ITEOTWAWKI: New and Improved

By brian April 23, 2010ITEOTWAWKI, Music, REM

As the glow of the 30th anniversary celebration wore off, we got news from REM HQ that the band had headed back into the studio to work on the next…

Draft Time?

By brian April 22, 2010Football

I did not realize until a couple of days ago that the NFL Draft starts tonight. Since they start talking about it and arguing over everything before the bowl games,…

Taking the Plunge

By brian April 20, 2010Columns

I didn’t make my decision until the last minute. In fact, I didn’t even mention it to anyone until I announced I was going. Last month, I auditioned for a…

Book Review: You Couldn’t Ignore Me If You Tried

By brian April 14, 2010Books, Columns, Movies

I really don’t have any musical talent. Thirteen years of Catholic education only provided me with the knowledge of how to sing hymns. Or how to pretend to sing hymns.…

Movie Roundup

By brian April 11, 2010Movies

For some reason, I haven't taken the time to review some of the movies I have seen this year. So let's knock them all out in one post. Valentine's Day…

The Case of the Indestructible Travel Mug

By brian April 7, 2010Columns, Making an Idiot Out of Myself

Things started out pretty well last Wednesday. Maria and I both got moving a little earlier than usual. Before I knew it, I was all ready to leave for work 10 minutes before usual.

I putzed around the house a little any way. My iPod wasn’t going to load itself. Regardless, I strolled out the door at about the usual time with no real reason to rush. This was the first nice day after all the rain, so I got all my stuff inside the car and headed for work.

Or so I thought. After a block or two – and this is after making on left-hand turn – I heard some kind of weird noise. I checked the cover for the sunroof first. Sometimes I don’t pull that completely shut, and it rattles. But that wasn’t the problem.

I looked over at the passenger seat. I had driven with co-workers to meetings the two previous days, so I wondered if the seat belt got tangled and was bouncing against something. Or maybe they left something in the seat that was rattling. No dice there either. Then I heard a small thud, a roll and one more strange sound.

Before I had a chance to even look in my driver’s side mirror, I knew what had happened. I looked back and prayed that no one would run over my travel mug as it bounced along the road side, spreading hot coffee along Baer Avenue.