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3 Favorite Songs of the Week
2007-11-26 01:44:00
One of my favorite musical artists is Seal. This past week I found myself listening to him several times on my iPod. I find his voice soulful and his lyrics meaningful. I love that his songs range from those that are slow and melancholy to those that are upbeat, dance hits. Some of his slower songs have even been remixed to make amazing dance songs. It shows the versatility of his music. On a side note, I love that he has named several of his albums simply Seal and that he never released his 2001 album, Togetherland because he felt the music was not worthy. I feel he puts out music because he loves music, not for the commercial success. I also like that his name is actually Seal (it is not just a celebrity name). In an interview with Heidi Klum I saw a month ago, they asked him his full name and it was far too many names to remember, so I looked it up and it is Seal Henry Olusegun Olumide Adeola Samuel. It makes you understand why he goes by Seal.In terms of Seal songs that I recomm...
More About: Songs , Week , Favorite

You now the holidays are upon us and you are in a shopping mall...
2007-11-24 20:48:00
Since Dale was at his Dad's house cleaning out the basement and garage, I figured this was an excellent opportunity to continue my holiday shopping, in particular gifts for Dale.For me, holiday shopping is just as much about people watching, as it is gift buying. The mall was not very busy today, but I still made several observations. Here is what I learned:You know the holidays are upon us and you are in a shopping mall...by the appearance of far too many kiosks clogging up the already crowded walkways. Two kiosks in particular always scream holidays to me - Hickory Farms and the Day by Day Calendar. For me, Hickory Farms is actually a unique childhood memory. Growing up, Hickory Farms was always a place where we bought one of the gifts for my Grandmother (maternal). I am not sure why, but apparently the woman liked beef sticks. The other gift always seemed to be a new comforter. Again, not sure why or how she needed a new one each year. Anyhow, thanks to grandmothers everywhere a...
More About: Holidays , Shopping , Mall , The Holidays

Haikus of Cold & Snow
2007-11-24 16:42:00
We are on our fourth day in Arvada, CO where temperatures are in the 20 degree range. I am a bit over it and winter all together. I know, it is only November and we have a ways to go, but it is my feeling none the less. For those of you who know me, you know I am NOT a winter person.I have composed a few haiku poems to present my feelings as I sit here and stair out into my backyard, thinking how I just want to stay inside all day and drink hot chocolate.Draining; another dayof frost, cold and winter snow.Lord please give me strength. It has been too cold; I'm over winter already.When will it be spring?Frost covers the ground,snow clings thick and hard.My world feels ice cold.Cold only brings onegood thing in my opinion.Hot chocolate; yum!Bare tree limbs look sad;embarrassingly nakedand shivering cold.Snow looks so quiet,from my back patio door.But it crunches loud.Another cold day.Scarf, hat, mittens, coat and boots.Bundling to keep warm.Children love the snow,adults get burden of...

New Store Steve & Barry's
2007-11-24 03:29:00
Dale and I went to a great new clothing store tonight - Steve & Barry's. It is sort a a more chic version of Old Navy. Good clothes at quality prices. It just opened in Westminster on November 7th. There is a 2nd location scheduled to open in Littleton soon.I liked the store a lot more than Dale did. Dale's dissatisfaction came mostly because he takes tall sizes and they do not carry anything like that. However, I found two shirts ($7.00 each), a sweatshirt ($10.00), a winter jacket ($10.00) and two pairs of jeans ($10.00 each)...so for me it was a great night out shopping. Dale did find two shirts ($10.00 each), so it was not all bad for him. So as you can see, great prices.If you have not heard of Steve & Barry's yet, they are quite unique. They strive to offer quality clothes at very economic prices and from what I saw, they really did. Check out their story....Steve & Barry's shoppers typically pay 50% to 90% less for the same quality clothing found at competing ...
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Black Friday 2007
2007-11-23 21:33:00
Dale and I just arrived back home from a few hours of shopping. There was nothing that really thrilled us in the circulars, so we did not head out at our usual 4:00 AM. Instead, we headed out at 10:00 AM.Kohls was crazy, but I did get the one thing I wanted (actually six of them and I can't say what as they are Christmas gifts) and a sweatshirt for myself. Dale did not find anything he wanted. The lines were long and the store was busy, but since everything was practically 40% off or more, I can understand why. I love Kohls. I included a quick snap shot of Dale as he joined me in line.Next, we headed to Target because, well we love Target. We were able to get half of our shopping done for my nieces/nephew and all of our shopping for the Krouts, so it was a successful trip. It was funny because Target was not that busy and almost felt like a normal crowd that would be shopping on any weekend.I feel the major retailers did not do a great job of getting customers into their stores thi...
More About: Black , Friday , Black Friday

A Rockband Thanksgiving
2007-11-23 16:29:00
Thanksgiving at my sister, Rachel's house was a lot of fun and great food.Her husband, Billy, (with some help from my oldest niece, Kristin) cooked a great traditional Thanksgiving. My personal favorite was the stuffing. I know I had blogged yesterday that nobody was able to create a stuffing that compared to my Mom's, but Billy was able to do it. I even took leftover stuffing home. The turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, green beans and rolls were delicious. I do not eat sweet potatoes (to me if you have to put marshmallows on a vegetable, it can't be that good, right?), but Dale seemed to like them, as he took leftovers home. So dinner was a hit and of course, I feel like I ate too much, but it is a holiday. Dinner was followed by Dale and my introduction to the Xbox 360 game Rockband. What is Rockband you ask? ...Rock Band is an all-new platform for gamers ready to take on the challenges of the Rock & Roll lifestyle. Instruments available to players are guitar, bass, dru...
More About: Thanksgiving , Hank

A Letter To Sara
2007-11-22 18:55:00
Sara,Good news. Your favorite, Hello Kitty, was added to the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and just made her first appearance. I knew you would miss it since you were at the Turkey Trot, so I went to Google and someone already had a pic added (technology is scary). Enjoy and Happy Thanksgiving.Your palTom
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Thanksgiving Memories
2007-11-22 17:46:00
As a child, Thanksgiving meant three things to me - my Mom, the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade on TV and giblets from the turkey. My Mom was truly an amazing person, who made the holidays so very special.My Mom would start Thanksgiving for me with a nice breakfast and get me situation watching the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. I always loved the parade. It seemed so pure and magical to me. To me, it is amazing that an 80+ year tradition continues to live on. In a time of technology and interactive media, it is nice that little has changed in the parade. It is still filled with love, singing, dancing, marching bands and cartoon character balloons. My favorites were always the balloons from the Peanuts comic strip.Looking back now, I also realize the Parade also started my love of Broadway theatre and musicals too. I would see the actors do their songs and dances in the parade and would long to see their shows. Once I was in college, trips to see Broadway musicals became standard ...
More About: Memories , Hank

Thanks Barb & Zoey
2007-11-22 17:20:00
Our friend Barb (and her wonderful yellow labrador, Zoey) surprised us yesterday by having a beautiful Thanksgiving flower arrangement delivered to us. We got it when we got home from work yesterday and it was the perfect way to start the holiday. I thought everyone could enjoy in the beauty of the flowers too, so I added some pics.Thank you Barb & Zoey. We are truly thankful and blessed to have you in our lives. Happy Thanksgiving.
More About: Hank

I Added Shap Shots from Snap.com To My Blog
2007-11-22 01:18:00
I just installed a nice little tool on this blog called Snap Shots that enhances links with visual previews of the destination site, interactive excerpts of Wikipedia articles, MySpace profiles, IMDb profiles and Amazon products, display inline videos, RSS, MP3s, photos, stock charts and more.Sometimes Snap Shots bring you the information you need, without your having to leave the blog, while other times it lets you "look ahead," before deciding if you want to follow a link or not. Should you decide this is not for you, just click the Options icon in the upper right corner of the Snap Shot and opt-out.
More About: Blog

Mike Minton Jail Hawaii
2007-11-22 00:25:00
Search engines are funny.This past Sunday I received a report from Lijit of the top searches that drove traffic to my site. Usually such a report would not make me laugh or deserve a blog posting, but I found this report to be quite interesting. The top search to my site on Sunday was several searches on Google for Mike Minton Jail Hawaii . Now, many of you know my friend and co-worker, Mike Minton. He is currently in Michigan and obviously not the Mike they were searching (or is he).The reason why my site returns such relevant results is interesting (well at least to me). I have a post from November 5th titled Prison Break. This blog posting references our dogs breaking out of their jail for the day and taking control of our house. When that page is viewed, in the right navigation, you can see a link to another blog entry called Mike Minton was LATE TO A MEETING...spread the word. Finally, my blog features a picture of me with text under it that reads Me in Hawaii. This is why my si...

Tom Cruise Is Too Short
2007-11-20 15:05:00
Okay, I know this is going to be an unpopular post with many of the men who read this blog, but here goes...brace yourselves. Top Gun is NOT a good movie. Yes, I said it and I stand by this statement.Each morning, our gym, Dumbbells Too, plays a movie, since they still do not have cable or satellite (don't get me started on that). Although this is probably violating some Federal regulation on the public broadcast of DVDs, I accept it because I like the distraction at 5:30 AM, when I am trying to pretend I like working out (I personally don't, but I am trying to be healthy and get in shape - 20 pounds down, 40 more to go - ugh!).So back to Top Gun. As you can probably guess, that was this mornings DVD selection and I found this is the favorite movie of our morning movie host and desk jockey, Jason. He said he used to watch it almost every day as a teenager and in his early 20's. Okay, I have seen the movie before, but not in decades and probably not since it was released in the mi...
More About: Tom Cruise , Cruise , Short , Too Short

Supermarket Sweep Looks Like More Fun Than It Is - Believe Me!
2007-11-19 02:46:00
Dale and I went grocery shopping late this afternoon. Usually, I take on this chore myself, but since this trip involves getting everything we need for Thanksgiving, I figured I would ask Dale to come along, so I was sure we were stocked up.I found out why this was not the best idea.1. Dale treats grocery shopping like a race. Apparently you have to get in and get out as fast as possible. If any of you remember the game show, Supermarket Sweep s, this was exactly how it felt. I was waiting for a bell to go off to announce we won something.2. Dale wanders off. He thinks of something we need and goes and gets it. I know. Crazy, huh? Everyone knows you do not get that item until you get to that aisle. You can't go running all over the store. You do aisle by aisle. I am there just as much to browse, as I am to follow a list. How else will I get cookies? They are never on my list. They just come upon me in aisle 7.3. Dale makes others think I am crazy. As I said, Dale wanders. I could ha...
More About: Looks

User Experience
2007-11-09 04:29:00
Often when you work at an interactive agency like Indigio, people think everything is just about development. Development is important, but no more important than user experience. That is why I love this quote. The best development can never be utilized if we do not have a strong experience to engage, keep and help the user be successful.
More About: Experience , User , Erie

And yes this squirrel is smarter than me.
2007-11-09 03:29:00
Check out this video.
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Funny, Check Out Link.
2007-11-09 03:18:00
Icon War
More About: Funny , Link , Check

Tomorrow will be a better day.
2007-11-08 04:05:00
I am very tired tonight. Today felt like a very long day. It was the type of day where everything seems to get away from you. I do not like days like this. I think it is also the time of year that is making my mood less than cheery. It is dark very early each evening. The Sun is setting just after 5:00 PM. I hate heading home and having it getting dark. It is so rough on my mood. A part of me just wants to crawl into bed and wake up in March. Maybe it is natural, maybe humans are just like bears and we want to hibernate. I know I do. This time of year makes me want to bulk up and climb under the covers. Ugh. I hate feeling this way. I also know that although it is 70 degrees out today, winter is creeping in. It is there - the cold, the snow, heavy jackets, boots, shoveling, bad Colorado drivers, no snow plows, freezing rain and all the other things I hate about winter.I plan to head to bed early and get some rest. When I woke up this morning, it honestly felt like I just went to sl...
More About: Tomorrow , Morrow , Tomo

Blog Poll Results - Favorite 80's TV Show
2007-11-07 04:00:00
The past week I ran a poll on my blog asking everyone to vote for their favorite 80's television show and provided 5 choices. For those of you who voted, my thanks. For those of you who did not, please think of what you have done here.The votes are in...Silver Spoons - 0% of votes (so sad, poor Ricky Schroeder!)Who's The Boss - 13% of votes (the sexual tension between Tony & Angela, not to mention Mona...come on people.)Cheers - 20% of votes (shocking, just shocking.)A.L.F. - 26% of the votes (come on, a stuffed Alien that tried to eat the cat in every episode...pure 80's fun.)The Dukes of Hazzard - 40% of the votes (I assume all these votes belong to my pal Mike Minton, who has a serious love for this show...mostly Daisy...but learn more of his obsession on his blog entitled The Dukes.)
More About: Show , Results , Blog , Poll , Favorite

Are You Addicted to Blogging?
2007-11-07 03:17:00
Yes, I am slightly addicted to blogging, I admit it and that is the first step, right? The second step is finding out how your addiction compares to others and scoring yourself. (that's healthy, right?) I found a great site that quizzes you on your blogging behavior and then scores your addition. (fun, huh?)Dale will be happy to know I ONLY scored 62%, so it is not a problem. I am fine. I can stop anytime. I am fine. Leave me alone.62%How Addict ed to Blogging Are You?I also found the top 10 ways to tell if you have a blogging addiction.10. You check your blog stats a LOT. You occasionally get up in the middle of the night and sneak a peak.9. Your significant other suspects you are having an affair with your blog. Even when you’re alone with your special person, you do find yourself thinking what your blog might be doing right then…8. You “mental blog” while driving or on the train, and sometimes even when you are alone in the shower.7. You filter everything through your pos...

If You Are Not Watching Chuck...
2007-11-06 04:35:00
...you are missing out. It is a great show and one of my two favorite new shows (Reaper is the other) of the season. This is a fun comedy about Chuck , who works at Buy More (a funny version of Best Buy) and he is accidentally thrown into the world of being a spy. Even though it is a comedy, it has great action sequences and the supporting cast is actually good. It is hard to find a good comedy lately on TV, so don't miss out. If you don't believe me, check out this blog dedicated to the show - http://www.chucktvblog.com/ that I came across. You can also get caught up and watch past episodes at http://www.nbc.com/Chuck/. (Note: Do not ask Dale of his opinion of the show. It differs from mine. Dale feels the show is silly, but honestly he only watched 10 minutes of the first episode. If Chuck worked at Home Depot or worked for HGTV, he would love the show.)
More About: Watching

Prison Break
2007-11-06 04:15:00
Aren't they cute? Well, usually they are. However, today Zoe (larger dog) was a bit bad and actually broke the gate off the wall to her room in the basement. In doing so she broke her and Millie (smaller dog) out. They had full access to the house all day, but all in all it was okay. Yes, our little Zoe did her very own version of prison break. She knew she was bad because when we got home she kept her head down and avoided us. But we forgave her and all is well again. (I am a softee and of course forgave her in 3 seconds. Dale is more of the disciplinary, so it took him about 15 minutes)For those who have not met the girls, Zoe is a Shar Pei and Old English Sheep Dog mix and Millie is a Lhasa Apso and Basset Hound mix. Both were happy accidents and we are happy to have them in our lives. Days like today push our nerves, but we still love them.
More About: Prison Break , Break , Prison

There Was an Old Woman Who Swallowed a Fly
2007-11-05 16:44:00
For some reason this song popped in my head last week in a meeting at work with Becki. (Not that she was eating a fly or anything. Honest. Becki does not eat flies. Well, not anymore.)Does everyone remember singing this in elementary school? I remember loving this song and being SO EXCITED on the days we got to sing it. It was gross and silly. Now looking at the lyrics...I think it is funny that we were so cavalier about death and this poor woman dying. Kids. Anyhow in case you want to hear the song over and over and over. There was an old lady who swallowed a fly.I dunno why she swallowed that fly,Perhaps she'll die.There was an old lady who swallowed a spider,That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.She swallowed the spider to catch the fly.But I dunno why she swallowed that fly,Perhaps she'll die.There was an old lady who swallowed a bird.How absurd, to swallow a bird!She swallowed the bird to catch the spider,That wriggled and jiggled and wiggled inside her.She swallow...
More About: Woman , Allo

Stewie Kills Lois (Finally)
2007-11-05 04:44:00
100 episodes in the making and it was worth the wait. Great episode!For those of you who do not understand what this blog means...I am sorry for you. Very, very sorry.
More About: Finally , Stewie

Golden Age of Radio
2007-11-05 03:49:00
Dale spent yesterday cleaning out his Dad's house and one of the things he had left to Dale was an old radio. It is in great condition and looks beautiful in our basement. I did some research and found it is a cathedral style radio from the mid 1930s. It got me thinking about the 30's and 40's, when American relied on radio for entertainment and news. It seems like a much simpler time. It was fun to read up on the Golden Age of Radio and Old Time Radio. I even came across a site where you could listen to actual recordings of old time radio shows. It was fun to listen to the George Burns Show.The sight of the radio located next to our plasma TV is an unique blend of generations. It is almost comical. No matter what, it is a great reminder of a time that once was and a nice reminder for Dale of his Dad.
More About: Golden Age , Adio

3 Favorite Songs of the Week
2007-11-04 23:53:00
These were all released around three years old, but I still find myself going back to them when I put together playlists. Sometimes the best finds are music you missed a few years back. All are 5 star in my iTunes. Give them a listen. You may like. You may not. But it is worth a try.Bounce by Sarah Connor from her 2004 single Bounce. This is just a fun dance song. The type of song where you do not think, just move. It is a song I have on my current gym mix and it is catchy.I Turn My Camera On by Spoon from 2005's Gimme Fiction. They have such a unique sound and if you have not tried Spoon, you will want to. This is my favorite song by them. For some reason it always makes me smile. A great alternative, indie rock band that to this day is very under-rated.Ordinary People by John Legend from 2004's Get Lifted. This is just a magical song. Very soulful and pure. The lyrics flow like a letter or poem. Poor a glass of wine and sick in and listen to any John Legend song or CD. He does n...
More About: Songs , Week , Favorite , Favor

Elvira Topless!!!
2007-11-04 23:26:00
Not that Elvira. For those of you who have not seen her yet, below is a picture of my Elvira taken on today by Stanley Lake in Arvada. She is my new convertible Mini Cooper that is black with white bonnet stripes. She is fun and sexy...just like the Mistress of the Dark for which she is named.This is the 2nd Mini Copper for Dale and I. We also have a Mini Cooper S named Bruiser (it is black & blue).If you have never driven a Mini Cooper, they are a lot of fun and very powerful little cars...best of all they have great mileage. They are addictive. It is such a beautiful autumn day today, it seemed like a waste to not get out there and take Elvira for a spin with her top down (not pictured is Dale standing on 85th risking his life to get me a good photo - thanks Dale).

Home Is Where You Hang Your Hat (P.S. - I Look Horrible in Hats)
2007-11-04 22:30:00
Since some of you have never sen our house unless it full of Halloween gore or full of Christmas spirit, I thought it would be fun to include some shots of the house. This way you can see for yourselves that we do not keep spooks, spiders and skulls up year round (mostly because Dale will not let me). Also, it shows that I did indeed clean the house yesterday. We just finished our basement this year, so it is nice to show it off.I would like to take credit for the decorating, but most of that hasto go to Dale...as does the caring for all the plants you see.
More About: Home , Hats , Hang

Sunday Morning Comics
2007-11-04 15:08:00
I always loved comic strips on Sunday mornings. I don't know what it was, but a bowl of cereal and a few pages of comics from the local newspaper was pure joy to me from ages 6-12. I thought I would bring a bit of that nostalgia to my blog.
More About: Comics , Morning , Sunday morning

Shakalaka Baby!
2007-11-04 14:22:00
Dale and I joined our friend, Barb, last night for dinner. We went to a wonderful restaurant in Cherry Creek called Bombay Clay Oven (recommended by Barb). Check out their site at http://www.bombayclayoven.com/ (this is where I got the picture, I did not take this myself and these were not men that Dale and I brought for Barb...although one does look a bit like her ex-boyfriend Neil and she is excepting applications for a boyfriend). We loved this place. It was a wonderful atmosphere. We sat in a raised booth, where you take your shoes off and sit around a table surrounded by pillows. It was nice and private (this helped the rest of the restaurant enjoy their meals because for those of you who know Barb, witnessed she can get a bit loud once the wine starts flowing). The food was absolutely incredible. Dale and I both had the Bombay Thali, which is a combination plate with many of the dishes they offer. It gives you a sampling of a lot of different things. We both love Indian food, ...
More About: Baby , Akal

It's 5:30 AM...What Do You Do For Fun?
2007-11-04 14:12:00
I test http://www.budgettruck.com/. One of my clients, Budget Truck Rental, just completed a redesign of their site and many Indigians have been up countless hours this weekend launching the new site. It is LIVE and open to 10% of the site traffic. It is very exciting, as this redesign started back in May 2007 for planning, so it is great to see the finished product. There are a few minor bugs, but all in all, it is functioning as expected. I hopped on this AM to check it out and do a little testing myself. If you want to check it out feel free to go to http://tx.budgettruck.com/. Since only 10% of the users get the redesigned site, unless you use this specific URL, you may not get the new site. Just a note though, if you use this URL you will see some SSL warnings. That is expected since the certificate is for http://www.budgettruck.com/.Great job to Laura Ling and Team and everyone at Indigio involved in the successful launch of the site.