Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you...

Elsa Ann Wentzel Johnson.

Born 2:46 AM, March 28.


7 pounds 14 ounces, 20 3/4 inches.


Krista and Elsa are well (but tired). Just the vital info for now, I'll post more later about the LONG weekend.

Stay Tuned!

Expect a major announcement sometime this weekend.

Pick Up Sticks...

It seems like I just posted a reminder to check out Chapter Five of Jaquandor's The Promised King, and already Chapter Six is ready to go. It also seems that every other post of mine is becoming a link to The Promised King. But I have to. If I didn't, a couple of hamsters and a kitten would face mortal peril.

It's Been So Long, I Was Beginning to Think it Would Never Happen...

No, not that.

The other day, as I was picking up my boots, I caught a glimpse of sunlight from the inside of my right Dr. Marten. After nine years of nearly daily wear, four sets of inserts (Docs only come in whole sizes), and too many shoelaces to count (well, not really, I just didn't count), the outside heel has worn through.


A sad day to be sure. I am now faced with the daunting task of finding just the right pair to serve me for the next nine years.


Although... the hole isn't that big, and I think we are in the clear as far as snowfall goes...

Have You Seen?

Jaq has posted Chapter Five of his novel The Promised King. Even if the link at the top of his sidebar indicates that the most recent posting was Chapter Four...

Oh, and remember to check out Diary of an Attic.

About Time!

No, not that. You can finally purchase 44's Free Land Wall at the iTunes Music Store.

For the uninitiated, 44 was a music project that Krista and I were involved with for about five years. You can read more about it here. But what you need to know now is that you have a very easy way of purchasing our one and only album. Not only is Free Land Wall available from iTunes, but also from Napster, Rhapsody, and a whole host of other online services. Check your favorite source to see if we are available. Or, for those of you who prefer to hold the jewel case in your sweaty little hands, smearing you fingerprints all over the liner notes and photos of the band (which is my choice), you can buy a copy of the actual Compact Disk at CD Baby. Another advantage to purchasing the CD is that you get the hidden tracks that are not available online. Oh, did I mention the price is a paltry $5? So get out your Credit Cards point your browser to your preferred purchase point, and buy! Hell, buy the CD AND the digital downloads. We'll thank you twice.

After Months of Anticipation, The Day Has Come

It has arrived!

Today I awoke from my nap on the couch to Krista handing me a small bundle of joy. No, not that.

Today the FedEx Man, not the stork, made a delivery. My (almost) free 40GB iPod is here, charging it's controversial battery as I type this. In all I spent about $25 on the different offers (plus another $30 for one of those Entertainment coupon books, but I don't count that since we have saved nearly that much using it's coupons for things we buy anyway), and about three-and-a-half hours signing up, canceling memberships and calling the company pestering them for information. It was a bit of a pain, and if you decide to go the route I chose, I think you will get best results by calling the company every couple of weeks.


But hey, a $400 iPod for a little over three hours work, not too shabby.

Ch-Ch-Ch-Changes

No, not that... I made some changes to Diary of an Attic. It will now only show posts made on the most recent day. I have also adjusted the archives menu to display single dates. Because of the photo-intensive nature of the blog this should make easier loading for those with slow connections.

Reminders

Jaquandor (aka The Buffalo Blogger, aka Kelly Sedinger, aka the author of The Promised King who is publishing said novel online) reminds us that Chapter Four of The Promised King is up.

I am reminding you to check out Diary of an Attic. Lately we (I) have only been posting about once a week, but there is a new post, and we are beginning to see the light at the end of the tunnel.

Any Day...

Despite Krista's claim that she could "go any day now," I have instructed my progeny to hold off until the prescribed due-date. If the child shows early signs of insolence by arriving early I shall have to reconsider including him/her in my plot for world domination.

Chapter Three, and Bombs Away

Jaquandor, that Buffalo Blogger, aka Kelly Sedinger has just published Chapter Three of his novel The Promised King. Kelly Sedinger also laments The Promised King's low ranking on Google. So I am going to do My part to help Kelly Sedinger's online novel, The Promised King, achieve a higher spot in Google searches for online novels, The Promised King, and Kelly Sedinger. If you have a blog please consider doing the same to promote The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger's novel, otherwise Kelly Sedinger might get pissy.

The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,
The Promised King, Kelly Sedinger, Online Novel,

No Respect

I saw this on the wires today, this was the only web link I could find.

After the death of Johnny Carson, the publicist for Rodney Dangerfield got a call from a CNN flunky asking whether Rodney would be available to speak on the death of Carson. The publicist said yes, but only if CNN has a satellite hookup to heaven.

Area Racist Victim of Racism

This is too funny.

iUpdate

Just a quick update on my efforts to obtain a (nearly) free iPod. My stays on the emarketresearchgroup web site has not changed to show that they have received my voucher, so I called and left another message on Wednesday night. Thursday morning they called back and told Krista that they have received the voucher, but they have been running low on supplies of iPods. They assured her that I should receive it in about two weeks. I have been ripping our CD library in anticipation. If When it arrives I will try for another free item. Maybe a laptop, or a Mac Mini if they are available.

Stuff

Jaquandor has the second chapter up for The Promised King.

Jaq also had a column published in The Buffalo News. In it he details the emotions and the feelings of helplessness surrounding the birth of his son Quinn.

Also remember to check out Diary of an Attic. Not much has happened the past couple of days, but you knew that because you are checking it at least twice a day, right?

A Cold Day in Hell

It's starting to get chilly here in the Land of 10,000 Lakes. The official reading when I went to work was somewhere around -11°, but the reading at my house was -12°. To the north Embarrass saw an overnight low of -54°. Talk about tough, check out the accompanying photo to this article.

I usually don't even pass on those e-mails people forward to everyone in their address book, let alone post it here, but considering the recent temps, and what happened on Sunday, here you go:

MINNESOTA TEMPERATURE CONVERSION CHART

60 Above
New Jerseyites try to turn on the heat
People in Minn. plant gardens

50 Above
Californians shiver uncontrollably
People in Minn. sunbathe

40 Above
Italian and English cars won't start
People in Minn. drive with the windows down

32 Above
Distilled water freezes
Lake Mille Lacs water gets thicker

20 Above
Floridians don coats, thermal underwear, gloves and woolly hats
People in Minn. throw on a flannel shirt

15 Above
Philadelphia landlords finally turn up the heat
People in Minn. have the last cookout before it gets too cold

Zero
People in Miami all die
Minnesotans lick the flagpole

20 Below
Iowans fly away to Mexico
People in MN get out their winter coats

40 Below
Hollywood disintegrates
The Girl Scouts in MN are selling cookies door to door

60 Below
Polar bears begin to evacuate the Arctic
MN Boy Scouts postpone "Winter Survival" classes until it gets cold enough

80 Below
Mt. St. Helen's freezes
People in MN rent some videos

100 Below
Santa Claus abandons the North Pole
Minnesotans get frustrated because they can't thaw the keg

297 Below
Microbial life no longer survives on dairy products
Cows in MN complain about farmers with cold hands

460 Below
All atomic motion stops (absolute zero on the Kelvin Scale)
People in MN start saying "cold nuff for ya?"

500 Below
Hell freezes over
The Minnesota Vikings win the Super Bowl

The Most Ass-Kickinsist Ass Kickers Who Ever Kicked Ass in the Most Ass-Kickinist of Ways

Murphy and I took in a show last night at Triple Rock Social Club. The Ashtray Hearts were first up, and they were great as always in their melancholy, we'll-bring-you-down-gently way. Next up was Robert Skoro. He much too into himself for me. At one point he mentioned how great it was to "be here at the Triple Rock here in Minneapolis," and how great the crowd was, especially for Minneapolis, and how the crowds "never seem into the shows when we play in the Twin Cities." I assumed he was from out of town, but looking at his website I see he is from the Twin Cities. The music wasn't that good either. He saved the best song for last, and it was pretty mediocre. Last up was Kid Dakota. This was the second time I have seen the Kid, and I was wowed once again. For a two piece (hell, for a ten piece) they really, as you might infer from the title of this post, kick some serious ass. Their recordings are great, but both times I have seen them live they have brought their a-game, and then some. Check 'em out, along with The Ashtray Hearts.

Shawn called while Skoro was on, and he and Lee joined us as Kid Dakota was taking the stage. We then went for some post-show nourishment, at Denny's. And yes Amanda we ended up at Denny's intentionally.

Diary of an Attic

As Jaq points out I am generating way too much content for a single blog. To remedy the situation, I have created a new blog dedicated to the work that is going on in our attic. I will try to update it daily, except on days that nothing is going on. Krista has also joined Blogger so she can post when she feels the urge. One note, it is going to be image intensive.

I Shall Call Him Mini Mac

Remember the super-cool G4 Cube? Well, Jobs and co. are at it again, but this time they made it affordable.

Also unveiled at Macworld Expo was the iPod Shuffle. A flash-based iPod that starts at $99 for those who want to join the party but not shell out the big bucks (or jump through the hoops).

The Great iPod Plot

I'm sure you all have seen those banner ads, or deleted pesky spam promising a free iPod, flat-screen, laptop or some other product. Well, I was so tempted by the thought of carrying my entire CD collection with me ensconced in a tiny stylish bit of technology that I thought I would at least check it out.

One of the companies who plaster those banners all over the web is FreeiPods.com. With just a small bit of research I learned that this is indeed a legit company. FreeiPods.com gives out 20GB iPods and iPod Minis. They way they are set up is a bit like a pyramid scheme. You complete one of their sponsor offers (such as joining Columbia House or something of that nature) and convince some of your friends to do the same. Once a certain number of your friends complete their offers you get your iPod. They in turn convince a new batch of friends to go along. I considered this, but I didn't feel right asking friends to sign up so I could get a free iPod.

Another company, that has many different names (it was called emarketresearchgroup.com when I started), takes a different approach. You are responsible for completing all of the offers yourself, and they offer the 40GB iPod. I was much more comfortable with this scenario, so I thought I would look a little deeper.

To gauge how likely it was that this place was legit I checked on who some of the sponsors were. Sponsors included the likes of Blockbuster and AOL. Evil? Yes. Associate with scammers in order to generate customers? Maybe, but not likely. Most of the offers they listed as examples also seemed to be free trial offers, so while not completely convinced, I decided the risk was worth the potential payoff.

Not wanting a deluge of spam in my nearly spam-free inbox, I set up a new e-mail account specifically for this experiment. For my free 40GB iPod ($399 retail) I would need to complete six sponsor offers. The offers were listed on three different pages, and I would have to complete two from each page. On the first page I chose two offers that would cost me a buck each. Each was a one-day trial that would renew at $40 a month if not cancelled. Since I was not interested in information on government auctions or how I could get a free car by having ads plastered all over it, I promptly cancelled when they showed up as completed about an hour after I signed up. On page two I signed up for a free two-week trial of Blockbuster Online, and a free month of Rhapsody music service. Now on to page three. Most of the offers cost quite a bit. "So that's how it works." I thought to myself. I scanned the offers looking for two that would keep my cost under the $60 limit I set for myself going in. I found one for a Discover Card, the only requirement was to activate the card and make one purchase. I could handle that. The only other offer that was remotely palatable was a free one-week trial to eharmony.com. So, with permission from Krista, I was back in the dating scene.

All of the offers soon showed up as completed on the emarketresearchgroup website except for Blockbuster and Rhapsody. I called Blockbuster, and soon had that taken care of, but with Rhapsody it appeared to be impossible to talk to an actual person. I cancelled Rhapsody and went back to the sponsor offers page two to find something else. I settled on the Entertainment Book of coupons to local merchants. The coupons to places we frequent will more than make up for the $30 I paid for the book.

My status was now updated to show that I had completed all of the required sponsor offers. I made screen shots of the web pages, just in case. My next step was to print my voucher, fill it out, and mail it in. Done, done and done. I even used certified mail just to be sure. According to the USPS website my voucher arrived on December 18. I gave it two weeks, but my status had not updated to show that they had received the voucher, so I gave them a call. There was no option to talk to someone, but I was able to leave a voicemail. My hopes were beginning to fade. Chin up! The next day I received a call back and was told that they are behind in processing the vouchers, so while mine may have arrived, it could take up to three weeks to process. One week later still no update on the website, so I placed another call. Again, my call was returned the next day and I was assured that they had indeed received my voucher and an order would soon be on its way to their fulfillment center.

I'm feeling good about my chances of getting the iPod, but time will tell. All said and done, I would estimate that I spent about three hours working for it, and about $25 (not including the Entertainment Book which will pay for itself).

A side note about the eharmony.com trial. While signing up I realized that I was actually giving thoughtful responses to the questions used to generate the matches. I decided that since I was signing up to get a free iPod, not dates, that I would speed up the process by clicking random radio buttons for my answers. Then I decided that I would have some fun and choose the least desirable answers. Such as answering "1" for "I think it is important to listen to my partner. 1 being not important, and 10 being very important." After answering many of these in this manner I was presented with five matches upon completing the process. Maybe there really is someone for everyone.