Curtis's Guide to Apartment Living: Episode 4

Part 2 of my 2 Part Series: Things I Haven't Done in a While

Activity: Clothes Shopping, alone

Last Known Occurrence: . . . Never?

Reason Behind Activity: A man can only wear his Mickey Mouse tie so many times before it goes from humorous, to kinda cute, to obnoxious.

Part 1 of my 2 Part Series: Things I Haven't Done in a While

Activity: Ate Meat at my Apartment

Last Known Occurrence: Never

Reason Behind Activity: The generosity of the (Name Deleted to Protect the Leftovers) Family.

Can You Tell I'm Stalling Until I Can Finish Another Video?

This year, I ended up Tivo'ing the Jerry Lewis Telethon to watch in increments over the past couple of weeks. The nearest location to here was the Chicago telethon hosted by the incomparable Bart Connor and the unpronounceable Nadia Comaneci. And after sifting through 17 hours of fund-raising and entertainment, I recommend . . .

1) The Duttons (if I'd known they were this good, I would have went to their performance in Rock Valley, Iowa)

2) John Cassidy - Comedy, Magic, and Really weird things with balloons.

3) Norm Crosby - Borscht Belt funnyman

Alas, once I deleted the Telethon from my DVR, I had 40% more space to use on the Fall TV Season.

Destination: Indianola, IA

It's been a while since I visited a new town. But coming up on Sunday, I will be introduced to Indianola, IA.

It's home to the National Balloon Classic, the National Balloon Museum, and Indianolans.

The back roads were tough today, showing remnants of an apparent earthquake on the right hand side of the road there. But I was up for the challenge.
(Note: For safety purposes, this was not a live-blogging moment. I came home, counted two arms, two legs, and all 9 toes before putting this one up)
















Make that 10 toes. I missed the small one who was still clinging to its neighbor out of fear.

L'Shana Tova

This Daily Show interview doesn't have much to do with my life in Iowa, except . . .

It's got a few high holiday mentions. And I myself am revved up for a new year. Some local families are making sure I am well fed both pre and post Yom Kippur fast.

It also shows off Comedy Central's very impressive embeddable video player.

Iowa Climate

Pretty drastic weather change today in Iowa. I even had to turn the dial from cool to heat in the car today.

It was 55 and dropping when I last checked.

I know it will only get worse, but it's really the symbolism of it all that has caused me to write about it here. I've experienced the hot of an Iowa summer. In a few months, I'll have the pleasure of at least the beginning of one its winters.

In preparation, I am watching Discovery Channel's Planet Earth, the episode about Ice Worlds.

Code Orange

The Fair was marred by a constant state of fear brought on by the presence of this sign.

Take Flight at the Fair

Remember the days when too much funnel cake meant you were so full you couldn't walk to the ice cream stand? Well not anymore! Now you can fly there.

Clay County Fair

The Clay County Fair has finally arrived.

Labor Day

Besides having Jimmy Hoffa buried under Giants Stadium, is Labor big in New Jersey?

I ask because I feel a strong Labor presence in Iowa. Several huge picnics are occurring today, for example. And I can't tell if I'm noticing it because either 1) It's strong in Iowa or 2) I'm now part of the workforce, so I'm bound to notice my comrades.

It's awfully confusing to see Jimmy Hoffa's son as head of the Teamsters. I would imagine quite a few youths trying to write a history essay based on a quick glance at a Wikipedia article might produce something like this:
"Jimmy Hoffa was head of the Teamsters. Then he mysteriously disappeared and nobody heard from him again. Then he became head of the Teamsters.

Finally, it's not too late to spend some quality time with Jerry Lewis over the MDA Telethon. Check your local listings. I fell asleep pretty early, but not before Gary Lewis and the Playboys made their annual appearance. Boy, they grow up so fast.