Maplemania.

Learn to fall in love with Fall more, with some recent pics from Vermont. It's known as the Green Mountain State, but I think it could also be called Cheeseland NE or Mapleville, USA. If you like the fall foliage, this might be the best place in the US to see them (of the places I've been to).









[and yes, i know the pics suck lately. could be the camera phones i always use or the fact that many are taken in moving cars. i'm looking into a real digital camera though]

Brain Teaser, #6.

One segment of the game show Let's Make a Deal had three doors, behind one of which was a car and behind each of the other two was a goat. The contestant would win whatever was behind the door he/she chose. The contestant chose one of the three doors, but before it was opened, the host opened up a different door that had a goat behind it. To have the greatest chance of winning the car, should the contestant open the door that was his/her original choice, or open the remaining door?

Embrace Fall.

Put on some fleece, grab some cash, a friend, and a camera... and head out to the Chicago Botanic Gardens (see link in favorites). But don't wait too long as I suspect they won't look this nice for too much longer now. At least it will get you back outside for a little bit more this year.

And please note: the gardens are not actually in the city of Chicago, but only about 45 minutes from the IL-WI border, in the 'burbs. (Lord knows why)

Discuss, Poll #38, Picking.

No, not picking your nose. I'm talking about picking produce mostly... like picking your own apples, strawberries, raspberries, etc. Didn't you used to do this as a kid with your family? No? How about getting your family's pumpkin or Christmas tree? Nothing. Well, just fill out the poll then.

If you have some good stories, let's hear 'em. And to entice you to leave a comment, I have some good ones that I'll share if I get a few to start it off.

Results, Poll #37, Winter Blues.

I'm feeling some winter blues already, so no plethora of commentary this week, here's the results:

> 0 people (0%) chose "drink early and drink often".
> 1 people (8%) chose "eat early and eat often".
> 1 people (8%) chose "exercise early and exercise often".
> 2 people (16%) chose "all of the above".
> 4 people (33%) chose "they don't really bother me" - i don't like you.
> 4 people (33%) chose "i wish i had a good method" - c'mon people! the person that suggested tanning up to twice a week, who I call 'Miss Melanoma Head', isn't that much help.

Pretty dull, right? Only 12 voters too... even more depressing. New poll up now, if you care.

Randy Pausch, Last Lecture: Achieving Your Childhood Dreams

View this. Do it now, I dare you.

One of my favorite topics...

DA BEARS!!!!

[getting it started]

In case you didn't watch NBC on Sunday night, the Chicago Bears played the Philadelphia Eagles. Now, don't get me wrong, I've had fun in Philly, they have some great bike shops... but their fans are known the world over for being some of the most caustic in the league. One year, in their own stadium, they threw snowballs at Santa Claus. This game had the most fan fights I'd ever seen at a NFL game. You can also now call or text a special Bears Task Force and report rowdy fans during the game - kinda cool.

This guy will be the rest of the pics. He was two rows in front of us the whole game. I know you want to get a better look at his face paint, don't you?

[the other side]

I think he was older than my dad, had his own custom jersey (last name 'Knell') and brought his son along for the fun (or some young guy that wore another custom jersey with the same last name). He wasn't a mean drunk or anything and was actually pretty friendly to the row right in front of us. Their interactions gave me the best chance for a good head-on shot.

Ta-Da!

Oh, the Bears won this one in a nail-biter... once again on the strength to their defense with almost no help from their offense. Go, Orton. It was a great game/evening and I was glad I got lucky enough to go.