If You Win Dolphin at a Carnival

If you go to a carnival and pick the correct duck...You can win a dolphin.



After a long day at the carnival, he'll probably be all dirty, so you'll want to give him a bath. You're dirty too, so you'll probably want to take a bath with him.



Once he's all clean, he will want to put on some clothes. Since he doesn't have any of his own, he'll have to borrow some of yours.





Once he is dressed, he'll probably want a snack before bed. Everyone knows that dolphins like marshmallow cereal. You like marshmallow cereal too, so you'll probably want to have a bowl.





Since your dolphin was such a good listener all day long, he can watch one Dora episode before bedtime. You were a good listener too, so you can watch with him.



After a long day, he'll probably be tired and want to go to bed. Dolphins like someone to rock them to sleep, so you'll want to go to sleep to.

Happy Anniversary From Philadelphia

Margret and I did not celebrate our anniversary today, because we both forgot. I guess you could say that it is a testament to the strength of our marriage that we don't need a "anniversary" to let each other know how we feel. Or it's just that we are apathetic about our marriage and to lethargic to care. I hope its the former, but I'm too lazy to think about it.

At least I was able to find a way to express my feelings through one my favorite mediums: post-modern tourist attraction sculptures. It was either this or a t-shirt and God knows that I don't "heart" PHL. Philadelphia is what would happen if Boston and East St. Louis had a baby.

Happy 6th anniversary Margret. Love it!

How To: Force Text Below An Image in Blogger

Here's a little tip to help improve readability of you Blogger-based blogs (which is what I use). If you want your text to be constrained under any images you have uploaded, insert the following HTML following the image tag markup in your post:

<br clear="left" />

The Upside of Volleyball: Ball, No Shoes, Sand

Margret and I tried to explain the Olympics to Ava while watching volleyball. She looked up at as and said "She is great at playing ball." When I asked if she would like to play volleyball she replied, "Do you play in sand?". I said yes. She said, "You don't have to wear shoes?". I said no. She said she would like to play. If it only somehow incorporated Dora, it would be the perfect sport.

How To: Apply A Temporary Tattoo to a Crowd of Children

This summer, temporary tattoos are all the (marketing) rage. Or they always have been and now I’m just noticing. Even our neighborhood ice-cream social was inundated with the faux skin art, provided by none other than the Police department. While a clever idea to de-vilify the Police, they made a strategic error…they didn’t provide a way to apply then at the point of delivery. That is a major “no no” as no sooner were all the kids ecstatic for receiving them they were just as quickly hysterical that they couldn’t put them on.

With only a single water bottle and a mass of children, the math didn’t look in my favor…too many arms, not enough water.

Here is the solution we stumbled upon:

1. place a napkin under your ice cream bowl
2. eat ice cream, place tattoo on skin
3. cover tattoo with napkin
4. wait 30 seconds
5. remove napkin and backing
6. enjoy your new skin art
7. use napkin to clean up after ice cream

The secret to this trick is condensation. If you’re outside, there is a good chance you napkin will already be wet, but it doesn’t have to be. As long as it’s cold, when you put it on your warm skin, it will condensate, providing just enough moisture to let everyone know that you are a friend to the local Police department.

FYI: This trick works especially well with Jamba Juice (who give temporary tattoos out to kids). Just wrap your $6 smoothie with a napkin.

The Great Chicago Storm of 2008

We got hit pretty hard by the storm. At one point, we actually went down to the basement to clear an area out if the tornado sirens went off. While we were shuffling boxes, we came across Margret's old dance recital costumes...and the rest, as they say, is YouTube history.

Marketing 101: Temporary Tattoos

It creates brand awareness without relying on traditional media outlets.

The Downside of Sharing

After weeks of asking, we finally let Ava share her popsicle with her little sister. Mae Mae was hesitant, at first, but was quick to add the frozen treat to her favorite foods. Ava learned a tough lesson about sharing, as splitting her popsicle left her with less popsicle.