I’ve talked about LEGO before so I won’t get into it too much. Like any collectible item it has a rabid and loyal fanbase. Some talk about the good old days when gray was real gray, and discounts were real discounts. For me being somewhat new to the entire thing I shrug and tell myself, this is what happens when you’re a late adopter, you miss out on some things. I tend to be lost to all the stuff that most AFOLs talk about. I try to just learn what I can. LEGO is expensive so I don’t usually buy a bunch of it. One thing I try to do when I buy a LEGO set from the store is fill out the survey. I know it sounds silly, but I know that It helps,. After doing a bunch of these I started getting a little punchy. How many different ways can you say “I had a great experience”? So I’ve now written them in Pirate speak, I’ve written limericks- even a haiku. It lets me be creative and lets the people who read these things get a chuckle for a few minutes, hopefully brightening their day. You should try it sometime- it’s fun. 
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A Year in MINIons- MINIon #74499
I’ve talked about LEGO before so I won’t get into it too much. Like any collectible item it has a rabid and loyal fanbase. Some talk about the good old days when gray was real gray, and discounts were real discounts. For me being somewhat new to the entire thing I shrug and tell myself, this is what happens when you’re a late adopter, you miss out on some things. I tend to be lost to all the stuff that most AFOLs talk about. I try to just learn what I can. LEGO is expensive so I don’t usually buy a bunch of it. One thing I try to do when I buy a LEGO set from the store is fill out the survey. I know it sounds silly, but I know that It helps,. After doing a bunch of these I started getting a little punchy. How many different ways can you say “I had a great experience”? So I’ve now written them in Pirate speak, I’ve written limericks- even a haiku. It lets me be creative and lets the people who read these things get a chuckle for a few minutes, hopefully brightening their day. You should try it sometime- it’s fun. A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0180
As I reminisce about my life, I realize having grown up in the time of the rerun… Gilligan’s Island tends to be something I recall watching (over & over again). As I was growing up in Southern California I also grew up listening to Doctor Demento… another classic. Wile being introduced to Tom Lehrer , Spike Jones and other classics, I also remember an interesting Gilligan tribute…
A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0034
Time for a trip to the land of nostalgia or as I like to put it “Some things were better when I was a kid, now get off my lawn!” Remember when cartoons only were shown on Saturdays? When you knew it was time to go outside and play because “American Bandstand” was on? When The Friday before the first day of School all three networks took prime time slots to promote their new cartoons? Cartoon adds were in comic books! There was a cartoon of my youth that has gone through the wringer since I grew up. Those meddling kids and the dog would solve mysteries dealing with old Mr. Gobbledegook who dressed up as a ghost to scare people away from someplace. I unfortunately watch a more recent episode of the cartoon, and the ghosts were REAL! It wasn’t some old guy dressed up that they unmasked at the end… It was a real ghost! I was shocked, they were pushing the belief that monsters that live under our beds are real. Yes, I know they are, but we still have to tell the kiddies that it’s all in their imagination or else the monsters might get under our beds.
I did buy a couple of the LEGO Scooby Doo sets… What’s a haunted house without the Mystery Machine parked outside? A Year in MINIons- MINIon #3160
If you haven’t heard a funny little comic strip about a boy and his stuffed tiger started on this date 30 years ago. I thank the many people who have posting about this anniversary for the inspiration.
I once had an opportunity to see a Bill Watterson retrospective at the Billy Ireland Museum on Columbus, OH. I may have said something about the experience sometime, but as Sue can attest I was in awe of what I saw there. I felt almost the same way when visiting the Schulz Museum. These are artists I look up to… OK wait… Let me put it to you in another way. You know that football jersey that you spent a boatload of money on? Imagine how you would feel if you could spend an hour or two with that guy. Just sit down, have a beer, and talk football. That’s kind of how I felt, but with less sports and more drawings.
“Let’s go exploring!” A Year in MINIons- MINIon #1998
Yesterday was my birthday- (along with “Never Party with a Teddy Bear or Else You’ll Regret it Day”) so today I’m starting the next half century of my life and thinking of my role models. The first, that I have mentioned before, is my grandfather on my father’s side. He was probably one of the most kind people I have ever known, and I hope as I get older (get off my lawn!) I’ll be more like him.
One of the things I remember most was his love of baking (I guess I should figure out how to use an oven). He would visit and the house would fill with the wonderful smells of fresh baked bread. One summer my parents sent my brother and me out to visit him in Connecticut. We had been raised to be finicky eaters and when he asked us what we wanted for lunches we decided to say we loved his bread and just a few slices would be fine. His bread was great, but I think we were also afraid of what would be added to a sandwich if it had anything else. Since then I have grown to appreciate this strange stuff called “condiments” as a kid- ummm… not so much.
So as I finish off watching a season of the “Great British Baking Show” I think of him and how I need to figure out how to make “hermits” and really good bread, like Arnie used to make so Mackenzie,my god daughter, has a connection to the past. I promise now that I’m officially a curmudgeon I won’t wax nostalgically about the good old days all the time- but the least you can give me is a day to feel old. A Year in MINIons- MINIon #1902
A word of advice: You should never party with a teddy bear… especially on your birthday, especially if your birthday happens to fall on Button Day. If you thought teddy bears were into those frilly “Tea Parties.” you would be sadly mistaken. They might have tea cups with imaginary liquid in them.. but that imaginary liquid has a kick. Then the world goes black with little pink polka dots as you hear W.C. Handy playing on on a scratchy phonograph. You wake up with a bad taste in your mouth and a headache the size of an elephant (African Elephant, not Indian Elephant). You hope that you don’t have buttons for eyes like in Coraline… or maybe if you had button the light wouldn’t be so bright, these are a few of the thoughts running through your aching head after you party with a teddy bear… or so I’ve heard from a friend… A Year in MINIons- MINIon #$$$$
So what is philanthropy? When you see that word many people think of “Genius, Billionaire, Playboy, Philanthropist” or some old guy with a lot of money giving it away to the local symphony, or university so some building will be named after them. To me, it’s giving to a cause you believe in, that you want to be successful, that you think can make a difference. For my grandmother, it was the Zoo, for me it’s the Humane Society (specifically the one that Hemi came from). Have given to other things? Over the years when I’ve had money to do so, I’ve given to a wide variety of causes. All I can say is if you like some cause or group, before the end of 2015 think about what you could give and then do it. Don’t worry about if you can write it off your taxes, it shouldn’t matter if you believe in the cause. Who knows? You might feel better about yourself, and the world we live in. A Year in MINIons- MINIon #1789
One of things that makes Warner Brothers cartoons timeless classics is that they rarely have anything in them dealing with the time period in which they were created. This allowed Bugs Bunny & friends to be funny across decades. Fortunately, this is only a year in MINIons so I can embrace the events of this year good or bad and the decades I have lived. On Friday the 13th horrible things happened in Paris, France (not Paris, Illinois). The world is once again a scary place of uncertainty. So I created a MINIon in honor of the sad events in Paris. Sadly, people just cant be nice to other people. Something forces some people to think that violence is answer… What has our society become?
Historically when it comes to France, when my brother took his senior high school trip to Europe he did return with a number hats for me (I was into hats, am into hats, like hats… whatever). One of those was a beret he picked up in Paris. Over the years it has been sadly misplaced, but I do remember it. While every attempt I have made to learn French has been a failure, my limited time in France (Strasbourg) was wonderful. My time in Klingenthal was wonder introducing to the French timing for meals and one of my favorite foods – Tarte flambée. Mmmm… Tarte flambée. Oh, while the French language has been nothing but trouble for me, that scene in “Casablanca” does bring a tear to my eye. A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0688
Oh the horror… I guess I grew up at the right time… I ended up with opportunity to see “Halloween,” “Nightmare on Elm Street,” and “Friday the 13th” in the theater. I didn’t see any of those films in the theater- I don’t like being scare in a movie. Thank you God for video and being able to hide under the covers at home. Seeing a few of the more recent slasher films, I’ve noticed that shock and gross stuff is now the norm,not scary, just shocking. My generation (keep off my lawn!) knew what scary was… campy, but still scary. I hate going to a movie just to close my eyes through most of it… A Year in MINIons- MINIon #0209
I hate to fly… No, really I do. I understand how it works scientifically, but that doesn’t mean I have to like it. Maybe it started with being a kid when the film “Airport” came out. They used the Indianapolis Airport as the backdrop, so every time I’d fly out to see my grandparents, I’d land at the same place Dean Martin barely saved his flight from certain doom.
When I have to fly I tend to get prepared by loading a bunch of movies on my iPhone, or iPad. Either stuff I haven’t seen or ones that have become my “happy place.” They pass the time and take my mind off Bernoulli.
I do find a couple things interesting in the “post 911” age of travel. First, with charges for checked luggage, everyone has carry-ons. It’s funny that every flight I’ve been on recently they beg to gate check your bag at no charge because they don’t think they’ll have enough room on board. Wha? Huh?
The other thing is dropping people off at the airport. I understand your loved one is important to you, and every second you spend with them is a golden moment. If you can’t stand leaving them at the curb, park your car in the short term lot and go in with them. Don’t leave your unattended vehicle in the white zone (for loading and unloading of passengers only) just to have the PA blare “Would the owner of a white Ford Bronco please return to your car.” The only other reason I can think of is someone has figured out the difference between fines, & getting your car out of the impound lot, and long term parking. At some point the impound lot has got to be more cost effective.