Wouldn’t you like to ride…

This weekend was the Ashland Balloonfest.

The traditional Friday night Balloon Glow is a sight to behold. Balloonists from all over the country set up their pretties in Freer Field, directly behind the Ashland County Children’s Home, and on cue, they fire ’em all up. I didn’t go this time, but I’ve been in past years; it’s a definite “ooh, ahh” moment.

Yesterday morning, after I wrote my Diprivan post, I relaxed and read the news over coffee. At around 8:00, I heard loud hissing sounds outside. At first I was confused; what was that noise anyhow? It was only after Rousseau began a massive wig-out that I realized what was up: the 4th of July Balloon Flight was happening right above my house, and the sounds I heard were the pilots releasing the powerful flame jets to control the altitude of their inflatable ships.

I grabbed the camera, and while alternately snapping photos and trying to shut up a totally ballistic dog on the front porch, I saw these beautiful images:

Gorgeous 65-degree morning, clear sky…stunning scenery on my street. Nice. Had a great time at the party last night, too. Bonus: saw Lars play in a band before the fireworks at the local football stadium. My kids are beast.

Oh, and Rousseau needed a nap after all the excitement. Drama queen, sheesh.

Have yourselves a nice Sunday, fiends.

Fink out.

Balloon glow photo: Tom Puskar, Ashland Times-Gazette

All the news fit to harangue about. Yes, I ended a sentence in a preposition; it just “popped” better than the more acceptable form of the sentence (fragment), All the news about which to harangue. I like the word “harangue.” Huh-rang. I like to say it as well as write it. It has a nice mouth feel. Say it a couple of times, right there in your chair. Go ahead. Huh-rang.

Right. Onward.

1. I found a picture this morning and was reminded of how much fun I had at the camp I did last month, and how cool the guys from InPulse are:

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Definitely made some great friends that week, even though I was the oldest person there, beating out one other faculty member by about a year. But hey, it’s all in your head, right? (And in your knees, back, shoulders, ankles.)

2. Got a real nice email last night from one of the students at the camp. Makes it worth doing all this, ya know? Just when you’re afraid it’s all been wasted time…

3. Completely vapid and superficial: Who wants to know how to duplicate Kate Hudson’s hair color? I do. Yes, I am that shallow.

4. I get Jake all day today. Wahoo!

5. Jake and I are going to see BFF Kay this morning. Waffles are on the menu, topped with raspberries from the back yard garden. How cool is that? I ask you.

6. And speaking of cool: my little town of Ashland, Ohio makes the headlines. Good for the two of them.

7. I have to admit this: I think Glenn Beck is funny. All political pundits should be comedians first. Jon Stewart, Stephen Colbert, Louis Black…even the slightly unamusing Bill Maher.

OK. Time to gird the loins for the arrival of The Most Awesome Toddler in the World.

BTW: I do not know what day it is. Just sayin.

FO

I’m back home and relaxing before the new madness begins. It’s a beautiful sunny morning here in north central Ohio…I should be getting work done, but the coffee’s good and the chair is comfy, so I’ll stay awhile.

So I never commented on the Cavs getting Shaquille O’Neal. HA. I’m sure Danny Ferry knows something I don’t. I hope it works. Thirty-seven years old, slow, bad legs, struggles with the pick-and-roll…don’t we have the younger version of that in Ilgauskas?? Just askin’. Still, even at 37, Shaq is amazing to watch. I just hope it translates to a championship for what is almost certain to be LeBron’s last year in Cleveland (although why he would want to leave the Cavs is a mystery…unless he will get mo money and mo red carpet somewhere else — I just wouldn’t know where he could be more adored and pampered…China, mebbe?).

OK, enough basketball. Silly sport anyhow.

Overshadowed by MJ’s death was the tragic passing of Farrah Fawcett. OK magazine has a nice collection of photos of her, and her ex, Lee Majors, called her “an angel forever.” Nice. There are those who might argue her “iconic” status. It was surely not on the same level as MJ, but I know I will remember her for three reasons:

1. She brought the “pin-up girl” thing back with the red swimsuit poster.
2. She single-handedly influenced a generation of layered haircuts for women.
3. She broke the Marilyn mold of blond bombshells wanting but not getting serious movie roles; I remember being horrified and completely impressed by her performance in The Burning Bed.

So yeah. Props to Farrah today as well.

All right. Time for some Nebraska session prep. But more java first. It’s good to be home.

Finkly

J’ever want the weekend to get over with? I do. I hate meetings, and I have one tomorrow. Yep, a meeting on Fathers Day. Only thing I can figure out is when Brad scheduled this camp, he figured that FD would be the week before. Ah well. My dad won’t mind. He’s in heaven, where every day is Fathers Day.

Good news: my new school PC came in yesterday. Yay! The MacBook should arrive soon as well. I am in geek heaven. I brought my old machine home from school to offload files; I must say I like the look of my parlor this morning:

And that’s only three of the four.

OK, back to doing laundry for the week at camp. Oh, and don’t forget to check out RtB tomorrow to welcome Ross, my first-ever guest blogger!

FO

1. Right. So in talking with Schminky McSchminkelman yesterday, I realized that I hadn’t been checking Craigslist for writing jobs. So I did, this morning. Applied for two of them. (I’d tell you what jobs they were, but then you would apply and get them over me, so forget it.) Gotta love telecommuting. I’ll let you know.

2. [Rocky the Flying Squirrel voice:] And now, here’s something you’ll really like!

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3. Exciting news: Ross is going to guest-write Sunday’s blog post. He’s my online hero. I heart him. Whether he’s writing for AskMen.com or FutureCars.com or doing work for Parkinson’s disease, he is one righteous fiend. Sweetness. (Yep, I googled your name, hoser.)

4. I hate it when something doesn’t fit, so you take it back to the store — and they don’t have what you want in your size.

5. Suzanne, that link you provided yesterday was out of this world! Completely groovy.

6. Tomorrow night, I’m having some fiends over to watch Godfather III. Very niiiiiizzze.

7. Finally: I wish I could say I was surprised to read this, but I can’t. More interesting opinions in the comments here.

I hate everything today, I think. It’s rainy, cold, miserable, dreary…it’s a good day for generalized hate. And naps.

FO