Photo: denverjeffrey

And you thought today was just the start of spring in the Northern Hemisphere. For Americans, it's National Corn Dog Day. In this household, we're celebrating something more special on this day of new beginnings and corny traditions: It also happens to be Rufus' birthday!

We're not having corn dogs.

But it does seem somehow apropos. The last year of his being has been documented in a series of carnival-of-life posts. So if you'll indulge me, I'd like to honor Rufus by taking a look back. How are you celebrating National Corn Dog Day? I'm counting the many reasons why Rufus is a beloved character in my life...<< MORE >>

Utah! It's often spelled with an exclamation point. Once you visit, it's easy to see why. Since the last two Photo Fridays here have been dedicated to the excited punctuation-worthy Canyonlands(!!!), I thought I'd use today's post to tell you about a different kind of point:

Dead Horse Point!

Oh, it deserves that little punctuation punch too. It's a Utah State Park, located just 32 miles from Moab. You come to the entrance on the way to Island in the Sky, the north district of Canyonlands. I recommend stopping — It's well worth the extra time...<< MORE >>

Photo: Hooked on Life

"If the damned worm would just learn to sleep in a little longer, the early bird gon' go and eat sum'n else."  — Unknown

This is the philosophy of man I once overheard in New Orleans. I suspect he might have lived on a regular Breakfast of Champions himself. You know —  the kind of breakfast that includes beer and cold pizza . You would probably never hear this kind of sentiment from someone who eats from a Wheaties box.

Oh, sage advocate for laziness - where do you find the stamina to come up with such revolutionary ideas?...<< MORE >>

photo:  kk

You know the Irish haven't been particularly lucky, right? Oh, I'm sure there have been individuals who've struck gold or caught the big one. But with the country's history of colonization, starvation and mass emigration, that whole Luck of the Irish thing is ironic.

I have the luck of the Irish. At least, I did when I attended St. Patrick's Day festival in Savannah, GA, which boasts the second largest gathering of green-clad revelers in the US. What a party! It was fantastic! I was all of 20 at the time. And I thank my lucky shamrocks only my ego got hurt.

Don't get the wrong impression of Savannah's annual spectacle just because I had bad luck. It wasn't the crowd that posed a danger. It was that one cute guy in the window of the pub...<< MORE >>

This is our cat Jackpot doing his Julius Caesar impression this morning. I forgot to tell him to "Beware the Ides of March."

"Beware the Ides of March."

What a great soundbite. If William Shakespeare were living today, he'd surely be inducted into the political spin-zone as a guy who knows how to make public opinion shift...<< MORE >>

photo: Bill Gracey

A long day doesn't sound like a thing to look forward to unless you're talking about extended sunlight. Ahhhhh, magnificent sun — I think losing an hour today is a small price for more of the stuff going forward. Yeah, I know. It's the Earth's rotation that affects when we see the sun, and the Vernal Equinox is still a week away. But as a resident of the Northern Hemisphere in March, I'm okay with the time change to help the long days along.

So I made a list on this first day of Daylight Savings — Places to celebrate a long day...<< MORE >>

Southern Utah's Canyonlands National Park is divided into north and south districts. The North district is called Island in the Sky, which I shared  in last week's post. Just 15 miles as the crow flies, but 137 miles by car is the south district called Needles.

Needles is a lot lower in elevation than The Island, so it offers greater opportunities for extended hiking and 4WD exploration... << MORE >>

Today's Theme Thursday topic is HAT. And my first thought was: just one?

What hat you wear symbolizes profession — a visual representation of that thing you do. You know — that thing — As if there's only one, for which one size hat fits all. Of course, anyone in the workplace will tell you it doesn't quite work like that. It seems more likely your one size head needs to fit all hats.

I bet you can relate to this...
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Photo: Hustle Roses

You know I can tap dance right? Hey, I'm no Gregory Hines, rest his soul, but I've got some moves.

I don't know how this came up on my second day of work. It was a tid-bit I threw out during a game of "Get To Know The Newbie." My new teammates were gathered round my cube interviewing me to make sure I was their kind of people.

The feisty one with the fun-loving smile asked me to prove it. Her adopted catch phrase around there was, "Love your show!"  And she wanted to see mine right then and there...<< MORE >>

photo: kapungo

Back when Ronni and I knew everything, we'd sit around reflecting on our vast real-world experience. We were old and wise. I mean, seriously - we were legal. So after classes and our minimum-wage jobs wrapped up for the day, we'd take our 21 year-old selves to the bar to talk philosophy.

Sometimes we'd engage in healthy debate.

I argued, essentially, that we were currently living the renaissance of our lives. As we entered the workforce after graduation, our careers would give us increasingly specialized knowledge.

Splat...<< MORE >>