The Bosque

From MSNBC: A grieving father won a nearly $11 million verdict Wednesday against a fundamentalist Kansas church that pickets military funerals out of a belief that the war in Iraq is a punishment for the nation's tolerance of homosexuality.

Albert Snyder of York, Pa., sued the Westboro Baptist Church for unspecified damages after members demonstrated at the March 2006 funeral of his son, Lance Cpl. Matthew Snyder, who was killed in Iraq.

I think Fred Phelps and his followers are despicable...God probably hates them. But this verdict (which was issued in a federal court in Maryland) is dangerous. I think protesters can be limited to where they protest, but to sue them for invasion of privacy?

From the Baltimore Sun: "I think when speech is a matter of public concern it still has to be protected, even when by social standards it is extraordinarily rude and outrageous," said UCLA law professor Eugene Volokh.

University of Maryland law professor Mark Graber said the size of award, which included $8 million in punitive damages, could have a chilling effect on speech.

"This was in a public space," Graber said "While the actions are reprehensible, the First Amendment protects a lot that's reprehensible." After the verdict, Phelps and his two daughters named in Snyder's lawsuit said they believed that it was really their religious beliefs that were on trial.

It's going to the Appeals Court in Richmond, and I suspect that they will overturn it. While I despise these wingnuts from Kansas and feel bad for the soldiers' families, we have to let the wingnuts speak their peace. And come up with more constructive ways to fuck with them.

I finally went back to work today, after being out almost 3 weeks with the funeral, the wedding and the honeymoon. And it was a pretty good day...it stayed busy, but I wasn't overwhelmed. Even made some decent scratch. Now I just need to get a different job.

Did I mention that we got everything we wanted from Target, and with the gift cards left, I can get a Wii? Well...I'm getting a Wii!

Wheeeeeeee!

Today is April's 33rd birthday. Like my birthday, it wasn't much of an affair with everything going on...but I think she still had a good day.

Happy birthday, baby...I love you!

xoxo

We touched down in St. Louis just after 6 this evening.

I enjoyed our trip, and I love to travel. But sometimes, there's nothing like getting home and surrounding yourself with familiarity. Tomorrow is April's birthday, but we'll probably spend most of the day cleaning and taking duplicate wedding stuff back. We'll still do something special though.

Now if you'll excuse me, my body is trying to get used to Central Time again...zzzzz...

In the past 2 days, I've had the pleasure of interacting with two members of the Seattle Police Department. What a true joy it has been!

The first incident occurred last night. We were trying to access the hotel's parking garage via the alley off Blanchard Ave., as we have all week. There is a construction project going on behind the hotel, and the construction workers sometimes move the hotel's dumpster into the middle of the alley...why I'm not sure. Unfortunately, they left it in the alley last night. There is another way to access the alley, off Bell Ave. Bell is one-way going towards 8th Ave., and you can't turn onto it from westbound Denny Way (the main street that runs near the hotel). I couldn't quite figure out how to get onto Bell, so my plan was to back-up onto Bell, then pull into the alley. Bell is not a busy street at 10 in the evening, so I figured I could pull it off.

I had just about pulled it off, when a Seattle cop turned the wrong way onto the street and turned on his cherries. I'll sum up what he said: "What the hell are you doing?!" I explained what I was trying to do, and apologized for causing any problems. Then I threw in the excuse that I almost never use--and hate to use: "I'm sorry, Officer, we're not from here." He then let me go with a "Do whatever the hell you have to do." Really swell guy!

Let me just say...I was totally guilty of committing whatever offenses I committed, and I appreciate the officer letting me go. He was a dick, though. *shrugs* What are ya gonna do?

Then there was incident #2 this afternoon.

We were walking north on 2nd Avenue, looking for a restroom, as I had to go. I was just across the street from a Starbucks, and the traffic on 2nd Avenue was stopped at the stoplight at Lenora, north of where we were. I saw a Dodge Charger that looked like it might be an unmarked cop car as I crossed, but I didn't give it much thought because I had to go. So I crossed the street about 50 feet south of the crosswalk.

The Charger was indeed a cop car...and he stopped me as soon as he crossed the light at Lenora. He was quick and precise: you can't jaywalk, let me see your license, is this your current address?, here's your ticket and take care. He wasn't exactly rude, but not exactly friendly either.

And that ticket? $56. I have regularly crossed at non-crosswalks in several major cities in front of cops, and this is the first time I have ever been stopped by a cop or given a ticket for it.

Based on what I saw online, jaywalking is a regularly-ticketed offense--and a sore spot with some folks--in Seattle. I freely admit that I did so, but this just seems really silly. Ignorance is no excuse, and I will pay the fine, but will make sure to check the box labeled, "Mitigating Circumstances."

I've had a great time with April, but I haven't enjoyed this trip as much as I should have. I've been cranky and snippy towards April all week, and feel like I've ruined this trip for her...at this point, we're both ready to come home.

And I don't know what the fuck is wrong with me. I'm no psychologist, but I wonder if maybe I'm just reacting unconsciously to the fact that I'm married now. Don't get me wrong--I am so happy to be married, and April is my soulmate. But obviously there is an end to one part of my life. April has had some issues with our new status as well, but nowhere near as bad as me.

So, in front of my peeps and the world, I'm sorry I've been so cranky and such a jerkface this week, Pretty Lady. I love you, and I promise I'll make this up to you some way.

It may just be Canada, but it's still a country that's not the US, right? That's what I'm saying!

Greetings from beautiful Vancouver, British Columbia! We're just sitting down here at the Swiss Chalet for a bite to eat. Apparently, this is some sort of Canadian chain a la Boston Market. No matter...I'm sure the food will be tasty.

Vancouver is a beautiful city, though very densely populated it seems...lots and lots of high-rise apartment buildings. And the whole metric thing is fucking with me, but that's minor. I was hoping the Dr Pepper here would be sweetened with pure sugar, but it appears to be a sugar/HFCS mix...fuck that! I bought April a red tangerine Fanta...I haven't tried it yet myself, but I suspect it tastes pretty good.

Lots to tell you about from the past couple of days, along with pretty pictures. But we'll hold off on that until later tonight...it's all about the international post for now.

Peace out, hosers!

Good afternoon from Belltown...at least, I think that's the 'hood we're staying in. It's just literally down the street from Downtown.

When in Seattle, do not stay at the LaQuinta Inn on 8th Avenue. Our room wasn't ready until 3:45pm yesterday...check-in is at 3. The staff isn't exactly rude, but they're not very friendly either.

Other than the traffic and the weird people, I really like Downtown. From where we're at, you see all these tall buildings, but then you get down there and it doesn't feel so big. And Seattle seems to have done a good job of making their downtown a real urban living space, complete with lots of trees. I'm also impressed with how they've put "big box" retailers into "acceptable" settings, like this Whole Foods Market just near us that appears to be tucked into an office or apartment building. I used to see that a lot in Chicago and DC.

We walked over to Pike Place Market this morning...that was a nice 20 minute walk or so. We needed it too.

Pike Place is cool...and hard to describe. You have the outdoor stalls, much like other outdoor markets in the country. Then you have Down Under, which are the 3 indoor lower levels with various shops. It's like a farmers market mall. And yes, we saw the guys at the Fish Market throw fish, though only briefly.

We had a late breakfast at Lowell's. I had a breakfast quesadilla, while April had eggs benedict. Pretty good, along with great views of Puget Sound and the mountains. I realize that we've been in the high traffic areas for the past 2 days, but still...the prices seem high. I dunno...from what I understand, Seattle does have a rather high cost of living.

Tully's coffee is excellent. I've had Starbucks and Seattle's Best, but never Tully's. Seriously...good stuff. Had a couple cups at Lowell's.

Some lady tried to give us "free" tickets to the Seattle Art Museum...that sounded like a scam a mile away.

I never realized how hilly Seattle was...at least, the parts we've been to so far. Wow!

As we started walking back to the hotel from Pike Place, this woman was following close behind us on Stewart St. We thought she wanted to get around us, so I moved out of her way...yet she kept walking closely behind us. Weird.

We then walked down the 2100 block of 2nd Avenue...we had walked down 1st Avenue on our way to the Market. Wow...crazy people...literally. It was like a skid row of homeless and/or mentally unstable folks. I didn't see a food kitchen or shelter around, so I'm not sure why the folks were there. Maybe they like the scenery.

The agenda for the rest of the day is unknown. I figure we'll drive around the city...we haven't done much of that yet. And I'm sure we'll stumble across more interesting things.

And now...picture time!

Pike Place Market from Stewart St.:


A guy catching a fish at the Pike Place Fish Market:


The view from the 3rd floor of Lowell's:


The first Starbucks ever...sorta. The original store on Western Ave. moved to this spot in 1976:


The mural on the south side of our hotel:


More later...

Greetings from the Emerald City! We're running on 4 hours sleep. The jury is out on Seattle thus far.

Dealt with a few assholes that were apparently in a big fucking hurry to go nowhere when the plane landed. I hope they were Seattleites and not St. Louisans.

Apparently, Hertz is really popular here. We waited in line for about 15-20 minutes...no other car rental place had a line. They wound up giving us an upgrade for the trouble...but they upgraded us from a Ford Taurus to a Ford Explorer. I've never driven one before, and I'm not a fan thus far...too big for my liking. Plus, I feel hypocritical...it flies in the face of what I stand for. Not to mention, it seems like a shitty vehicle to be driving in the beautiful and environmentally-conscious Pacific Northwest. And it was registered in Indiana...oh fucking joy!

The street grid of Seattle at this moment seems really fucked up. I've read about the streets here before, and I know that there is some sort of rhyme and reason to them...now I have to reread that information. And parking here is like parking in Philly or Chicago...and try to park a fucking full-size SUV. Oy!

Did I mention that traffic here is ridiculous?

The people I've encountered thus far seem passive-aggressive. That explains the grunge movement pretty well.

We drove around downtown early this afternoon, then had lunch at the Hurricane Cafe on 7th Avenue. I had a 4-egg Spanish omelette, while April had a Bacon Turkey & Avocado sandwich. Good stuff, though a bit pricy...I didn't drink anything, but a bottle of Bud Light is $3.50. A can of Old Style is $3. The Leaf charges $2, and most bars in St. Louis charge $2-2.50 for Bud Light. Old Style is like $1.50 a can at Tin Can.

I've watched the local news of the ABC and NBC affiliates...wow...I thought St. Louis news was hokey.

But one half-day in Seattle does not make a trip...I'm sure we're gonna have a great time this week. We'll probably go over to Pike Place tomorrow and walk around downtown...maybe drive down to Olympia. I can't wait to go to Vancouver...that'll probably be Thursday or Friday.

Here's the view from the balcony of our hotel...nice, eh?







More tomorrow!

I want to thank everyone for their warm wishes for our wedding.

I want to thank Zip and his wife for coming up here from Arkansas to celebrate our big day.

I want to thank Tim and Monken for stepping up to the plate and helping me look and feel my best yesterday.

And I want to thank April for being willing to put up with me forever. It was the best day ever. I love you.

Am I supposed to be nervous? I guess I kinda am...my body's been acting up for the past 2 weeks, and I'm feeling a little neurotic this morning. But as a whole, I'm good.

I spent my last night of being single doing laundry, playing around online and eating dinner at IHOP. And it was perfect.

I still don't have my tux yet. I've been to the tux shop every day since Wednesday, the day it was supposed to arrive. It arrived Thursday, but we've been having some problems. The pants were too big, so the new ones came in yesterday. The vest was too small, so that was supposed to come in yesterday too...but didn't. And I wasn't too happy with the shirt...it's thin as hell and felt a little too tight for me. I need a new white dress shirt anyway...fuck it, I'll go buy one when Casual Male opens at 10.

Folks, never ever go to After Hours Formalwear at South County Center. The company was recently bought out by Men's Wearhouse, and that's the main excuse I've gotten for shit going wrong with the tux--the conversion of everything to MW's system. Fuck that...that excuse only goes so far. I'm just dealing with a shithead and a shithead store. The people that got their tuxes at the store in Crestwood Plaza have had absolutely no problems.

But I ain't worried...I'll show up in a t-shirt and shorts if I have to, and April won't care. In fact, funny story...I had to go to the doctor Tuesday. I scheduled the appointment before Uncle Harry's untimely demise, and the funeral was set for Tuesday morning. But I didn't want to cancel my appointment because it's hard as hell to get in to the doctor. Plus I'm out of refills on meds, and the doc wanted to see me before giving me new ones. The family was totally understanding, and I wound up not being there for the Mass. I wasn't going to go to the cemetery, but April asked me to be there regardless of my dress. So among the well-dressed mourners at the cemetery was a guy in a T-shirt, shorts and a pair of pink Crocs.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to live out my last single hours in peace. :)

Timmy's at the mic today

Courtesy of stltoday.com...

Thursday morning was a rough one for the Rev. Larry Rice and his new alternative energy venture in Dutchtown.

Twenty-five residents, business owners and representatives of community associations from the south St. Louis neighborhood attended a City Hall hearing to oppose Rice's St. Louis Renewable Energy Center, which he wants to open on a residential block of Tennessee Avenue.

The hearing, which was heated at times with Rice and his critics shouting at each other across the room, was originally scheduled for last month. At the request of 25th Ward Alderman Dorothy Kirner, Rice agreed to postpone it and meet with neighborhood residents concerned that he intends to use the building as a homeless shelter.

Rice has said he doesn't want to use the property to house the homeless. He says he plans to use the building to give homeless people skills in the field of renewable energy and educate the public about alternative energy resources.

A couple things about this. Rev. Larry Rice is a comeplete slumlord to begin with. The New Life Evangelistic Center (NLEC) is one of the most rundown buildings in downtown. People sleep over at Soldiers memorial so they don't have to go there.

I know exactly where this property is at. When we were kids Dougs grandmother walked us by there all the time. This property has been shut down for the minimum of 10 years. We deliver to customers on this block and it bothers me at night because I don't know what and who is hiding on this rundown property.

This is one of the area's of south city that I start to call BAD. Dougs grandmother used to live exactly 1 block from this property. This area has been going downhill for years. But it is block by block and there is alot of rehab work going on. The last thing this area needs (or we need) is him putting on of his centers with his drug and alcohol addicted cronies in this area.

And since when does the homeless give a flying fuck about being green?

From MSNBC: Joey Bishop, the stone-faced comedian who found success in nightclubs, television and movies but became most famous as a member of Frank Sinatra’s Rat Pack, has died at 89.

He was the group’s last surviving member. Peter Lawford died in 1984, Sammy Davis Jr. in 1990, Dean Martin in 1995, and Sinatra in 1998.

Rest in peace...

From MSNBC: Three-quarters of U.S. consumers plan to shun toys made in China this holiday season, according to a Reuters/Zogby poll.

Of almost 1,000 people polled, 75.8 percent said they would not buy Chinese-made toys.

The results come in the wake of several high-profile recalls this year of toys made in China that either contained lead or small magnets.

Good luck with that...I don't know what the numbers are--and I'm too lazy to look them up--but I suspect that most of this country's toys are made in China. Unless you want to pay a fuckton for toys or make them yourselves, expect to give Hu Jintao and the semi-capitalists a lot of your hard-earned dollars in the next couple of months.

From MSNBC: Riding a Rocky Mountain High like none other, Colorado is heading to its first World Series.

With their 21st win in 22 games, the relentless Rockies beat the rattled Arizona Diamondbacks 6-4 in Game 4 Monday night to sweep the NL championship series at a chilly Coors Field.

This year's feel-good team...you can't hate any of the teams left in the playoffs. I'd like to see Cleveland win the ALCS and take the World Series. I like the Rockies, but it's been 59 years since the Tribe has won it all.

From the BBC: Rock legends Led Zeppelin are to make their complete back catalogue available for digital download from next month.

The band, one of the last major acts to embrace the digital market, will now offer classic hits like Whole Lotta Love from all online music retailers.

Hopefully, it's just a matter of time before the Beatles finally go digital...legitimately, that is.

The son of one of April's co-workers got married yesterday, and we were invited to the shindig. Of course, we had to go...especially given that we would be two of the only white people there. Most of April's department is black...in fact, only her boss's boss is white. But we decided not to go to the wedding because we were bogged down with funeral stuff, so we went to the reception.

It was supposed to start at 6, and we got there promptly at 6. But no one else was there...the banquet center and catering staff were putting the finishing touches on stuff. So we hung around in the hallway for a bit until people we knew showed up...that was about 6:30.

The banquet center was...interesting. It was housed in what looks like it was a former Lowe's, in a seedy looking strip mall in Baden, a neighborhood at the north end of the city. The inside looked alright, but you could tell that it was like putting lipstick on a pig...for example, they had nice lighting fixtures installed, but left the fluorescent bulb brackets up.

Apparently, the wedding started 45 minutes late, and the photos took longer than expected. The wedding party finally showed up around 7. The DJ was either just horrible or drunk and/or high: His attire was a Rams jersey and a ball cap, he forgot the couple's names and he kept repeating himself.

Punch was served, and the bar was a cash bar. Now, I can understand that...but not when the mixed drinks are $5.

Then there was dinner. Originally there was supposed to be assigned seating, but that was scrapped at the last minute. We wound up sitting at table 23...it was close to the exit. Apparently, the dinner was catered in, and they were on a different schedule than the reception, so they wanted to feed everyone in a hurry. Only it didn't happen that way.

The time between the head table being called and tables 9-12 being called was about 45 minutes. Plus the food stunk, as in smelling bad. And from what we heard, it wasn't anything to write home about. Other tables started getting up and getting food, though they hadn't yet been called. April and I were not about to do that, though other people at our table did.

The wedding couple and the wedding party looked nice. But some people just looked awful, including the mother of the bride...jeans, tight/short clothes that people had no business wearing, etc.

At this point, it is now 8:30, and we hadn't eaten since earlier in the afternoon. Fuck that...we decided to leave. We saw April's friend earlier in the evening, so that was enough for us.

In short, the affair was a trainwreck. If I had been feeling better, we might have stayed longer to see more...but I think we saw enough. And saw plenty of what not to do next weekend. Of course, our reception is going to be the greatest one ever anyway...but we still took notes.

Timmy is in charge today, commenting on a story in today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch about structural problems with one of Downtown St. Louis's main arteries, Tucker Boulevard.

Courtesy of STLtoday.com
To the roughly 20,000 drivers who use Tucker Boulevard daily, there's little evidence that the downtown stretch between Washington Avenue and O'Fallon Street is actually an aging bridge standing over a 30-foot-tall tunnel. Parts of the span have become so corroded that the city has shut down a block of Tucker just north of downtown, as well as closed some driving and parking lanes.

We closed the lanes because we wanted to make sure the public was safe," Early said. "At our last inspection, it had got to the point where there was not enough competent beams … that we thought could carry the load

So along with the I-170 and Olive construction, 40 and I-170 construction, along with the other mess on 40, last week the city closed another major bridge going over the railroad tracks at Jefferson and Chouteau. A week or two before the city closed the cass ave bridge that goes over I-70 down by the dome. Oh yea, the McKinley bridge reopening too. Bad enough we got this hwy 40 mess, but if they keep shutting these bridges down it's going to be impossible to navigate the city.

April surprised me with a special birthday Manifesto...she rocks!

...because, he just is.

No, really - Syc is AWESOME because today is his birthday...and instead of making a big deal about it, he is instead finishing plans for the wedding so that I can plan my uncle's funeral. He wants no big party, no special gift, he just wants to take care of me and my family. How fucking wonderful is he?!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BABY! I love you more than you will ever know. Thank you for stepping up to the plate and taking care of business. I'll make sure to make this up to you on our honeymoon. :wink:

But until that time *clearing throat to sing horribly* HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! HAPPY BIRRRRRTTTTHHHHDDDDAAAAYYY DEAR SSSSSSSSSYYYYYYYYYYYCCCCCCCCC, HAPPY BIRTHDAY TO YOU! AND MANY MORE (at least 60 more or I will bring you back to life myself just to kick your ass).

Love,
The soon-to-be Mrs. Sycamore :D

From the BBC: Ankara is recalling its ambassador to Washington for consultations amid anger at a vote in Congress labelling the mass killing of Armenians as genocide.

The passing of the resolution by a House committee on Wednesday despite appeals by the Bush administration was denounced by President Abdullah Gul.

Who really cares what word is used? The Turks killed a bunch of Armenians after World War I...does it really matter at this point what you call it? In the end, I don't understand why Turkey is so weird about using the term "genocide"...though I'm also not sure why Armenians are so hell-bent to force the term.

One of April's uncles, Harry, passed away suddenly this morning. He was in his early 50s. He was April's favorite uncle growing up...his oldest son Harry Jr. is her favorite cousin. Harry Jr. will be walking her down the aisle next week.

Unfortunately, Harry Sr. battled addictions most of his life, most recently one to painkillers. The medical examiner should have the autopsy completed tomorrow.

I ask that you keep his wife and their two sons in your thoughts and prayers.

Thank you.

So I was milling around at work today, waiting for a delivery run to come up, when one of the owners came up to me. It was the one I got into it with last week. Apparently, he just learned of the note I had put in the office after the altercation, stating that I would no longer assist on counter duties. He apologized for misunderstanding what I originally told him, and for offending me in any way.

WTF?! Seriously?! Wow...this is a rarity. The owners rarely admit a fuck-up. His actions left me speechless...talk about another rarity. All I said during the entire conversation was that they had their way of doing things and I didn't want to fuck it up at the beginning, and that I accepted his apology at the end. Wow...I even have a little respect for him now.

Just a little, though. This isn't derailing my plans...it's still time to go.

Saturday night was the Sycamore Bachelor Party Extravaganza.

We hit 6 bars in 7 1/2 hours...that's pretty impressive. The starting point was the Leaf. And wouldn't you know it...my old man knew the bartender there! Son of a bitch...the man never goes there and he still knew somebody there!

From there we headed to O'Connell's Pub for food and more drink. Their service is just shit, but they have really good burgers. At this point, it was about 8ish and I had already had like 7 beers, so I decided to slow down for a while.

Next was Milo's Bocce Garden on the Hill. I haven't been there in forever, and it's actually kinda classy...it's almost not a dive bar. No bocce for me, though...I probably would have killed someone with my throws.

On to The Hide Away, which is a piano bar not too far from the house. I had never been there before, but I heard it was decent. It was alright, but we were probably the youngest people there. Almost everyone else there was probably 50+...even our server made light of it. We probably only stayed there 15-20 minutes.

Then it was off to Keeton's Double Play, which is actually one of the South Side's newest dives...a friend of my old man's owns it. He used to own another dive called Boo's, which was the scene of one of my finer nights of drinking a couple years ago. I started drinking again, and put away 3 shots, a beer, a long island iced tea and like 2 amaretto sours. Didn't really feel it though...guess the food was sucking it up.

This was the part of the evening where things got interesting. Monken was whaling away at karaoke...the fucker is actually a good singer. Actually, he's always been a good impersonator...he used to do good versions of Jim Morrison and Eddie Vedder in high school. Then he and Tim did "Piano Man," which was good...and funny.

Then this one gal came over..."Do you know any 3 o'clock bars?" Most bars in town close at 1:30, except for some that serve food...they can apply to stay open until 3. I know of 2 bars in our immediate area that are 3 o'clockers...Trophy Room and Barney's. I tell her this, and she asked us if we're going to either. Tim threw that one to me, but I just said I didn't know. I'm not on the market (obviously), plus these gals were not very attractive.

A short time later, another (unattractive) gal came over and asked if her and her (unattractive) friend could come over to our table because she thought we were all cute. I immediately passed that one to Tim...he said it was cool, but for whatever reason, they didn't come over. That was probably a good thing.

Shortly after this, we headed to our last bar of the night--Barney's. Right after we got there, Tim started talking to this (unattractive) girl, and her and her (unattractive) friend then came over to sit with us. I was mute during this time--I wanted no part of that. Matt tried to be friendly with them, while Tim apparently had the eye of the other girl--the one he didn't want to talk to. They left our table after about 5 or 10 minutes...apparently, the one girl whispered to the other that we were boring. We left not too long after that, and I arrived back home just after 2am.

I had a couple more amaretto sours at Barney's. By the time I got home, I had a mean buzz...actually, I was probably drunk, but I wasn't that fucked up. I stayed up for a couple hours after I got home...I ate some food and took some ibuprofen before going to bed. I woke up yesterday morning a bit tired, but in pretty good shape.

I had a good time, and I have to give big props to Monken, Tim and my cousin Eric for making it fun. Sadly, these were the only 3 people to come, other than my stepdad making an appearance at the Leaf and a friend of Tim's stopping by Double Play. Needless to say, I was disappointed by the lack of attendance, but I still had a good time.

...then add insult to injury while doing so.

From today's St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Shoplifters at Country Mart tend to favor cold medicines and packaged meats. They used to steal cigarettes, too, until tobacco was moved behind the counter. But the doughnuts were never a target for thieves.

Country Mart's doughnuts — fried fresh daily in the store — sell for just 52 cents each. That is why the "shoplifters will be prosecuted" signs are displayed in aisle 4 with the pricey pain and allergy pills, and not in aisle 5 beside the glass doughnut case with its tiger tails, jelly-filleds and eclairs.

Then one man's sweet tooth got the better of him. He stole a doughnut. A single doughnut.

Authorities called it strong-arm robbery. The "doughnut man," as the suspect is now known, faces five to 15 years in prison for his crime. And Farmington, a town of 14,000 people about 70 miles south of St. Louis, has been buzzing about it ever since.

The charge seems excessive, but he was a dumb fuck for stealing in the first place. Then he assaulted someone...over a fucking donut.

Of course, we're talking about Farmington here. Farmington is probably the equivalent of Lancaster in Pennsylvania, minus the Amish and the outlet stores.

From MSNBC: A barber with strong ties to the military community pulled out a gun and shot himself in the head at a City Council meeting after his request for a rezoning measure was rejected.

Ronald "Bo" Ward sought the rezoning to increase the property value of his home, allowing him to secure a loan to offset debt he incurred when he expanded his barber shop.

This is the best part of the article, IMO:

"When a gun gets whipped out like that, someone is going to get shot, but I didn't know who," Councilman Bill Summers said. "You could've been right next to him, and I don't think you could have stopped that."

Mayor Johnny Piper said Thursday's council meeting would be the last held in that room.

So...what do you think they'll do with the room? Memorial? Seal it off like they did the exorcism room at the old Alexian Brothers Hospital here in St. Louis?

I don't think either will come back from being down 2-0, but I am hopeful that the Cubs and Phillies will rally to win their respective series in the National League playoffs.

The Rockies are just on fire right now, and I'm not sure if they can be contained. And the D'Backs are a solid all-around team. But the Cubs and Phillies hung tough all year...they have the ability to pull it off.

We'll find out tomorrow night if both will live another day...game 3.

Discovered in the 100 block of Bates Street in South City yesterday:


A close-up of the trunk:


I'm impressed.

So yesterday, I had a minor altercation with one of the owners of our shop. This isn't the first time this has happened, and in this situation, I was actually at fault. Long story short, I took a call from a vendor on Friday that I should have given to the manager-on-duty, though the manager-on-duty approved of my handling of the situation and would have done exactly the same thing I did.

I don't know what got into me, but when the owner got weird with me about the call, it was like a moment of clarity: "Terry, what the fuck are you doing working for a pizza joint?! Get a hold of yourself man!"

So last night, I updated my resume on a couple of job sites; I already updated my actual resume a couple of months ago. Then I applied to work for a local courier company. Later, I drove around the area around my house to see if any restaurants were hiring delivery drivers.

That's the short-term fix...I got to get the fuck out of that store. Maybe the owners are cool people outside the store, but they're crappy business people...actually, I guess that makes them typical business people. My brother will be more than happy to back me up on this.

Now for the long-term fix...tonight or tomorrow, I'm going to send out resumes to the local colleges for teaching positions. And if I see other regular business jobs that appeal to me, I might apply for them too.

I'm 32 years old with a masters degree and an extensive work history. I've been bad about holding on to jobs in the past, but I'm older and smarter now...plus I left my last two jobs with no hard feelings and even have references from those companies. Shit...I've had my current job for over two years and have a reference from them too!

I wish this hadn't come up in the midst of final wedding preparations, but it has to be done. If I have it my way, I'm not going back to that fucking pizza shop when we get back from our honeymoon.

Wish me luck!

I don't remember my dreams all that often, but this one scared the shit out of me.

In this dream, April wanted to eat dead bodies. There was even a preparation process for doing so...though all I remember is that we were supposed to drink 6 glasses of water as an appetite suppressant. Oh...and we were supposed to start with the nose.

I remember being repulsed by the idea. At one point, I asked how long we could keep the bodies before they went bad...I got no response.

I woke up, and for a few seconds, I thought the dream was reality. Then the real reality kicked in...whew!

All morning, I've been calling April a cannibal. But it's just desserts actually...she has dreams on occasion where I'm a total asshole. Then she wakes up and is mad at me for what I did in the dream.

I don't have much free time in the next 21 days.

It's not all that bad...we don't really have that much left to do for the wedding. But there's still so much to do: finalizing DJ stuff, finalizing the service and the program, wedding license, etc.

People keep asking me if I'm excited about the wedding, or if I'm getting nervous. I am excited and a bit nervous, but more than anything, I just want to get this out of the way. I don't mean to sound like a dick here. Our wedding will be great I'm sure, and we'll have a great reception, but I'm ready to move on with the rest of our life. I'm already committed to April, and we've lived together for almost a year now...the ceremony is a mere formality at this point. Oh sure, it'll be a great party...but things have been so crazy recently. I just want to do nothing while not neglecting anything. I think April would like the same.

Now if you'll excuse me, I need some sleepy time.