The Day-Glo Brothers

One of the bloggers I follow is Redneck Mother. Recently she announced on her blog that her husband, Chris Barton, wrote a children's book titled The Day-Glo Brothers. I wish my kids were still young enough to want one of these books because I think they would truly enjoy having a copy.


The book is the history of the two men who invented Day-Glo colors. I did not know how Day-Glo came about but it is a pretty big part of our every day life now. Day-Glo is pretty much the official color that attracts attention for safety, it's the chosen color from the 60's for black light posters and the color that many kids naturally gravitate to. The book is illustrated by Tony Persiani, a very talented artist with a rather impressive portfolio. Who wouldn't want a copy of that? Hmm, maybe I'll buy a copy just for me, cuz deep down inside I'm really still just a kid. A very geeky kid, but still a kid. Get a copy of the book for your kid.

Oh and add Redneck Mother to your google reader while you're at it.

Oops! Long Time No Update

I've been pretty busy with PodCamp Ohio activities lately and that has kept me away from updating here. I did attend the Ohio Growth Summit last week as well as the Tweetup the night before. I had a chance to meet and talk to Chris Brogan who was one of the key note speakers for the summit. Unfortunately, I missed his talk because I had a job interview I needed to get to. Chris was thoughtful enough to let me do a brief video interview with him about PodCamp though. I will be posting it later today on the PodCamp Ohio website. I have a picture of me with Chris Brogan at the Tweetup on my phone but I am having troucle with my sync cable for my computer and will have to visit the sprint store today to see if I can get a replacement.

Speaking of phones, the new Palm Pre is out and I want one! If you are listening Palm, please send me one since I can't afford it. (See reference to job interview above to explain why)

If you follow me on Twitter, you will notice that I have changed my timezone and location to Tehran, Iran. Please don't freak out Mom. There is a reason for that. In Iran, several people are twittering about the events as they unfold. On Twitter, many of us have changed our location to help thwart the governments ability to search out the real Iranian twitters from others outside. They are risking their safety to try to get information out to us about what is happening. If you would like information about what is happening, there is a very good explanation of who the groups are and some of the details of what has been happening here. There are several groups of people setting up proxy servers to help hide the location of bloggers in Iran so that they may continue to get information out. To those tech savvy people: I salute you! What you are doing is important to the rest of the world.

I did get to spend time with my mother this past Saturday helping to weed the flower beds and again managed to get poison ivy. Right now it's just a small patch on one arm and hopefully, it will stay that way. We will see. Take care everyone. Hope to see some of you at PodCamp Ohio or at Ignite Columbus the night before!

Tell Me Thursday

Welcome to Tell Me Thursday! Where I give you the story behind my Wordless Wednesday post. This picture actually has a title. It's What's That Smell?



Back in 1993, my ex and I took my two sons on vacation to Glacier National Park. While we were there, we spent a few nights back packing in the Nyack Wilderness. This trip was one of the hardest we had ever done. It rained most of the time and the trails are unmaintained so simply hiking can be a chore. Hiking with a pack on your back and keeping a watch out for grizzlies even more so. One morning when we were leaving the camp site and heading to the next one, we noticed a very large bear track in the mud. Uhh... I think that's close enough for me.

In the Nyack, you have to hang your food in bear bags on a line between two trees so bears won't get into it and become accustomed to going near humans for an easy meal. The out houses at the camp sites have no "house," they are just "outs." Meaning it's the seat part only. This is done to keep animals from moving in for the shelter. To compensate for the lack of privacy, the view is beautiful. One "out" looked out across a lake with a mountain on the far end and a water fall spilling down the side of it. Who needs a newspaper? When we finally got to the car after four nights out, all of us took off our hiking boots and wet socks and just threw them into the back of the car. We were tired and hungry and ready to be done.

The day we came out, we headed to a local resturant that also provided services to thru hikers on the Continental Divide Trail and ate our selves silly. Our waitress was also part owner of the resturant and was amazed to learn that we had just spent four nights in the Nyack. She told us their cook (who had completed the Continental Divide trail) spent one night in the Nyack and decided it was too hard core for him. Hearing that, we decided that we were tough! Really tough! Bad ass tough! It was a hard hike but I'm glad we did it. It gave my sons an opportunity to see what they were made of. I keep this picture like a trophy of our accomplishment. We still talk about it and laugh.

If you would like to read more Tell Me Thursday Stories from Wordless Wednesday participants, go Here.

Wordless Wednesday

Espresso Yourself Music Cafe

This past Thursday night the Taste Casting crew was invited to the Espresso Yourself Music Cafe for a tasting and a sample of some Jazz as well as smoothies and a cappuccino.

I am back at Espresso Yourself tonight as I write this. Tonight I am listening to the rock of a young band called Barefoot Laundromat. The place is packed with friends of the band as well as parents. They obviously get a lot of support and all this is taking me back to the time when my oldest son was i a band during his high school years, but that's another story for another time.

Why have I come back here to write about my Taste Casting experience? Well to be completely honest, I couldn't get those sandwiches we tried out of my mind so I gave in and came back tonight. There is another reason as well. I really like this place a lot. I have missed these types of places where you could go and get a good cup of coffee, hang out and enjoy music or read.

This isn't Starbucks and I can't tell you how glad I am it's not!. Eric Ahlteen, the owner of Espresso Yourself created a very relaxing space with an eclectic collection of art by local artists for sale on the wall. There are book for sale here as well so you can't want for much if you would like to spend the day or evening here.

This is part of a large piece on the wall




This is a close up of some of the detail



The stained glass windows add a wonderful light and feel to the place as well. I was very impressed with how comfortable I felt here on Thursday and still feel that way tonight as well.

Tonight, I ordered the Blues-y Roast Beef sandwich tonight which is not one of the sandwiches we sampled on Thursday but every bit as good as the three we sampled that night.

If you would like to test how the atmosphere here makes you feel, take a drive up to Powell Ohio and check it out for your self. Let me know before you come. I might want to meet you here. By the way, the room just exploded into high energy as the band launched into Taking Care Of Business

Here is one more picture for you as the band starts to play Free Bird! No that's ambitious!

Tell Me Thursday

Yesterday's Wordless Wednesday picture day was one I took in front of a house I used to live in. I had planted marigolds on either side of the steps leading up to our front door. After the first year, I let the flowers go to seed so that I wouldn't have to replant the following year. This little plant came up in the crack in front of the steps leading up to the front porch. It was right in the middle of the walkway. I was so impressed by it's ability to grow there, that I decided to leave it as a reminder to me of how resilient we all can be. To my amazement, no one ever disturbed it, or stepped on it. Not even the letter carrier came close. Not only that, another marigold plant grew in the crack the following year.

Wordless Wednesday