Workin' Out, But Gettin' Olde

Okay, so I'm working out for the first time ever, really. It's not quite the end of my first month, and I'm already feeling better and seeing a difference. But . . . I've found that I'm not really very flexible any more.

I'm using a personal trainer to help me get started with a workout regimen. She was stretching me out at the end of my first workout and found that she couldn't stretch out my hips. She suggested Yoga; I went to the doctor. (I have been rather stiff for a while.) I was sent from my Internist to a Othopedist. X-rays were taken, and I met with the doc.

Guess what? I have bone growth around the hip socket - where no bone growth should be - so I'm not flexible for good reason. I'm basically locked from pointing my toes inward, rolling my hips in, that is. Want to see what's wrong? Stand up and point your toes in toward each other as far as you can (but don't hurt yourself). How far can I point my toes in? Not at all . . .

Aging . . . bah! Youth is wasted on the young!

Removed Books, Added Blogs

Not sure this is really important, but there ya go! I hadn't been keeping "Books" up to date, and with Blogs I don't have to!

On to Raleigh-Durham, North Carolina . . .

. . .for this week's training class. Traffic to the airport was clogged-up a couple of times, while the flight was good. I'm only five miles from the Raleigh-Durham airport, so there wasn't much to getting to the hotel. I spent part of the day in Cary, NC, browsing around through a couple of shops. Dinner was at Cracker Barrel, while I finished the third book in the series by Gregory Maguire on which the musical Wicked is based - A Lion Among Men. (The other books are Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West and Son of a Witch.)

Tomorrow starts the training class . . . hope it's "good"!

High School Pranks

We were talking at dinner tonight, and the subject of pranks came up (somehow, I don't remember exactly why). Pranks and high school seem to go together well. Here are a couple:

That Locker Had Balls!

When my son Andy was in school, he and some friends decided to pull one that is still probably remembered even today. (My friend Larry would be proud; see below.) The guys went to a local driving range, loaded up with about 200 purloined golf balls and got into the high school (somehow; again, details are a little fuzzy here).

One of the guys held open the top corner of the locker while the others poured in the range balls . . . all of them. At the beginning of the day, with the halls packed with students, the owner of that locker opened the door, and, well it was off-to-the-races to try to pick up all the golf balls! I understand it was quite a sight!

The Cookie Stealer Gets His

Back in the 70's, at my high school, a bunch of us had fourth-hour gym class. Fourth hour was also the first of three lunch hours, so we used to detour through the cafeteria and get a large, 5-cent sugar cookie to eat on the way to class.

The trouble with that was that the shop classes lined the hall on the way to the locker room, and the shop teachers used to stand outside their classes, looking for students eating on their way to their next class. If they saw you with something, they'd take it from you and send you on their way. I lost a couple of cookies like that.

My friend Larry used to grab his sandwich from his locker and eat it as he walked to gym class. He got tired of having his sandwich taken, so he decided to get even. One morning, he made a "special" sandwich - bologna on white with very generous amounts of ketchup layered on both sides of the meat.

Larry grabbed his sandwich that morning and pretended to eat it on the way to class. The "Cookie Stealer" - I can't remember the teacher's name - seeing Larry's sandwich, demanded that Larry give it to him. So Larry pressed the sandwich into the teacher's hand and gave it a good squeeze, forcing out a river of ketchup. We left the instructor looking down at his hand and the soggy, sodden, ketchup-y mess Larry had given him. And what could he do? He demanded the sandwich, and Larry complied!

This is Winter 2008-2009

We have had quite a Winter . . . to date. Lots of snow, cold (with a capital "K", as my father would say), heavy rain (which washed the first substantial snowfall away) . . . But here it is 17 Jan 2009, and I really have yet to be cold.

I don't know why I don't get cold. Perhaps it's because I walk around barefoot a lot of times, and don't bother putting on shoes even to go outside in the garage. And even though some days are really cold - like last Thursday - they're still beautiful. We had clear blue skies, a full sun and just a slight breeze. When I walked in from working out at lunch time, I took a few very deep breaths of the cold air, and it felt great!

The sun makes all of the difference in the world, I think. It certainly makes me feel good about the days. I can't imagine what it would be like if it was overcast all the time as it is rumored to be in, say Seattle. (Sorry, Seattle, if this is un-true.)

Another thing - once it's stayed below zero for the daily high, it seems mighty warm when it gets back into the 20's. We went from -20 as the low Thursday night/Friday morning to a high in the 20's today - a 40+ degree swing. And it really felt warm this afternoon.

We'll see what happens in the coming few weeks, but so far this Winter, so good!

A Little Humor

I was going with this girl in college, but we decided we couldn't get married because of religious differences. She was an atheist and I was an agnostic, and we couldn't agree which religion NOT to bring the children up in.


My buddy broke up with his girl one time for religious differences, too. She thought she was god, and he didn't.


When a woman dies and goes to Heaven, she's called an angel.

When several women die and go to Heaven, they're called an angel choir.

If all of the women on Earth were to die and go to Heaven, we'd call it peace on Earth.


Thanks to Woody Allen and some un-named guy I met in Milwaukee last weekend. The latter sat down by me while I was waiting for my wife and her friend to return from the necessary and the last joke is the only thing he said to me.

Winter-time Is Here!

My friend Carolyn Arends, a phenomenal singer-songwriter (see www.CarolynArends.com) wrote a song called Land of the Living, in which she wrote the following lines:

The frost came so early this year
Springtime is long overdue
And my heavy coat,
It don’t keep out the cold like it used to

Nothing but fog in my mind
Nothing but ice in my veins
I know everything’s got a season,
But tell me please the reason
This winter will not go away

"This Winter" in Chicagoland hit Thanksgiving weekend, and seems to be picking up speed! We've had a couple of snowfalls - last night's was 11 inches - and the ground is now thoroughly blanketed. Gigantic piles in the parking lots of various stores. We're supposed to get a little more snow tomorrow night, on into Sunday morning. Sunday and Monday's highs are in the single digits. And it's not really even Winter until the 21st!

As soon as the weather changed I started thinking about this song. My heavy coat, it don't keep out the cold like it used to. I really don't get cold; I've lived in the Chicago area my whole life, so I guess I've got thick blood. But I know many do get cold - my wife is one. And the colder you are, the longer the Winter must seem.

I wonder if we'll feel cold (and, alternately, hot) in Heaven? There's nothing as lovely as a cold Winter night, with no breeze and a gentle snow falling. Or the heat from the sun that streams through your car's windshield on a sunny Winter day. Of course there's the beach in the Summer and that overall feeling of warmth you get from laying in the sun. And the chill of walking into the air conditioning . . . or down into a cave. Perhaps it will be even better! Maybe we'll be able to get close to the surface of a star, or walk on the dark side of the moon . . .

For now, though, I'm enjoying the weather . . .

Sometimes I dream that the summer has come
I feel the warmth of the afternoon sun
But then I awaken and I’m back to waiting
Oh how much longer Lord?

Silly Christmas Songs :: Santa Claus Is Coming To What???

For some reason, I've had this silly version of "Santa Claus Is Coming To Town" brewing in my mind. It is Christmas time, of course, and the music has been playing for several days, now. And while I'm a Christian, I'm not going to confuse the American Christmas season with the Christian religion, so please don't any of you, either. If this seems a bit vulgar, just consider it a poor attempt at humor . . .

Santa Claus Is Coming To What???
© 2008 by Mark Dopita

You better watch out, you better not cry
The big guy's coming, get ready to fly
Santa Claus is coming to kick your ass!

He's making a list of things you done wrong
Of how you done bad, in words that are strong
Santa Claus is coming to kick your ass!

He sees you when you're sleeping
He knows when you're awake
[Music stops; spoken]That seems a little creepy, don't it?
A restraining order's what you need
Get one now, for your own sake!

You better watch out, you better not cry
The big guy's coming, get ready to fly
Santa Claus is coming to kick your ass!

You're out with your doll, she's starting to coo
But over your shoulder, he's looking at you
Santa Claus, that creepy old man

You're havin' a beer, you're havin' a shot
You're smokin' the last cigarette that you've got
Santa Claus is makin' his plan

The kids in girls-and-boys land
Who do the things you do
Are all in for a rude ol' shock
When he gets his hands on you

You better watch out, you better not cry
The big guy's coming, get ready to fly
Santa Claus is coming to kick your ass!

Post 33 of 30 :: And While We're At It . . .

Anybody else remember these from the 60's???

Post 32 of 30 :: A Logo

Whaddya think? It fits me! Thanks, Mr. Schultz!

Post 31 of 30 :: The Art Shot

Beautiful, downtown Keokuk, Iowa, as seen from the side mirror. Kinda works, doesn't it?

Post 30 of 30 :: Used Books and ???

I'm not sure where the name came from, but I love browsing through used book stores. This one was in Kirksville, MO, and is, sadly, out of business. On my way to Kirksville, I used to travel through Keokuk, IA, where the was a store named "Treasures and Trash". One man's meat is another man's poison, they say . . .

Post 29 of 30 :: A Nice Lake View

Kinda makes you want to compliment the Lord who made it all, doesn't it?

Post 28 of 30 :: Fay's Dinky Diner

This might look familiar to anyone who lives in Eagle River, WI. A small diner, much longer than it is wide, with a terrific (and very descriptive) name. I believe it's called "Don's Downtown Diner", now, though.

Also from 2005.

Post 27 of 30 :: The Cabin

I help my friend Paul open and close his cabin in Land O' Lakes, WI almost every year. We went up a couple of weeks ago to close it up for this year, and enjoyed some pretty nice weather. Back in 2005 we had beautiful colors to go along with nice weather.

This is a picture from that weekend.

Post 26 of 30 :: Executive Pay

I've recently read an article titled, "Why Obama, Congress must curb CEO pay" (link). While I consider myself a conservative, I am not so conservative as to "cut my own throat", compensation-wise. Therefore, I must agree with the author.

The article's basic point is this: executive salaries are too high - way out of line with what the average American earns - and are hurting the economy. If you can accept that premise, the questions that must be asked are, first, can the government (Congress) do something about it, and, second, why should it?

The point is that the government can decide, through tax policy. Take the average employee's salary, multiply it by 20, then tax a company an amount equal to the difference between the average and any other employee's salary that exceeds the average.

For example, if the average employee's salary is $20K, and the president of that company makes $400K, no tax is owed. But if that same executive makes $4,000K (four million bucks), that firm will owe the feds $3,600K in taxes. Total cost to the company for that executive: $7,600K.

Why is it that the government can do this? Because the government sets tax policy through the writing of laws and the establishment of rules guiding the application of those laws. See the US Constitution, article I, section 8:

The Congress shall have Power To lay and collect Taxes, Duties, Imposts and Excises, to pay the Debts and provide for the common Defence and general Welfare of the United States; but all Duties, Imposts and Excises shall be uniform throughout the United States;

Why should the government do this? Because it is in our government's best interest, and is the reason the Constitution was established:

". . . to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity . . ."

I believe the operative phrase is "the general Welfare". If executive compensation is getting out of hand, as most would agree it is, it is at the expense of the common man, and should be corrected.

Good-Bye to Daylight Savings Time!

And hello to waking up at the same time. Yesterday's six o'clock is today's five o'clock. So what time do I wake up? At five . . . rats!

Post 25 of 30 :: The Gardner

On the advice of Justine, I recently read the Rudyard Kipling short story, The Gardner. I enjoyed the story - especially the language, which English was written quite unlike today. I really liked the payoff, in the third sentence from the end of the story.

Makes you think . . .

Ps 103:15-18

As for man, his days are like grass, he flourishes like a flower of the field; the wind blows over it and it is gone, and its placed remembers it no more. But from everlasting to everlasting the Lord’s love is with those who fear him,
and his righteousness with their children’s children — with those who keep his covenant and remember to obey his precepts.

Post 24 of 30 :: Sunset on Island Lake?

Don't I wish! No, this isn't Island Lake. It's sunset at Huntington Beach, California in June, 2006.

We'd gone to California to visit our daughter Amy as she worked as a chaperone for visiting church groups doing mission work in downtown Los Angeles. We were there for almost ten days - too long for a guy from Chicago. Immediately after our vacation I didn't think I'd want to go back. But now I guess I would, as long as it wasn't for too long a time. Perhaps a week's vacation . . . which I need . . . now!

Post 23E of 30 :: Cary Grant

All day, all night, Cary Grant!
That's all I hear from my wife, it's Cary Grant!
What can he do, that I can't?
Big deal . . . big star Cary Grant!