Notes from the Trail

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I laughed rather heartily last night as my wife gasped in dismay when she discovered that Sanjayah had made it through another week on American Idol. She has rebuked me thoroughly for my earlier post and told friends, “Jeff is ruining American Idol.” My little blog can’t do much damage, I don’t think, but that hasn’t prevented me from reveling in the fact that an obvious no-talent (but with amazing hair gymnastic ability) has made it so far in AI. Even Simon said last night, “It’s obvious that America doesn’t care what we think.”

I helped Carolyn clean/clutter the house today for a yard sale tomorrow and Saturday (come spend money! Oh, and Jason, I’ll link to your shameless yard sale post as well!). I stepped over the Amazing-Ever-Growing-Pile-of-Junk-and-Treasure accumulating in the hallway and tried to file an old receipt in our filing system. I discovered the following there:

I’m considering an intervention at the house. If you know of a good obsessive-compulsive disorder counselor, please let me know… ;)

Now I’m not quite ready to run out and purchase a Wii, obviously. My trusty Xbox still give Sam and I hours of fun and entertainment. However, with the release of two new gaming systems over the holidays, I’ve been following them to see what may become the “must-have” system of the future. Many thought it would be the PS3; others said the Xbox 360, which was released during the holiday season 2005 would stay on top. However, it’s price seems to be it’s detriment so far. Normal gamers like myself aren’t ready for Blu-Ray and having to upgrade their TVs to HD just yet, and the $250 tag of the Wii seems to have pulled quite a few back to Nintendo’s side. In addition, the innovative game play, using the interactive nunchuk controller may also be winning of many non-gamers, as gaming becomes more of a fun, interactive experience for everyone. (Or is it that folks just enjoy laughing at the gyrations of a gamer on a Wii?)

Whatever your conclusion, there’s a great analysis over at the compete.com blog you’ve gotta check out that includes this image:

She Calls Me Daddy

by Robert Wolgemuth

This was a nice book. The author is humorous, which I really appreciate, and his suggestions for being a father to your daughter not only are challenging, but they’re also deeply practical.

You can’t go wrong, if you have a daughter. Put at least some thought and time into how you can be a more effective dad.

See more about She Calls Me Daddy

This cartoon has the role reversed in our house…

Thought I would do this again to see if I got better results. My number one lookalike was Condoleeza Rice. Just great. Thank goodness the new, improved myheritage.com site allows you to select which ones you want to show up…