a quick stop to visit my big sister…

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One last stop before hitting the road back on home to Florida – it makes me very happy to see all that Mom has done to keep Lisa’s resting place a happy one. It’s kind of hard to believe that it’s already been almost 2 years since we moved her from the original site to one closer to where we grew up so that Mom would be able to come visit more often, but needless to say, it’s very clear that she’s done a great job and has put a lot of time into keeping the place tidy and also making sure there’s plenty of color, just as Lisa would’ve liked.

Time to hit the road now – I’ve got 1,386 miles to cover over the next two days and Cleo’s not likely to do much of the driving herself!

Until next time – stay colorful, Northern Michigan… 🙂

I Don’t Wanna Grow Up, I’m a Toys ‘R Us Kid…

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So yesterday my sister and I took a trip down to Detroit to take Sara to the airport, as she’s flying out to Seattle for work while I stay in Michigan for another week. On our way back, we stopped off in Saginaw and ended up killing a few hours at Toys ‘R Us.

I love Toys ‘R Us because even though the prices are typically a bit higher than anywhere else these days, it’s still a nice reminder of back in the days when they were the only place that a kid could get toys – long before the days of Walmart and the Internet. Mind you, this particular store was extra special to my sister and I because it’s where we’d get to go pick out a toy after enduring school shopping each year!

Seriously, I’d guess 95% of my NES games came from this place, so in a way it was kind of like returning to Never Never Land for a kid who grew up on Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda.

We wandered around this place seemingly for quite a while, and along the way, I took a few photos for later commentary like this post… 😉

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Party Pix, Doljanchi-Style!

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I think I mentioned about a week ago that the main reason for my Michigan-based travels this year was in celebration of my niece’s 1st birthday. Well, here’s some proof that said event actually took place!

The party ended up being really cool – everything was rainbow-coordinated, including the cake, and they did a great job of incorporating Doljanchi, which is the Korean celebration of the child’s first birthday (my sister is Korean). For her fortune, Madelyn chose the paths both of the scholar and then subsequently also the artist, so who knows – maybe one day she’ll pick up in the footsteps that Lori and I once walked many, many moons ago… 😉

More photos can be found over here on Flickr.

Also, I suppose with that last pic the cat is officially out of the bag … I’ve got a new book coming out next month!!! :mrgreen:

Random Observations From the Road…

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Took us two days to drive from Florida to Michigan, and made many a keen observation along the way! Here are a few of the highlights…  😐

(Florida) Pecans … Gator Heads … Truck Stop Show Girls … Knock-Off Disney T-Shirts – according to the numerous colorful interstate billboards of northern Florida, I think I’m pretty content that I picked the part of Florida that boasts actual Disney World and white sandy beaches to call my home instead.

(Florida) About two hours into the drive, we got passed by someone with an Angry Birds Jet Ski in the back of their truck. I didn’t get a photo because I was driving, but rest assured, it was awesome!

(Georgia) According to some other billboards in the deep south, I get the impression that some residents of Georgia aren’t particularly happy with President Obama and will be looking forward to our next general election for an opportunity to elect a different candidate.

(Georgia) As seen in a men’s room stall at the Georgia Welcome Center – “Jesus is coming soon – repent now or fall forever.” Sounds like kind of a buzzkill, if you ask me, but I thought I’d pass it along just in case it ends up being important…

(Georgia) LOL, from the HOV Lane FAQ in preparation of driving I-75 through Atlanta – “If a mother is 8 months pregnant, does the unborn infant count?” Response: “No. The infant would not count as a passenger until after birth.”

(Tennessee) Mooyah is a fantastic name for a burger joint.

(Kentucky) The Liquor Barn seemed like a pretty appropriate redneck name for a liquor store.

(Ohio) Honestly slept through about 90% of it. Probably the best trip through the Buckeye State that I’ve ever had…

(Michigan) Skunks. LOTS of skunks!!!

(Michigan) Also, when we pulled into our destination in Northern Michigan at roughly 12:30am, the thermometer in the car said 55 degrees. Eeek?!?!?!

Notable Mentions…

  • Worst Driver goes to the crazy weaver of Atlanta, who I watched ping-pong between the white lines for 15 of the worst miles I’ve ever driven through the city.
  • Honorable Mention to the Canadian driver in Michigan who came up from behind to pass me no less than three different times, always with his high beams on.
  • Best Restroom went to a gas station in Ohio for being the only restroom the entire trip without anti-semitic inclinations scribbled on the walls.
  • Average Gas Mileage was about 43 mpg, filling up four times over the course of ~1,400 miles.

 

Leaping Into Vacation Time!

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I eluded to it a bit earlier, but tomorrow I’m going on vacation for a couple of weeks.

Wife and puppy and yours truly are driving up to Northern Michigan from Florida to spend some time with my family up there … primarily to take part in the celebration of my baby niece’s 1st birthday, but we’re also planning for some well-needed R&R as well!

I’m not really sure what you can expect for blogging from me over the next couple of weeks – I’m sure I’ll still post a few random things about the trip itself here and there, but I don’t think I’m necessarily going to hold myself to posting every single day like I normally do. Besides, I do have a couple of other writing projects that I’d like to try and get caught up on while I’m there, so I might end up staying relatively quiet here and using most of my time to focus on those instead.

If nothing else until then, hopefully I’ll have some fun stuff to show for it by the time I get back, as well as some relief after an opportunity to recharge the old batteries, to boot!

Until then, here’s a picture of a cute, little frog that I took outside of our new house when it was raining the other day. Everybody likes frogs, don’t they?! 😉

Why Mars?

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“…our human horizon popped out 200,000 miles. Forever, we would see the Earth differently, because we had seen it from someplace truly foreign.”

I thought this was a neat article about the significance of exploring Mars, in a time when plenty of people are keen to argue that NASA is a huge waste of tax dollars, despite all of the awesome scientific advances that are a direct result, because the importance of re-assessing mankind’s perspective of where it stands in the universe every so often is one that you can’t put a price tag on, but will no doubt be of the few truly notable points of progress when you look back on our civilization hundreds or even thousands of years from now…

The Man in the Moon
http://www.nytimes.com/2012/08/28/opinion/the-man-in-the-moon.html