because he was from my state, made it big and I remember playing for him several times with the Fox Valley Raiders Drum & Bugle Corps and that was a big deal to a young kid. Also, he got his college degree right here in the town that I have called home for about twenty years and on the campus where I work. I have also always heard "never trust a politician." There are so many mixed-signals in life - no wonder I am going Matt mad.

Have a great day. It is a chilly, rainy day here again; maybe it is a sunshiny day where you are? Thank you for stopping-by. I hope I gave you something to think about or made you smile or provided you with something to read while you were doing some of your private business. They used to say that the newspaper was good for wiping your butt but I would not recommend that with the blog unless you print it out first. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Feeling Kinda Blue Today

I don't really have anything worth writing about today. I suppose that could be said about most of the days I write. It is near the end of the month and, as you know if you've read the blog for awhile, that is the time my monthly visitor. I know I cannot MATTstrusate but I still have MATTopause symptoms. I have been feeling pretty blue for the last few days. Now I have a stupid blue song running through my stupid blue hollow melon.

Tonight is Taco Tuesday and we are trying to be more vigilant about our carbs, fat content and calories... We were very seldom eating red meat anyway and, now that it apparently causes cancer, I will probably use ground turkey for something (as I usually do). Maybe taco salads? Tomorrow night is Italian night and I think I am going to try to find some of that spaghetti squash to use as the "noodles" for spaghetti. I bet they have it at Hy-Vee but I will try Schnuck's first because they are closer. Jewel have a pretty good produce selection too. I think I will also turn in my winning Powerball ticket and see if I can make it grow. I turned $6 into $2 on this ticket and now, with my luck, I will hit the jackpot and the cash-broke state that I live in will give me an I.O.U. for my winnings. I know they already have I.O.U.'s out for at least two big winners but I am not sure if the Powerball is different since it is a multi-state lottery. Maybe I should wait until I am in Wisconsin or someplace else to get the new ticket? The next drawing is tomorrow night. Maybe I will get that while I am locating a spaghetti squash tomorrow. It is only worth $110,000,000 so I am not sure if it is even worth the effort.

We donated some money to one of the United States Presidential candidates a few weeks ago and I have received emails nearly every day since that donation. One day the email will be from this candidate's child and the next day from the spouse and then some other well-known politician and so on and so on... I am not kidding, at least one email every single day. I do not think I will ever donate to a political candidate again. What was I thinking?  Don't answer that because the question, in and of itself, is a trick question. I wonder what kind of correspondence I will receive from the campaign office when we win the $100,000,000+. I don;t think I will donate to billionaire candidates ever again ( and no, it was not a donation to Donald Trump's campaign).

They even used a photo when they were wearing retro uniforms (that is Junior)

I saw the heading of a list of "the worst major league ballplayers of all time" on the internet and it had a photo of Pete Rose on it. They got me! I could not imagine the all-time hit leader, rookie-of-the-year, three time NL batting leader, World Series MVP, 17-time all-star being considered one of the worst of all time so I opened the link. It was Pete Rose Jr. who also played for the Reds and the photo they showed of him was him when he was on the Cincinnati Reds. He looked exactly like his dad when he was young. Pete Rose was one of my favorite players when I was a young lad so I knew he was not one of the worst player in MLB history. He may have been one of the worst at following the off-the-field rules but his play was 200% all the time (200% is based on what it was compared to we mere mortals).

It is raining pretty good right now and it is supposed to rain most of the day today and tomorrow. I guess I am glad that I am not headed to Mayo Clinic if it is gonna rain most of the time I would have been driving. Even though I do not know the Miss Daisy I was going to be driving, I wish she would have let me chauffeur her. An 80+ year old woman driving from Illinois to Minnesota in the rain doesn't sound like one of the best scenarios. I guess I understand her not wanting a perfect stranger (yes, I am perfect except for the 17 major flaws that I have) of the opposite gender driving her. It did not even change her mind when she found out what I do for a living. Godspeed Miss Gaseblumchen with the trip and the news you receive.

I am going to head over to my work today and see about something else to do there since my Neurologist thinks that it may literally kill me to work over-night shifts and my current position is still classified as nights. Some of the problem, I believe, is the Union thing. Everything is done by seniority and I have not been with this department near as long as many of them have. I would say, of course, that I am in the MIDDLE. I also heard, through confidential sources and I always protect my sources, that some daytime people were moved to nights and, at least one that I know of, quit because of that. In the meantime, before they find me something for me, I am going to look more diligently at volunteering. There were some things I considered but think I was being too picky.

 This is a night job where I could still get some rest. Anybody wanna partner-up? 

Okay, I have bored you enough with my self-analysis and jibber-jabber. I do appreciate you letting me drone-on most days.You can add me to your resume as charity work or volunteer work if you want to. I will be happy to vouch for you and even write you a letter of recommendation if needed. Have a great rest of your day and tonight. Good luck at staying dry if you live in these parts MIDDLE parts.

TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

I Didn't Realize it was WHINEsday Already Until I Began to Write!

Jeff even has better posture and walks straighter than I do

It is nearly 14:00 and I am just now starting to write this. Jeff and I were out burning some leaves. This morning was like a crop-circle discussion in the house. Cha Cha asked if I had raked the leaves into a pile to which I said. "No, I thought you did." So then, Fabio came down stairs to head off to class and she asked him if it was him and he said, "No." So, I said that I must have forgotten that I did that on Friday. I guess it is cool that I do chores and don't even remember doing them because then I will never get tired and I could probably work around-the clock. That is not true because I still do get tired like you humans that use most of your brains. Apparently, I had raked them into a pile before the weekend (I suspect Friday).  So, now they are burned and I will tell Cha Cha, later when she asks where the leaves went, that "they must have just blown away"  because I won't remember burning them. Jeff helped me burn them so, if I don't believe that I did it later, remind me that Jeff posted a video of him wrangling the smoke on his Facebook page. Here's a link to his page where he is rounding-up the smoke which is his featured video right now. Like his page and follow his antics because he is much more interesting and entertaining than I am. He is even barking about starting his own blog. Stay being my friend too though please.

I will be right back; I have to switch the clothes from the washer to the drier, fold the ones from the drier and start a new load (not in that order). Let's see you try that Jeff. I probably shouldn't challenge him or I may be shown the door when my usefulness is further diminished.

I read that Ben Carson overtook Donald Trump for the Repubican (no, that word is not misspelled - it is not a misspelling if it was done intentionally) Party in Iowa according to a new poll. Can you imagine those two as The United States of America's President and Vice President (in either order)? I could name names of people that I would rather have running our country more than these two knuckleheads if I began naming people and did not stop until I dropped dead. That is based on me living another 50 years or so even with my diminished memory. I could just ask strangers that I walk by and name them.

I will swim across the Rio Grande is this happens

I know I keep referencing my not remembering things -I wish I could forget that I don't remember things. I have to admit that it gets me down now and again but Jill keeps telling me to focus on the things I can remember rather than the things I cannot remember. That would be easier, in theory, but I don't have to focus on the things I can remember because I can remember them. Most of the things that I forget are mostly inconsequential (I think) but I never used to forget anything - even very minor things. I like that I do not forget people. I am a people person and people and relationships have always been one of the most important thing to me so, that makes sense. Maybe my mind is full of all of the useless trivia I used to know and I am subconsciously purging the useless stuff. I do worry that, once all of the useless stuff is gone, I will forget to remember the important things. One of my favorite lines from any movie probably sums me up in a few words, "you worry too much - you always did!" Here's a clip of that line if you don't retain useless information like I used to big-time, and still do, to some extent. But I did remember this line and film. I remember song lyrics from as far back as when I was in elementary school. Why do I forget what I forget? Are they stored in a different spot as secondary or tertiary so I can purge those? I need to move-on and focus on happier things to blog. If I lose my sense of humor it will all be over.

I should probably wrap-up and eat lunch and figure-out what I am gonna make for dinner. I appreciate you stopping-in and letting me whine for a bit. I hope you have a great afternoon and night. I will try to blog earlier tomorrow as it is now almost 15:30. I am gonna eat my lunch and win some poker and then I will work on dinner and more laundry. Thank you, again for lending and ear eye. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Missed Going to Mayo by That Much!

I am gonna smile like this the entire time too

I have volunteered to take a total stranger approximately 303 miles north into southern Minnesota to Mayo Clinic. I do not know what she is going for but I know that I will be gone for three or four days. I am in a rare situation where I have time available and I like doing good things for people so it seemed like a good fit. Maybe my having time on my hands was meant for this one opportunity to aid another fellow human being. I don't know too many specifics yet but I will know this afternoon when I speak with my contact (code name - CONTACT). I do know that the person I am body-guarding uses English as a second language and I know that this person's primary language is what I would consider my second language (German). I am better at Pig Latin than German but I don't find many people who speak that any more; and they call Latin and Sanskrit dead languages. I am even giving up my second-to-last trip to Chicago with Cha Cha for this; Mayo Clinic seems more pressing. I wonder if she will sit in the back? I will tell her to call me Hoke and I will call her Miss Daisy. I don't even know her name yet but it would be pretty funny that, if it turned out, that her name is Daisy. I am not sure is Daisy is much of a German name but maybe I can call her Miss Ganseblumchen (pretend there are umlauts above the A and the U in that last word - stupid English keyboard with no non-English letters). Maybe I will grow a mustache between now and the trip. I wonder if Miss Ganseblumshen would appreciate my crushable hat (made in Germany) more than my last travelling partner did/does. Gasenblumshen was Miss Daisy's last name if you don;t recall.

I had plans of going to go to The Illinois Holocaust Museum today but those plans changed. I had forgotten, but Cha Cha reminded me, that we went there a couple of years ago when we interviewed Magda Brown, a Holocaust survivor, for our podcast. We did not go through the museum but just met and interviewed her in one of the conference rooms. That is not the reason we are not going. It just turns-out that we have lots of other things to do.

Actually, I was never really hired

Never-mind two paragraphs ago because she found out that I a man (obviously she doesn't know me) and she was concerned about the hotel room situation. I figured she was going to stay at Mayo Clinic and that would not be an issue. I am a bit disappointed because when I spoke with our dealer (I am not sure what to call our MIDDLE person) I thought it would be nice to get to know Miss Gasenblumshen. I think it may have even been valuable for the novel I am working on (I didn't realize that I was being fired from a charity think I was never really hired to do). Oh well, now I can go with Cha Cha to Chicago again this week and I will be here to hand out Halloween candy.

Again I am finishing this later than usual. It is 17:35 now; I started to write this about 09:00. Jill and I went out and ran a bunch or errands. Don;t tell her I blogged this but she is a very slow shopper. I like the old in-out-in-out and I have perfected that. Town was pretty quiet because there is a Northern Illinois University home football game today so there was tailgating and all of that fun stuff. Working football games were always really long days so I am not sorry that I am not working today. Those week's pay checks were pretty good though.

I did not realize the cannon was an issue. See, the blog even teaches me new things

I am not sure what we are doing for dinner. Fabio has a friend over (seems like a special friend - wink, wink, nudge, nudge, know what I mean, say no more) so maybe pizza would be a good idea. I don't want to drive anywhere near campus right now until about tomorrow. Okay, that is solved - Pizza Villa will arrive at the door in about 45 minutes. They can battle the co-eds crossing the streets whenever and wherever and they want and the possible crazy traffic. NIU must not have scored yet because I have not hear the cannon go off yet.I just checked and NIU is winning with 16 seconds left in the game. The cannon must be broken. Poor Pizza Villa guy/gal is in for quite a drive. I will have to juice the tip up a bit. I bet tips really stink for delivery people in a college town except by people who have ever or currently do work in the service industry.  Ha, I hear the victory bell ringing now so the game must be over.

I am gonna end now because my neck hurts. I will just wait for pizza with my eyes closed. Have a great rest of your night. I doubt that I will blog tomorrow as I think I am going to spend most of the day researching for my forthcoming best seller. I sure hope they allow me to be involved in the screenwriting process once it is bought for film. I may be getting ahead of the project's self. I will finish the research for now and then I will move to step two. TTTM (or maybe tomorrow)...MITM (out) TA!

We Are Bloggo (not the former idiot Governor of Illinois though)

Those are the five W's and one H of writing (rule #1 of journalism)

It is quickly approaching 17:00 on Friday and I am just now blogging. I have been quite busy today. Mostly I have been reading and researching for my novel. I am very excited about writing this story but, like all of the things that I have written for: television, radio, magazines and newspapers... the research is the most important part. The research is the foundation which any story sits upon. In writing a book, of course, there is much more preparation and research required before the actual writing commences. I spent three hours or so yesterday on research and, so far three more today. I think I will probably continue for another three or four hours after I am done writing this on my break. I am happy that I am so excited about my topic though many things that I find bum me out and some bring tears to my eyes. I hope that I can generate the same kind of emotion in my writing when I begin that part of the process. The writing is the easy part for me and I have always enjoyed investigating and discovering new things. Some call me nosy but I prefer investigative or inquisitive.

I went to lunch with Fabio this afternoon. He loves Buffalo Wild Wings and Cha Cha hates it so, since she was in the office today, that's where we ate. I do like their Buffalitos. Fabio is usually pretty reserved, even with us, but we talked about many things today and it seems like he is mostly happy with things in his life right now. I will not say that he has a steady girl but (come closer so I can whisper) he does. He usually reminds me of Gary (Leaf Phoenix who has since reverted back to his real name, Joaquin Phoenix, since then) in the film Parenthood. It makes me happy that Fabio has found the Tod Higgins (Keanu Reeves) in me for at least today. I will not divulge anything further though I may share some of the things with Cha Cha. Do you think Gary and Todd were given those names because the writer of Parenthood was a Different Strokes fan (Gary Coleman / Todd Bridges)? Those were two "messed-up little dudes!"

They're like tiny little DEVO flower pot helmets

I had to fix one of the lights outside that I painted and reinstalled yesterday. I tested them yesterday, after the re-installation, and everything worked well. When we got home from Chicago last night Fabio told me that he turned the lights on earlier and sparks flew and the lights outside went out. I reset the breaker and flicked the switch and the same thing happened for me. So, today I took the two on the porch down again and checked the wiring. Everything appeared fine but I undid all of the wiring and reinstalled them exactly the same way as I did yesterday. When I installed them yesterday I did not have any winged wire connectors or electrical tape so I used duct tape. Ioam thinking the duct tape was the problem because, after I went to Lowe's and got some connectors and electrical tape, I reinstalled them they were fine. My theory is that since duct tape has kind of a metallic coating they may create arc? Whatever the problem it is okay now. I thank the person who invented the breaker box so our house didn't burn down last night.

I have not made any dinner and it is now 17:42. Ooops! That is the life of a struggling writer, I suppose. It is supposed to be Fish Fri-day. We haven't been to Long John Silver's in a long time and I have enjoyed the regular consistency of my life's work because of that. I guess we will either clean-out the leftovers, order a pizza, go-out or I will whip something up. See, there are always options. I am thinking maybe Fatty's would be good. But, since it is raining now they may seem busier because nobody will be eating/drinking outside so the inside will be pretty full. It is Friday and they are a bar near a college campus after all. Hmmmm. I know, I will let Cha Cha decide; she loves that (no really - she hates it). I am nor hungry but that probably isn't an option either.

Looks pretty creep from the outside, huh?

Okay, I have to get back to researching for my project (whether it become a book or a screenplay or a play or mini-series...). I guess I don't HAVE TO but, thankfully, I want to. I hope I can keep this same level of excitement through the fruition of the process. It is always easier when you are interested in doing something rather than feeling like you have to do it.

Thank you for stopping by. I think I will blog tomorrow but I am thinking about seeing if Cha Cha feels like heading to Skokie tomorrow to the Illinois Holocaust Museum and Education Center. I like to remain cultured and I like to be sad so where else could I go for a day-trip that would better accomplish this? If we do go we should probably take the JEEP. I wouldn't feel right taking the FIAT (Italy) or the Toyota 4Runner (Japan) to a Holocaust museum. Though America took a bit before jumping into the action of the second World War at least, when we chose, we picked the correct side to support.

Thank you for stopping by. If I don't get to blog tomorrow I will probably blog Sunday. This one being written so late almost makes it like a Friday/Saturday blog. Maybe you are reading it on Saturday right now for all I know. I hope you have a great Saturday no MATTer whether I write or not and, of course, have a great Frinight. TTTT or Sunday...MITM (out) TA!

Even Curses Have Senses of Humor

Even curses can have senses of humor

I feel bad putting that photo in the blog today but I take so much crap from Cubs' fans every single year even though my favorite team has won eleven World Series crowns since the Cubs have won their last one in 1908. If Hollywood cannot manufacture a win for you (Back To The Future) you are in trouble. They create entire different universes and they cannot even help you by predicting it in a movie from 1985? I did see, by the way, that Back To The Future was playing at several theaters in the area yesterday. I hate poor sportsmanship but I believe in karma more than I dislike poor sportsmanship so now I will feel avenged and will move-on. Maybe they lost because they were going to charge $1300 for World Series tickets. I heard that number but I never investigated it and, even if that figure was correct, I am not sure if they set those prices or they are set my Major League Baseball. I have to believe that those prices are set by the teams or all teams ticket prices would be the same across the board. Now I will really move on.

I know you have been on the edge of your seat to find out what I would make for dinner last night for Italian food night. I went with chicken parmesan. This is the first time that have ever made it from scratch. It was pretty good. We just had that and a salad and everybody was happy. When I say "everybody" I mean Cha Cha and I because the other human member of the house didn't eat any. I don't think he likes us very much. Jeff did not have any either but I guarantee he would have loved it. He is still enjoying the salmon we had a couple of days ago.

This morning I am going to finally paint those last two outdoor lights that need to be painted. I have to run over to Lowe's and get a bit more paint but then I will be done. I am happy that I mowed the backyard yesterday. It looks so much better with all of those leaves turned into mulch meat (that is the new mincemeat). How come, when we MIDDLES and beyond were young, the worst thing we could be turned into was mincemeat? I don't know if I have ever even had mincemeat. Maybe corned beef hash could be considered mincemeat. I think I may have tried mincemeat pie when I was a kid but that must have been the end of the mincemeat phase of my life. Some cartoon bullies would say "I'm gonna make mincemeat out of you..." I think the Bowery Boys (and the Dead-End Kids or the East Side Kids which were basically the same things really) may have said that now and again. I just found out that without mincemeat the Allied Forces may not have won World War II. I learn so much by writing the blog. Too bad I forget most of it but then I can just read the blogs again and relearn stuff - BONUS! Matt In The Middle could be regarded as a resource for term papers (perhaps not a credible one but it could point you in the direction to find credible sources).

Tonight I will be in Chicago again and tonight I am going to be doing a lot of reading and research for my novel. I am pretty excited as I have quite a few sources of reference that I am going-over. I am still not quite sure what angle I am going to approach the subject but I believe I will inspired in the area while covering the resources I have. I may take a hike around the city and pass out some money first. we only have a few weeks left and then Chicago's economy will fall a bit because we won't be there eating dinner once a week and passing dollars to the needy who, in turn, buy things. I like to believe they buy some form of nourishment or pay for a warm place to safely sleep but, once I pass the money to them, it is their money and they can do with it as they please.

I have to end now because I have a long list to do and a short time to get there. Thank you for stopping by. am still working on getting the letter from Michael J. Fox up in the MITM Facebook page. Cha Cha is busy and she showed me a few things about trying to do it so I will fiddle with it (another saying I always heard as a kid) and see if I can get it added. Have a nice day please. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Happy Back to the Blog Day!

Believe it or not I think today I am going to mow the backyard one more time before the colder weather comes. It is supposed to reach 77 degrees fahrenheit today and we have lots of leaves back there since this is Fall (is that where that name comes from or is it for the temperatures rather than the leaves?). We raked the front yard this past weekend (four bags full for the lawn truck Thursday) and Spring Green came and treated the front yesterday so I believe I will let the front be.

 I met these guys at King's Island when I was a kid 

Because of a comment generated by yesterday's blog from my buddy Eddie Z. I was inspired to add some new stations to Cha Cha's Pandora on her playlist. I also changed her settings so her stations would be listed alphabetically because, as I added the new stations, they were all at the top of her page so she would have seen them as soon as she logged-on. I thought they autoMATTically alphabetized them but I must have that setting on my station list. Anyway I added: The Banana Splits, Tiny Tim, The Brady Bunch, Vanilla Ice, Justin Bieber, Miley Cyrus, The Village People, Spice Girls and The Chipmunks. I am just trying to spread the joy of music - these groups need to eat too (well, maybe not Miley and Justin since they have decided to both be naked all the time now and probably want to stay overly thin). If you can think of any other stations she might like let me know and I can add them so she can enjoy your selections too (Ed suggested the The Chipmunks and Tiny Tim). But remember, that will make you an accessory to my mischief. Unless he gives me ideas for stations, Ed is in the clear because he was just sharing a story with me and I liked the harmless fun and acted on my own accord.

Yesterday, right after I blogged, I got a wild hair up my asterisk and decided to shave my face. First I used the buzzer deal and shaved off the beard and, upon seeing that I looked like a 1970's porn star with just a mustache, I shaved that off too. Why is everybody that works as an actor in porn a STAR? Aren't there just porn actors. I think, if I were in that industry, I would call myself a "porn bit actor." Anyway, now I look 23.3 years younger. Only a person who was losing mental faculties would have a beard during the summer and then shave it right before Winter begins. I will now save money on shampoo and spend it on more soap instead. One added benefit of this new beardless phase is that I think I slept better. My doctors make me wear this mask hooked-up to a machine that blows warm, moist air into my nose all night long and, without the hairs under my nose, the mask fits much better and there is no air leakage. Also, it doesn't hurt in the morning where my hairs were MATTed down under the mask between my nose and upper lip all night long. Bonus!

 It looks like the Cubs may choke before Doc Brown gets his chance 

Could Back To The Future be wrong? The Chicago Cubs are on the verge of elimination after getting beaten by the New York Mets again last night; the Mets are up three games to zero and only need to win one more game out of the next four to go on to the World Series. I find it difficult to believe that the Cubs will get swept but other things have happened in this post season that I didn't imagine would happen either. I find that more likely than the Cubs now winning four straight. I heard that actor Christopher Lloyd wants to throw out the first pitch at Wrigley Field if the Cubs make it to the World Series. I suppose Michael J. Fox couldn't do it because of his Parkinson's Disease. I am always happy knowing that MJF is older than me because I always think of him as being young - perhaps because he never had a beard? Maybe he could at least be at Wrigley with Lloyd. Could he catch the pitch from Lloyd and then remove the catcher's mask to mass hysteria from the fans? I do not know his limitations but that would be cool. If they want Lloyd to throw out a pitch they should probably call him and have him in Chicago tonight since THIS is Back To The Future day.

I have been having a problem with my right leg just above my knee. A couple of weeks ago I awoke in the MIDDLE of the night because it, literally, felt like someone had stabbed me in the outer portion of my leg about 4" above the knee. Not a little stab rather taking a huge butcher knife in both hands, raising it above their head and coming down at full speed right into my leg. I actually woke-up and yelled in pain because I thought I had literally been stabbed while I was sleeping. Ever since, I am fine during the day but, when I go to bed, some nights the leg feels like it has fallen asleep (that tingling of when a part of our body falls asleep) and other nights it just aches. Jill says I should go see the doctor but I have not gotten much good news from doctors over the years. I would say that I am 94% bad news, 1 % good news and 5% they have no idea so I will just deal with it and lose the leg if necessary later.

Tonight is Italian (Prince Spaghetti Day) Night and it is my goal to cut-down on calories and fat with small portions but still have the food remain satisfying. I am starting my own Matt In Reducing the Middle Diet (TM, PP, copyright...). Of course, my first obstacle is that most Italian food uses pasta and pasta isn't all that trimming-friendly. Maybe a reduced fat Chicken Parmesan?

  Too bad they the Cubs didn't play at 07:28 this morning  

This is so weird and I swear on the lives of my children (including Jeff) that it is true. Right now, this very second, I received a message on my watch that told me that I got a new email. It just shows who the email is from and has a little picture of an envelope. Anyway, it read "Michael J. Fox." Of course, I immediately had to see what that was about so I went to read it. I will add the letter to the Matt In The Middle Facebook page if I can figure out how to do that and if you are interested in seeing it. The file is too big to just screen capture and I may have to wait until Cha Cha is around tonight because she is a computer wiz and will know how to do it. She hates when I say she is a computer wiz but it is true. I will let you know in the blog when the letter is there. If you subscribe to that page you will probably know ahead of others - free subscriptions/followings have their privileges. I did not even know that this was actually Back To The Future Day when I wrote that thing about Christopher Lloyd and Mike Fox (yeah I feel, now that he is emailing me, I can call him Mike) but this letter says that it is. It does not say one word about the Cubs though Mike's Canadian so he is probably is still rooting for the Blue Jays who may also be eliminated tonight. The letter actually came from whitehouse.gov but it was supposedly written by Mike. In case you are unaware Back To The Future Day is the day that Marty McFly, played by Mikey J., traveled-to when he went back to the future in the movie. I cannot believe the premium movie channels and TBS and USA Network dropped the ball on this - they should be showing this movie all day long today. Maybe some are and I just don't know it.

Okay, I am out of jiggawatts today and I have to mow the lawn, do a bit more painting, shop for and prepare tonight's dinner. I hope you enjoy one of our remaining few warm days. I bet today will be the warmest day we will have the rest of this calendar year; I can check with Mike Fox on that. Thank you for stopping by and I will let you know when I get that letter posted on the MITM Facebook page. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

My B.S. May Finally Pay-Off

Sorry I didn't blog yesterday but I got into a project that took longer than I thought it would. I removed the light fixtures from the outside of the house (porch and garage) and painted them. It was very windy so I didn't dare try to paint them without removing them. I set up a tarp in the garage because I couldn't even paint them on the black asphalt driveway because I do not think much of the paint would have reached their target. It's funny that, while I type I am looking at the black spots that still remain on my fingers. Also, yesterday was Poultry Monday so I cooked turkey breast and made mashed potatoes, stuffing and gravy; it was the beginning of Fall Training for Thanksgiving. Tonight is Race Tuesday so I think I will make turkey tacos or burritos or gosh darn quesadillas. I am leaning toward the gosh darn quesadillas. I also did the grocery shopping yesterday so, if you're hungry, now is a good time to stop by. Dang it I forgot to get Chinese-style extra hot mustard yesterday.

I hope the wind dies down a bit today because over the weekend we put up vines on that shelf I installed above the garage door earlier this Summer and the wind made a shambles of them. I want to re-position them and secure them in one way or another (probably brown twine). Cha Cha noticed this feature on many, many homes and buildings in Europe and we wanted to be the trend-setters in the States - at least in our part of the Lower 48 or, if you prefer, the Contiguous or Conterminous United States. I think it looks really nice and we have a lot of viny plants next to and around the garage so it was not that difficult.

I know a LOT of "The Police"

While I am writing this I am listening to The Police station on Pandora. They have always (well, since I first heard them anyway) been my favorite band. I never really thought about it but I have been to dozens and dozens of concerts but I never saw The Police live. That is a shame because I am fairly certain that I won;t get that chance now. Going to concerts of famous bands is kind of senseless for the consumer now that I think about it. They rarely sound as good live as they do on a recording and you have to deal with the driving and parking and crowded arenas... Sporting events are kind of the same I suppose though I have been to hundreds of those. It's just a numbers game! I think we support our favorite bands simply by buying their albums (MP3's these days). I wonder how the musicians get compensated from things like Pandora? I pay monthly for Pandora because I don;t want to hear the commercials and I like the ability to skip more songs if I choose to. Do artists get paid for the amount of people who ad them as a station or by each of their songs that I listen to? You knew I would have to check didn't you? According to an article in Billboard Magazine the artists do, indeed, get royalties from their songs played on Pandora. The payments go to a company called TechCrunch who then pays the artists. There are a couple of groups that are getting $2 millions dollars per year from these royalties and several making $100,000 a year; they call them "performance fees" probably for some tax loophole or something. Coldplay and Adelle made $1,000,000 each in 2012 and Drake and Lil Wayne each made $3,000,000 that same year. I subscribe to one of those four artist stations - can you guess which one?

I am going to head to our library today for research for my book and, if that doesn't turn-out as I hope, I may go to the Northern Illinois University library. I have decided to go a different direction with my story. I am going to make it a fiction novel based-on an amalgam of many different real stories. My favorite stories are based-on real events so I will use real events as my foundation but attribute them to my made-up heroes/heroines and some historical things that actually happened with my embellishments. As long as I change the names and am up-front that this is what I am doing I am sure that is acceptable.All fiction has to based-upon something. I just like writing, history and making stuff up and I like stories so, what a great way to combine some of my favorite things? I think I may go down and volunteer to help with events at The Egyptian Theater today; I have lots of experience in what they do probably need help with there. I went down last week but the box office is only open on Tuesdays and Thursdays from 14:00 - 18:00. I was there on Friday.

Hah, Coldplay is on The Police station right now - ca-ching! Maybe Coldplay and Adelle and Lil Wayne and Drake secretly own Pandora and they sprinkle their songs into every station even close to their genre? See, there I go with my fiction writing. Sometimes fiction turns-out to accidentally be true.

We did not record a new podcast (Dirty Laundry Podcast) this past weekend. Cha Cha only has three weeks left in her class and she had a big paper that she needed to work-on. We will get there but it may have to wait until her class is done. It is always easier in the Winter anyway because you we don't feel guilty that we should be doing something in the yard.

Time to quit and get some things done around the house. It looks like the winds have died-down so maybe I can get those vines reattached? Muchas gracias for stopping by - Muchos Appreciado. Have a great day. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Free Viagra Commercial Blog!

"Men need Viagra for their oblong-shaped balls to get into my end zone!"

I am pretty upset about the baseball playoffs. Yes, I wanted the Cardinals to continue playing and go on to the World Series but I got over that the minute hour they were eliminated. I am still watching some of the play-off games, though not as religiously as I was when my team was in the race, yet my tension continues. The Cubs start their play-off series against the Mets tonight and I think I will use that time to do my shopping as the stores will be empty. The reason I am upset, however, is why in the Hell do they show Viagra commercials during nearly every single commercial break during the games?  And, why do they have VIAGRA in all capital letters - subtly erect? Fortunately, I am not in need of this product but, even if I were, I would be able to figure-out where to find the product and I also wouldn't need to be reminded about my problem by some hot chick holding a football and wearing a football jersey every five to ten minutes. I have not watched much football this season but, maybe, this commercial was made for all of the impudent men who watch men hugging each other and reaching between one another's legs to get a ball and they thought, "hey, impudent dudes watch baseball too!" Perhaps they should have made a different commercial with a woman in catcher's gear catching balls for the MLB post-season. I was going to suggest hockey too but hockey doesn't have balls. But there are: soccer and tennis and golf and rugby... Golf would make the most sense because usually older guys, who may need their putters straight, would be watching golf. I cannot believe play-off commercials are very cheap so this Viagra must have gold dust or cocaine or something in it. They should at least make them funny. Though, perhaps, men who have flagpole issues are a bit more sensitive and they would be bummed-out by a humorous commercial about their issue. How about someone like Johnny Depp or Bradley Cooper... or some big actor telling us how Viagra is cool and that average joes could look like them and get Hollywood actresses? I bet they don't advertise during college games.

I am watching the new episode/season premier of Nathan For You. I love this show. If you haven't seen it you should give it a shot. Nathan helps small businesses with their marketing and sales models to grow their businesses. He uses many unorthodox ideas and quite a few shady promotions, loopholes and fine prints to make it hilarious. Luckily, I have several others from last season still saved on the DVR so I may have to keep watching others when this one is over. I am pretty sure that a lot of the things we see are acting rather than real investigation because - WHY ARE THERE CAMERAS ON OUR DATE?...

It sounds like Fabio is going to be moving out soon. All of a sudden we are going to have three bedrooms too many (four if you count the one in the basement). Maybe I will die and then Jill can start Ma Helser's Boarding House? We do live in a college town so filling the rooms would not be difficult if we wanted to. I imagine there is something against out neighborhood covenant but I have already cut ties with the hood and we would only be renting to our nieces and nephews anyway (wink wink nudge nudge know what I mean so no more).

I am going to quit now because my mind has gone limp on ideas to write about today. I think Jill and I will find something unusual to do today. Maybe we will take Jeff over to the large dog park over on Keslinger Road here in town (at least close to our town if not officially in out town). I know it is before County Line Road so it is, at least, in our county which is named the same as our town. It is so handy to have one of our borders (as in Border Collie) marked by County Line Road.

I wish you a fantastic autumn day unless you are in a part of the world where it isn't autumn then I wish you that kind of a good day. I am delighted that you stopped-in today. I will not blog tomorrow because (fill in the lame excuse of your choice and I will select a winner next week). TTTMonday...MITM (out) TA!

Clemens or Hemmingway? That is the Question!

It's already 12:27 and I am just now starting the blog. I had a few things to do this morning. We have had a few sections of decorative fence that Jill's brother Tom gave us a couple of weeks ago and I heard we are probably going to get some frost tonight so I bugged Jill into finally telling me exactly where she wanted the fence so I didn't have to fight frozen ground. We already had some of the fence up that I did quite awhile ago and, coincidentally, Tom had the same fence and he was replacing it with something else so he asked Jill if she wanted it and the rest is blogstory. At least I didn't have to pull a Tom Sawyer and whitewash this fence. I wonder if Cha Cha would want to take a day-trip to Hannibal, MO this weekend; I love that town. It's a four-hour drive each way so maybe not? We have never been to Ernest Hemmingway's birthplace and museum in Oak Park, IL and that is only an hour away. We were at his home in Key West and I bet that one is better because everything in Key West is better. I just checked the Hemmingway museum on the interwebnetdohickey and it looks kind of lame. I still like Hemmingway though - he cannot help where he was born and what they did with it after he was gone. I do like Clemens better than Hemmingway - in case you are keeping score.

After that I closed the fence between the neighbors house and ours because I am pretty sure they are tired of Jeff being over there all the time. Last night, since we did not get back from Chicago until after 22:00 Jeff slept over at their house. So, when he came home this morning I blocked the hole in the fence and Jeff and I went over to the dog park. If you are my Facebook friend you probably saw that, when we arrived at Katz Park (I still cannot believe they have the dog park at Katz Park), it was closed for remodeling. So, Jeff suggested Hopkins Park; he is a smart feller and a fart smeller. I didn't do much walking in Chicago last night because I spent about three hours researching the book that I am going to write. We ended up walking for a little over an hour stopping every now and then to smell another animal's scents or watching a squirrel taunt us from a tree. Jeff handled the squirrel pretty well which makes me think he just doesn't like the one at our house because he is the one who threw the nuts at him form the roof. Jeff is just like me - he likes most creatures until they wrong him and then it is difficult for them to get off his list.

On the way home from our walk we drove through Northern Illinois University's campus.This is the place where I am still employed and patrolled five nights a week for several years and, before that, I worked there part-time for about three more years supervising events. I was sad to learn that I could not remember a lot of the buildings' names. I hope it is just the "use it or lose it" deal and not my decreasing memory though I would sadly bet on the latter. Jeff sure did enjoy all of the people as he stuck his out the window and they smiled and waved at him. It was like he was in a parade or something. He is quite a chick magnet. I may do some of my book research at the NIU library because that Harold Washington Library in Chicago was overwhelming. I have not been to many shopping malls that big. I ended-up doing most of my research on the internet and at DePaul University.

Tonight is Fish Fryday and I think I may grill some salmon and roast some potatoes for dinner.The "Fry" part of fish fry is just because of America's love for alliteration and fried food. I am still doing very well on my new eating regimen and I aim to keep it that way and Fish Grill just doesn't flow as well. I have noticed that, when I don't each as much, I have to pee a lot more. I am assuming it is because there isn't as much food to soak-up the water.

I am gonna quit now so I can go get the salmon. I wonder if Jeff could pass for a helper-dog and go with me. Probably not. I think I am going to go down to the Egyptian Theater and volunteer to help with shows and such - I have lots of experience in that avenue as well. I am the Forest Gump of DeKalb it turns out. Have a great cool day and maybe some frost tonight if you are in the MIDDLEwest. Thanks for stopping by. I think I will blog tomorrow and I believe we are going to record a new podcast this weekend and, if I can remember how to edit the show, we may have a new show up next week. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!

Play the MITM Lottery - We Don't Pay-Out Either

In one of my rare Sunday blogs (October 4th) I wrote about my trying some new material out for  my comedy act and it not going-over very well on the neighborhood Facebook page. Well, by two people anyway, and the loudest are what most people usually hear. Yesterday I received some more fan mail for this stunt from another comedy-lover in the hood. I will call this person Robin to protect his or her identity; you do not want to be associated with me in Devonaire Farms. Also, this way, I have spies on the inside. I have actually received much more fan mail about this than the two people who knee-jerk complained the loudest. I sort of feel like a cult hero as this contact applauding me is coming up nearly two weeks later. Is it coincidence that my MIDDLE name is Bruce and I am Mattman when Bruce Wayne is Batman? Yes, it probably is merely coincidence. I wanna say that I have some Robin Hood sprinkled in there because the neighborHOOD was ROBbed of my humor when I decided to seclude myself inside the MATTcave while the dust blows-over. People should probably not encourage my shenanigans but I do appreciate the accolades and support.

I have a $2.00 winning Powerball Ticket that I have been holding for the last month or so. I want to take the $2.00 and buy another ticket but I am starting to think that just taking the $2.00 pay-out might be the smart play. Apparently, Illinois is flat-broke. I have been hearing that for several months but everybody cries broke when they don't want to fork-over the loot. But, since they aren't paying people who win the lottery they are going to great lengths to prove that they are broke. If you win over $600 now you will be given an I.O.U. until the state Democratic lawmakers who control the General Assembly and the Republican Governor can get-along. Sort of the same thing with a Democratic President and a Republican Congress. Two people who have won ($50,000 and $250,000) have filed a class-action suit against Illinois. They are saying that it will all be taken care of once a state budget is passed - I do not believe them. This is racketeering plain and simple. These people should also get interest on their money if they ever do get their money. Al Capone would be proud of the state that he controlled for so long. At least people knew where they stood with Scarface.

He should have been Governor

Supposedly NASA (I hope I don't have to say what that acronym stands for by now) has found something in space that they think is a man-made (alien-made I guess is a more appropriate term I guess) panel that is collecting energy from a star. They thought, for many years, that it was a star but they have been noticing that the blinking seems to be in a pattern. So, maybe of we are alone but we were not here first and they are gone now. Are we the next genesis of beings from other planets? Are we just an experiment of theirs and our planet is like a giant terrarium? Are we descendants of another species? All of these questions have been asked and presumably answered but it would not be unlike our many governments to withhold things from us (see previous paragraphs for example).

I think I may hang-out quite a bit in the Harold Washington Library tonight; they are open until 21:00 which is perfect. I have an idea for a book and I want to do some research and what better place to do it than in this huge library? It is in the Guinness Book of  World Records as the largest public library building in the world. We used to get the new Guinness Books of World Records every year and then we all got addicted to television and became couch potatoes and got fat and stupid. Maybe I am just speaking of myself in that last rant. I wish I would have had this book idea before we went to Europe because a lot of information that I need could have been gained in Prague and Germany about my topic. Oh well, I guess I will just have to go back when I get rolling on the book. If I sell the book I wonder if I could write the trip to Europe off on my taxes as a business expense. I bet I could in Illinois since they don't seem to know where their money goes anyway; Capone would have done it. I bet Cha Cha would go with me back to Europe as my Frau Freitag! I am excited but that usually passes after a day or two.

I bet this photo was taken from The Plymouth restaurant. They suck!

I have been doing very well on my new food regimen but this is only the beginning of day two (recall previous paragraph to see how I feel about day two). Diets and such always go well for a day or two before they turn dark and scary. I have proven to myself that, when properly self-motivated, I can persevere in this arena and I am pretty committed right now. Or, at least, I should be.

I have to get many things done so I am going to end now. Thank you for stopping by for a minute or three; I always appreciate you so much for doing so. I hope you have a fantastic day and that you don't waste your time playing the Illinois State Racketeering Lottery. I wonder if you play one of the multi-state lotteries if you get your money from those ones (Powerball and the like)? Oh well, thanks again and if you're in Chicago tonight stop by and see if you can find me in the library - a real life Where's Waldo. TTTT...MITM (out) TA!