10 Months Early

That age estimation doesn't really seem fair.

80% of Self-Worth

My defeat by the dark horse Lynda in the monthly QRANK Finals was hard to take. And yes, I did turn to spreadsheets in my hour of need. A Top-Chef Fantasy League? Ever heard of it? There's nothing like an award to get you back up on your feet though. My Sports All-Star came through this morning, leaving me just one short of the QRANK All-Star septfecta. It feels good, it really does.

The Years of My Lives

I took this trip to California a couple of weeks ago and only took this one picture. I mean it's a nice picture, I like it. A smattering of Barnebey's watching the salmon run behind the Truett-Hurst Winery? I say yes. But where's my picture of David and me hangin' in the playground, drinking some big beers on the swings? Or that one of my dad riding a cable car, telling me how as a little boy in America he dreamed of growing up to drive the cables?  I really dropped the ball on that one. 

Then I went to Oklahoma to hold a baby and got so distracted by the bright lights that I didn't even turn my camera on. I do not know what is up with that.

I did successfully turn 29 though. And by successfully, I mean I threw up on my bedroom floor tuesday night. I'm on top of the hill! Look at all these sweet things I got to make up for it:

Pictorial Webster's: A Visual Dictionary of Curiosities. Darcy claimed her spot as 1st Gifter with this little volume, which to be fair showed up several weeks early. You can't go wrong with an octopus like that on your cover. And it fits in on my bookshelf perfectly, right between Dental Prosthetics and Glands. 

Transit Maps of the World. This book‽ I don't know how my dad knew I'd be interested in a book that combined history, maps, and transit systems, but I have secretly been eyein' it up at bookstores across the nation. So that's pretty cool. Wait 'til you see Tokyo!

This note, written to my grandparents after a much earlier birthday. Turns out I've always liked magnifiers.

A dark blue QRANK score. If you aren't playing QRANK yet you should be. If you're surprised that we have a googledoc to keep track of our daily scores, number of wins, monthly averages, and cumulative averages you shouldn't be.

A bloated Facebook wall. Remember when you liked Facebook? I don't.

A framed picture reference of the Presidents of the United States, from the Eisenhower administration. Papa Barnebey comes in with another classic.

Quinton Carter, on a shirt. And some sweet tix to the Oklahoma v. Texas Tech game with Big Mama Julia. Norman, OK—the Madison of the prairie land!

A KODAK mini video camera. Taylor & Grace, comin' through with some sweet digital technology. I can't wait to go swimming with it.

RoboRally: robot racing to the extreme [not pictured]. Besides being a talented road trip co-pilot, Joanna also makes it a point to stay tuned-in to the board game news circuit. Thank god somebody's doing it for us. 

Scorpios in the house!

The Greyhound Lifestyle

Hanging out at a truck stop in Tomah. Drinking a High Life, playing Qrank, wearing a sweater. On a Thursday.