Rosebud Diner

Rosebud
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So... my last post showed some mid-weekend pumpkin action, and this post is designed to give the second half of a quick Sunday-night update.

The Rosebud is where Lyndsey, Meghan and I had breakfast this morning. I had a great little scramble with broccoli and cheese... the ladies had burgers... all were very satisfied with the experience. The weekend up North was good fun, a quick trip, and generally a great time. More stories to follow, but for now, let me say this:

The weekend involved (in no particular order) superhero powers, photobooths, gourds of various sizes, apple donuts (they're probably not what you think), neon O'douls signs, head of the Charles, the Argyle Mall (many times over), Asparagus omlets, witches and many other random things.

Keene Jack-o-lanterns

Keene Jackolantern
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Lyndsey and I went up to Boston this weekend with two goals:

see some good friends
get up to Keene NH for the Jack-o-lantern Festival

Mission Accomplished! Above is a very very very small snippet of the pumpkin-crazy festivities up in Keene... more to follow.

Fun was had by all.

Chest Hair With Mousy 1

Chest Hair With Mousy 1
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

This one is back by popular demand... there are more photos to come from this little portrait session... but for now here's number 2

Pool Periscope Baseball

Pool Baseball
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So... with the post season upon us and a great series beween the Mets and Cardinals reaching its conclusion this evening, I thought I should post something baseball related on the olde blog.

Above you will find a fine example of a sport that was created this summer down in Hilton Head called Pool Periscope baseball. The version you see is the original form, where the pitcher tosses from the pool and the batter stands just beyond the steps into the shallow end.

Later adaptations shifted to place the batters box on the steps into the shallow end, and later the batter even moved further forward on the floor of the shallow end, with basepaths being set up around the periphery of the shallow end of the pool.

Other particulars include necessary equipment: 1 spongy soft small pool ball, and one periscope-type device that is at least 1.5 to 2 feet long for batting. Sun is also required. Games are not rain-or-shine... they really only work in very bright, direct, happy sunlight.

I hope you get a chance to play or observe a game one day for yourself... it really is pretty amazing. Until then, I hope that you're having a happy Thursday. If you ask me, any Thursday that includes Pool Periscope Baseball can't be bad!

Swelling

Giant Feet 2
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Just after finishing up my work in DC mid-August, Lyndsey and I headed south to Hilton Head for a week off. We met up with her family, and my brother and Kristi, his fiance came up for the day as well.

Unfortunately soon after arriving, my left foot swelled up as though it belonged to the incredible hulk (see photo above). Luckily Lyndsey's nephew Andrew had the same problem so we muddled through the week with our rediculously large feet together.

Um... or we got up a few minutes after this picture was taken and our awesome giant sand-feet crumbled.

Which story is true? You be the judge.

Blue Sky

The Sky
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

It's Tuesday morning and another week seems to be grinding along quickly. Yesterday was a fun and low-key evening around here. I worked out while Lyndsey and her mom watched Inside Man. I caught the very end. I need to watch the rest sometime soon.

I also watched some West Wing while working out and then Studio 60 later, so it was quite the Aaron Sorkin evening.

This morning I'm excited for another good day, plus tonight is bargain night at the movies! If that's not a reason to be excited, I don't know what is.

Chest Hair in Love

Love
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

As an immediate more up-beat follow-up to my last posting, let me share the above photo, which shows, in my humble oppinion, the purest form of love. Kitty, fresh off killing his mousy cat toy and his mom, proudly looking on. Notice that Chester has thumbs. His mom is very proud of his thumbs

Dead Pineapple

Dead Pineapple
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So... I suppose tropical fruit plants and October in Connecticut don't exactly mix. It is with sadness that I post news of the death of my pineapple plant. I am hoping to try again soon. I am very sad.

Chainsaw Lyndsey

Chuck and Chainsaw Lyndsey 2
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

So... it's Saturday and I just documented a truly excellent event, Lyndsey's first experience with a Chainsaw. She was truly a natural. I don't know what else to say. This photo shows the celebration after she finished up her first cut, creating two distinct pieces of fire wood for some day later this autumn.

It was quite a scene, and I'm happy to share it with you.

Any plans for your weekend??

Cuppage
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

I know that at this point it looks like I'll be volunteering with Habitat on Saturday morning, possibly fending for myself plans-wise Saturday night because Lyndsey will be attending her neice's girls-night/slumber 7th Birthday-party... that's a mouthful right?

Perhaps I'll go visit an antiques store or a thrift shop and search out odd objects like animal relics.

What about you? What will you be doing this weekend. I hope you'll be having fun, and perhaps we can all play some games... I've got a good weekend game idea... I call it, "Guess the next scandal to hit the Republican party." Any ideas???? If so, drop me a comment.

My guess as to the next scandal is this: Dick Cheny is, in fact, a robot. The scandal will break when some water spashes on him and he short-circuits, starts shooting innocent civilians with some sort of lazer beam (or perhaps with bird shot... just for old-times sake). Anyway, that's just an idea... I didn't really think about it very much or anything, so if you've got a better idea or story... like I said, post away, and have a GREAT WEEKEND!!!

Why Media Matters Rocks

First we saw Wolf Blitzer actually confronting people and asking hard questions on air, and now Media Matters goes and puts together a pretty great inventory of GOP Foley-related claims and attempts to smear Democrats and how many of these claims have gone unquestioned or investigated on-air. Interesting stuff. Also interesting is Fact Check's look at the Clinton Fox News conversation.

Overeager Smiling!

Funny Bar Group 2 BW
Originally uploaded by Chambo25.

Somehow I always end up with a goofy smile or expression in photos. I'm sure that I'm not alone in this universe in feeling that this is the case. In fact, I'm quite sure that most people feel that they've got funny looks on their faces in most photos. Perhaps it explains why people seem to react to a camera the same way they might react to having a water pistol pointed at their face. They duck or scrunch or put their hands up to cover their faces.

The thing that cracks me up about the pictures I'm in is that most often I'm smiling in a rediculous huge way while everyone else in the frame has nice, normal, composed-looking smiles. It makes me laugh because invariably the first thought that comes to mind is, "whoa... what was I so happy about???"

The real treasures to me are the photos where this is not the case. They are the strange and rare photo where I actually look like a normal non-crazed human being. They also, however, include the even rarer photo like the one above where I'm in a group of equally smiley crazy people.

Thanks Loren and Lyndsey for helping me out in that department. You both are amazing, wonderful, beautiful and at least for the instant captured here completely overeagerly smiley ladies, and I love you both for it. (and for lots of other stuff too)