I searched on the Internet

For April Fool's, Google replaced its name with Topeka's. This image from the press release amused me to no end -- proper uses of the new company name. I particularly like the last one.

The Census

One of the best parts about my last job was the fact that I got to write about Census data as it came out -- how much the county was growing, whether there were more minorities in a particular city, etc. And although that's something I find interesting, the true reason it was exciting was the hold music.

You heard me right -- the hold music. As noted here, the Census Bureau records facts and figures about Americana and plays then in lieu of tunes when you call their answer line.

Fascinating and funny, it always made me happy to be put on hold.

Icelandic humor

Certainly, the volcanic eruption and subsequent ash cloud that stopped airline travel across Europe this month wasn't funny. But some of what came out of it was.

For example: This story about Iceland's reaction to the eruption (after all, it is their volcano) has a couple jokes in it that made me chuckle.

My ability to post them has been somehow compromised by uncooperative technology, but it's certainly worth a read.

Of April

I certainly didn't mean to neglect the spreading of joy in April; it was certainly a very joyful month. In brief, some things that made me smile:

I went to the wonderful wedding of a wonderful friend, had a mini-college reunion and met several of the bride's friends, all of whom are fantastic. I ate a lot of delicious Austin food, snagged a Nancy Drew Mad Libs and found a pretty snazzy gift for my sister and a good friend. Eventually, they'll go in the mail.

I learned my parking attendant's name. It's Ray.

I went to the Cleveland Orchestra with friends. The orchestra is amazing. Severance Hall is beautiful. And jaunts to see Avenue Q and August: Osage County were similarly (if separately) fantastic.

I used the word tintinnabulation in a story. I scooped the competition in another (big) story, and the big bosses noticed. I managed to start a running joke, of sorts, that's made it into the paper three times now. It has also garnered me many pens and left me amused.

I reconnected with an old friend. I spent some quality time with an older friend. I had super, if all-too-brief, moments with more recent friends who went out of their way to say hello.

I hope your Aprils were as sunny.

Floating flag

I ventured to beautiful Avon, Ohio this morning. You may know it as the home of Duck brand duct tape (they have an awesome duct tape festival each year; I learned how to make purses and wallets and spread duct tape joy when I went a couple years ago), but that has nothing to do with why I was there.

Why I was there isn't important. What is important is that on the way home, I saw an American flag blowing gently in the wind. Alone, this is not an unusual thing to see. What made this flag different -- dare I say special? -- is that instead of standing tall on a pole, it was suspended from a construction crane that was holding it high above the earth.

I kept looking for the pole. It was pretty cool.

At the movies

Last week, the Cleveland International Film Festival came to town. It was a pretty intense affair with some fantastic movies that I saw and many I did not.

I got to go to the opening film and a series of shorts, in addition to a normal evening movie after work. And although it wasn't the best movie that I saw, the best part of the festival was the chance to go see an hour-long film at lunchtime. There's just something wonderful about going to a midday movie that makes you feel like you're playing hooky in a wonderful sort of way.

Next year, you should follow suit.

Again with the fog

No pictures for you today, but I will tell you that the fog this afternoon was subtle. It was as if you woke up bleary-eyed, without your glasses, and rubbed your eyes against the blur. It made bridges fade into nothing, as if they were Photoshopped away. It gave the air a certain brightness.

It also felt as if you were walking into an industrial freezer upon stepping outside: that cold blast, sustained, the air unmoving, an eye-opening chill but not an unpleasant one.

Family

So, Today, I had visits from extended family. The family of Arielle. That is all.

A foggy day in Clevelandtown

Perhaps I have already mentioned my love of fog. Yesterday was a magnificent day -- because it started out foggy and ended up sunny and beautiful.

This foggy image arrived in my e-mail box this afternoon. It's Progressive Field, where the Indians play, as coated in clouds. Apparently this guy took it. You can also see a fogless shot on his page, but what's the fun in that?

Not like the goat

I got called a "good kid" today. While perhaps I should have been less than thrilled, instead it caused me to giggle.

The seven deadly

I used the phrase "cardinal sin" in a story I wrote today, and wanted to check to make sure I was using it properly. A Google search led me here on Wikipedia. Which made me very happy.

Ookk

I got to use the word "bookkeeper" in a story last week. Bookkeeper is one of my favorite words since some Encyclopedia Brown story (or something) that involved a discussion of words that had consecutive repeating letters. See: roommate, balloon. But few have three.

Using bookkeeper led me to peruse this Wikipedia page. Careful: may be addicting.

Hello, sunshine!

The best part about winter is that it begets spring. And this past week, spring arrived -- at least for a little while.

This means bright sunlight, melting snow and people wearing shorts and short sleeves. Broad smiles. Windswept hair. Drinks on patios. It's awesome.

I ate lunch outside the past few days, sitting on the stoop of my building with a book. This evening, I managed to spare a few minutes for an art walk -- something much harder to convince yourself to do if it's an art trudge. Yesterday's warm weather inspired a trip to Coventry and some super conversation.

You Southerners -- with your 70-degree Marches -- may think we're crazy. But I'll leave you with the weather report from the college radio station this morning:

"Exceptionally warm... 63 degrees... unbelievable!"

And that pretty much sums it up.

Snowman

He was on a main stretch of road and had a red scarf, carrot nose and stick arms. But the best part? Resting in his stick arm -- on his snow hip -- was a bottle of Coca-Cola.

If that's not a Coke commercial in the making (or is it one already?), I don't know what is.

Optimism

On the back of a truck for a cleaning service:

Vehicle makes frequent stops... hopefully!

It was also decorated with pictures of Leprechauns flitting about.

In the news

Two things to share with you, both from New York Times stories this week.

This, from a story about the new Olympic sport ski cross and its competitors, had me laughing loudly: "Others included Richard Spalinger of Switzerland, whose hobbies were announced as football, anger management and bowling."

And this, sweeter, is from an obituary of a guy who created a number of magazines. The quote is from his wife: “Would you say he was a strong outdoorsman? No, but he tried everything,” Mrs. Welsh said. “His whole motto was, ‘Life should be lived like a cavalry charge.’ ”

More about the snow

I realize it gets mentioned a lot, but it is omnipresent. So.

Over the past week, the snow has looked like flaked glass chips, confetti and grated Parmesan cheese. As well as plain old snow.

And when I had a visitor from Southern climes last weekend, he humored me by walking outside and saying, "Hey! It's snowing!" every time. (And yes, it was.) I had been lamenting the fact that my Southern friends got snow and were excited about it, while everyone here seems to be pretty much all snowed out.

It is a lot of snow.

So much so, in fact, that I got stuck in the driveway last week. My friendly neighbor pushed me out. So I made chocolate chip cookies in return. Yum.

I'm rich!

Cleaning out my wallet today, I discovered $40 tucked between receipts. And that's awesome.

Zebras

Thanks to Andi (and later, a string of amusing Facebook updates), I was tipped off to this tale of a zebra run amuck in Atlanta's streets.

Alone, this is amusing. But what makes it fantastic is the fact that this is the third zebra story to come out of Atlanta in as many years.

Take the case of Evidence, who was found grazing on the side of the highway, or Barcode, who was zebra-napped as a college prank. Something about Atlanta calls for zebra freedom, it seems.

What would you name your zebra? I think I would alter a friend's idea slightly and go with Red.

Snow flakes

Rumor has it that the Eskimos have many words for snow. It's certainly true that there are a plethora of ways a snowfall can manifest itself.

This afternoon, the snow was coming down in one of my favorite ways: as individual flakes. So when they landed on my black coat, I could see the different shapes and compare them to each other. No two alike, indeed.