Blog du Wrenhttp://www.blogduwren.comNot Stupid Enoughhttp://www.blogduwren.com/?sp=Not%20Stupid%20Enough
Here's the story*: while waiting in line to attend the David Letterman show, they make you fill out a survey with your name, age, where you're from, etc. It also has a place to highlight any stupid pet tricks your pet might be able to do, famous people you may have met, and stupid human tricks you might be able to do. Thinking that the field was required (and that if anyone knows a stupid human trick or two it would be me), I filled it in, thinking nothing further of it.

Sure enough, the next day, I get an e-mail from the show asking how I came about knowing this unique trick of mine and if I had a video I could share with them. I was on the road so I postponed a filming session until I got home. And after practicing a bit*, this is what I got (view the video above or check it out here on YouTube).

I sent it off last week and haven't heard back. Judging by the speed of their response last time and lack of a response this time, I can only assume that my trick just isn't stupid enough for them. Or maybe it is too stupid. Either way, there went my hopes and dreams of being on the David Letterman show, at least for now. Next on the agenda: come up with an even stupider trick.
]]>Monday May 12 2008Farmers Market Timehttp://www.blogduwren.com/?sp=Farmers%20Market%20Time
Society for Creative Anachronisms folk boff at each other at the Port Orchard Farmer's Market
That time of year has returned again: farmer's market time! Granted early May is a little before most local farms are producing anything edible (at least in the Northwest), but communities are still gathering around those blue- and white-topped booths to look in on local crafts that were knitted, painted, and hot-glued over the winter months. Also prominent are little vegetable plants ready for transplant in your garden. The vendors, however, know that your plants won't produce nearly enough and that you'll be back.

This weekend, I've been to two new markets, one of which I've been wanting to visit for a long time. I've been hearing about Olympia's farmer's market for a long time from friends and family that have lived there. Sure enough, after a visit, I can see why it gets all the hype. Besides having a good selection of local produce and crafts, there is local meat, honey, and baked goods*. We moseyed on down for lunch from one of the many hot food vendors and listened to some of the live music. And as is often the case with every farmer's market I've been to, we ran into people we know.

Good food for now, good food for later, and good friends to enjoy both with: yep, I'm glad it's farmer's market time again.
]]>Saturday May 10 2008FC 31 - Warhttp://www.blogduwren.com/?sp=FC%2031%20-%20WarBecause of the huge positive response (and wealth of material on the subject), I present you another entry in the MS Paint Paper Scissors Rock* collection (MSPPSR #1 and #2). Present is pretty much all I get to do with this comic, because unlike other comics where I've at least had a hand in conceiving, coloring, or captioning, this one is all Annie. She not only artistically crafted this one pixel by pixel, but also came up with the idea for it. When I was visiting her recently, she joked about possibly starting her own comic series to rival mine. (At least I hope she was joking.)
]]>Friday May 9 2008Rejected Photos Slideshowhttp://www.blogduwren.com/?sp=Rejected%20Photos%20SlideshowI took a bunch of photos on my latest little adventure. Some of the good ones made it into pertinent blog posts. Others, due to theme, quality, or time restraint, never made the cut. Well, here's their big chance! I've compiled all the good-but-not-good-enough photos into this fancy slideshow*. So if you are looking to kill some time, click here and enjoy.

There are 72 photos in the slideshow, so it might take a second or two to load up. I figure if my old laptop can handle it, your's should have no problem.

Oh, and it should be noted that not all the photos are mine. I stole–er, I mean reused a few photos from I Heart Jonahbees and Sir Maxalot, so there might be repeats for those of you that read those blogs*. I also snatched a picture or two from Sara's camera while she wasn't looking. You really gotta love the age of digital photography.

And second Oh: no fair making snide comments about how many self portraits there are. Being creative with picture taking while traveling is hard.
]]>Tuesday May 6 2008The Other Local Foodhttp://www.blogduwren.com/?sp=The%20Other%20Local%20FoodWe have all, undoubtedly, heard me go on and on about local foods, right? Well, I now offer you a slightly different version of the same concept: foods whose ingredients don't necessarily come from the immediate area, but foods which are closely tied to a place either because that is where they were invented/popularized or for some other reason. I took special care to experience as many of these foods as I could while on my trip. Here's the list.

Chicago deep dish pizza in Chicago; Philly cheese steak in Philly (sold from great little sidewalk stands); scrapple served up by Amish people in Phillie; crab cakes in Baltimore*; BBQ, hush puppies, and sweet tea in North Carolina; and New York City bagels* in New York City. Pretty much everything was awesome; each food stuff deserves the recognition it has achieved.

(Also worthy of note, although not famous except in certain circles, is my brief stop in Fredricksburg, VA at Carl's ice cream joint. I can't remember who recommended it to me along the way, but what a place. It was a local place that was so hoppin, I had to wait in quite a line for my shake. Totally worth it (both the wait and the riding my bike all over town to find it after a hard day on the road). It is worth including in this post because in my eyes, it captures exactly what a local establishment can be. Anyhoo, if you happen through Fredricksburg, you should definitely check it out.)
]]>Sunday May 4 2008FC 30 - Believe (a.k.a Skip To My Lou)http://www.blogduwren.com/?sp=FC%2030%20-%20Believe%20(a.k.a%20Skip%20To%20My%20Lou)I know. I know. I promised you good comics by good artists starting this week. Well, you're stuck with me again and this time I don't even have the magic stylus to draw people without hands. I do, however, have my beloved Paint Shop Pro 5.0 back which at least brings me comfort if it doesn't bring me magical drawing abilities.

So with the disclaimer disclaimed, I present to you this week's Friday Comic*. Oh, in addition, I should disclaim that my choice in cities was [almost] completely random. I originally was thinking Dallas, but it just didn't fit. Anyway, I hope you all get a chuckle. As for you Baltimortarians, please don't kill me. You are the only ones that will get the partial joke in the title.
]]>Thursday May 1 2008Tuesday Trivia - USA Editionhttp://www.blogduwren.com/?sp=Tuesday%20Trivia%20-%20USA%20EditionOver at IHJ, Chris has started a nice little routine of posting trivia question(s) each and every Tuesday*. His questions are less of the you-know-it-or-you-don't* variety and more of the if-you-put-your-mind-to-it-you-should-be-able-to-figure-it-out* type. However you choose to hyphenate the description, they are good fun.

It fits nicely that I've been preparing for a trivia post for some time, inspired by my recent travels. I thought I would throw them in the Tuesday Trivia realm so we can all exercise our brains together. For answers, hover over question number at the end. Feel free to post your score, or any qualms you have with the questions, in the comments.

State Capitals:
1) How many U.S. state capitals have more than one word? (ex: Kansas City (if that was the capital))
2) Which U.S. capital's name shares no letters with the name of the state it's in? (ex: Not Salem, Oregon because they both have an "E")
3) Which 4 U.S. state capitals start with the same letter as the state they are in?*
Other Geography(ish):
4) Name as many popular U.S. cities with 6 or more syllables.*
5) What letter isn't used in the spelling of any states name?
6) Rank the 4 major timezones in the U.S. by population, greatest to least.
Other:
7) What state has the most vanity license plates?
8) Name which presidents have memorials on the National Mall in D.C.
9) Which is the only U.S. state that has a non-rectangular flag?

Answers: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 61, 72, 8, 9
]]>Tuesday April 29 2008Four Nightshttp://www.blogduwren.com/?sp=Four%20Nights
It wasn't the sound that woke him from his slumber, a tame noise that easily faded into the background, but it was the first conscious recognition that he had. Before even opening his eyes, he started to wonder what the source of the sound might be. His thought process, uncommonly clear at so early an hour–a trait he silently thanked his ancestors for daily–led him first to think about location, which was an interesting detour in itself.

Four consecutive nights and four different pillows on which he has rested his head; lately not so uncommon an occurrence. For the past couple of years, he spent less than half his nights at home, in his childhood twin bed tucked in his mother's garage. The other half had him either watching other people's houses as a housesitter, one of his many somewhat unlikely "careers", or on the road. Currently he was at the tail end of a 6 week jaunt through the northeastern United States, having successfully accomplished the goal of seeing old friends. This was his last stop.

He mentally laid out the previous 4 nights. Thursday was a freshly carpeted floor in midtown Manhattan. Friday was a couch in a quintessentially Maine apartment–slanted ceilings, old wood floors, and more character than an entire suburban development combined–in Portland. Saturday night he closed his eyes in upstate New York and opened them in Ohio, with the comforting clatter of the rail line to keep him lulled in semi-sleep. Last night was, that's right, Chicago again.

With his location established, he reluctantly opened his eyes to further pursue the sound. A quick check of his watch, held approximately 3 inches from his face, offered the final clue: 7:00am. The shower. His host getting ready to head off to work. While he could stay tucked in his sleeping bag for a couple more hours–both because he was still recovering from the magical yet incomplete sleep from the train and because he had nothing at all planned for the day–he knew getting up to chat was the courteous thing to do. He learned from experience that folks offering their homes out of the goodness of their hearts don't take kindly to having the fact that they have to run off to work while their guest gets to lounge about all day rubbed in their face. Plus, he could always lie back down later.

]]>Monday April 28 2008FC 29 - He Who Smelt Ithttp://www.blogduwren.com/?sp=FC%2029%20-%20He%20Who%20Smelt%20ItLast week, TreeHugger had an article about how a bunch of comics were going to cover environmentally themed issues in honor of Earth Day. Not to toot my own horn or anything, but I had the idea way back. My plan was to do a whole month of comics in honor of Earth Day. Well, that kind of fell through, but I did get around to putting together at least one pseudo-environmentally themed comic*.

Anyway, as you can plainly see, art was provided by yours truly, again with the fancy stylus and touch screen*. Don't worry; now that my travels are starting to wind down, I'll have time to cajole our regular good artists into putting together some comics so you don't have to be subjected to my MSPaint pixel parties anymore. In fact, now that I've planted the seed of this whole comic thing, a couple of my artists are starting to come up with their own comic ideas as well as drawing them. Pretty soon, I'll be able to sit back and play no role whatsoever. I believe in the business, they call that "Middle Management".
]]>Friday April 25 2008Blog du Wren