Diary of the Daft

A quick, before bedtime top-ten bullet list of stuff on my mind from the last two days:

1. I am SO pumped for the Iron Man release this weekend. (and HellBoy is on the horizon too!)
2. There may be but one single "fine dining" restaurant in this area that consistently offers good food, good service and a good overall experience: The Courthouse Pub. We ate somewhere else that shall remain nameless today for lunch and I left wondering "Why do they do things that way?" It wasn't awful, just very, very mundane.
   
3. My daughter Cheyenne is a surprisingly good stage actor. She needs to be a bit louder, but she is smooth and relaxed and very "real." I'm proud of her.
4. People who let their dogs poop on the sidewalk and don't clean up after the animal ought to be forced to pick it up barehanded in addition to being ticketed...unbelievable that they let that stuff lie there.
5. I have the weirdest and most intensely vivid dreams of any human being ever. Sometimes that can be a very cool thing. Too often it is a very unpleasant thing.
6. My Dad is a really great guy. Occasionally he pisses me off but more often than not I look heavenward and say "thanks" for the parents I have. I am saying that right now because he is helping me out big-time with something that I find irritating as hell and am glad that I'm able to off-load onto him.
7. I am pretty sure that God had a hand in the original creative spark that led to the creation of cigars and that he heartily approves of our enjoying such things like this that he has placed here for us to enjoy. Same goes for beer, wine and coffee.
   
8. I hate getting up early on Wednesday mornings more than I hate getting up early on any other day of the week. It's almost midnight now and I'm irritated with the fact that I have to get up in five or so hours...and I feel this way every week.
   
9. My wife is hot.
10. I'm going to begin posting on our Diary of the Daft blog this week. Get ready.
    

A wee R&R in me own backyard.

Sunday after work we made a supply run to Appleton; Monday I worked on taxes and Internet tasks; Tuesday we came in to clean and wax the floors and do some inventory. Two weeks straight with no days off. So, Tuesday afternoon I figured I had earned a little respite...and what better way to unwind and unload than to sit next to a campfire with a good beer, good cigar and a pretty good dog. I decreed it so, and it was so enacted.

One of my current favorite beers, Fiddler's Elbow, from England's Wychwood Brewery...a summer style wheat ale with a medium body and light citrus taste, a curvaceous brown bottle and funky labeling. Refreshing is how I would describe this beer in a single word.

A new cigar, courtesy of my good friend Bill Granger: Drew Estates' Liga Privada No. 9. Looking at the Drew Estates website this morning, they describe the Liga Privada as "...flawless in construction, flavor and character. Rich, complex and full bodied without being harsh, this Liga is best described in one word: Satisfying." I would have to agree. It is a lovely cigar, with a rich chocolate brown wrapper, smooth and consistent draw, and good right down to the finger-burning nub. Thanks a heap, Bill. You made my day with that fine gift.

And our still squirrely and light-on-his-feet Jack Russel pup, Ringo. We got him for Christmas when he was the size of an actual squirrel, and while he's bigger now he still has his whirling dervish character. This was his first prolonged time spent outside and his first experience near a fire, and he was not digging it at all. I was finally able to get him to quit pulling at his leash as he tried to get as far away from the campfire as he could, until he was at least willing to curl himself up underneath my chair, facing away from the fire but with his hear turned ever-so-slightly in order to keep one eye directed suspiciously at that strange, hot and smoky monster in front of him.

It had to be in the mid-40 degrees...a tad cool, but that made the fire feel all the more comforting. So, if you need an hour or so of peace and meditation to smooth out the end of a long work-week (or two) you have my suggestion right here.

Stumpy boy

stumpyboy

Stumpy doodle

doofus stumpy

Stumpies

ornery stumpjack

A dumb contest that you will definitely NOT want to enter.

Don't go here to win prizes...you'll be cutting in on my chances to win...I'm just posting this to up my own chances. So again, don't visit this site...it stinks. http://persimmonsgal54220.blogspot.com/