City of Red Wing Chili Cook Off

The man running the grill finally gets to enjoy a dog.
All the hardwork and organization is done by Patti
Mayor Dummer enjoys lunch with some public works guys.
City Hall ladies enjoy lunch with a couple of fellow employees at public works.
It takes a great team to pull off this event - we need the chili makers and the chili eaters.
Darold, Tom and Stacie serving up their hot, spicy chili.
Janelle, Karen and Tammie - whose chili is the best?
The buns are safe with Chief Sletten
It's just water!

We had a great time serving, eating and making money
for a great cause...our local United Way!
The winner of the best chili will go on to
represent the City of Red Wing at

the community wide chili cook-off.

You Go girls!

GO GIRLS! was designed to encourage teens to voice their opinions to advertisers, letting them know that beauty and success have little to do with the size of their jeans.

The Red Wing chapter of the Go Girls spoke at a service club meeting yesterday and although I've heard them speak before, their message really resonated with me. If only I had their confidence at 17 or 18 years of age....actually, if only I had their confidence now! They were inspiring, intelligent and informed about what advertising and the media do to the self esteem of women and will not entertain conversations with their friends that have to do with a poor body image. While listening to these amazing young women I realized they had a powerful message for me and that there was so much I could learn from them. They are hoping to raise money for awareness and want to travel to Fiji because they have learned in their research that there was no incidences of eating disorders there until American TV, shows like 90210 made their way to their little corner of the world. Interestingly Fiji women tend to be larger women and didn't have a problem with that until they were introduced to our advertising. The Red Wing Go Girls want to speak to groups in Fiji and help empower their young women.

Burn After Reading

Saw the movie this weekend and although it was as expected - a quirky dark comedy by the Cohen brothers - it wasn't as good as I hoped it would be. Although I laughed every time John Malkovich spit out the f-bomb, which was quite a bit, the plot left a lot to be desired and I noticed during the film that I was mostly just enjoying watching great actors act.

The most frustrating character for me was played by Francis McDormand. Couldn't they have given her more motivation than wanting a man and plastic surgery? Not necessarily in that order. Okay, well maybe there is some truth about that in all women, (it's not just me...is it?) but for a smart movie created by smart men I wish they would have gone a bit deeper with her. It was all a bit too shallow to sustain any real humor. I didn't even feel sorry for her - I just kinda got tired of who she was. **Note to self....don't dwell too much about wanting a man and plastic surgery lest your friends/family won't feel sorry for you.

The CIA agents constantly mispronouncing "big" words was funny and naturally there were a couple of pretty gruesome scenes that were in keeping with the Cohen style. Although I wouldn't sit through it again, it was a pleasure watching Clooney, Pitt and especially Malkovich do what they get paid the big bucks to do.

Time Square - CNN and AC360

I tried to get a picture of my pretend celebrity boyfriend, Anderson Cooper, on Time

Square. I think he's on the other side of the CNN billboard.

My first look at Madison Square Garden - New York

On Wednesday, Sept 10, 2008 I have a ticket to a concert at Madison Square Garden. It's a benefit concert for cancer "Stand Up for the Cure" featuring the Dave Matthews Band. Since this is my first trip to New York, we took the subway over from Brooklyn to Manhattan to see how long it would take and if I can do this myself on Wednesday night. Everyone around here tells us the subway is safe and it seemed okay, although I can't imagine riding it everyday like they do around here.

This is the view from just outside The Garden - it's a few
blocks from Time Square and in the same block as Penn Stations.

I'm standing just by the doors of Penn Station. The artwork
on the sides of buildings is pretty amazing and the sounds, smells
and activity on the streets are pretty unique to New York City.

Lots of history and things to see inside the Garden.

This lady stands near Rockefeller Center by what

is the skating rink in the winter.
This is "music row" just off Time Square

We ate dinner at Maxie's in Time Square and could
watch the people go by on the street. It was
loud and noisy, but very interesting to sit and watch
the world go by.

This is the skating rink site in the winter at

Rockefeller Center

Getting around in NYC

After we figured out how to buy a MetroCard, spent a few minutes
looking at a map, and consulting with a website (hopstop.com) which
someone at the conference told us about, we plunged into the
depths of the city and took our first ride.
This is the yellow cab line at JFK. We were a little lost when we

got outside and suddenly realized we had no idea how to get

to the hotel. A woman at the information counter spent
about a minute showing us this large, confusing bus route map
and we decided the yellow cab line was the better option.

The long line moved very fast and it was interesting people
watching while we waited.

It's about 8:00 p.m. or so and the subway still
has activity.

The first time we jumped on I thought of a Seinfeld
episode where Kramer can't get a seat. I hestitated for
a split second and ended up having to stand. I don't
mind standing, but it's a pretty rocky, wild ride. When you
go under the water it's a bit like a screaming nightmare (but I kinda liked it).

Scenes around Brooklyn

This is view down Adam street in Brooklyn (from my hotel room) and in the
background you can see the Brooklyn Bridge. It's a great view
from my room at night, but impossible to get a good picture.
Street view a block from our hotel in Brooklyn
The front of the hotel on Adam street is very upscale and business
class, the street right behind is a different world...
This is the view of the Brooklyn Bridge from Montique street about
6 blocks from our hotel.
Lower Manhattan - the Twin Towers would have been
in this shot (on the other side).
This is a street vendor working down the block from our hotel.

Time Square

Mn State Fair and Garrison Keillor

The Bonsai gardening display is fascinating at the State Fair
These little plants are very expensive and in some cases very old.
Garrison Keillor is in a white, linen suit with a red tie and red socks and red tennis shoes.
Was a good show and a beautiful night to be in the grand stand.
The fireworks were right over our head and the grandstand

was littered with cardboard from them. I don't know if I've ever been
that close. They were fantastic!

2nd Annual White Paper Recycling Golf Tourny

The old saying "Once a salesman, always a salesman" simply isn't true!

I love golfing with boys!
I got a little tired after 11 or 12 holes, but I never get
tired of watching the artistry and strategy of the game.

Some take the game more seriously than others...
This one doesn't take it very seriously...
I learned something new during this game. When a man

tees off, if he doesn't drive it past the women's tee box
he has to pull down his pants.

What happens on the golf course

stays on the golf course... :)

I also learned there is no twirling on the green. It's hard on the grass.

Next time I promise to get a picture of my putter. It's a very old (vintage) putter that was my dads. I think he gave it to me when I worked at the Radisson Arrowwood in the early 80's. By today's standards it looks like a stick with a rock tied on the end - something Fred Flintstone would putt with. I love it!

The weekend in "Dat Killa Chi!"

I like Chicago or Chi-town or the Windy City or Dat Killa Chi (that one comes from Chicago gangs, or so I've read).

I'd kinda like to try living like this...

I think the little rounded balconies are kinda cool, it's in a great location (just a block off Michigan Ave) and well...it does have a great view. (Lily could learn to pee on a mat or something)

Shut Up Rush!

I'm pissed. Elizabeth Edwards...attorney, author, wife, mother...has suffered the loss of a son, is terminal ill with breast cancer, is in anguish over the recent news that her husband cheated on her - and now has to endure the horror of being the butt of another Rush Limbaugh joke. Someone really ought to punch that guy in the mouth! What makes big, fat, stupid Limbaugh think it's funny to spew out ignorant comments about what she could be doing with her mouth (besides talking) to keep her husband from cheating on her? How do you come to terms with the Rush Limbaugh depth of meanness? The sad thing is the so called "ditto heads" are probably cheering him on for his callous remark.

I'm not a conservative, but Rush has to be a huge embarrassment for the 'family values' party. What's next for the pill popping, three time divorced gas bag with teeth? Poking fun at sick babies? Laughing at flood victims? Tripping someone on crutches?

There are certain subjects too shallow to spend any length of time on and blaming the intelligence of a woman for her husband's infidelity is one of them.

I spent the weekend in Moorhead, MN at a conference - Lily spent the weekend at a dog boarders in the country. It was her first time as usually Stacy watches her when I am away over night. It's hard telling if she is tramatized by it. She lives in the moment so if she had food and a comfortable bed she probably won't have any lingering issues. I wish it were that simply for us humans. I had more than enough food and a comfortable bed too so I'll leave it at that.

I like the Olympics, but have not been able to watch much this year so far. I especially love the sappy human interest stories designed to really get you emotionally involved. If I could...if it were socially acceptable...It work didn't get in the way...I would stay in my jammies and watch around the clock. Michael Phelps just broke the world record by almost a second. Love my big, flat-screen TV and HD from Direct TV too. It makes for a pretty damn good picture and great Olympics watching. No matter which country wins the gold, the awards ceremony makes me cry everytime. You just can't help but get a little choked up watching them standing there representing their country.

I've got a couple more trips to take. Moorhead was just the warm-up for me and Lily. I love being out in the world, as much as I love being home with my little doggy so it's important that she has a good place to be when I'm gone. I'm off to Chicago, then New York, then Nashville - all in the next 6 weeks so Lily will have a home away from home at Wells Creek. I try not to think about it too much.

Do you have a man cave?

During a vendor presentation today, the presenter referenced his man cave several times. Not having lived with a man lately, and not, well, being a man - I wasn't exactly sure what a man cave was and if every man has one. The demo we were watching was on a VOIP telephone system that had some very cool features, not the least of which was how you could use a telephone switch to broadcast emergency response messages. Let's say during a hurricane or something a message could be sent out to allow all the residents on the system to press a button that would either let the police know they were a.) okay or b.) needing help. When a question was asked how a resident might use this kind of technology, the 'dude' said he could program a 'send beer' button so that his wife would bring beer to his man cave. I'm pretty sure she wasn't invited to drink one with him, just deliver it and leave. Yeah, okay...he was probably joking around but I thought it was really stupid. Now, I don't think the idea of a man having his own cave is stupid (if that's what he wants) but it seems strange, in mixed company, to female bash by using an example of a programmable button to alert your wife that you need more beer in the man cave. Do you think that's stupid or have I just been single too long?