Sunday Stealing from GLS because his is better

From Going Like Sixty who stole this from Sunday Stealing:

1. How long have you been blogging? since July, 2007, but don't got try to find most of those posts because I deleted them in December 2007 at the request of my extended family

2. What made you start? an itch to write and the death of my baby brother

3. Who inspired you? Going Like Sixty. He proved to me that you can be 60ish and still have something important to say combined with a great sense of humor.

4. About how many hours a week would you estimate you spend on your blog? It varies, but averages 1-1.5 hours

5. What kind of experience or background do you have with writing? amateur stuff, although I was a rhetoric major in college; written a few newspaper columns in the past few years

6. Talk about how you come up with blog topics. There's always something to write about - everywhere you look. Where do you get your ideas? in my brain 7. What or who inspires you and your blog? everything

8. Where and/or how do your brainstorming for your blog? No need to brainstorm, the topics are out there

9. Do you have any blogging rules or guidelines you follow? Keep the sexual stuff subtle or as inuendo. Limit the bragging about children to a minimum. Don't take myself too seriously.

10. Is there anything you will not blog about? hot flashes, menopause, periods, and other girlie crap. There are enough old female bloggers doing that, and that humor gets old very quickly.

11. Do you have any sort of a publishing schedule in terms of day of week or topic? nope, whatever, whenever I feel like it

12. Do you make any money from your blog? No, I can make more money elsewhere.

13. What blogging system do you use? Blogger. Someday I might change.

14. How did you come up your blog name? I've had that name in my head since high school when I read The Catcher in the Rye.

15. How many blogs do you have? two in active status, but only this one has regular posts. What was your peak? four I want to get back to writing more in the spring.

16. Do you have undeveloped blog domain names? yes Care to share them? not yet

17. Do you have any blog domain names that redirect to your main blog? no

18. Are you having as much fun as when you started? Writing, yes; but so many interesting bloggers have given up posting, so my reading others has declined, but I have found some new, interesting ones.

19. Where do you find other bloggers like you? comments and blog search engines

20. What’s your one wish when it comes to blogging? Sometimes I wish I had more followers, but then I decide I'm just being narcissistic.

Jive Time

This is one of the reasons I wish I had been alive in the 1940's. I always have wanted to learn to tap dance.

If you don't have the patience to watch all 10 minutes of this video (but you really should), skip to 8:40 and you'll either cringe or be amazed or both.



Finale to "Stormy Weather" 1943 with Cab Calloway, Bill "Bojangles" Robinson, Lena Horne and the Nicholas Brothers

In honor of the original

J. D. Salinger

1/1/1919-1/27/2010

Author of The Catcher in the Rye (1951)

Open Elections

The Illinois Undervote Notification Law, part of the 2007 omnibus election bill, required that by the year 2010 all Illinois voting systems detect and notify voters if they undervote, which is a ballot that does not include votes for one or more races.

In Illinois, the voter must be notified if they do not cast a vote for a statewide constitutional office (Governor, Attorney General, Secretary of State, Comptroller, and Treasurer). Depending upon the voting machine, some state and local undervoted ballots may also be rejected.

What this means is that if you don't cast a vote for every state race, your ballot will be refused. You will have to tell an election judge that you intended not to vote for every office and he will need to override the ballot, which may involve unlocking the machine and pressing an over-ride button several times befor it is accepted. Also, during that process, the election judge could be privy to those office races in which you did not vote.

So much for casting a secret ballot. And be prepared to stand in line because it is estimated that 60-70% of ballots in some counties are undervoted.

Yes, I'm still around

I'll be back to posting tomorrow for all of you who've been worried.

Now for something a little different

Roger Ebert, renowned movie critic born and raised in our area, wrote this very moving blog post about food evoking memories. He has been suffering from thyroid cancer and numerous surgeries since 2006.

It reminded me so much of when my brother was no longer able to eat.