Goodbye 2019

The obligatory end of year, nearly new year blog post.

I sit here with my my glass of bubbly...

....and think back on how 2019 shook out.

CATS! AAAAAHHHHHH!

I just saw the new CATS! movie.

The reviews on this one are pretty harsh.

But, truthfully, I've seen much worse.

Let me explain.

Christmas time is heeerrreee

🎶Here comes Zuri Claws, here comes Zuri Claws!🎶

Saxophones, flutes, and Ahab, oh my!

Welcome to the holiday season. 🎄

Let's start with a festive sweater:

It's Moby Dick! I love it!

Everyone is here for caroling and festivities: 

Ahab, Ishmael, Queequeg, First Mate(?), and The Whale.

It's a design from Hands Off My Dinosaur. Check it out!

TacOcaT

🌮🐱

 Tacocat....

Pumpkin spice and blah blah blah

Tis the season.

for pumpkin spice everything.

Ch ch ch ch Changes!

You know how at the end of high school all of your

classmates would sign your yearbook with comments

along the lines of "Never change! You're amazing"?

That's a bunch of bollocks.

Halloween Roundup!

Yaay Halloween!

Let's see how it went!

Monster 2

Ghosts! For real?

It's the Spooky season.

Let's tell some ghost stories!

Ghosts!

I attended a Ghost show!

Running, Saxes and the CTA

Let's talk about what's been going on.

Southwest in 3 days

The Vlog

House on the Spring Governor Beer Day...con queso

I went to Wisconsin this past weekend.

It's only about a 2 hour drive from home to get to where I wanted to go.

So let's see where I went.

Southwest Adventure Part 5

Day 3 - Grand Canyon, Route 66, back to Las Vegas.

Southwest Adventure Part 4

Day 2, Continued - Monument Valley

Southwest Adventure Part 3

Day 2. Antelope Canyon and Lake Powell

Southwest Adventure Part 2

Day 1. Zion and Bryce

Interlude

Mid-morning, the highway,

somewhere between the Cameron Trading Post

and the Kaibab National Forest.

Arizona.

Southwest Adventure Part 1

A week ago today, me, my Mom and my sister's kid were in Las Vegas.

We were there to catch a three-day camping tour. But before the camping tour began

we had an afternoon in Vegas.

Puppet Titanic - The Debut

I'm so sorry.

For many things, but mostly for filming this in portrait mode

instead of landscape. I have failed you all.

Anyhoo, I present to the world: The Puppet Titanic!

Bryan Ferry, Bonus Bix7

I saw Bryan Ferry in Chicago!

Showboat

I have completed my second run with the Clinton Area Showboat Theatre.

Another Year

It's my birthday!

Snobs and Other Hunting Devices

Planet Funk Con.

Ummm...is it like Comic Con?

Oh, well, cheers!

Freshen Up

I GOT TO SEE PAUL MCCARTNEY!

Da Rules

1. Pay what you feel is fair.

2. Don't be a jerk without a good cause.


3. Don't harass the alligators.

4. Learn to use chopsticks.

5. Read books that interest you.

Puppet Update

Well, another Memorial Day weekend nearly gone by.

Another couple of days of not doing much, but getting a lot done.

I Run

In a week, if all goes well, and there's no medical,

meteorological, or zoological emergencies or mishaps, 

I will have finished my third half marathon of the year.

The Grafea Backpack

So I thought I'd review a backpack for this post.

Because this blog is nothing if not topical and relevant.

Saxema

Saxema by Rudy Wiedoeft

Me-Saxophone

Piano - Justin Lebo

San Diego Part 4

Up early again on Friday. I decided to use my rain check from No-Whales-Seen Monday cruise and went out for another sail.

Dolphins!

San Diego Part 3

Thursday and Friday of the trip was a bit more leisurely. I had checked off the things I wanted to do that were scheduled or dependent on other people. My legs were finally less sore from the race.

Mexico

On Wednesday of my week in San Diego, I boarded a tour van for a day in Mexico.

San Diego part 2

Another great couple of days in Southern California.

San Diego Part 1

Greetings from the Lower Left!

Since my long-sought whale trip was cancelled, I had to

resign myself to a week in Southern California.

Can't waste good plane tickets!

To Keep or Not to Keep

I'm no stranger to purging my closet (or my apartment).

Just recently I gave away a file cabinet and sold a suitcase.

But, still, I am conflicted.

Vlog NOLA

The latest vlog edit.

Yaay!

New Orleans 2019

Yaay! I made it to New Orleans again!

For this trip, Momster and my sister joined me.

Timeline - Video

Videos covering 2015 to the start of 2019, all haphazardly strung together. 

Monday of the Year

Oh my god. January is awful. It's the Monday of the year.

It won't stop snowing, it's so cold, the only thing to do is work and be

bored, and, while watching the Bowie at Glastonbury 2000 DVD (yaaay!), 

rediscovering this collage I made in high school.

I like how it turned out, so it has survived many, many, many purges.

Books and Brainstorming

Tried some artistic photo editing.

The First Week

New Year's Day has come and gone.

The first week of 2019 was short on work, but still dragged.