Life of a Ken

Ah, the election...and thoughts

2008-09-16T10:45:00.000-05:00

"I'm a little confused. Let me see if I have this straight.....

* If you grow up in Hawaii, raised by your grandparents, you're 'exotic, different.'

* Grow up in Alaska eating mooseburgers, a quintessential American story.

* If your name is Barack you're a radical, unpatriotic Muslim.

* Name your kids Willow, Trig and Track, you're a maverick.

* Graduate from Harvard law School and you are unstable.

* Attend 5 different small colleges before graduating, you're well grounded.

* If you spend 3 years as a brilliant community organizer, become the first black President of the Harvard Law Review, create a voter registration drive that registers 150,000 new voters, spend 12 years as a Constitutional Law professor, spend 8 years as a State Senator representing a district with over 750,000 people, become chairman of the state Senate's Health and Human Services committee, spend 4 years in the United States Senate representing a state of 13 million people while sponsoring 131 bills and serving on the Foreign Affairs, Environment and Public Works and Veteran's Affairs committees, you don't have any real leadership experience.

* If your total resume is: local weather girl, 4 years on the city council and 6 years as the mayor of a town with less than 7,000 people, 20 months as the governor of a state with only 650,000 people, then you're qualified to become the country's second highest ranking executive.

* If you have been married to the same woman for 19 years while raising 2 beautiful daughters, all within Protestant churches, you're not a real Christian.

* If you cheated on your first wife with a rich heiress, and left your disfigured wife and married the heiress the next month, you're a Christian.

* If you teach responsible, age appropriate sex education, including the proper use of birth control, you are eroding the fiber of society.

* If , while governor, you staunchly advocate abstinence only, with no other option in sex education in your state's school system while your unwed teen daughter ends up pregnant , you're very responsible.

* If your wife is a Harvard graduate laywer who gave up a position in a prestigious law firm to work for the betterment of her inner city community, then gave that up to raise a family, your family's values don't represent America's.

* If you're husband is nicknamed 'First Dude', with at least one DWI conviction and no college education, who didn't register to vote until age 25 and once was a member of a group that advocated the secession of Alaska from the USA, your family is extremely admirable.

OK, much clearer now".

Um, really?

2008-07-12T18:54:00.003-05:00

One of our local sports newscasters who happens to have an awesome job, as he gets to go to the Beijing Olympics, also has the most annoying promo on his station. Said person is Eric Perkins, who I like in general, but in his Olympics promo he says about reporting from the Olympics (he's been to the last couple of them at least) that he "uses a lot of words and phrases when I report on the Olympics." Oh, um, really? You use a lot of words and um, phrases when you...speak? How ingenious of you! Apparently every other reporter has it all wrong! I'll definitely tune in to his broadcasts! Hmmm....

I'm back, and mad about something!

2008-07-09T08:37:00.002-05:00

Oh my head, I can't believe I haven't written anything in soooo long. What's up with that? Well, it's been busy, I've been busy at work which sometimes makes me craaazy, and now that summer is here, a lot to do outside and such. We actually have planted a veggie garden with tomatoes, cucumbers, squash, peppers, and eggplants and everything is doing very well! I just figured out that the tomato plants are indeterminate plants, didn't know what that was, but now know I need to prune them back like crazy to get the tomatoes the best flavor. So, that's what I'll be doing shortly. ON ANOTHER NOTE, walking back from getting coffee, almost got hit by a woman at a stoplight who wanted to turn in front of me...and yes folks, she was texting on her damn phone. I was not very happy. I basically just stood where I was in the crosswalk having the right of way, and looked at her until she stopped texting, then basically said in loud voice 'maybe you ought to be paying more attention to your driving, you almost hit me!' she didn't say anything. Well, her windows weren't open...but nonetheless, I didn't move for a few seconds, then finally I did and she pulled into the coffee shop. Apparently she couldn't wait the extra 10 seconds until she PARKED THE CAR to keep on texting. And she wasn't a younger person, she was like a soccer mom. Grrr...so that's how my day started. I know it will be better, pruning the tomato plants, going for a bike ride, walking the dogs. And I promise to write more this summer, much more often. :)

March, out like a lion!

2008-04-01T08:54:00.002-05:00

Well, it's April Fool's Day, and Mother Nature sure played a joke on us! We got about 5 inches of thick, wet snow. It's very beautiful, but sort of annoying considering we're waiting for spring to really "kick in." It should be gone by the end of the weekend, temps are expected to reach around 50 degrees. Here are some photos from around outside the house.

Wake Up World! online "morning show"

2008-03-31T09:32:00.002-05:00

I was reading in the Sunday New York Times an article about Lizz Winstead, formerly of Minneapolis and creator and original writer of "The Daily Show" that she has a new "show" in New York City. They perform this on Monday nights and it's a spoof of all the morning "talk shows." I had to check it out, of course. I had met Lizz way back in the early 1990's when I was working at the Children's Theater Company, she is a very good friend of a woman who was in Marketing at CTC at the time. Well, this show is hysterical and they put clips on their website (click here) I especially enjoyed the "Where in the **** is Davis Miles?" a great parody of Matt Lauer's "travels" on the Today show.

Project Runway spoof

2008-03-23T18:35:00.005-05:00

OK, so I am a big fan of "Project Runway" on Bravo. This last season was very interesting, and funny. SNL did a great spoof of the winner of this past season, with Amy Poehler as Christian Siriano. Check it out.

Winter, will it ever end?

2008-03-23T15:59:00.002-05:00

So it's been lightly snowing for the last day and a half. That's so tiring to me right now, heck it IS officially spring. Although the "wet" snow is pretty, I'm so over it. I'm ready to get out and about biking, walking in the sun, walking the dogs when it's nice out, and not have to put the dogs' little winter jackets on them. And Max hates the snow and cold and the wetness. He'll basically just stand there sort of "shaking" like it's the worse thing ever for him. Even when it's 40 degrees. The poor little thing. :) And I'm more than ready to get my fingers sunk into the garden areas again, we have plans to extend the main garden area and pretty much get rid of grass in that area and just have plants and flowers. And if the roses did well over the winter... we are going to add more rose bushes. What else has been happening? Not a lot I guess, I've been busy at work with our new season being on-sale. Haven't seen any films lately, but we did attend "Jane Eyre" at the Guthrie last weekend, which was incredible. "Jane Eyre" is one of my favorite classics, and this adaptation was really really good, without being six hours long. It was about 3 hours long, pretty typical for the Guthrie.

Uno, the wonder beagle!

2008-02-13T14:45:00.003-06:00

How exciting was it last night to have a beagle win the Westminster Kennel Club's "Best in Show." Excellent! A great beagle named "Uno." Max and Leo were very happy that a small hound dog like themselves won this prestigious title. Yes, what can I say that Joe and I and the dogs love watching this dog show, it's very fun and dramatic! And it was fun to see all the Pedigree dog food commercials, especially the one with the smooth, red haired dachshund, who looked just like Max! Yay, Uno!

Back from Canada

2008-01-30T11:53:00.000-06:00

I was in Toronto last week, for business basically. Some advance training on our ticketing system, and Toronto just happens to be the home base. It was a great week. The training was really informative, albeit also intense. Got to eat at some fantastic restaurants while there. And drank the best coffee ever at "Second Cup." Toronto is very cool. It's very hip and urban, and the residents are so nice. Makes the whole "Minnesota Nice" seem like nothing. I imagine it has to do with their universal health care and not having a goofy president like we do, who does stupid things. They just have an overall happiness about them. They're much more relaxed, as I think they receive much more vacation and holiday time than we do here in the US. Makes one think...
Also went to see a fun stage production called "We Will Rock You." A musical based on the music of Queen. It was really fun, although a pretty bad script and loose plot. But, the music completely made up for it, and audience members could purchase Glowsticks! Gotta love that! So, rockin' out to Queen music and waving the glowsticks arounds, it was fun. Now I'm back and we have been hit with a terrible cold spell. It's about 14 below right now, with a wind chill of -35 degrees. Not so fun. But we Minnesotans put up with it. :)

A new year

2008-01-16T13:24:00.001-06:00

My, it's been way too long since I've posted anything to the blog. Things have been pretty okay, Christmas was very nice. Two of Joe's daughters, Ree and Sonja, spent some time with us. We did an "after Christmas" holiday dinner, with them and Debbie and Rachel. Fun to watch Rachel opening up gifts. Then the new year wasn't off to such a great start. A friend of mine, ours, and a co-worker of mine, committed suicide a couple of days before the new year. That was really, really difficult. Very unexpected, and no one would have had any idea he would do this. He was one of the most happy, smiley and funny people around. We miss him a ton. But, now we move on and forge ahead to make 2008 a really good year! I promise to write more often in the new year. Cheers for now!

Frida Kahlo exhibit

2007-11-19T10:20:00.001-06:00

This weekend, Joe and I went to the Walker Art Center to see the Frida Kahlo exhibit. It was incredible. I have been familiar with her work, her vibrant use of colors, and all the self portraits she had done, but I had no idea about her personal life and all the pain she had in life. She was in a terrible trolley car accident that doctors thought she would never walk again, and in her recovery she had an easel propped upon her cast as she lie there, and she painted some of her most amazing works. At the Walker they have these great audio guides, that work like a PDA so you don't have to "follow the person speaking" from painting to painting, but rather use a keypad to enter the number of the painting you're standing near to hear about it, and also see video and get much more information. I recommend this exhibit very highly, if you get a chance, go see it.

Meet the new guy! Leo!

2007-11-04T14:48:00.000-06:00

Joe and I have been thinking about getting another dog for Max, and preferably another dachshund. Well, yesterday Joe was looking at the Humane Society website and lo and behold, there was a dachshund out there! So, we drove to Golden Valley to take a look at him, and the time we spent with him in the Visitation Room, we knew he was coming home with us. So, here he is. Leo (Leonardo). He's a standard size blue dapper with tan colorings, and he's just been awesome. He didn't have any "issues" adjusting to a new home, it's like he's always been here. Max is a bit "indifferent" towards him, hasn't taken on that alpha male side of him yet. They get along pretty well. Leo is 3 years old, Max is now 10, so this should help Max become more energized as well. I'll try to get a good photo of the two of them together, but here he is... Leo.

Two shows make for interesting dynamics!

2007-10-15T15:25:00.000-05:00

We have two shows of very different themes running currently at the Ordway. The show in our main hall is "Whistle Down the Wind" which has a sort of Christian theme to it. The other in our smaller cabaret theatre is "The Rocky Horror Show." It amuses me, and my staff, to see the audience of both shows converge, since they have the same start time. One audience is a lot of church ladies, the other is a more "goth" crowd, with audience members dressing up as characters in the show. Can you guess which is which? :) Here are a couple of photos of the difference between the two shows' audiences. (the one from Rocky Horror is the actual cast we have).

New Favorite TV Program

2007-10-10T18:16:00.000-05:00

I enjoy trying to catch the new fall TV programs, and to find something that really really grabs me and reigns me in. "Alias" had done that, "Six Feet Under" had done that. My new favorite show this fall is on ABC and called "Pushing Daisies." For one thing, it has a narration by the incomparable Jim Dale, a British "voice" who recorded/read all the Harry Potter books for CDs and Book on Tapes. The cinematography is very cool, the script is really fun and smart. It's about a man named Ned, who discovers as a small boy that he can "raise the dead" by touching them. BUT for only one minute, if longer that "being" will stay alive, but someone else will die. It's not morbid or sad, it's very intriguing and thoughtful and funny. And it has Kristen Chenoweth! Gotta love that! She sings in episode two! Hurrah! Try it out if you haven't yet. Then switch to NBC for "Bionic Woman", and then back to ABC for Peter Krause in "Dirty Sexy Money." Ahhh, television.... (the photo is from "Pushing Daisies" Ned runs a pie shop called, very humourously, The Pie Hole - how clever is that!)

White Picket Fence - Be Gone!

2007-09-22T15:52:00.000-05:00

Long time no blog, sorry about that. Well, we have been a-fence painting. The fence around our house has been white, presumably for some time, and was probably just the primer. So we chose a lighter green color, painted the front gate only to test it, and being on a busy street, got a lot of comments about the color from neighbors walking by, and even people in cars stopping at the stoplight. The color was too light and pastel-like, which really didn't go well with the colors of the house. Then we remembered we had some green paint the same color as the house itrim, and tried that...and people loved it. Including us, it just makes everything "pop." Take a look at the house with the green after... Looks pretty good, doesn't it?

Bridge Collapse

2007-08-08T15:54:00.000-05:00

Been a long time since I've written anything, not sure why...maybe just the fact that summer is winding down, not a lot new to say, I'm not sure. I'm going to try to be better, though, and keep this up more. We did go look at the 35W bridge today, that collapsed a week ago already! It's pretty profound, and sad, and scary. Knowing people who travel over it on a daily basis, as well as us crossing it probably weekly, it's a bit unnerving. Thankfully everyone we know who may have been near it (especially Debbie, Jeremy and Rachel who live right near it) are okay. Here's a photo Joe took today as we stopped by the Guthrie Theater to go out onto their cantilever bridge to take it in. Very tragic.

More of the Clintons

2007-07-05T13:46:00.001-05:00

Here are a few more photos from the 4th of July and chatting with Bill and Hillary Clinton. One is of my cousin's husband Casey holding the sign Debbie made that said "Hillary - My Baby *hearts* you!" which drew them our way.

Hillary Clinton, meet baby Rachel

2007-07-05T13:28:00.000-05:00

We were in Clear Lake, Iowa for the Fourth of July, as we normally do most summers, staying at the homestead. This year, an extra fun for us in the Fourth of July parade, as I mentioned in previous posting, Bill and Hillary Clinton were walking in our little ol' parade! How fun! Well, we were able to get the attention of Mrs Clinton's press rep who had Hillary and Bill come over to our little group and Hillary saw Rachel and held out her arms and took her up in the air and said at least three times "She's soo adorable." So, it's official. Rachel is adorable. :) It was a very very cool few minutes, with Hillary talking to us, and then Bill comes over and is shaking hands, puts his arm around Hillary while she's holding Rachel. I'm not kidding when I say we were literally shaking the whole time, it was so amazing and intense. Here are three photos from that day. One of the Clintons taking notice of Rachel and coming over to us, the other of Hillary with Rachel. What an incredible day.

Upcoming Fourth of July

2007-06-28T10:09:00.000-05:00

We will be heading to Clear Lake again this Fourth of July, and Joe just found out that there will be "special guests" in the 4th of July parade - none other than Bill and Hillary Clinton! Wow, this is huge. I'll be curious to see the response they get. Of course little Rachel will have her "I love Hillary '08" shirt on! We foresee a great photo op, baby kissin' from a presidential candidate! Stay tuned for more upon our return late next week.

Update on Max dog

2007-06-18T12:33:00.001-05:00

Thanks to people who inquired about little Max dog. He spent most of the day Friday at the University Animal Clinic, and the tests all went well and all came back negative. What we learned was that he doesn't have anything bad like bacterial infection, fungus or cancer. He basically has rhinitis, an inflammation in his nose that could be caused by any number of things such as smoke, incense, perfumes, carpet smells...all of which we have none. So he goes back to his regular vet this evening to get probably some more intense steroids to get the inflammation down. Let's hope this helps! On another note, my friend and co-worker Kasey has a friend who does anesthesia at the U of M and was there with Max when he went under, and she said how much everyone at the clinic just loved carrying Max around like a little baby, and how good he behaved. :)

Max

2007-06-14T08:42:00.000-05:00

Our little dog, Max, as some of you know, has been having quite the nasal problems in the past few months. Lots of intense, almost "violent" sneezes, mucus flying out of his nose when he sneezes, and recently a sort of 'hacking' of mucus in his throat by trying to get it out of his nasal passage. He's been on a couple of different types of allergy medicine, which didn't really help. So our vet said he may have possibly fungus in his nose, or an infection, or even (heaven forbid, and it's doubtful) a tumor of some sort in there. So we took him this week to the Univ of MN Animal Clinic, and now tomorrow he has to go back to put under anesthesia so they can do a CT Scan and if they don't find anything from that, then a rhinosocpy (spelling?) where they would put a tube with a little camera in his nose to search for what may be causing this. We are very hopeful that they will find something that is easily cleared up. It makes me sad like crazy. I know that obviously the clinic is extremely professional and I have no need to worry, but I do. He's just our cute, helpless little dog who can't speak for himself. He can't tell us what's wrong. He may have to stay overnight in case there is bleeding in his nose from being poked with a tube up there, but I hope not. I hope he's back home with us Friday night...a bit groggy from the anesthesia...but at least at home.

Late in posting

2007-05-30T15:01:00.000-05:00

I've been a bit remiss in my posting lately. What's been happening...Joe, I and Max went to Clear Lake over the Memorial Day holiday to spend it with Debbie, Jeremy, Rachel and of course, Daisy dawg. The weather was great, we fixed these awesome peach glazed pork chops with a peach salsa, yum yum. This week is the International Children's Festival at my job at the Ordway. So, lots of school children this week, and then the weekend is family weekend, so it will be very hectic. Monday night Annemarie stayed with us, and we watched this terrific Will Ferrell film "Stranger than Fiction." Not a typical Will Ferrell film at all, this was just wonderful. Very touching, good humour, rather poignant. If you haven't seen it, rent it.

Gyuto Monks

2007-05-14T09:49:00.000-05:00

Saturday night we went to a Tantric chant concert with our great friends Lynn and Gene. It was performed by a group of Gyuto Tibetan monks, and was completely fascinating and meditative. Where this sound comes from within each of the monks I do not know. It's a very deep chant from within them. To quote their website "The monks of Gyuto have perfected a special type of chant in which each monk sings not a single note but an entire chord. “This remarkable, transcendentally beautiful sound,” notes Robert Thurman, Chair of the Dept. of Religion, Columbia University, “is thought to arise only from the throat of a person who has realized selfless wisdom.”" Check out their website here

The "Find of the Week!"

2007-05-07T17:32:00.000-05:00

This last weekend was the annual "Tangletown Garage Sale" weekend, so Joe and I went exploring the sales in our neighborhood. Didn't find a lot, but we did find this Italian print from an exhibit in Verona, Italy of the work of one Pisanello. It's very cool and sort of large. It completely fits right in to our decor and on a big space in our house. And it was a find at only $10. Can't go wrong there, am I right?

"My Dinner with Rachel"

2007-04-20T09:24:00.000-05:00

I just think this is the cutest picture, doesn't it look like Rachel is completely having a conversation with her daddy?

Virginia Tech Killings

2007-04-18T14:46:00.000-05:00

The news has, of course, been horrid this week. The killing of the 33 people at Virginia Tech is a terrible, violent, and tragic event. Why is it, then, that it doesn't seem that people (myself included) are as shocked about this as we were eight years ago when the Columbine shootings occured? Have we as people and a society become so de-sensitized from all the killings everywhere, the war in Iraq...that this sort of massacre isn't shocking to us anymore? How terrible if so. It makes me sad for the state of our society.

Taking A Stand

2007-04-16T13:52:00.000-05:00

I receive email updates from the United States Humane Society, and have recently received updates about the atrocities that happen in Canada this time of year, the slaughter of thousands of baby seal pups. I have and do donate to this organization, as well as a specific organization that is fighting this slaughter, http://www.ProtectSeals.org Go to their website and sign the petition that you are opposed to this horrific abuse and killing. Boycott Canadian fish products and seafood. Take a stand with me!

What I've Read Recently

2007-04-03T12:24:00.000-05:00

Over the weekend (yes I read it almost non-stop, it was that good) I read the latest book by Cormac McCarthy called "The Road." I've been a fan of his since "All the Pretty Horses" back in the 1980's, but this is one of his best I say. It's a story about a man and the boy (father and son) who are survivors in a post-apocalyptic world. We aren't really told what exactly has done all the destruction of living trees, grass, wildlife and most of human life. Whether it be nuclear disaster or ultimately the devastation of the earth by global warming, we just know that all these things no longer exist. As the man and the boy (they don't have names, making this even more real like it could happen to me) fight starvation, cold and "the bad guys" (cannibalistic thugs) this is ultimately a story of a father's love for his son and what all we would do to keep him alive. This is a great read, a haunting novel about civilization's slow death after the lights go out.

Life imitates Art; or Art imitates Life?

2007-03-26T12:54:00.000-05:00

It was a splendid weekend this past weekend. Spent some good time outside doing some clean up in the yard, taking long walks...Joe took this cute photo of Max and "a look alike" we have on our front porch. Max was feeling left out from the blog recently.

Sesame Street and Bird Flu Oh My!

2007-03-22T12:15:00.000-05:00

This is very funny from MAD TV. Click here to view.

Snow No More!

2007-03-05T15:38:00.000-06:00

We just got through two lovely snowstorms, the most recent on Thursday and Friday. I spent most of that time indoors unfortunately, with a bad sore throat and cold symptoms. Joe did a lot of shoveling and some guy with a snow blower helped out (our neighbor Gale enlisted his help), but here are a couple of good photos that Joe took from this last snowstorm. Max looks so tiny with all that whiteness around him, and the house is practically buried with all the snow! It's lovely, but it was sure messy. It's fun, though, to have a house and sidewalk and driveway of one's own to maintain.

Problems with Photos

2007-02-19T10:24:00.000-06:00

So for some reason I haven't been able to change the "Cute Rachel Photo of the Week" but here is what I intended to put in that spot, this cute photo taken yesterday at Debbie and Jeremy's. Joe and I took some yummy homemade chili over for lunch, and brought Max so he could play with Daisy. Isn't the purple outfit just too cute?

R.I.P. Anna Nicole Smith

2007-02-09T10:20:00.000-06:00

I have an Anna Nicole Smith bobblehead in my office (don't ask) that we made a little shrine with since her death yesterday, here's a photo.

Houston, Conference Day Four

2007-02-01T08:38:00.000-06:00

This morning I am moderating a session on "Innovations in Direct Marketing and E-Mail Marketing." I'm sort of nervous about it, hence why I haven't told hardly anyone about it. Basically I am sort of just the emcee for the workshop, introductions of the panelists, keeping them on a timeline and running the Q & A session. I met one of the speakers yesterday by happenstance, she was at the table I sat at for lunch, and she was pretty cool and funny. So, just having some coffee to keep me alert and I hope my nerves stabilize. I don't much like talking "in public" not sure why I have that fear, but hey...gotta face it sometime I suppose. Wish me luck!

Houston Day Two

2007-01-30T16:49:00.000-06:00

Today was "Venue Tour" day, we get to choose between different types of tours, like theater tour or sports venue tours. Hmmm...wonder which one I chose? Well, that would be Theater tour for me. First stop was the Alley Theater (click here) and the two photos here are from a current production in their smaller black box theater called "Subject to Fits: Reflections on Dostoevsky's "The Idiot." Of course I had to take a photo of the "body" on the side stage. They are the first regional theater of the country (or maybe second) founded in something like 1947. The theater shown in these photos was completely underwater during one of the past hurricanes, losing pretty much all their space, seating, etc. Next post will be about the Wortham Theater.

Houston, Texas - that's where I am!

2007-01-29T17:16:00.000-06:00

I'm in Houston for a conference this week. The conference is downtown at the Hilton, that's where I'll be through Friday. The hotel is lovely, the rooms are lovely, but...the area around is um, boring and sort of scary. Took a little walk to explore and see what there is to see around this part of downtown, and well...not too much. Basically right across the street from the Toyota Center, home of the Houston Rockets, etc. To start, here's a photo of my room, and the 'lovely' view out of my room! Sighhh... I'll take photos this week, mostly of folks here at the conference, but maybe some tomorrow of our theater district tour. More later in the week!

Slowly but Surely...Winter has Arrived

2007-01-18T09:31:00.000-06:00

It took awhile up north here for winter to arrive, but at last it has. We have snow and we have a cold snap. Here are a couple of photos I took from our back/side porch. The structure in the background is this old, historic water tower. Around this tower there are twelve (I think twelve) large "soldiers" with swords, whom are the "Guardians of the Bacteria" - they are there to protect the water from bad bacteria. Of course, there is no water in the tower any longer, it is now just a lovely piece of historical architecture. UPDATE: Joe did some research on this water tower, and apparently it IS in use. Who'd of thunk it?

New Baby Photos

2007-01-06T16:04:00.000-06:00

Today I took lunch to Debbie and Jeremy's, Joe has a cold so stayed home today, didn't want to spread germs. Here are some new photos of baby Rachel, a day from her one week birthday tomorrow! :)

Photos of Rachel Part Trois

2007-01-01T18:39:00.000-06:00

Here is a very proud uncle Ken with Rachel, and a photo from yesterday of Rachel getting her first shampoo! :)

More Rachel Photos!

2007-01-01T18:26:00.000-06:00

We were at the hospital this morning, and baby and Mom and Dad are doing great. Here are three photos, Mom and Rachel, Joe and Rachel and the Fisher family - Natalie and Morris (Jeremy's parents) and the new family. Somewhere there is a photo of me and Rachel which I will post soon, so look for that. She is just a little angel, and it's so amazing to see how much her face has changed in a day. She's just a beauty.

Meet Rachel Mae Fisher!

2006-12-31T16:21:00.000-06:00

Today was a big day in our family! My sister Debbie and husband Jeremy had their baby! A beautiful 7 lbs, 9 oz girl named Rachel Mae. She is just beautiful and has the most hair I've seen on a baby. Mother and daughter are doing very well. She was born at (seriously) 12:31pm on 12-31! She must have a great sense of timing! :) Here is one picture of her, more to come later as we go back to the hospital to visit. Yay!! It's so exciting!!

Funny video/cast of "White Christmas"

2006-12-27T14:13:00.000-06:00

Check out this "music video" on youtube. The performers are in our production of "Irving Berlin's White Christmas" and they made this video on one of their days off. Taken from the Saturday Night Live skit with Chris Parnell and Andy Samburg, this is hysterical. Click here.

Me a Survivor fan

2006-12-18T09:10:00.000-06:00

In addition to my love of Project Runway, I've also been a big fan of "Survivor" for most of its 13 seasons. Last night was the big ol' finale of Survivor: Cook Islands and I was soooo happy that Yul won! Woo! He played the game so well, and was incredibly nice and sincere to boot. Yay, Yul! One million bucks, man!

Photos from Dec. 9 Party

2006-12-15T10:11:00.000-06:00

Took awhile for me to get to these, but here are some photos from our Housewarming/Birthday party last Saturday night. We also did an interfaith house blessing, and one of the photos of my and Joe's backsides (ah well..) are us putting a mezzuzah on the front door. My brother in law Jeremy read a Hebrew blessing for us, it was very nice.

Beginning to look like Christmas!

2006-12-06T13:38:00.000-06:00

It's been awhile since I've written anything, sorry about that. It's been crazy busy at work, we currently have a six week run of "Irving Berlin's White Christmas" and it's nuts at the Ordway. People are crazy to get good tickets, which are limited at this point. So, been working longer hours, and come home rather tired. Joe and I put up lights outside of the house for the holidays, in the photo what you can't see is some cool lights near the street, outside of the fence. I'll try to get a photo of that, too and post it, it's very pretty. We got these "flood lights" and put red bulbs in them, which looks awesome against our house at night. Now all we need is some snow!

Max is stylin'

2006-12-06T12:09:00.000-06:00

Isn't Max just too cute in his winter sweater? He doesn' t wear it indoors, we're not that weird. Just outside.

This is what "I'm Sorry!" looks like

2006-11-09T14:39:00.000-06:00

My future Niece or Nephew!

2006-11-01T08:55:00.000-06:00

My sister Debbie is expecting a baby in early January, the first one in our immediate family! She sent me this awesome sonogram of the little boy or girl, isn't it incredible? Look at the hair on top of the head, and I think the nose is a Hahn nose! :) Debbie and Jeremy don't want to know the sex of the baby, which is great, so it will be a beautiful surprise!

Way behind!

2006-10-30T13:38:00.000-06:00

Boy, so it's been awhile since I've written anything, oy! Not sure where the time has gone. But nothing too new to report, actually. I was sick a few days last week, caught a nasty ol' cold that pretty much had me slammed for two and a half days, so spent the time at home resting, reading, resting, drinking tea and juices, resting, drinking more tea and juices. Today feeling about 90% better than I did Thursday for sure. And it happens to be a very lovely day in Minneapolis/St Paul, temperature close to 60, sunny skies, lovely. During the sick time, I started a new book (it seems I write a lot about books in my blog, don't I?) that I'm also just loving. It's called "The Devil in the White City" and it's an historical book about the building of the Chicago Columbian Exposition of 1893, revolving around two main real life persons, Daniel Burnham the architect behind the design of this World's Fair, and H.H. Holmes, probably America's first serial killer, who was doing his bad deeds in southern Chicago at the time leading up to and during the Exposition of 1893. Very fascinating story, and a true one. The book reads like a great novel, but the fact that it's all true is even more compelling. I promise to keep up on my writing better than I have! That's all for now.

What I'm Reading

2006-10-03T12:13:00.000-05:00

Or actually, what I've just completed reading. This incredible story called "The Thirteenth Tale." It's a great story for people who love books, who love to read, and who love a "ghost story" of sorts. Not a scary ghost story, but think beyond the idea of a ghost and what that might mean outside of the supernatural, and that's what this story is. I LOVED this book, I pretty much devoured it in a week. It's about a woman who works in her father's antique book store and she gets the opportunity to write the biography of "the most beloved and famous author" in England. This author is an elderly woman who has been known to "tell lies" when asked about herself and her past. Now she feels she is ready to tell the whole truth. She gets the biographer's attention by saying..."Let me tell you a ghost story..." no interest from Margaret, the biographer, then "Let me tell you a story about twins..." and that hooks Margaret. Read this great book and see why....

We have a Raccoon!

2006-09-26T15:33:00.000-05:00

Last night I was looking out of our sunroom window into the dark front yard, and noticed an animal sitting by the tree that was too big to be one of the many squirrels that hangs around, eating bird seed from the bird feeder, when suddenly some light came from the street and I was like "Wow, we have a badger or what are they called... in our yard, Joe come look!" And sure enough, there was this large sort of fat raccoon just digging away in the dirt eating bird seed and whatever else he was finding, and just staring at us. Joe took his camera outside and of course, the 'coon went up into the tree, hence this great photo. Joe has named him "Old Deuteronomy" from the T.S. Eliot book of poems of Cats. We think maybe he was the cause of some scratchin' we were hearing one late night that sounded like it was from the roof.

Reality TV addiction?

2006-09-11T14:11:00.000-05:00

So, somehow I got completely sucked into "Project Runway" this season. Practically can't get enough of it. And the waiting for a new episode on a weekly basis just makes the time inbetween episodes go ever more slowly. I just have to find out "who will be auf'd" each week! In all honesty, this is a really good show as reality TV goes. I am a fan of "Survivor" "the Amazing Race" and things like "Who Will Be the Next Food Network Star?" or "Who Will be the Next HGTV Design Star?" (and by the way, I'm super happy that David won this one!!) But Project Runway just won't let me go. The designers are all fascinating characters, they create "interesting" to "intriguing" to "bizzare" designs, and it's just too fun. And when they fight amongst themselves, it's awesome. :) If you haven't checked it out, you should sometime and you'll see what I mean. -- "Make it work!"

House Interiors

2006-09-10T11:04:00.000-05:00

I've finally taken a few shots of the interior of our new house for those of you whom haven't been able to see it yet. So, here's a shot of the master bedroom (actually just a corner of it, it's a very large airy room), a shot of the living room and our lovely sunroom. We are really enjoying the home, and Max is now more at home, too. I'll write more later.

What I'm Reading Lately

2006-09-05T16:13:00.000-05:00

So, I've been in sort of a reading funk lately, probably because I've been concentrating a lot on the move into the new house, and being sort of busy at work. But, here's what I have on my nightstand recently. The new book by the author of "A Simple Plan" entitled "The Ruins." A really good, rather spooky, story set in Mexico about four friends who go off to look for an excavation party, but run into some rather harrowing things along the way. Including creepy vines. It's a good well-written story that keeps me on the edge of my seat. I'm also reading Julia Cameron's book about writing "The Right to Write." It's a great book about getting the creative writing juices flowing, with nice tasks to get back to writing. So I've gotten a new "school notebook" to do these exercises and it's been pretty fun. Just getting some creative juices going again is a good thing.

Max and the yard

2006-08-22T20:10:00.000-05:00

Here's a cute picture that Joe took on his phone, of Max sitting in our new yard enjoying the sun. On a tether of course, sadly since we're on a busy street and there are gaps in the fence, he could get out if he set his mind to it, so we keep him on a tether which is fine.

All Moved in!

2006-08-20T15:22:00.000-05:00

Friday was "big move day" with guys from Two Men and a Truck. Everything is pretty much moved in, unpacked, and settled in our new home! It's very exciting. We've been very busy this weekend getting our stuff situated, and building two wardrobes and two nightstands from Ikea. The place is looking sooo nice, it's a great feeling. Rather worn out from it all, but in a good way. Max is starting to get more comfortable I think, he's been feeling weird, he gets confused and agitated with a move like this. I will take some interior photos soon and post them as well. Looking forward to having friends and family over! More later. :)

Brunch with family

2006-08-13T15:30:00.000-05:00

Joe and I had a lovely brunch this morning with my sister Debbie, husband Jeremy, and Jeremy's parents Morris and Natalie, in town for the weekend from Chicago. We went to the Modern Cafe, a fantastic cafe in NE Minneapolis. I had scrambled eggs with tomato, brie and spinach, delicious.... It was great to catch up with everyone, it's always fun to hang out with Morris and Natalie, and of course fabulous to hang out with my sister and Jeremy. Debbie is starting to show, she's due to give birth in January!! Yea! I'm going to be an uncle! :)
They all went by our new house and are very happy we're buying it. It'll be fun to entertain people in the new house. Closing tomorrow morning!! Woo! I hope I can sleep tonight, I'm very anxious!

Then I had to come to work the last two performances of "Rent." So, a full day to be sure. More later after we close on the house!

I Love the Minneapolis Skyline!

2006-08-04T13:56:00.000-05:00

Especially during a storm, isn't this a cool photo?

Closing Date Set!

2006-08-01T10:34:00.000-05:00

So we have a closing date for the bungalow! Monday August 14th! We won't move in immediately, want to do some initial cleaning and minor fixing up of some things, and be able to take our time getting settled. We will most likely completely move in the following week sometime, we'll keep you posted. Huzzah! A new venture in our lives. Joe found an interesting organization in the Twin Cities of bungalow home owners, which we shall sometime join. See their site here.

NOT a Monster House

2006-07-28T08:48:00.000-05:00

Joe and I are in the process of purchasing this fantastic home only a half mile from where we currently reside. Wooo! We are so excited! This happened pretty quickly, we just decided what the heck, let's take a look at it and just loved it. It's a 1918 Craftsman (Arts and Crafts) style home and is in really good condition. Only a few rather minor repairs are needed. Last night we met with a building inspector (who was fantastic, so if you ever need one, let us know) and after agreeing that the building was sound, the SOLD sign went up on the post. We will set a closing date soon, and will keep everyone posted. Most likely we'll close within three weeks. Here are just three photos - Sunroom, Living Room and Exterior. Yay!!!

Monster House

2006-07-18T13:05:00.000-05:00

I am looking forward to this animated film, "Monster House." Why? Well, who didn't as a child know of a "haunted" house in their hometown, and firmly believe there were witches, ghosts or zombies living in it? In Clear Lake, there were three such houses that "all the kids" thought had some sort of spookiness to it. There was a house in my neighborhood that had a small "forest" in the backyard and I swear the people who lived there would stand around in the forest watching us kids, but not hardly move a muscle. So we dubbed this the Zombie House. Then there was a house on the south shore of the lake, that was all stone and cobblestone, and the woman who lived there had scary big grey hair, wore BLACK (which was unheard of in the '70s) and sometimes when driving past her house your car would stall! Scary...so this was the Witch's House. Then lastly, just down the road from the Witch's House was the Doll House. And this was for real. This house was owned by a couple who had two life sized dolls that they would set around the living room (and all could see them as the house had a big picture window). They would set them at the piano, in two rocking chairs, etc. No one knew really why this did this, it was thought maybe they had lost two children. Anyway, I'm looking forward to this film, lots of little kids running around the theater or not.

"Wicked"-ly awesome show

2006-07-15T15:28:00.000-05:00

Joe and I had the great opportunity to see "Wicked" on Thursday of this week. It was truly one of the most incredible stage productions I've seen, and I've/we've both seen a lot. It doesn't really stick too true to the fantastic novel by Gregory Maguire, but the gist of his story was there. The musical added a lot of really good humour, especially out of the mouth of Galinda, who becomes Glinda the Good as the show progresses. I could completely see how this role must have been written with Kristen Chenoweth in mind, who originated the role on Broadway. Anyway, it was a big production full of lots of great stage magic, costumes, lighting and music. A sold out house, too, which is always more fun. If you get the chance to see it somewhere - do see it. You won't regret it, or the sort of high cost. :)

Fourth of July

2006-07-09T10:20:00.000-05:00

We spent five lovely, warm days in Clear Lake for the Fourth this year. Along with my sister Debbie, her husband Jeremy, and my sister Julie (Dia) and her husband, Tim. And of course two dogs, Max and Daisy. Lots of good grilling, seeing the aunts and uncles and some cousins as well. The fireworks over the lake were awesome this year, as they had three barges on the lake from which they shot the fireworks, so it was really incredible. The 4th of July parade was about the same as always, lots of local advertising mainly, with some state politics thrown in. Here is a link to a video of some safe, legal fireworks we had, that Debbie got for us, and we set off on the 3rd. Notice a certain dog barking in the background?
Click here.

Max senses a spirit? Or just sniffin'.....

2006-07-08T15:49:00.000-05:00

Over the 4th of July, which I will write more about soon, I took this quick little video of Max on the deck in Clear Lake, he seems to smell or sense something...it's cute, check it out. Click here.

Christmas in June? What the...?

2006-06-25T10:36:00.000-05:00

At my job yesterday at the ol' Ordway Center, it was beginning to look a lot like Christmas. We had a huge event for the on-sale of "Irving Berlin's White Christmas." And yes, people came in throngs to get their tickets for this holiday show. The lobby was all adorned in holiday ornaments, a scary sight for late June, with carolers strolling around the lobby, holiday cookies, a very expensive 18 foot tree, and yes, Santa. There was an attempt to force us to wear Santa hats, but there was a coup and only a couple of people did. Hats don't do well on me.

Ulysses!

2006-06-23T15:22:00.000-05:00

My attempt at reading "Ulysses" is going rather, um, slowly shall we say...it's a pretty difficult book, I didn't realize. I do feel like I'm back in school in some ways. I may have to get some Cliff Notes for this one! So far, in the first 12 pages, it's rather "stream of consciousness-like." I barely have an idea of what is happening, so this should be interesting. Just thought I'd keep everyone up to date on my progress. Or lack thereof. :( Doesn't mean I'm giving up, though!

The new Guthrie Theater!

2006-06-21T14:37:00.000-05:00

-Tennesse Williams
On Sunday, Father's Day, Joe and I went to the Stone Arch Festival of the Arts, which is always a fun time. Lots of cool artists and their wares, and some yummy albeit "not so healthy" food to chow on as well. Didn't buy any art this year, rather unusual for me. I'm a huge supporter of the independent artist, and generally can always find even more photography to purchase. Too much sometimes, so maybe it's a good thing I didn't find anything that completley "struck me." Then we went across the river to look at the new Guthrie Theater. It is simply incredible. The entire outside is like one big reflection of the outlying buildings, and they have huge metallic "photos" of various playwrights, from Tennesse Williams to August Wilson. Their first production in the new space is a play version of probably one of my favorite books, "The Great Gatsby." So, we'll be getting tickets for that very soon.

A Summer attempt at the Modernist Classic

2006-06-16T16:06:00.000-05:00

This summer, I've decided to tackle what is considered the 20th century's modernist classic in literature, James Joyce's "Ulysses." Pray for me. :) When I was in college, and off during the summer, I would always choose light, sometimes on the verge of fluffy, books to read. Now that I'm all growed up, I thought this summer would be a good time to tackle a tough one. I'll keep you up to date on my progress. Wish me luck!

Ken Doll

2006-06-09T14:45:00.000-05:00

So back in the early '80s, I lived in Des Moines, working at Younkers Dept. Store for some time. Somehow it happened that I became good friends with people who were in bands, of course now I can't remember any of the bands' names, it's been too long. But there was this one band that had this lead singer, a guy named David I believe, who for some reason once told me "Ken, you're like a Ken doll. But a Ken doll from Hell." I of course wasn't sure how he meant that, but I took it as a compliment because I think I had a crush on him. Then in college, some of my friends also started calling me Ken doll. One friend in particular, who spoke French as I do, took to calling me Ken Doll d'enfer - Ken doll from Hell. Hmmm.... what does this mean? She in no way knew these friends in Des Moines, and would have had no idea of this moniker. Nonetheless, it so happens I was born the same year that the Ken doll was "born." I don't think the doll influenced my parents' decision to name me thusly. And I still have at least one very good friend who calls me Ken doll occasionally, or at least just "Doll." You know who you are. :)

More Photos from Memorial Day '06

2006-06-01T10:55:00.000-05:00

Aunt Marge and Joe enjoying the sun on the deck, after filling up with delicious burgers and grilled chicken, yum. Also a photo of the two sides of the Hahn family, my Mom's sister and her husband, as well as my Dad's youngest brother. They live in Clear Lake so it's always very nice to see them when we go down to the lake.

What I've Finished Reading Lately...

2006-05-30T17:07:00.000-05:00

I've been reading a lot of modern mysteries lately. I've always been a big fan of the mystery genre, but mostly "classic" stories like those of Agatha Christie, PD James, etc. My friend Lynn told me about a good one called "Turning Angel" which was very good and sort of had a "Twin Peaks" feel about it. That may be partially why she knew I'd enjoy it, as I'm also a fan of "Twin Peaks." Then my sister Debbie's mother in law, Natalie, gave her a book to give to me since she knew I liked mysteries. It's called "Firewall" by a Swedish writer named Henning Mankell. I couldn't put it down! It has a good mix of "CSI" type forensics and sort of bizzare twists that completely kept my nose in the book. So I finished that one, and well, picked up a couple of other Henning Mankell books, one of which I just finished in Clear Lake, "One Step Behind." This was written prior to "Firewall" so it's kind of fun to be reading these stories in reverse. They have the same main character, so it's fun to see what happened to characters before the last book. Try them out, trust me if you like good crime fiction, these all are well worth it. Soon I will start posting about "what's on my nightstand" - waiting to be read.

Memorial Day Weekend '06

2006-05-30T12:02:00.000-05:00

We went to Clear Lake over the longer Memorial Day weekend. The weather was great, if a bit on the warm side for this time of year. Spent a lot of time on the deck, eating, reading and doing watercolours. On Sunday we had some of our relatives over for a picnic/barbecue. I will put some of those photos up here soon, too. My sister Debbie was with us for the weekend, too, so that was very nice. Her husband Jeremy had soccer tournaments back in Minneapolis and couldn't make it. Max dog loves going to Clear Lake as well. Lots of new scents, lots of squirrels to bark at and lots of sun. He loves sitting on the deck in the sun, but it also makes him very sleepy, as in the photo above. Maybe we need to get him some good sunglasses, too!

Da Vinci Code

2006-05-22T10:12:00.000-05:00

Considering the opening weekend of "The Da Vinci Code" brought in a cool $77 million, it's good to know that movie goers aren't paying attention to the crazy critics. We saw the film on opening night and thought it was just excellent. I don't see how it could have been done any other way, this isn't exactly a "blow up cars" action film, it's a thinking person's action film. Sure, there may have been some slower moments, but how else could all the "figuring out the codes" be done? In my opinion, the chemistry between the two main characters was just right, they weren't suppose to have that much chemistry anyway, not according to the book. So, go out and see this fine film. Or at least read the book, it is very good and brings up a lot of interesting ideas.

Musings on a Disaster film

2006-05-11T14:46:00.000-05:00

How excited am I that there is a good remake of a classic 1970s disaster film? I'm talking about the new "Poseidon." I LOVED the original one from the '70s with Gene Hackman and Shelley Winters. It's sort of campy and of course has "There's Got to be a Morning After" theme song by the spectacular Maureen McGovern. So yes, I was very excited and yet skeptical about a remake. But the reviews are looking good, it has a great cast including Richard Dreyfuss and Kurt Russell and the lovely Emmy Rossum. My first "disaster" film I ever saw was "Airport." I was pretty young and I remember sitting in the very front row and being blown away by it. That was the start of my love of the disaster film. "The Poseidon Adventure" soon followed which set off a wave of (some good, some not so) other disaster films like "The Towering Inferno," "Earthquake," "Midway" just to name a few. I don't really know what it is about them that I've enjoyed so much, it's not that I like to see others suffer, maybe it was especially just the special effects. So Joe and I are going to see "Poseidon" this Sunday afternoon and I for one am very excited. I'll give my review next week. :)

Off to the Lake!

2006-05-04T12:50:00.000-05:00

Not a lot has been happening recently, hence no new updates. Last Sunday we went with our friends Lynn and Gene to a very interesting lecture by a man named Matthew Fox. (not the dude from "Lost" mind you...) he's a theologian and he talked about creativity and spirituality. It was very interesting and insightful. Tomorrow taking the day off and loadin' up the VW and heading to Clear Lake for three restful days. Hoping the weather will be nice, we really want to do some yard work and gardening in the front of the house. There's an area in front that is so shaded and sort of worn, that there isn't much grass there so figured we would do a lot of plants that thrive in shade. Should be nice.

Max really enjoys the trip as well, which is fun. A change of scenery for him. He's a good little traveler, as well, pretty much just sleeps in his "Outward Hound" car seat.

The photo is an old photo from the 1960s when we had an "aqua car" in Clear Lake. My dad loved interesting vehicles and this was one that was completely fun.

All About Max the Dog

2006-04-28T13:42:00.000-05:00

How could I have this space and not talk about our dog, Max? Max is our little 9 lb short-hair dachshund. He is almost nine years old, so getting a little grey in the nose area. He's a very loyal and loving dog and really enjoys his time with his humans. How did we come to get Max? About seven years ago, Joe was walking in our old neighborhood and spotted a woman walking two dachshunds. Joe commented on what a cute pair they were and she said" thanks, want one?" About a month later we decided we wanted to have a dog, so Joe went to this lady's house to see if she was serious about giving up Max. Indeed she was, and she said "he'll be at your door in half an hour." Now, she wasn't being mean, and it wasn't anything about Max, she and her husband had taken him in for a friend who was very sick, and they already a dachshund and some cats, and it was just too much for them. So, Max came to our house, bounded up the stairs in and into laps and has been happy as a clam ever since.

With new medication

2006-04-28T11:14:00.000-05:00

This is how I feel today with my new allergy medicine. Yea!

Musings on Allergies Part I

2006-04-28T11:10:00.000-05:00

Thursday I went to my allergist as this has been a pretty bad allergy season so far up here in Minnesota. He gave me some new meds and also mild steroids to give the medicine a big ol' boost it needs to work faster. I'm now taking Zyrtec-D and Flonase.
That's how I was before the wonder drugs.

Soon to miss - ALIAS

2006-04-26T08:48:00.000-05:00

I've been lamenting the loss of a great TV show. Or soon to be loss, as it is going bye bye soon. That would be "Alias." Although this final season has had its interruptions, and of course, rather confusing twist and turns of a plotline, it's still a fun show to watch. And what did they do in last week's 2-hour episode? Through Vaughn back into the loop. Of course we knew he probably wasn't actually "dead" but now we still ask "Who is Vaughn?" Hopefully the last few episodes will explain a lot and leave us asking questions. That's all I have to say on that issue.

The beach in Florida

2006-04-23T13:39:00.000-05:00

Thought I would put some more photos on here from our trip to the beach. We stayed just south of St Augustine (the oldest city in the nation, founded 1535) in a little town called Crescent Beach. Here are some photos from there.
The first photo is Joe walking along the beach. The second is another view during the day from our balcony. We were all of 25 yards from the beach, it was simply lovely. There's nothing like the smell of the ocean air. We spent a lot of time walking in the warm sand, and had fun finding seashells when the tide goes in and out.

Back to Reality

2006-04-23T11:21:00.000-05:00

Well here I am setting up a blog. This should be a very interesting and fun project to do daily, weekly, however it works out. I've just returned, early last week, from a fun getaway to the Florida coast with my partner, Joe. Relaxing on the beach, taking longs walks along the ocean, and in the ocean, and it was rather difficult to come back to reality. The reality of work, city life, crazy traffic and all that. I live in Minneapolis, not necessarily a huge city, but it can be stressful. Here's what I miss about the ocean, seeing the sunrise over the Atlantic horizon.