Wednesday, May 30, 2007

It's been raining non-stop for 24 hours. Farmers and ranchers are happy.

Grandma beat Grandpa and me at three-handed pinochle (again) tonight. Venison for supper. I sure love those two lovable people.

Today at work, I put the finishing touches on our new Museum website. We own a program that allows us to easily create/update each page anytime we feel like it. I'll post the link shortly.

Lindsay flew back to Seattle today to tie up loose ends and pick up her cat and dog--but not her car which got repossessed. Long story there. She'll fly back to NoDak in a week.
This is blog post #1,111.

Lindsay Danger with her Grandpa Bill.

Sunday, May 27, 2007

Today I was supposed to play at the 21st Annual Dakota Cowboy Poetry Gathering in Medora, ND, but I had my times wrong and missed my slot. It would've been my third year in a row playing there.

Last night I drove 30 miles north to Lindsay's folks' ranch and ate enchiladas and played a few songs around a fire. Lindsay's younger sister, Alex, just graduated from Watford City High School, so there were lots of relatives hangin' out.

Friday, May 25, 2007

My date with Lindsay Danger on Wednesday was enjoyable. We've got another date tomorrow. She's a ballerina/photographer/digital artist/wine connoisseur who likes to wear dresses and high-heeled shoes. We had supper at the Buckskin.

Thursday, May 24, 2007

My Fantasy Baseball team did awesome today. John Smoltz and Braden Looper both pitched masterfully, and Magglio Ordóñez went four-for-four with three runs and three RBIs. Yesterday he hit two homers. He is my best player this year. Ken Griffey Jr. is having a great season, too. Jimmy Rollins started out hot, but now he's slumping. My other top players are Carlos Lee, B.J. Upton, Al Reyes, Brian Roberts, and Oliver Pérez--all ranked in the top 50 in the league. Albert Pujols was ranked #1 when I chose him, but now he's ranked #159. And Carlos Zambrano dropped from #40 to #862. He's been my biggest disappointment so far. Overall, though, I've got some top-notch talent. Hopefully my good luck will endure.

Tuesday, May 22, 2007

Metaphor of the Day:

"My body is the devil's credit card."
-David S.

A friend of mine describing his current ragged physical state of health.

Friday, May 18, 2007

There's a thunderstorm goin' on. Not only in my head, but outside in the sky.

Sometimes frustrations trip me up. That's when I write ranting, wrathful raps.

My recurrent, tired gripe has been this: Where is our leader? I mean, who's our President? The slot's been vacant for so long. Decades maybe.

Franklin D. Roosevelt had something. Lincoln comes to mind as the last awesome Prez. Some say Clinton, Reagan, Kennedy, Eisenhower, Truman, and/or Teddy Roosevelt were great. I dislike them all, more or less. I like Washington. Jefferson. Yolanda King. Sam Cooke.

After listening to "A Change is Gonna Come," which Cooke wrote partly in response to Dylan's "Blowin' in the Wind," I see the storm's blown over, and there's the rainbow. Not only in my head, but in the sky above Halliday.

The moral: Music makes me happy. Politics, not so much.

And by the way, Cooke does a good cover of "Blowin' in the Wind" in this video. Dylan repaid the compliment forty years later, though some won't see it as a compliment. I like it, though.

Monday, May 14, 2007

Sunday, May 13, 2007

Mother's Day Proclamation - 1870

by *Julia Ward Howe

Arise then...women of this day!
Arise, all women who have hearts!
Whether your baptism be of water or of tears!
Say firmly:
"We will not have questions answered by irrelevant agencies,
Our husbands will not come to us, reeking with carnage,
For caresses and applause.
Our sons shall not be taken from us to unlearn
All that we have been able to teach them of charity, mercy and patience.
We, the women of one country,
Will be too tender of those of another country
To allow our sons to be trained to injure theirs."

From the voice of a devastated Earth a voice goes up with
Our own. It says: "Disarm! Disarm!
The sword of murder is not the balance of justice."
Blood does not wipe our dishonor,
Nor violence indicate possession.
As men have often forsaken the plough and the anvil
At the summons of war,
Let women now leave all that may be left of home
For a great and earnest day of counsel.
Let them meet first, as women, to bewail and commemorate the dead.
Let them solemnly take counsel with each other as to the means
Whereby the great human family can live in peace...
Each bearing after his own time the sacred impress, not of Caesar,
But of God -
In the name of womanhood and humanity, I earnestly ask
That a general congress of women without limit of nationality,
May be appointed and held at someplace deemed most convenient
And the earliest period consistent with its objects,
To promote the alliance of the different nationalities,
The amicable settlement of international questions,
The great and general interests of peace.
-------------------------------------------------
*Julia Ward Howe is most famous for writing "Battle Hymn of the Republic" which was published in 1862.

Friday, May 11, 2007

It used to be North Dakota didn't have many trees, so when the homesteaders came along about 100 years ago they tried to plant as many as they could. During the dust bowl era trees were about the only thing holding the soil in place. Currently many countries in Africa are dealing with a similar crisis and desperately need trees.

If you're looking for an interesting last-minute Mother's Day gift, look here. A $30 donation will pay for the costs of planting a tree in South Africa. That's what I just did in honor of my mom and my two grandmas. (But don't mention it to them until Sunday.)

Tuesday, May 08, 2007

What's new? Well . . .

1. I'm now going to a physical therapist in Dickinson, to get help with strengthening my back.
2. I'm getting a business plan together so that I can acquire the Dunn Center Auditorium.
3. A Dunn Center acquaintance of mine committed suicide over the weekend.
4. Grandma Sand turned 87 yesterday.
5. I've got a date with a woman named Lindsay Danger. I have to wait two weeks, though.
6. Blossoms are blooming. Honey bees are buzzing. Spring has officially arrived in Dunn County.
7. My Fantasy Baseball team is almost in last place.
8. Tomorrow I'll shave my winter beard.
9. I bought a second-hand typewriter so that I can type a new book of lyrics.

Saturday, May 05, 2007

This is how I will celebrate Cinco de Mayo this year:

1) I will join my rowdy Killdeer friends at Shawn Goodall's shop at 3 p.m.
2) Alejandro "The Chilean Horse Whisperer" Chacon will roast a pig.
3) We will feast, drink booze, and watch the pay-per-view Floyd Mayweather/Oscar de la Hoya fight.
4) We will shoot hoops.

¡Viva Mexico!

Thursday, May 03, 2007

A couple unsolicited testimonials from my time in Waconia, MN:

"Everyone is still talkin' about your show - even friends that couldn't make it and have heard how much fun we had listening to a world class entertainer . . . I have had 3 inquiries just today about when you will be back this way." Lynda W.

"Those of you who weren't there missed a good one . . . The Sandman (was) an unbelievable mix of talents, part philosopher, part comedian, part poet, part rapper, part musician, all crazier than a ...! Should be famous." Dr. Sam D.

Wednesday, May 02, 2007