The Rambling Insomniac

I was recently on a business trip to San Diego, and one of my co-workers was all excited about going to see an aircraft carrier museum that is there in the bay. I thought to myself, “Man, how dorky is that!?” and I told him I wasn’t interested in going. A week later, he showed me the pictures he took on his tour, and they were really cool! I so should have gone with him on his excursion.

Missing out on that opportunity got me to thinking about what defines a dork and overall dorkiness in general. According to Urbandictionary.com, a “Dork” is defined as “Someone who has odd interests, and is often silly at times. A dork is also someone who can be themselves and not care what anyone thinks.” That’s a pretty lenient definition of dork if you ask me.

So I wonder if a lot of people perceive me as a dork? Dorky things about me include:
- I like polka and yodeling music.
- I wear t-shirts with Dr. Seuss and Underdog on them.
- I was addicted to antique shopping for many years.
- I’m a 42 year-old white guy, and I went to see Snoop Dogg last night.
- I ride a moped.
- I prefer a good drama movie to an action movie any day.
- I constantly go to Weather.com just to see the latest radar images.
- I love bowling, as well as watching bowling on TV.
- I think KISS is one of the greatest rock bands in the entire history of the world.
- I watch the Food Network more than I watch ESPN.
- I write a weekly blog for Germantownnow.com.
 
Looking at that list, I could certainly see how others would look at me and say “Holy cow, what a dork!” And these are only the dorky parts of me I’m willing to admit! So I guess when you think about it, we all probably have a little bit of dork in us. Isn't being a dork simply part of enjoying life? I'm actually starting to think that it's okay to be a dork.

So, stand up and shout all of you dorks out there! Go ahead and admit that you love the Broadway Show Stomp! Tell the rest of the world that you get goose bumps each year when the E.A.A. Airventure comes to Oshkosh! Don’t be shy to tell a friend that when you’re in your car alone, you’ll crank up the radio when you hear Dancing Queen by ABBA and sing every word! Tell all your buddies at the bar that you’re still afraid of the flying monkeys from The Wizard of Oz! And my goodness, go ahead and wear your old Zubaz to the next Packer party you go too.

I’d write more about the dork in all of us, but right now, I’m going to go and relax and watch my favorite TV show, America’s Funniest Home Videos. I am such a dork!

G’Night G’Town!

“I think I've been able to fool a lot of people because I know I'm a dork.” ~ Gwen Stefani

I always love trying new things. It’s what makes life interesting to me, and I usually won’t shrug at the opportunity to try or do something different. Here are just a few things that I’ve had the opportunity to try in the past month or so:

1. Don Julio Margaritas - Made with Don Julio tequila, Grand Marnier, Cointreau and lime juice. I’ve always loved plain old margaritas on the rocks, but this might be the only way I ever have a margarita again. Awesome!

2. Crossing the U.S. border on foot – I walked into Tijuana, and I walked (well, stumbled) out of Tijuana. It seemed really weird to simply walk into and out of another country. No passport needed? No “100 questions”? No cavity searches? Weird.

3. Arriving at the airport only 20 minutes before you plane departs - I wouldn’t recommend this to anyone. My situation wasn’t intentional, but it happened anyway. As I ran up to the gate, the gate attendants were announcing “Last call for Tom White, we are closing the cabin doors”. Whew…I almost got stuck in Minnesota that day!

4. Scorpion Tequila - By far the worst tasting tequila I ever had…especially at $14 a shot! I did eat the scorpion that was in the bottom of the bottle though. That was pretty cool…gross, but cool.

5. Flying Northwest Airlines – That airline totally sucks! I had one cancelled flight, flight delays, poor service and some of the smallest seats I’ve ever sat in. On the other end of the spectrum, I also flew Midwest Airlines this month. It would be a crying shame if Northwest takes over Midwest and we lose such an awesome local airline.

6. Pacifico beer – After about 8 Coronas in Tijuana, I needed a change. Now I’m hooked, as Pacifico is way better tasting than Corona.

7. Chilean Sea Bass –I’ve had Sea Bass before, but never had Chilean Sea Bass. It was wonderful, and I’d highly recommend it if you have an opportunity to try it.

8. Sneezing into my arm – Stick with me on this one…. I learned from a clinical presenter at a conference, that people sneezing into their hands was the number one cause of the spread of contagious illnesses. He suggested that everyone learn to change the habit of sneezing into your hand, to sneezing into your arm. I’ve been trying to do it, but it’s a hard habit to break!

9. Grilled asparagus - I usually like to roast asparagus, and never even considered grilling it before. Not bad!

10. Writing a short blog - Well, I tried, but as always, this one sort of rambled on again.

G’Night G’Town!

When I look back now over my life and call to mind what I might have had simply for taking and did not take, my heart is like to break. ~William Hale White

I’m not sure about you, but the heat and humidity has been taking its toll on my already limited creative processes for the past couple of weeks. On top of that, I’ve been busy traveling to a couple distant locales over the past week or two. I was in Kansas City on Wednesday, and it was 102 degrees. YUCK! I sure hope that heat wave doesn’t hit Wisconsin!

So anyway, I don’t have much to say this week, so I thought I’d just post a photo of the cutest little girl on the entire planet.

For those of you that don’t know her, that’s one of the loves of my life, my daughter, Lyndsy Jo.

Stay cool G’Town!

In summer, the song sings itself. ~William Carlos Williams

I was at work last Friday afternoon, and for a multitude of reasons, I was having an incredibly crappy day. So I did what any normal person having a bad day does (besides go home)……I put on some Christmas music. “Christmas music?” you ask. Absolutely! I love Christmas music, and I go through a phase every summer where I’ll throw in a couple CD’s just to get my fix.

But here’s my problem, I’ve had that song “Sleigh bells ring, are you listening” stuck in my head ever since. Even as I was swimming in the lake with my kids at the beach on Sunday, all I could think about was white snow a glistening! These same thoughts of a winter wonderland led me to burning some pinecone incense in our air-conditioned house yesterday. Then on top of that, having sleigh bells ringing in my head all weekend gave me a major craving for some Chex mix. So without hesitation, I whipped up a batch last night. And as I was sampling the Chex mix before it even cooled down from the oven, it gave me the taste for a Lambrusco spritzer, which is one of my favorite holiday drinks (Hmmm…..I might need to stop at the liquor store on the way home from work today!). And heck, if I’m going to have some Lambrusco, I might as well go ahead and stop at Empire Fish and get some smoked salmon, because that is starting to sound really good right now too. You know what else sounds really good? One of those little pecan cookies rolled around in powdered sugar. Oh, and what about some of those awesome little Simma’s cheesecakes that only seem to come around at Christmastime? Yummy!!!

Wait a minute here…it’s supposed to be 90+ degrees and humid outside today. I better dig out an old Beach Boys CD so I can get off of this Christmas kick I’m on.

But man, a raw beef and onion sandwich sounds awfully good right now!

G’Night G’Town!

Christmas, children, is not a date. It is a state of mind. ~Mary Ellen Chase