Hello. Saints and Vikings, what a game! What will Favre do now? We'll find out more about him with his next decision. He has time to think. Go Saints!

The music lovers have spoken...Thieving Magpies are great! A crowded Live Music Club made that very clear. They were the perfect appetizer for Brad Hoshaw & the Seven Deadlies. Friday night was a very cool night of original live music. Thank you Sioux City. If people will only trust the Sioux City Live Music Club and attend the shows, they'll be pleased. We don't do bad shows. Have faith...jump into the flame of the live music hotbed. Friday was an experience for the senses!

Some people can't see, or hear, through the fog of their closed mind. I have been guilty of this myself many times, but I am changing. Drop the veil and let the refreshing sights and sounds massage the senses. It is wonderful! There is a beautiful world out there. You have to look a little closer sometimes to see it, but it's there.

A lady I know was sharing her disgust with the people of Haiti the other day. She can't believe anyone would send help to "those people". "They don't want to do better for themselves," she said. I informed her that I'm sure they do want more than they have now. She tried to compare the homeless in Haiti to the people who lost their homes in California. NOT EVEN CLOSE! The people in California have plenty of options for short-term housing. The people of Haiti have the streets. If the people of Haiti were white, this woman would have a completely different outlook. Some of us are ugly Americans. Sad.

Hello. A reflection from a previous post... Does anyone know of a dog named Fido? I've never met a Fido, yet it is the name most people associate with a dog. If no one names their dog Fido, how did it become the norm? If I ever get another dog-pet, I'm going to name it Fido.

Some people can clear a room just by opening their mouth...loudly opening their mouth. I was with some of my buddies last night having a good time and all of sudden, one guy starts shouting nonsense. He was saying things he doesn't even believe. I'll never understand why people make a spectacle of themselves. It sure killed a good buzz.

Our media is like that. These morons will carry on about something that they know is not true, yet they present it with conviction. I guess if filling the hours with "news" is your job, you have to create controversy. This is one of the reasons I think 24-hour news is a bad thing. However it can be addictive. When all there is on TV is reality shows, I prefer reality...or as close to reality as the media gets. CNN is also something you can be watching without paying any attention. It does give you something to talk about.

I just heard a U2 song on the radio. They were the number one selling band for 2009 according to Pollstar. Surprising? I've never been a big fan. I don't really dislike what they do, it's just not my thing. Their cross generation appeal must be the reason for all of the tickets. The top band for the decade was the Dave Matthews band. I might be missing something. I don't own any U2 or Dave Matthews music. I have a hard time fitting them into my obscure play list.

Hello. 2010 is just like 2009...well except the numbers are different. The only way a new year, or decade for that matter, will change is if you do something different. Deep change. I'm ready.

Templeton Rye is very good whisky! A glass of Templeton with a little frozen water is grand. Once again I'm proving that the better the liquor, the better you feel the next day. However, for some reason, I can't drink like I used to. Maybe that's a good thing. Templeton is distilled in Templeton, Iowa. It was bootlegged until a couple of years ago. Now it is commercially available at most of your favorite booze huts. The bootlegged stuff had more mystique, but I rarely got to enjoy it.

All of the trees had a coat of frosting on them this morning. It is pretty. As pretty as cold, barren trees can be. I heard something on NPR yesterday about people who were such strangers to snow, they were afraid to walk on it. Put yourself in a mind-set that you have never seen snow before. It is a wondrous sight. My children and grandchildren have never seen snow like we have now. My daughter is 28. This is an unusual snow. I've seen worse. I need to go sledding.

Hello. Snow. Blowing snow. Sucking snow. The forecast for today, "blowing and sucking snow"!

When I was younger, I loved snow days. As a little kid it meant no school and hours of new adventures. The bigger the drifts the better the forts. Then as I got older I owned a four-wheel-drive truck and my buddies and I lived for these days. Even until I was in my thirties snow was my friend. Now, there is very little I like about it. The local weather guy said last night during the six o'clock news that we have 43 inches of snow this winter! That is way more snow than we usually get all year. The other night driving home I imagined having never seen snow before. Instantly, for a brief moment, snow was cool. Then scooping my driveway popped into memory...auugghhh!

Last night as I scooped a path to my back door through 4' tall drifts, I noticed my half-buried Adirondack chairs sitting on the patio, staring longingly across my back yard. I think I heard one say to the other, "Heywood, is that you under all this white shit?" Seeing them sitting there, tall and firm, poking out of the drift made me realize it will be hotter than hell before we know it. Ah Midwest weather, if you don't like it wait a while it will change.

Yesterday, I saw a funeral procession battling the blowing snow and bitter cold, heading toward the final resting place for someone. A friend of mine is saying goodbye to an uncle today. Too bad we can't postpone death, like schools and businesses do. "John Deadman's death has been cancelled due to weather." Death must own a four-wheel-drive truck.

Hello. Christmas is over. The biggest snowstorm in recent memory is over. Life goes on. With all of the snow, we were fortunate to have our son and his family living with us. We had everything we needed, including our three grand babies, to make for a wonderful holiday. Being alone in church on Christmas Eve was weird. Well, not alone, but none of my family was there. It gave me time to think...and leak a tear or two.

The Duhks music makes me feel good. Give them a listen if you get a chance. My first experience of the Paint Room live was fantastic. I felt like I'd slipped into another world. We walked down a narrow alley, into a back door, down a terrazzo staircase, through winding hallways past an old-school workshop and there in a dimly light room was music...grand music! It was awesome!

Snow will be here until April now. There are mountains of snow everywhere. I don't like the snow, but it doesn't care. It just lies there with a smirk on it's face as if to say, "I'm here to stay, bitch". Some people have no business driving in it. I see them stuck in deep snow and wonder if they are blind. Maybe just bad at judging things. The Somalians that have moved into the area seem quite confused. Take note of vehicles driven by these new strangers. By my count, almost half of them are damaged. Must not have cars in Somalia.

Priorities are odd fellows. A priority for one person is meaningless to another. So is it really a priority? Can you make your priority important to another? Maybe it wasn't a priority after all.

Hello. It's time to change Christmas. It needs to be about sharing with others, not lining big retailers pockets. There is guilt laid on everyone to buy the right gift...or just to buy a gift. It's BULLSHIT! I was out yesterday for a bit, buying gifts for the Boys & Girls homes. Gifts for children who can't be at home for the holidays makes some sense...but Wii games?!? I parked my 1999 2-door Pontiac and as I dragged my fat ass out, the large door tapped the car next to me. I looked at the foreign SUV and couldn't see a mark in the dirt. As I walked towards the store, a woman swung her door open and hollered, "I put enough dents in this thing, I don't need your help!" I hadn't notice there was someone in the car. I stopped... smiled... and said, "I don't think I dented anything." I took a second look and still didn't see any "dent". She snarled some more and drove off. Ahh, the spirit of Christmas.

Not drinking is weird. People think there is something wrong with you. Can't a guy just lay off the booze for a few days? It does feel odd to sit in a bar with my buddies and drink Sprite. I sure do like it the next day. I'm not quitting, I'm just taking a break. If someone chooses to drink less, we should be supportive. Maybe more of us should have pushed George to take a break. I think people can do whatever they like...even if it's committing vodka-suicide. It's not my place to tell them what to do. Or is it?

Hugs are great. I'm not talking about putting your arms around someone like you're afraid you'll catch a disease from them. I'm talking about wrapping your arms around a person and holding them tight, feeling their spirit, taking a deep breath and becoming one. Try it sometime. It can be unforgettable.

Hello. I'm back. You thought I'd disappear for a few weeks didn't you?

Money sucks. There is never enough. Well, there is always enough, there just isn't any extra. We make sure of that. Oh what fools we are. I saw today that the Feds had set a limit of $12.1 trillion for the deficit. Well we reached that already. Now what? The barter system looks better and better all the time.

I've been getting to work a little earlier lately...9:00 am. They say the early bird gets the worm. The worm should have slept in. Life crawls along in Sioux Town. There are little sparks once in a while, but they fizzle out quickly. The town needs a new business to locate here...or at least the rumor of one. The leaders don't do a good job leading. Leaders should cause their followers to think and act. The leaders around here expect the followers to...well follow them, exactly. Don't have an original thought. No, no, no! "We might have to change!" Most people don't understand change. It's tough, but necessary to survive. I need to change. Yep, I need deep change. It makes me tingle just to say that. YAY!